Review + Giveaway: Restaurant Hoshigaoka

{Sponsored review}

I still remember lining up with my family, waiting for our turn to get into Restaurant Hoshigaoka at Shaw Centre. It was a memorable time, when things were so much simpler, when there were fewer Japanese restaurant chains. Restaurant Hoshigaoka was the go to place for decent Japanese cuisine for the family.

And I'm glad that Restaurant Hoshigaoka has managed to retain its cosy family atmosphere till this day. We were invited to the SAFRA Toa Payoh outlet to try out the new refreshed menu. We were the first to arrive, and for a while, it seemed quiet on a Monday evening, but soon, we saw many families, local and foreign, come to have their dinner there. Restaurant Hoshigaoka has clearly not lost its family charm.

Decor wise, light brown wood is the main highlight, and together with Japanese embellishments like sake caskets, masks and Japanese characters on dark wood, it's hard not to distinguish this as a Japanese restaurant. It gives a sense of tradition to a restaurant that was first opened in 1972.

The main focus though, has to be the food. After 40 years, how does the food fare?

We had four mains and two kids' meals that day. The mains were: Mentai Potato Salad, Kurobuta Shabu Shabu, Goma Beef Houba Yaki and Hoshigaoka Zen. The kids' menu ($9.90 per set) is new.

Both EV and AA chose the same kids' meal: Set D, which included a mini udon, omelette, deep fried prawn, cucumber roll and French fries. I think they chose it more for the aeroplane tableware. Though I was secretly hoping they would choose one of the other three as well, their choice was a good one, because they finished everything, including the jelly, Yakult and Hello Panda snack. You can imagine my happiness seeing them happily slurping their udon and biting into the ebi fry. I generally don't let them eat snacks, but just for that night, I made an exception.

While the kids were being satisfied, the two adults were also gleefully digging into the mains. I personally liked the Mentai Potato Salad ($7.90). I mean, it's a salad right? So it must be healthy. Well, it is, with a generous serving of greens. But the potato salad topped with spicy cod roe mayonnaise and served with sesame dressing is quite a tasty combination and it's easy to keep having it over and over again. I think I suffered from too much calories that night. :)

Sukiyaki, shabu shabu. Name it, I like it. The Kurobuta Shabu Shabu ($17.90) was great for that cool evening. Besides the flavourful broth made with shoyu, mirin, sake and fish stock, what gave the thin black pork slices that extra oomph was the dipping sauce. Its tangy, citrusy and mild spiciness comes from ponzu, spicy radish and spring onion slices. What I like about it is it comes with quite a lot of vegetables, toufu and mushroom, which is great with the soup, even after finishing the pork.

Now one mustn't take too long to dig into the Goma Beef Houba Yaki ($16.90), which is slices of 30-day aged New Zealand Ribeye Beef grilled on a Japanese magnolia 'houba' leaf and marinated with sesame sauce and garlic. The beef must be eaten as soon as it is served for it to be extremely tender. Leave it to grill for too long (like what we did) and the meat will become overcooked, a shame to the beef as well as the flavourful marinate.

The Hoshigaoka Zen ($32.00) is almost as old as Restaurant Hoshigaoka itself. It's a combination set of all the highlights of the restaurant, in mini sizes. This includes cold tofu with sesame sauce, sashimi, salmon sashimi salad, tempura, gindara teriyaki, beef misoyaki, rice, miso soup, chawanmushi and matcha ice cream. So if one really can't decide what to order, this well-balanced set should settle it. Though we might not be that satisfied with the sashimi; we wish there was more. Still, the tempura was done to the right crispness, and we were surprised by the tenderness of the beef misoyaki. The chawamushi was also cooked well, with little bubbles on the surface and just the right sweetness. No wonder the kids couldn't stop fighting over it. Even the matcha ice cream with red bean was a hit, with me and AA. DaddySay and EV both kept an arm's length from it. More for me and AA, I say.

While eating, we also checked out the other items on the menu, and found the prices quite reasonable. Coming back for another cosy dinner is something we look forward to. Perhaps, without the kids? :)

Giveaway!!!

Here's a chance for ONE winner to win ONE set of dining vouchers (for 2 set meals and 1 kids' meal) worth $43, thanks to Restaurant Hoshigaoka. Just follow the Rafflecopter instructions below. Remember, most are optional, but they do give you more chances to win. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Terms and conditions:
- Entries that do not fulfill the requirements stated will be disqualified without notice.
- This giveaway is open to Singapore residents only.
- This giveaway starts on 4 February and ends on 13 February (inclusive) at midnight.
- The winner(s) will be chosen from a random draw of entries received in accordance with these Terms and conditions.
- The winner(s) will be announced on this post by 16 February.
- The winner(s) will be notified directly via email by the sponsor regarding collection of the prize(s).
- Toddly Mummy's responsibility will end once the winner's details are passed to the sponsor.
- Only one winner per household is allowed.
- The organisers accept no responsibility for entries that are lost, delayed, incomplete or cannot be delivered or entered for any technical or other reason.
- Entrants into the giveaway shall be deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions.
- Terms and conditions are subject to change without notice, at the organisers' sole discretion.
- This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook.
- Participants are providing information to Toddly Mummy and the sponsor(s) of this giveaway and not to Facebook.

For more information, visit Restaurant Hoshigaoka's website.

Disclaimer: We received a meal sponsorship (for two adults and two children) from Restaurant Hoshigaoka for the purpose of this review. We also received a set of dining vouchers worth $43 for giveaway purposes. No monetary compensation was received. All images and opinions are my own, based on my family's experience.

**********

Thank you for reading. If you like this post, please do connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, so I can share our fun adventures, thoughts and exploits with you.