KOMA is a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar that serves modern Japanese cuisine.
You enter the restaurant through a 20m corridor of torii-gate reminiscent of Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto. Then you come upon the bar area with a 2.5m tall Japanese “bell,” dramatic as Rupaul. The dining area is on the other side of the bell, you know, like a flat-screen tv on a wall that can be flipped between the living room and bedroom.
The “WOW” factor sits inside the bar and lounge — a 2.5 meter-high Japanese bell with 20 different faces that overlooks a traditional Japanese footbridge and reflecting pool. The bar serves an extensive selection of over 30 types of sake sourced from across Japan. The restaurant is spectacular.
Koma is known for its sushi, so for mains, the assorted 12-piece sushi is on almost every table in the restaurant. The 3 pieces of sushi-tuna, salmon, and yellowtail. Their 12-piece sushi set includes 3 pieces of spicy tuna maki, 3 pieces of spicy yellowtail maki, and 3 pieces of California maki. Traditional fancy Japanese restaurants serve sushi with just a piece of seafood, a dot of wasabi, a stroke of soy sauce, and shari rice. But here, they hide things behind the blanket of seafood. Which is a pleasant surprise.
Salmon tataki, as an appetizer, comes in three thick slices with baby arugula in a pool of ponzu. Evenly seared at the edges of salmon. There is something spicy—not very Japanese, perhaps to suit local palates.
Bonsai is a dessert made from chocolate. Everything is edible, including the pot made from chocolate. The desserts were the best part of my meal. The dark chocolate mousse at the bottom of the bonsai pot is bitter and sweet like love. The pot itself is made from chocolate, edible. Even vanilla ice cream is great; it takes a long time to melt, indicative of a high-fat content. It is fun and delicious.
The Japanese cheesecake comes with raspberry sorbet and they pair well together.
The Japanese cheesecake is equally excellent. The bottom crust tastes like old-school digestive biscuits, topped with slices of strawberries to undercut the richness. The accompanying raspberry sorbet complements the salty cheese really well.
Overall, the experience is a wonderful one because the service is top-notched and polite.
