During this time of the year, it is quite a challenge to find which restaurants are opened. (You won’t want to turn up unexpectedly to your favourite restaurant and find it closed! So be sure to check!) I stumbled upon Shige along Plain Street and thought that it would be good to give Shige a try, which was luckily opened on Christmas Eve.

To start off, we had the Ikateri ($19.80), Agedashi Tofu ($9) and Gyu Tataki ($19.50). The Ikateri is a dish consisting of squid in sake soy sauce. The squid was fresh and the sake soy sauce complemented the squid well. The Agedashi Tofu was smooth and silky. The Gyu Tataki, which came with the ponzu sauce was executed perfectly as it was lightly seared in the middle leaving a hint of pink. When dipped with the ponzu sauce, it gave the seared beef a tangy flavour.

Agedashi Tofu

Ikateri

Beef Tataki

We also had the Kinoko Soup ($11) which is an aromatic seasonal fungi in clear broth. The soup was very light and flavourful.

Kinoko Soup

For our mains, we had the Small Sushi Combination ($15) and the Large Sashimi Combination ($45). For the combinations we ordered, there was a good variety of sushi and sashimi. Both the sashimi and sushi were very fresh.

Large Sashimi Combination

Small Sushi Combination

Alongside our mains, we also had the Wagyu Beef Sirloin ($58) from the Specials and a Zaru Soba ($15). The beef was cooked perfectly to medium and was very juicy and tender. The Zaru Soba arrived cold (it’s meant to be cold) and was very refreshing. It makes a perfect summer’s dish for a hot summer’s day.

Zaru Soba

Wagyu Beef Sirloin

To finish off, we had the Anmitsu, a traditional Japanese sweet which consists of fruits, agar jelly, red bean and ice cream ($7) and the Green Tea Mousse ($7). Dad wanted to order the Rare Cheese Cake but unfortunately they have ran out of the cheese cake that night and gave us the green tea mousse as the alternative. The Rare Cheese Cake must be really rare then! (more like popular I would say) Apart from that, the desserts were really good. The Green Tea Mousse was rich in green tea flavour and was very smooth.

Anmitsu

Green Tea Mousse

Overall, we enjoyed dining at Shige and thought that the food was very fresh and authentically Japanese. The service was also very friendly, down to earth and efficient. Will I be back? Yes, for sure.

Mel’s Rating: mmmm (excellent)