Jidai looks and feels nothing like the standard izakaya. The drinking den swops a no-frills, minimalist approach for something loud and eclectic: coloured accent lights lend plenty of vibes, and bare walls come lined with oversized maneki-neko, or fortune cat figures. And the food, too, is an unexpected surprise. Chef-owner Darwin Wong, who also runs modern European restaurant Beurre, imbues French cooking techniques into the menu here to present novel bar bites and fun sharing plates.
But this is a sake bar after all, and the fridges come stocked with a neat line-up of labels worth trying. Shichiken Yama-no-Kasumi ($98), in particular, is a cloudy sparkling sake that tastes crisp, clean, and oh-so-easy to enjoy. Fruity notes come lifted by mild carbonation from the secondary fermentation present, resulting in a refreshing sip between mouthfuls of umami-laden food.
Skewers of firefly squid ($6) and Iberico pork ($7) make for a nice appetiser, while frog leg karaage ($28) comes crusted in an addictive batter. Also worth an order: otoro ($26), which comes diced and mixed with tobiko, sakura floss and ebi to yield a creamy, briny mash. To enjoy, scoop up spoonfuls into a sheet of seaweed, or shiso leaf, and turn the dish into a DIY handroll.
Heartier mains might feature the seared scallop porridge ($26), velvety-smooth uni and jellyfish risotto studded with seaweed crackers; and the signature sea cucumber duck confit ($38). A labour of love, tiger sea cucumber is first simmered for over 12 hours in a lip-smacking ginger-shoyu broth till tender, then paired with a leg of duck, slow-cooked for 16 hours till fork-tender.
