It’s not often that you find foie gras on chawanmushi, but that’s just how they roll at Nomiya Izakaya & Sake Bar. This restaurant sits on Trengganu Street in Chinatown – by all means a busy street, but not where you’d expect to find a small shopfront to a Japanese izakaya.
Opened in 2021 as a passion project, Nomiya serves up well-executed dishes with a distinctly playful and creative flair. Take the ikura negitoro pie tee ($17 for two), which piles red caviar and cubes of raw tuna into delicate pie tee tart shells. Add a dollop of wasabi cream cheese, and you’ve got a pleasant interplay of textures and flavours in one neat package. Another favourite on Nomiya’s list of small plates is the oysters tempura with citrus curd ($16 for two pieces). Encased in a light tempura batter, the oysters stay impressively sweet and juicy – complemented perfectly by the house-made zesty citrus curd.
At first glance, a couple of dishes come off gimmicky – but we’re glad to say they were backed up by phenomenal taste. The foie gras chawanmushi ($18) is a tad pricey, but you do get a hefty slice of liver pan-fried to perfection. Dig into the chawanmushi and you’ll run into more surprises, including chunks of camembert cheese. The gold dust charcoal chicken ($13) wasn’t just pretty either – the batter had a hint of smokiness, and the chicken inside was moist and well-seasoned.
What’s an izakaya without skewers? Nomiya has a decent selection of the usuals, like chicken meatballs, thighs and gizzards; as well as seafood and vegetable skewers. A clear standout was the miso-glazed butabara pork (pork belly) ($12). It came with a nice char, a good balance of melting fat and firm meat, brightened by slivers of pickled apple.
You can try all this and more with Nomiya’s lunch sets and signature dinner sets. The former includes three kinds of appetisers, while the signature sets are helpfully priced for groups of two, three, four, or five people. These menus offer a highlight of Nomiya’s best across its small plates, sharing plates, skewers, and rice or udon bowls.
Dining is about the experience too, and Nomiya has got the whole package. Strike up a conversation with the warm and knowledgeable staff, who seem genuinely delighted to elaborate on your dishes and provide sake pairing recommendations. Music lovers will appreciate the playlist too – expect smooth deep house cuts at night, and mellower, cheerier tunes to suit the daytime mood during lunch.
For more information about Nomiya and its menu, sets, and happy hour, head to nomiya.sg.