Shoya is my go to ‘special occasions’ restaurant. I love coming here for their lunch sets because firstly it’s absolutely delicious but secondly it’s the only option I can afford at Shoya :P
This was my second time coming by and this time I tried a different lunch set called ‘UME’ including dessert which was a total of $32. You can access their menu by clicking here and there are approximately 7 options.
The meal began with complimentary Japanese style pickles and the first small dish was the Japanese egg custard (1). The custard has a silken tofu type texture – extremely soft , creamy and smooth. I finished it so quickly! The pickles were also really nice – wish I could have had unlimited pickles so I could have eaten it all throughout the meal #theywerethatgood.
I love sashimi(2) so much and the standard of preparing fish at Shoya is quite high. They have a chef preparing the sashimi in front of you (if you’re seated at the stool area). This scallop was hands down the best scallop I’ve ever had. No joke! Super soft and fresh – I honestly haven’t had the luxury of having scallop prepared for me like this before and it was so good. After we received the sashimi we started getting our other dishes out around the same time. I did want them to slow down because I knew the food was going to start getting cold but I guess since it’s a reserved lunch set/time they needed to push out the food.
In the ‘UME’ set they offer ‘seasonal grilled fish (3)‘ as part of the set and I was so pleasantly surprised when eel came out. I was hoping and hoping and hoping it would be eel but I didn’t want to get my hopes up (last time I didn’t get eel!). It was so delicious – I love eel! The sides of mushroom was flavoursome and a nice addition to it too. 
This was the tempura (4) (soy dipping sauce) which came with prawn and some vegetables. Nothing much to say but the batter was good and crispy. 
Our table was just full of food food, glorious food!
At this point I was getting SO stuffed but everything was tasting so delicious. This came out together and it was the teriyaki beef (5), steamed rice (6) and miso soup (7). The beef was cooked perfectly – very soft and tender and the taste was strong but matched the nice subtle flavours of the mixed steam rice. Nothing out of the ordinary for the miso soup but I just love the miso flavours of any miso soup so I was happy.
Anddddd last BUT NOT LEAST, DESSERT! We’re given the option of vanilla, black sesame or green tea icecream (8). My favourite ice cream flavour has been green tea for awhile now so of course I went with the green tea option! It was delish – great way to end the meal.
I was so full by the end of the meal but it was great. I highly recommend going to Shoya for a special occasion if you’re looking for something cheaper than fine dining yet still nice. The food is delicious and you’ll definitely be full by the end of it! There are quite a lot of different lunch options so if you’re a big eater choose the UME option (I think that has the most food!). Make sure you create a reservation – this is something you can conveniently do online and they’ll email you back a confirmation notice. The cheapest lunch set is $24.80.
TANGERTALKS 