Ministry of Food

There seems to be an increasing popularity among the commercial outlets to adopt “Ministry” in their business name. For instance, we have Ministry of Sound and now we have Ministry of Food. Do not confuse them with the conventional Ministry that we know. You will not be able to find any Minister or public policy papers in either Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Food

Ministry of Food introduces fusion Japanese food where the ingredients may be Japanese but the way of cooking is Western or where the ingredients are more commonly found in Western cuisine but cooked in Japanese style. The décor of the restaurant is more contemporary where it is difficult for me to pinpoint to a specific culture or region.

For the traditional Japanese food cooked in a non-Japanese style, I have tried out the hot stone Unagi rice under my friend’s recommendation. Grilled Unagi is cut into small pieces and mixed with the rice in a hot stone pot. When it is served, the teriyaki sauce is added to the rice and the crew will blend the sauce into the rice on the spot. There is a sizzling sound, followed by waft of barbecue aroma. The rice is scalding hot and has to be periodically stirred with a wooden spade to reduce the burnt rice at the bottom of the pot. It is almost like eating the traditional claypot rice that we are all familiar with.

We have also shared an avocado, tofu and melon seed salad. The salad dressing is made from wasabi. It is slightly refreshing from the other salads that we have had. For dessert section, there is a variety ranging from traditional Japanese dessert, like rice cakes, rice dumplings to again fusion, such as ice-cream with sweet potato or green tea ice-cream served in red bean soup with dumpling. One of my friends ordered the oven-baked Japanese rice dumpling served with red bean paste. The chef has even made it into a heart shape for us. This drew many wows from us and delighted the chef and the crew.

The crew was warm and obliging, especially when we have asked them to help us take a group photo. She has even gone the extra mile to ensure that there were no other people captured in the backdrop. Just before the shot was taken, she has to fire orders to the other staffs to move away. She also did not complain and help us take 3 shots – 1 with flash, 1 without flash and another back-up.

It was certainly a great place to spend a Saturday afternoon with friends.