After an exhausting day of walking all over Singapore and ending up at one end of Orchard Road, I thought I’d head over to Nagano, a Japanese restaurant this time pointed out by Aroma Cookery. Though I walked to Valley Point Shopping Centre, you can circumvent the hills and lengthy walk by a taxi if you want. You will find the Valley Point Shopping Centre at the bottom of a large residential building that appears what I imagine the rest of suburb Singapore to look like away from the crowded touristy streets.

Nagano appears to be quite authentic from the traditional hanging banner at its entrance as well as the standard ‘irrashaimase’ (Welcome to my place!) greeting that staff shouts at you as you enter. This restaurant has a large number of tables, most of which were empty this night but probably because I was having dinner very late. I found staff extremely attentive, continually topping up the complimentary tea as I perused the menu offering a wide variety of great sushi and standard Japanese meals.

In the end I ordered the Katsu Curry Set accompanied by my latest most favourite type of sushi, the Unagi (Eel) one. The sushi arrived first, presented very nicely and accompanied by the standard pickled ginger, wasabi paste and soy sauce. As you can see from the picture, the eel refreshingly overshadowed the rice (the first time I’ve seen that) and was deliciously moist and saucy. If not for the oncoming meal I most definitely could have consumed more of this.

It wasn’t too long before the Katsu Curry set arrived and came on a platter including a Miso soup and a small fruit bowl. The soup was delicious, and filled with cubes of tofu, but I took surprise to the curry actually sitting next to the katsu for once. It at least guaranteed a crispy cutlet. The curry sauce was a little bit more watery than what I am used to but was still flavoursome and cutlet still juicy.

Nagano is a good restaurant to visit if you’re a local but I’m not sure if it is worth making a trip out of your way as a visitor to the island. The sushi is definitely something I could recommend more of, but I am sure there are better places closer to more popular roads. Though I can’t remember exactly how much I paid (I think it was S$9) I was surprised at how cheap it was.

Details: Nagano Japanese Restaurant
Found On: Shop #01-07 Valley Point Shopping Centre, 491 River Valley Road, Singapore
Contactable On: 67332152
Highlights: Authentic Japanese food at great prices. Great service that ensured a continual flow of free steaming hot green tea!
Improvements: Location is a little inconvenient for most visitors, but since it’s a short taxi ride from Orchard Road and taxis are ridiculously cheap, this is not really a big deal.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10