Acacia Modern Japanese Dining

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Located in a modern arcade area in Gordon, offers both an indoor and outdoor area for you to sit. Upon walking past, we were struck by their menu 'sets', which were only available during lunch. We walked in to see assorted Japanese accessories along the walls (e.g. paper fans, sake bottles), with the seats comfortably cushioned and bamboo placemats and paper napkins laid out on tables. The large window from top to bottom takes up one side of the restaurant and overlooks the carpark next to the station. Although this isn't particularly scenic, we can't blame the restaurant for its view.



Being lunchtime on a lazy Saturday, there wasn't a lot of people in there, which made the relaxing dining experience more peaceful. While quietly flipping through our menu , I was mesmerised by the slow Japanese oriental music playing in the background.



Before being served our meal, we were first given a bowl of Edamame beans. I personally struggled to eat these, as you're not supposed to chew on them. You're supposed to squeeze the beans into your mouth, but not the pod. Needless to say, I left them for my two other friends to devour. Learning from my unsuccessful attempt, I at least know now that they're apparently very healthy for you.



We did however have to wait for about half an hour for our food. This was probably because we could only see two chefs in their modern open- kitchen. Nevertheless, I seemed to be the only impatient one who couldn't pacify my innate desire to eat, despite the very tranquil background music.

My friend ordered a special lunch set of 'grilled salmon backstrap' ($14.90). It came with steamed rice, miso soup , pickles, salad and Japanese green tea. It was very generous of them to give the tea out in a small pot, rather than simply a cup! From where I was sitting, I could immediately smell the aroma of the tea (for drinks menu, click here ). That was the moment that I realised I should've ordered some tea too, instead of simply drinking water!

She said that the highlight of the dish was definitely the bags and bags of different flavours in the salmon. Despite my constant refusal to try some as I'm not a fan of seafood, she decided to cut me a small piece. I have to admit, it was pretty good! The mixture of the different types of rice wines and sakes made me question why I don't like seafood sometimes. Her only complaint, though, was that she was riddled with the amount of bones she had to pick through, but I guess it wasn't really the restaurant's fault for using that particular part of the fish (It did mention on the menu which part it was).



My other friend had a teriyaki chicken set ($13.90), which also came with the steamed rice, salad, miso soup and pickles (but unfortunately, no green tea). He demolished it within 5 minutes, then said that the generous amount of honey and soy sauce were the highlights. I stole a piece of his chicken, and I have to say, that sauce made my plain rice very tasty! Needless to say, I stole his leftover teriyaki sauce.



I should mention that during the course of our meal, the one and only waiter in the restaurant kept coming back to to check on us. She was very polite and always had a smile on her face, which definitely contributed to our overall experience.



I had a tonkatsu pork loin set ($16.90), which also came with pickles, salad, miso soup and steamed rice. Although a little bit salty for my palette, the crunchy breadcrumbs in combination with the succulent pork loin were the definite heroes of the dish.



Acacia also offers a Happy Hour Dinner Set Menu on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday between 5.45-6.45pm. Be mindful that their 'normal' dinner menus are more expensive, as this restaurant aims to provide you with a fine-dining experience.

Overall, Acacia served us generous amount of food, to the extreme that I needed a 6 hour gap between that lunch and my subsequent dinner. When we were walking out of Acacia, to our great surprise, the owner and chef of the restaurant, came out and gave us all handshakes. That is the first time this has ever happened to me! It's rare to see restaurants so dedicated to customer service, and I definitely think Acacia has delivered very well.

#dinner
#gordon
#japanese_restaurants
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