Sel Z.
Yelp
Chotto Matte is an upscale and modern restaurant serving Peruvian-Japanese fusion (Nikkei) cuisine. One of the best things about this restaurant is the vibe and ambience - great upbeat music, lively atmosphere, classy vibe, and nice entertainment (e.g. ribbon gymnast dressed in a jungle animal suit, fire eater / performer, etc.). Interior décor is beautiful and colourful. The food is also excellent.
The menu is divided into tasting menu (usually several dishes per person, with meat and vegetarian options) and a la carte. The "Jungle Brunch" on weekends consists of a set tasting menu. We opted for the a la carte to get more variety of items from the full menu, and it did not disappoint! All of the dishes are tapa-sized, which is perfect for sharing and trying lots of different things. I found a lot of the dishes to be unique and stay true to the Nikkei essence, especially the combination of ingredients and flavours. The presentation of the dishes and plating are definitely Instagram-worthy. All the dishes are colourful and presented & arranged so nicely.
The service is top-notch. Right from the moment you walk into the door and greeted by the host, to being seated, ordering, and having a whole dining experience, all the staff took really good care of us. The server asked us if it was our first time there, and explained the menu. They were able to modify some dishes and ingredients (e.g. made everything non-spicy), and were very accommodating. The dishes came out in rapid successions. My favourites were the Black Cod Aji Miso, Wood Fired Bok Choy, Arroz Chaufa, and Nasu Miso.
The 12 tapa-style dishes that we ordered:
- Jungle Salad (green papaya, mango, daikon, red onion, pomegranate, cashews, seaweed, furikake, yellow chilli dressing): Light and refreshing salad, love the seaweed addition
- Tuna Crispy Rice Sushi (tuna tartare on crispy rice, with scallions and Peruvian chilli): Super crispy rice!
- Nikkei Yellowtail Sashimi (yellowtail fish, cherry tomatoes, jalapeño, cilantro, yuzu truffle soy): Quite flavourful, but a bit heavy on the soy sauce
- King Oyster Mushrooms Tostadas (pulled oyster mushrooms, smoked aji panca chili, guacamole, lime, and cilantro on crispy corn tostadas): Spicy!
- Nasu Miso (eggplant, apricots, puffed soba, sesame seeds, miso seasoning): The eggplant and apricots combination is unique but works very well.
- Wood Fired Bok Choy (with pomegranates, ginger, garlic soy): Great complement to all the other dishes
- Black Cod Aji Miso (with chili miso marinade, yuzu, chives): My FAVOURITE dish! Crispy grill char and nice tender black cod fish (one of my favourite fish).
- Amazonian BBQ Salmon (with goji berries, pecan nuts, cilantro, jungle curry, and smoked purple potato purée): If you don't like BBQ sauce (too sweet), you won't like this. The "jungle curry" tastes like BBQ sauce.
- Tentáculos de Pulpo (grilled octopus with yuzu and purple potato purée): Not a big fan of the sauce, but the octopus itself is ok.
- Arroz Chaufa (Peruvian egg fried rice with shrimps, vegetables, sesame soy): Another one of my favourite dishes that I tried. Not oily at all, great taste without being overly salty. I wish they added more peas and corn mixed in with the rice.
- Smoked Purple Potato Mash (apple wood smoked purple potato purée): Compared to the truffled version, the one with truffle is way better.
- Truffled Purple Potato Mash (apple wood smoked purple potato purée with black truffle): You can really taste the black truffle in this one.