Irodori Japanese Restaurant: Ikoi or Irodori?

The boyfriend's birthday was on a weekday and we decided to have the celebration on Sunday instead. Didn't manage to make a reservation for Ikoi so I suggested Irodori instead. Situated at River View Hotel directly opposite Miramar Hotel (which is where Ikoi is), Irodori seems like an attractive alternative so I made a reservation for the ala carte buffet dinner.

The selection at Irodori was definitely more extensive than that in Ikoi. They have a wider spread of food items and more variety for selection. We studied the menu happily for a long while and drew up a long list of the items we wanted.

Both of us are avid fans of dobin mushi (seafood teapot soup). We like how the soup tastes clear, refreshing with the sweet essence of fresh seafood. The dobin mushi at Irodori was really awesome! We had numerous pots and the fantastic thing about Irodori is that the Dobin Mushi here is free flow! In comparison, Ikoi's Dobin Mushi was a complimentary dish so each couple only had a pot to themselves.

A must at all Japanese Buffet: Salmon Sashimi. This was our first order and it was splendid. Thick juicy and very fresh. The cuts were good and the sashimi was really sweet. However, our second order of salmon sashimi was disappointing. The cuts were quite poor and the sashimi slices were still attached to each other at the end because the sashimi was not cleanly cut.

The king prawns were complimentary and was nice! Fresh, well-grilled and very juicy.

The tempura was decent. It was not completely mind-blowing but it was not pathetic either. The batter was good and the tempura was crispy.

Buta enoki which refers to pork wrapped around a bunch of golden mushrooms. I have to confess, I am an ardent fan of mushrooms and I am particularly fond of golden mushrooms because they are just so crunchy. This dish was fabulous. I love the crunchy golden mushrooms within a layer of grilled juicy meat.

Mushrooms fried in butter and bacon cocktail. The mushrooms fried in butter consisted of a large portion of golden mushrooms and very little shitake mushrooms. The butter sauce was not too oily nor greasy which was a plus. The bacon cocktail was really average. Nothing much to say about it.

This was supposedly California maki but somehow it did not taste like california maki at all. But anyway, this was pretty decent and if it was a wrong order, we are glad to have it.

Speaking of wrong orders, Irodori got our orders mixed up a couple of times. Our first batch of orders came quickly and accurately without a glitch and we received all that we ordered. However, our second batch of orders became a bit of a problem. We received 4 chawanmushi instead of 2, our orders went missing, and after waiting for a really long time, some of our orders from the second batch simply refused to materialize. So we called for the bill and left.

Between Ikoi and Irodori, I like the wider selection of food in Irodori but I enjoy Ikoi's consistency and ability to deliver. Irodori seemed unable to handle a large crowd and when the room started to fill up, our orders started to get messed up too.

#03-01 River View Hotel