When I was working at Raffles Place before, Yomenya Goemon at Marina Bay Link Mall was one of my favourite places to have lunch. Since a colleague greatly recommended me this place, it has become the only spaghetti house I go to now whenever I need a pasta fix.
Yomenya Goemon opened its doors in Shibuya, Japan in the 70s and is one of the top spaghetti houses in Japan today. The secret to their success probably lies in their ingredients which they claim to be imported from Italy so customers get to taste authentic Italian cuisine with a East-meets-West (or Japan-meets-Italy) fusion twist. The end result? Tasty plates of spaghetti with unforgettable sauces and the freshest ingredients ever.
I have eaten at Yomenya Goemon countless times and their quality has been consistent so far which is truly commendable.
If you pick their Regular, Large or Dessert set meals, you can help yourself to the salad bar. Basically, the service staff will just hand you a bowl and you can just fill with whatever you want from what’s available at the salad bar. Do note only one serving of salad per set meal is allowed so you can’t go back for seconds. I have seen people piling ingredients as high as possible on their bowls to make it all worthwhile so you just got to try that and see how high you can go. The variety of ingredients is not huge but some notable items to get would be the lychees and silken tofu that really lends some sweetness and smoothness respectively to the salad. Their sesame dressing is a must-try!
If I’m not wrong, not every outlet has a salad bar. I recalled the outlets at Changi City Point and Marina Bay Link Mall have the salad bar but not the Citylink Mall one so it’s good to call and check if you’re going to their other outlets.
This time round, I opted for their Half & Half Set A (S$20) which consists of a Tomato Sauce with Basil & Mozzarella Spaghetti, Cream Sauce Spaghetti with Crab, Shrimp & Scallops, soup, soft drink or dessert. Their half & half sets merely mean you can try 2 selected types of spaghetti at one time. Unfortunately, the choices of spaghetti are fixed for the half & half’s so you can’t pick from the ala-carte menu.
I’m normally not a big fan of tomato based spaghetti but this Tomato Sauce with Basil & Mozzarella Spaghetti is pretty good. The taste of the tomato sauce is not overpowering and the dish is pleasantly balanced by the sharpness of the cheese and aromatic basil. Even though it doesn’t have much ingredients in it, the sauce makes it very palatable.
This Cream Sauce Spaghetti with Crab, Shrimp & Scallop is definitely a clear winner for me and is my all time must-order spaghetti. The sauce has a lovely creamy consistency and is not overly starchy. The shrimps are cooked to perfection, all fresh with a crunch. The mushrooms are tender with no strong earthy odour. The shredded bits of scallop and crab meat add so much flavour to the dish, this is almost like a mini seafood paradise all on one plate. Fresh ingredients, generous portion, pasta cooked to al dente, tasty sauce. Truly a well executed dish.
I almost forgot to mention, spaghetti is slurped with chopsticks here. No forks, folks!
Yomenya Goemon Japanese Spaghetti House
Marina Bay Link Mall, Marina Bay Financial Center
8A Marina Boulevard, #B2-03
Tel: 6509 4670
Website: http://yomenya-goemon.com.sg