Is it cooking? Or is it like assembling. There’s a bit of show in every Japanese restaurant in Singapore and Kemuru – which we visited last week - is no different. Slicing fish with a half meter long knife looks impressive but is that cooking? And is it worth the exorbitant prices charged? No. 

Don’t get me wrong, I like Japanese food, but more the style from ‘Midnight Diner’ or as described in the works of Murakami; simple with good, local ingredients, prepared at home with little meat, maybe some fish from the local market and lots of nearby grown vegetables. 

I know restaurants do their utmost to get fresh ingredients but flying in food is expensive, not environmentally friendly and the food has been under way for quite a trip; from the boat in a harbour in Japan to the quay, then on a small lorry, to the market, on a bigger lorry, to a warehouse, on a different lorry and then to the airport. In Singapore it is unloaded from the plane and undergoes a reverse voyage. Is that fresh? And is it kept in tiptop condition with every step of the journey? Your guess is as good as mine, but to me fresh food is served or prepared close to the location where the fish, meat or produce is caught, slaughtered or harvested within an hour drive.