With a craving for all things fried, I decided to try Katsuya recently. Located along Tanjong Katong Road, the Japanese Tonkatsu Specialty Restaurant has a lovely menu that consists of not just the familiar tonkatsu (Hire and Rosu cuts) but also offers Unagi (eel) katsu, dory fish katsu, Japanese wagyu katsu as well as exclusive off-menu items like salmon, hotate (scallop) fry and lamb katsu.

Beautifully done, the soft juicy Salmon Rare ($42/set) Katsu was flakey fresh and quite literally melts as you bite. The batter was perfectly thin and light too. Glistening at the top, two fatty salmon belly pieces were crowned with their homemade tartar sauce and the other two were embellished with wasabi and a fresh squeeze of lemon. The sauce was creamy, and savoury with a slight tanginess; very moreish and complementary. A more refreshing pairing, the salmon pieces with wasabi and lemon were even better after being lightly salted! Note that as with all off-menu items, a pre-order is required!