Izakaya 95

The Japanese version of Spanish tapas has to be izakaya­style dining, small­ plates best washed down with a cold beer (or a hot sake). It’s this that’s on offer at Izakaya 95, one of the new crop of restaurants popping up in The Punggol Settlement down Punggol Point Road. It’s a bonus that this part of Singapore is one of the city’s most beautiful, with great sea views and bucolic parklands to wander through. It’s hungry work, all that relaxing outdoor recreation, so why not reserve yourself a spot at Izakaya 95 the next time you make a day of it?

The centrepiece of any Japanese izakaya restaurant in Singapore or elsewhere is the charcoal grill (or grills) used by the chefs to cook meat, fish, and vegetables – often handily skewered – to perfection. Here at The Punggol Settlement’s Izakaya 95, traditional items like grilled tori negi, Kagoshima buta, hotate and engiri king mushroom are just some of the tastes you can savour. This bar and restaurant down Punggol Point Road also boasts a sophisticated selection of drinks, mandatory escort to the Japanese dishes available from the menu.

A small sample from Izakaya 95’s drinks menu includes a range of premium Suntory beers and whiskies, aged Yamazaki whiskies, and Japanese sake and shochu. There’s no better way to indulge in this Singapore Japanese restaurant’s offering than with one of these liquid bad boys. Actually, there is: out on the terrace on the second level of The Punggol Settlement, looking out over the water. Ranking high among the many Asian eateries down Punggol Point Road, Izakaya 95 is winning us over.