The very dramatically presented soft shelled crab maki at HY California
Wanting to catch a light bite while at the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Conference Centre, I went in search of Hide Yamamoto’s HY California sushi bar. The mall is absolutely enormous, and very poorly signaged (it didn’t help that the interactive shopping guides were all out of order) so it took us a while to find the sushi bar, which is outside the mall, facing the marina.
Tuna and squid sashimi
HY California really functions as a bar, that happens to serve sushi for you to snack on while you drink. Kind of cool, reminds me of a rainy day my friends and I spent holed up in a robotayaki in Tokyo, where we basically sat and drank sake all day, with food ordered and served from the grill as and when we wanted.
The very friendly sushi chef behind the counter who took our order had just arrived from Japan, didn’t speak very much English, nor was he familiar with the menu. We ordered with another chef and shortly after, our dishes started arriving.
California roll
The menu is limited, but as I always say, a short menu usually means that what they offer, they do well. Nothing fancy, and we ordered our “standard” sushi – soft shelled crab maki, tuna sashimi, spicy tuna rolls. Everything was fresh and delicious, although the rolls could have had a bit more firmness so the journey from plate to mouth wasn’t as messy (and my chopstick skills are pretty good!).
Tuna and avocado maki
I know this isn’t Yamamoto’s flagship restaurant – it’s casual dining, but it’s not at all what I expected, and the whole American rock feel of the place seemed to clash rather than complement the traditional sushi counter. Would I go back again ? Not really sure. There are certainly other places I would much rather go to, but around the Marina area, I guess if I wanted a fresh and quick sushi hit.
HY California
Bay Level, L1-86
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
Tel: 6688 7426
Food is my happy place 
September 18th, 2011 at 6:12 am
That tuna looks awesome. But I do hate restaurants that are too loud. Or does American rock mean something else?
September 18th, 2011 at 11:09 am
Nope you got it right – very loud hard rock. Might be someone else’s bag but not mine. Kinda ruined it for me.
September 18th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
Wow that first photo is indeed dramatic, my first reaction was WOW!