In Johor Bahru’s Taman Pelangi, the discreet brickwork entrance of Binchotan has been a mainstay of the row of shophouses it inhabits, ever since the omakase restaurant first debuted four years ago. And despite its inception as the pandemic was raging on, it has cultivated a strong following, spawning even more omakase restaurants in the city with burgeoning tastebuds for omakase dining.
Now, with the benefit of time, Binchotan celebrates its second growth with an evolution to its menu. Here, cooking techniques still rely on the fine Japanese charcoal from where it draws its name, but surges on a crescendo of culinary theatre to raise the roof on the city’s omakase dining scene.
For Binchotan’s founder and owner Ben Yeoh, the restaurant represents his own journey as a gastronome, having travelled the world seeking out exceptional dining experiences. He lists his favourite dining rooms as Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV at Monte Carlo’s Hôtel de Paris, Paris’ Guiy Savoy, and Tokyo’s Wagyumafia, reflecting the diversity of his palate. In Binchotan, that worldly wisdom is manifested in his penchant for Hermès plateware and crystalware, Laguiole silverware, and Legle stackers, as well as a stellar wine list that includes many of Bordeaux’s premier crus and top sakes such as the Juyondai Tatsuno Otoshigo.
View more photos of the staff in action
The restaurant’s mood-inducing ambience of sienna-clad walls, marbled and wood counters, and ethereal lighting leads to an unmissable focus to the preparation and presentation of each omakase course. At the marbled and granite live kitchen behind of the counters, one sees 30-year-old executive chef Jordan Alexis Yap and his kitchen team working on an inventive omakase menu featuring deep, rich flavours and creative showmanship.
“Our aim is to fuse Japanese ingredients with equatorial produce,” says Yap, who describes himself as a ‘wildcard’ entrant in the culinary scene. “We look to combine the subtle nuances of Japanese cuisine with vibrant flavours of the equatorial region.” Twice-a-week freshly flown ingredients (Tuesdays and Fridays) allows for in-house dry aging to intensify textures by drawing out moisture and develop flavours.
Thus, the menu kicks off with a trio comprising a beetroot tart with cubed sashimi topped with piquant edible flowers; a moon biscuit filled with negitoro and shishito peppers on a dollop of binchotan cream for extra smoke; and a French butter-composed wafer filled with monkfish liver, foie gras mousse, and fruits for that interplay of flavours, textures and aromas.
Next comes the akami, chutoro and otoro, offering a sensory study of lean, medium and fatty tuna cuts. This sashimi course is accented with edible flowers, creamy uni, caviar, autumn Alba truffles and oyster shoyu to ramp up the umami factor. Up next is karasumi (cured fish roe) shaved onto a saba (mackerel)—torched to release its natural oils—with an accompanying negi (chive) and sweetened vinegar sauce.
The woody, smoky flavours of binchotan is then conferred onto the grilled yellowtail on torched ginger flower sauce, with a tuile of nori and French butter to add crunch, and caviar rounding off the sea essences.
With each and every course, Yap transmits a sense of anticipation—the key ingredient in dining—with his measured and intense preparation. The black Japanese abalone (kuro awabi) is braised in a recipe (that he demurs on revealing) and is expertly sliced, presented with a hearty sauce made of liver and shoyu.
The Irish smoked duck then comes with a wild berry sauce, sesame seeds and smoked cream, presented on a grill of binchotan. Meanwhile, the jumbo carabinero—the largest prawns in the world—are carefully smoked on the binchotan, before it is plated on a bed of Japanese cucumbers with its roe or milt turned into a sauce garnished with yuzu.
At Binchotan, the enigma of the restaurant is in how all senses are charged, from the upbeat music to the sizzle of the grill and aromatic binchotan. As the meal reaches its conclusion, memories of the meal will play over, a gastronomic highlight reel until the next visit.
For this Valentine’s Day, Binchotan is rolling out two special menus RM588++ and RM988++ featuring a compilation of their greatest hits together with special Valentine’s desserts for only two days (Feb 13 and Feb 14).
Photography by Anna Rina