HY California By Hide Yamamoto

Maybe this should be 2.5 stars.
I like the different types of sushi available — e.g. Singapore roll, Kentucky roll, Texas roll… and the hardly seen dynamite roll and Alaska roll outside of North America.
Service was meh. It could be better, the staff was perfunctory, with no initiative to make it better for customers.
So I ordered the Rock n roll combo. it stated 6 types of sushi with two different pricing for size — 9 pieces and 18 pieces. Maybe it was my mistake also for not checking before ordering, but I assumed I would get at least 6 different choices with the 9 pieces combo. It turned out only the first 3 types of sushi stated would be served for the 9 pieces and you only get all 6 types of sushi when you ordered the 18 pieces. When I told the server my assumption and that I really wanted to try the Singapore roll, he just stood there and did not offer to either replace one of the sushi or suggest an «add-​on». Maybe I just have a higher expectation of service for a «celebrity» restaurant.
And after reading fellow Unilocalers’ reviews of no tap water being served, I ordered iced green tea ($ 7++! quite pricey in such a place). Nobody came by to top up the tea and it was only after I asked for the bill and signed the credit card slip then was I asked if I would like to have my iced green tea topped up.
The food was unmemorable with the sushi I received — California roll, spicy tuna (chili sauce masked the taste of tuna) and salmon avocado. The mini chirashi was also quite ho-​hum. The portion was really tiny and only good for tasting which was a good size for me since I only wanted to taste it and the sushi.
If you are hungry and on a budget, do not dine here. I spent over $ 40 for mediocre and not very filling food.
I would still want to give it another try, just to order the not so common sushi roll here. Maybe those would be better.

Went here for lunch once and like it. Came back tonight for dinner with our 5 year old.
We asked for «tap water», but that did not go over well with our server. She mumbled something about the restaurant «conserving water» so we had to buy a small bottle of Fiji for $ 6 or San Pelogrino for $ 8. Was our server on commission?
We put in our order at 7:41 for two sushi rolls. By 8:15 they still had not arrived. I asked the proprietor if our order would be ready in five minutes, and if not, to cancel
our order. People that were seated much later than us were already receiving their second order.
We got up and left at 8:20. Good
thing (for them) that the chefs had not even started preparing our two sushi rolls; the proprietor was able to cancel our order.
Was server was disappointed in the small order we put in? And purposely did not deliver it to the sushi chef? Something else about us she didn’t like? Maybe because we had a small child? Order too small? Wanted a cup of tap water?
We gave them $ 10 for our small bottle of Fiji and left without change. The proprietor did apologize profusely. Still, we will not return to HY California.

Und
noch ein Laden dort unten an der frischen Luft der Marina. Irgendwann
macht das Anschauen der vorbeilaufenden Herrschaften Hunger und dann
braucht man Plan S. S steht für Sushi und das ist im HY California
frisch und gut gemacht, wenn auch sündhaft teuer. Die bestellten elf
Stücke schlagen mit 48, S$ (knapp 35, EUR) zu Buche, was etwas zu hoch
angesetzt ist. Zwei mittelmäßige Gläser Wein dazu (Syrah und Chardonnay)
konnten den Preisschock auch nicht wegzaubern, zumal Wein in Singapur
generell sehr teuer ist. Am Ende zahlt man erhebliches Geld wegen einer
sehr schönen Lage, aber das Essen/​Trinken ist diesen finanziellen
Aufwand kaum Wert. Bedienung war immerhin nett und flink und das oben
genannte Ambiente verzeiht dann wiederum ein überhöhtes Presniveau,
zumindest teilweise.

Wow. Considering how impressive Hide Yamamoto’s main ‘celebrity chef’ restaurant was, I have to say I was incredibly disappointed with HY California.
First up, no ice water is served, if you want water it has to be bottled or sparkling. I’m… ambivalent about that. Restaurants reserved the right to do this I suppose, but I’m never really bouyed by being told «we don’t serve ice water».
Food wise, it was spectacularly mediocre. I ordered the Sashimi omakase (5 types), the giant olives with octopus, 3 oysters, the spicy tuna roll, and the tuna roll with shiso leaf. And a mixed plate of tempura. There was nothing to complain about in terms of freshness really. The oysters could have been more fresh, but everything else was okay. Not amazing, but it wasn’t off or anything. The octopus was an odd combination of flavours, almost a little minty, and just a rather peculiar (but not unpleasant) flavour profile. The spicy tuna roll, which was basically a tuna roll topped with their spicy miso was also meh. The roll wasn’t particularly flavourful in and of itself, and the miso tasted like spicy char siew sauce.
The only above average food on the night? The tempura. It was hot, crispy, not overly greasy, generally a well executed plate of tempura. But I’m not a tempura person to begin with, so this didn’t really do it for me.
Cocktails were not bad, I had a Amaretto, Lime, and Midori cocktail that was flavourful, refreshing, and still had a bit of a booze kick. My date’s lychee mojito was also competently done.
So though the restaurant bears HY’s name, I think there’s a HUGE disparity between this place and the fancy joint upstairs.

Sushi rolls are a different creature from regular sushi, I think. They’re colourful, playful and more complex in flavour. And they ought to be. Why pay an arm and a leg for a ball of rice rolled around a sliver of fish and vegetables otherwise?
So how creative did HY-​san get with the sushi rolls here? Not so, in my opinion. I tried the Rainbow Roll and Fantastic Roll and I’ve seen variants of those before in the big sushi franchises.
The more interesting Gourmet rolls are priced between $ 26 and $ 34. I don’t know about you but if I’m paying for premium raw fish, I’d like to taste premium raw fish. I had the Crunchy Toro Roll and I felt that ingredients like chilli, garlic and onion quickly overtake the clean, fresh flavours of the fatty tuna.
Not worth the money.