Located at the ground floor of Mirama Hotel, Havelock Road, Ikoi is a Japanese restaurant that serves pretty good Japanese food. Their Japanese buffet which is on promotion currently (and at the moment indefinitely) is not self serve, which means that the food you get is freshly prepared when you order them. The buffet has a very wide spread. Besides sashimi, sushi, makis, temakis, they have dons, udons, sobas, and a whole list of around 10 different types of tempuras. There are more types of Japanese food served than just this, but I cannot remember them.
The sashimi cuts are generous, around 0.3cm thick, while the sushi version I ordered had little rice, which is good, since it does not fill me up so quickly. The seaweed is crunchy for both the makis and temakis which I ordered and makes an unmistakable sound each bite. Of course, the seaweed is not that crispy till it breaks while being held.
The buffet came with a few complementary dishes, I remember the few pieces of sashimi for starters, the soup and the salmon fishhead. Not all of these dishes are offered as part of the buffet menu, though.
The tempuras are also pretty good, as they do not feel or look too oily, and are very crispy. The sauce that is served with is also hot, so it does not cool down the tempura when you dip them in. Surprisingly, even after I drenched one of the ebi tempuras in the sauce, it was still rather crispy.
The portions for rice or noodles for the buffet are small, however, so note that if you are a big eater. Green tea is free flow, but any other drinks that you order will be charged to your bill on top of the buffet.
My experience with the service is pretty good. Staff are fluent with mandarin and english, and are quite attentive, and courteous. Serving time is short, around 5mins on the average, although it was full house when I was there. The manager is also very friendly and a bit chatty.
On the whole a rather good experience at the restaurant, and I would recommend going there if you like Japanese food. Note however that the restaurant is not very big, and so is full most of the time on weekends. Book a few days in advance to be sure of getting a place (no. +65 6887 3788). Buffet is available everyday at $33 per person, and $20 for childern below 10, before taxes. Last order is at 2204hrs.