No two meals at Terra are exactly the same. The signature uni pasta is a mainstay, but leave the rest to chef-founder Seita Nakahara and his trusted protégé head chef Melvin Chou to curate a unique Japanese-Italian experience based on the season’s freshest ingredients.
In true omakase fashion, the four-to-five-course menus (from $98) are determined by what’s available each day. For instance, the cooler months of autumn and winter see fattier catches like kue (longtooth grouper), ise ebi (spiny lobster), fugu (pufferfish), and from the forest, harvests of chestnuts, porcini, and Matsutake mushrooms.
Produce is paramount for any one-Michelin-star restaurant and Terra has steadily retained theirs for three years now. Nakara makes it a point to travel to Japan frequently, establishing close relationships with suppliers to get the best of the best. While ingredients are predominantly sourced from Japan, the execution of the dishes takes reference from both Japanese and Italian traditions, thanks to Nakahara’s wealth of experience across kitchens from Tokyo to Tuscany.
On the $128 lunch menu, burrata from Puglia, Italy and Proscuitto start us off, followed by one of Terra’s highlights: the bruschetta. The crisp slice comes topped with briny, marinated nishin (herring), complemented with herbed yogurt and ikura. Next, Ehime Madai carpaccio is paired with salsa verde, except that green chillies are swapped out for Japanese shiso to retain the usual green tinge of the salsa but with an added herby note.
Terra’s sea urchin pasta remains a favourite – think a reimagined carbonara where luscious Hokkaido uni replaces the creaminess of egg yolk, while karasumi (salted mullet roe) stands in for pecorino.
An ever-evolving daily menu can pose quite the challenge for any sommelier, and more so because Terra does pairings for each dish on the menu. But not for Head Sommelier Daisuke Shibuya, who is quick on his feet to suggest suitable pairings ($158) ranging from small-batch niche wines across Japan, to rare sake labels like the Junmai Daiginjo ‘MiROC’ from Shizuoka.