It’s easy to pass this shop without noticing it, but your nose will definitely not miss the smell of torched mentaiko wafting from this small little kitchen.

On its wall brightly proclaim “an underground torching project” and rightly so, as you see each bowl being torched like clockwork in an assembly-line fashion. Although the queues look awfully long during lunchtimes, don’t be deterred by it. It’s worth the wait. Plus, you can entertain your time by watching the ladies torch each dish as you wait 🔥

I got the Honey Glazed Tofu bowl ($4.90 for SMU students/staff, and $5.90 for the public) with Cha Soba tossed in wafu dressing. All bowls come topped with sous-vide egg, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and pickles - but you get to choose your protein and base. For the whole of this week, they are throwing in free mentaiko sauce for each bowl as well!

Overall, I’m pretty impressed. The tofu is glazed just right with the right amount of sweetness, which remaining soft (not overcooked like the ones you might find at The Daily Cut). The Cha Soba is silky and not too al dente, and well paired with the dressing. And the mentaiko sauce rocked the dish.

P.S. The portions are slightly small, so bigger eaters might want to upsize their protein/base.