Rice

With its exponentially growing fame, I can see why this joint is popular with young people. At just $17, you’re looking at a substantial portion of smoky aburi salmon cubes and hotate slices topped with truffle atop a bed of seasoned Japanese pearl rice.

Albeit not the freshest sashimi I’ve ever had, but one thing’s for sure is this place is big on VALUE, which really appeals to the endless stream of students and youngsters in Holland V. In addition, we used #BurppleBeyond to get 1-for-1 main dishes here as well, which means $17 for TWO of such dons! Crazy worth it or what?

Take my moneys$s$! Substantial amount of tender pork belly, crunchy nori cracker, runny onsen egg and vegetables on top of well-cooked pearl rice, all for just $5.80. Though a little on the sweet side for me, the black sweet vinegar sauce is interesting - tastes like Apple cider vinegar in gravy form. Not a fan of pork belly, but enthusiasts should definitely consider a trip to the West here. Run by a young hawker duo, do check them out to support budding talents!

Sorry can I just say that I almost stopped, dropped and rolled when I put the first spoon of this dish into my mouth because this was perfection, PERFECTION, encapsulated in a deceptively simple rice bowl. The chicken came in a generous portion, and each piece was so freaking tender and flavourfully doused in that herby, chilli-flakey marinate which lended it a smokey flavour to compliment the sticky white rice underneath. As if that weren’t umami enough, you still had that runny souse vide egg to top it all off (even though the chicken itself had won me over already). Ahh, I just had a rather full lunch but I could really eat a bowl of this right now.

Generous amounts of raw salmon slices torched to a mid-rare char. Rice was vinegary and went well with the liberal amounts of tobiko and ikura, which provided a nice mouthfeel to the entire dish. For ~$14 for a bowl, this is good value for money! Come during lunchtime for their set meal as well, as it comes with complimentary karage (fried chicken) and hot green tea.

Finally got to try the Salmon Mentai Don ($10 for regular size) after hearing so much about this place. Salmon sashimi slices were torched and charred to perfection, which worked in tandem with the creamy yet slightly spicy dollop of mentaiko sauce atop. The Japanese rice here was commendable too — vinegary enough to cut through the heaviness of the other ingredients without being too acidic. For $10, the quality that one gets for this dish here is definitely a steal! Can't wait to be back to try out their other offerings (their maki's maybe?)!