Japanese

Originating from Japan, this fast-food unagi joint offers affordable, quick, and delicious unagi bowls in the CBD. Featuring freshly char-grilled eel that’s succulent and with a balanced sweet-savory marination. Choose from a single portion ($9.50), double ($14.50), or the tail section - unajyu ($12). They also offer hitsumabushi ($13.50) comprising smaller and slightly more grilled chunks mixed with seaweed and coriander. Enjoy the unagi in 3 ways - original, with wasabi, or with the light dashi soup.

For a more complete meal, add on a value set comprising a small dish (went with onsen egg) and soup ($4) or noodles ($5). Would recommend the unique unagi liver soup - a lightly aromatic broth with savory undertones and subtle earthiness from the liver. For the less adventurous, they offer classic hearty miso soup.

For appetizers, the chawanmushi ($5) was enjoyable smooth egg custard. Unagi tempura ($6) was deep fried to have a crunchy batter encasing soft and juicy unagi. Delicious textural mix but did wish for the better to be slightly thinner.

⚠️ Opening 25 January, enjoy 1-1 Unagi Don on 27 Jan (Fri) for first 100 customers. From 25 Jan - 28 Feb, dine-in customers get a free onsen egg.

📍@unatoto.sg, B1-03, Guoco Tower, 7 Wallich Street, Singapore

Finally beat the crowd and tried this popular 12-seater restaurant serving hearty Japanese dons with complimentary chawanmushi, onsen egg, and miso soup.

The chefs cook the thinly cut US prime beef right in front of you, to one’s preferred doneness. Medium rare was perfectly pink, tender, and chewy, and the slices were coated in a flavourful beef stock. Topped on soft tofu, fluffy pearl rice, and mixed with sweet caramelized onions, earthy mushrooms, and fresh chives.

The bowl is hearty and value-for-money. While it highlights the natural flavours of the beef, we personally wished for richer flavours or a dash of salt/seasoning to the meat. Did enjoy the pairing with their provided chili pepper/ yuzu seasoning.

📍Beef Sukiyaki Don Keisuke, 01-01, Onze @ Tanjong Pagar, Singapore

Tender, melt-in-the-mouth beef with rich savory flavour from the fried garlic chips and truffle caviar, and creamy goodness from an onsen egg.

Super worth it with the 1-1 mains!

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Enjoyable assortment of yummy and fresh sashimi with juicy pops of ikura. That said, did find the pieces on the thinner side and the bowl not as value for money when compared to the other sashimi donburis. The rice had lovely bites of crispy tiny shrimps and crunchy puffed rice with mild truffle undertones but there was a mild bitter undertone that we couldn’t quite place.

Good rendition with tender unagi coated in sweet-savory seasoning. Preferred the rice here for the stronger truffle flavour and added umami from the shredded seaweed.

Original mazesoba ($11.80)
⭐️ 3.5/5 ⭐️
🍴Was craving some dry ramen and this satisfied with the homemade thick and al-dente soba noodles, creamy onsen egg, along with textural mix of ingredients of tender minced meat and crunchy fresh greens. The Kokoro sauce was a tad watered down and could be spicier (found myself adding some chili powder to amp it up) but enjoyed the flavours altogether with added tang from the vinegar. Also appreciated the option of less noodles for more vegetables for a less carb-heavy dish.

Added on the value set for $4.20 that includes a choice of side and drink. Preferred the crispy and juicy karaage over the chef’s special curry croquette (crispy but could do with stronger curry flavour). The genmaicha teabag was quite light and more similar to green tea.

📍@menyakokorosg, 02-10, @100ammall, 100 Tras Street, Singapore

Perfectly grilled to have a crisp top without being too charred, with succulent meat. Hitsumabushi involves 3 methods of eating - 1. eel on its own, 2. add nori, wasabi and green onion, 3. pour in clear dashi. The second method was our personal preference, with the condiments balancing out the sweetness from the caramelization and sauce. Both the dashi and accompanying miso soup were on the lighter side.

Hidden gem in a hawker centre selling affordable chirashi dons and Japanese fare. The non air-conditioned space was comfortable enough, with powerful overhead fans keeping us cool.

Granted you get what you pay for, with the cuts of sashimi average at best - not bad but not the freshest. Among the sashimi, swordfish (yellow tail) and mekajiki (swordfish) were our favourite. The tuna and salmon were a tad stringy, and the octopus slice was tough (although the tentacles in the bara were chewy and enjoyable). We preferred the bara for the greater variety of sashimi and balance with soft tamago and crunchy cucumber, while the inclusion of avocado topped with Mayo in the chirashi seemed to stick out.

The fluffy Japanese rice paired well with the sashimi with its light seasoning of vinegar and mirin. While not the fresh type, enjoyed the wasabi with its strong and good kick.

At nett prices, the generously sized bowls and assortment of sashimi is certainly value-for-money. Worth checking out if in the area!

📍Otoko Ten Ten, Food Village 饮食村, 660A Edgedale Plains, Singapore

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Newly opened Japanese restaurant in Fortune Centre. Enjoyed the variety of fresh and high quality sashimi cuts. Served atop flavourful Japanese rice seasoned with tobiko, truffle, and Sakura-ebi.

We had three variations - gyosen sashimi rice bowl ($25.90), sashimi rice bowl ($18.90), and bara chirashi ($15.90). We found the higher value bowls more worth it for the slightly larger portion of sashimi and higher quality cuts, creamy uni (in gyosen), and fresh wasabi (unlike the mild ‘fake’ one in the bara).

Overall decent bowls worth trying at the current opening promo price (be quick - they mentioned the prices will go up in ~2 weeks time)! While we loved the flavour of the rice, it was a tad mushy and clumpy. The portion of sashimi is on the smaller side so might not be filling enough for larger eaters.

📍@gyosensg, 03-16, 190 Middle Rd, Singapore

Decided to check Mitsu out given the great promo value of 50% off all alacarte items on @eatigo_sg. The food was of high quality but of tiny portions and even after the discount, we found it hard to justify the prices, let alone paying full price.

Went with two chirashi dons - 𝐊𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐧 ($38) and 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐮 𝐃𝐨𝐧 ($58). The former had perfectly creamy uni, juicy ikura, and average fatty tuna belly. The latter featured stingy thin cuts of four sashimi, fresh raw prawn, and a tiny scoop of uni. The rice itself was enjoyably firm but personally found it a tad too heavy in vinegar seasoning. Decent but expected more for the price point.

Back by popular demand, limited-edition Cheese Menchi Katsu ($12.80)/ Curry ($10.80) is available until 30 June. Suitable for lovers of cheese with an oozy cheddar filling paired with tender minced pork.

Insta: cafehoppingkids

Heard about this newly opened joint by ex House of Chirashi chef @kevin_wee_sg and swiftly headed down for their $12.80 lunch opening promo! We were served with an exquisitely plated bowl piled with a colourful array of ingredients - fresh sashimi chunks, micro greens, furikake, kamaboko, sakura ebi, ikura, tobiko, edamame, cucumber, and sweet tamago. The ingredients were anchored by a unique base of kinoko mushroom gobu burdock rice, which we particularly enjoyed for its herbal undertones and light earthy flavour.

At this price point, this bowl was of immense value! All along, we’ve been fans of the for value chirashi bowls at House of Chirashi, but deterred by the original East location (and also heard their bowls have shrunk in size + increased in price 😅). Glad that Chef has opened this more conveniently located chirashi spot to go to 😋.

⚠️ Promo is available for weekday lunch until end April! Reservations are possible via link in their bio.

📍@chirashisora, 01-25, The Venue Shoppes, 2 Tai Thong Cres, Singapore 347836