Shunjuu Izakaya

This was subpar, which funnily makes it by far the best item I've had here. The texture is too hard, not crunchy enough. And severely overseasoned, even considering it's a drinking snack. It's dusted w yuzu pepper tho which was nice if it wasn't too generous.

Issue: saw the cook literally cooking 20? skewers at once during dinner. The entire grill is packed, no wonder everything was overdone. I'm presuming the good reviews came during lunch, my friend visited on the exact same day, but during lunch, so I guess if you must come, come during lunch only

Overall: the only draw is that the food is cheap. There's not a single japanese soul here. Not the customers, not the wait staff, not the chef and cooks most importantly. Why's there a reason to visit at all? I'm open to supporting homegrown restaurants but not at the expense of authenticity and a basic level of competence.

At the same time though, they're absolutely packed. It's only after talking to someone from a nearby stall that I realise it's only because they're relatively cheap, compared to proper places at double the price

The worst beef tongue I've had too. Tough and severely overcooked. I could barely chew it. Two skewers and my jaw already had a massive workout.

Next issue: the staff are really unfriendly. This band of aunties: one lady was alright, the other was nonchalant, and the last one was outright bitchy. Maybe they're very stressed cos they're understaffed. But their system makes no sense either, sometimes they carry two skewers out, ofc you're going to be running around a lot more often if that's happening

So here the prices are for 2 sticks. Which means that this is a very cheap izakaya, and that's the only reason that explains the crowd.

Severely overcooked and dry. Really the worst I've had. It's even burnt on the exterior

I have so many complaints about this place so I'll just write one issue for each food post. Here goes the first: this place is stingy af. They don't even serve cold water, they don't bother explaining that the otoshi is charged, and they were super rude about requiring two people to redeem a burpple deal. In the end I just got my friend to seat there to redeem the deal.

PSA take note for burpple the grilled stuff the cheapest item is charged, so be very careful about what you order. I accidentally ordered a ckn liver :(

Black sesame ice cream @ $6++
+ red beans @ $1++
Vanilla ice cream with purple shiso liquer (they also call it summer love) @ $12++

Black sesame is always loved. And even better with red beans.
The vanilla ice cream taste is quite strong so the liqeur taste is a little bit mild in comparison. Nice that it comes with the toppings though they're a bit much for the small ice cream. Might not pay so much just for this in the future, and just stick to the basic.

Garlic fried rice @ $8++

Super good! After 10years the taste is still the same, with the rice being super flavourful and even the spring onions makes the dish taste even better. Really love this.

Fried freshwater shrimp @ $11++

It tasted a bit bland at first but the taste was elevated after we put some of the chilli powder on it. Not sure if they meant for it to be less seasoned and for us to add the powder, or did they forget to season it. Still a great dish!