The Sushi Bar

if you recall, not too long ago, i blogged about finally trying out the Shiok Maki. now that is simply the most orgasmic sushi that i've ever come across, and it's been uncontested thus far. but what you can find at The Sushi Bar comes a close second ;) not to mention the queues there are equally comparable to those at Koh Grill & Sushi Bar. 

the Salmon Aburi Roll ($14.90 for 8 pcs) is their signature item and top-seller, and it's easy to see why. just join the queue outside for 10 minutes and you'll smell the seductive charred aroma of this sushi wafting out. i queued for nearly an hour, but the smell just kept me firmly planted there. i.just.had.to.eat.it. hahaha. i actually ordered a variation of it, which was the Soft Shell Crab Salmon Aburi Roll ($16.90 for 8 pcs) because i love soft shell crab! ^^ and though i didn't try the original, i daresay this one is even better because of the additional ingredient ;) the salmon is lightly burnt, with a delicious smokey flavour, and wonderfully succulent! coupled with the slight crunch of the crispy soft shell crab inside, this kept me squealing with happiness.

i had also heard a great deal about the chirashi don here, and if you're a sashimi fan, i recommend you to get the version where the fish comes in slices ($24.90). we were rather let-down when we saw our version (chopped sashimi, kinda) that came in a really tiny bowl ($18.90) :'( after all the pictures we saw online! i think they have shrank their portions since the beginning of this year. we were so sad! although i have to concede that it turned out to have quite a substantial portion and variety of sashimi (i spotted tuna, salmon, swordfish, yellowtail, ikura and uni) but we were really quite disappointed at the start. i've heard that the version with the slices is really too much fish though :P so you might consider sharing. there is also a premium version ($34.90), which i presume has an even wider variety of sashimi. *slurps*. to me, Aoki's mazechirashi is still the winner though :)

in terms of portions, The Sushi Bar disappointed on two counts, but it made up more than sufficiently in quality :) the Sirloin steak ($14.90 for 100g) was beautifully charred on the exterior, while delightfully tender inside. it came with a serving of punchy garlic chips which we devoured together with the meat. the steak is delicious on its own, but dip it in the sauce that comes with it, and you might discover a winning combination. lightly sweet, the sauce complements the flavour of the meat perfectly as it slides into your mouth and releases its juices. 

and we couldn't leave out dessert! it was amazing how despite the amount we ordered (i guess it was a blessing that the portions seemed a tad small), i still felt just right after the meal, rather than bursting at the seams. the tofu cheesecake ($4.50) sealed the deal with its wobbly, yet firm texture, light-on-your-tongue flavour, and toothsome biscuit base. 

The Sushi Bar scores with its quality dishes, but perhaps it might be a little overpriced considering the portions and the queue that you have to go through to get your hands on the food. then again, the shiok maki is even more expensive. haha. i would say, be prepared to queue, and just go for it! alternatively, i think they do take reservations up to a certain capacity, so you can try your luck with that! :) 

The Sushi Bar

Far East Plaza #03-89

9653 6464

Mon-Sat 12pm-9.30pm

Closed on Sunday

SHIOK MAKI SHIOKNESS X2

and hellooooooo there!!!! I'VE FINALLY TRIED THE SHIOK MAKI!!! omg i've been waiting for the longest time to eat this okay. i can't believe i only heard of it right after we left singapore for exchange -.- i was drooling over pics of it since months ago and it was nothing short of torture xP haha. 

i present to you - shiok maki generation 1 :D

and shiok maki generation 2. teehee ^^ that's why i said DOUBLE SHIOKNESS ;)

we weren't intending to order both the shiok makis, but there was a mix up in our order and so this is what we ended up with -.- but i guess it's a good thing too, since it'll allow me to compare both! not that i could decide which was better though. i was too busy reveling in the explosion of flavours in my mouth that gave me fireworks in my head *.* sooooo delicious *slurps* :D okay i sound disgusting haha. but i was really super satisfied after that heehee. *pats tummy* and i was really pleasantly surprised that i didn't feel SUPER full after that, despite all the rice i ate! since it was just me & rachel, that means we had 8 pieces of maki each! zomgx.

okie stop digressing :P haha. so generation 1 ($16.80) was a combination of charcoal grilled eel wrapped in a lightly roasted salmon. #1 thing i LOVE about shiok maki is the sauce. the abundance of it! and its creaminess and yumminess and everything about it that makes me just want to mop it up with anything on the plate. i even ate the ginger (which i usually don't) because i just wanted to dip it in the sauce. sinful? probably. but i couldn't care less. for me, what stood out about the gen 1 shiok maki was the lovely aroma of the grill that emanated from the sushi and caressed my taste buds. it was sooo delicious, a total mouthgasm experience ^^ i could only squeal with happiness throughout the whole meal haha.

for generation 2 ($16.80), it was a crispy prawn wrapped with lightly roasted salmon. what was different about this maki, besides the ingredients, was its sauce! it has a tinge of sweetness, that kinda melts on your tongue as you savour it in your mouth. i didn't want to swallow my maki. it was SO.GOOD. haha i wanted it to stay in my mouth forever as i basked in the joy of eating it :))) haha. this totally doesn't really sound like food anymore right? i've heard reviews about its quality deteriorating, but now, typing this, im just relishing the memory of the shiokness again and i couldn't wish for more :') 

i'm definitely going to come back again!! to try the crappy maki which we originally ordered and never received -.- their service staff seem a little blur... O.o after we asked for they bill, they delivered another plate of sushi to us and we were like "huh??!!" haha. i would have gladly taken it if it was free :p teehee. but yep will come back for the crappy maki ;) and maybe the pitan maki since i heard it was good too? any other sushi from there to recommend, please let me know!! (:

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar

Wisma Atria Food Republic 

Daily 11.30am-10.30pm

En Japanese Dining Bar

ooh where can you get authentic japanese food at 50%?! :D when i heard that this restaurant had 50% discount on their sushi and sashimi, i made sure i dragged my family there to try it. we realised though, that after the the discount, the price was actually pretty much the same as what we would have at other japanese restaurants. the difference? this was AUTHENTIC. or at least, that's what i felt. i really loved the food :)))

okay, just let me give my two cents worth of this restaurant before going into the food part. 1) don't sit outside. it's just really hot. super hot. and stuffy. i attempted to sit outside for about 10mins and i couldn't take it after that. it feels like the air is super thick and heavy and hot, really unbearable. so even if they tell you that you have to share a table inside, just go for that option - anyway, the tables are huge, so there is no problem with sharing. 2) the service is rather...i don't know how to put it. it was definitely NOT GOOD, because the staff were just quite slow in responding to requests and stuff, but it did seem like they were really sincere, which i have to give them credit for. i guess all you can say is that it is inconsistent? or contradictory. haha i dunno.

yepps, anyway, that's it! the food made up for everything though xD woohoo! going back to the picture on top, we ordered the 7-kinds sashimi platter ($48.50 before discount) which included salmon, yellowtail, tuna, red snapper, octopus, swordfish and scallops. we also had an additional serving of salmon sashimi ($12.50 before discount) which explains the extra pile there. the sashimi was super fresh and delicious (: simple and good (:

we ordered several types of sushi - california maki ($10 before discount), salmon avocado maki ($11 before discount) and some unagi sushi which was a wrong order. yupp, they got the order wrong, and didnt even realise cos they charged us wrongly at the end. but i really loved the sushi!!!! this must be the best quality sushi i've ever tasted! they're made on the spot by chefs at this cool lowered-platform thing adjacent to the dining area. and the sushi is super soft and fluffy! each grain of rice is wonderfully fluffed up and the ingredients are all really tasty. it was really sushi made with love (:

the garlic fried rice ($10) is also the best i've ever tasted! i used to think the one at sushi tei was the best, but now i've found a worthy contender xD even before putting it in your mouth, you can smell and taste the aroma of the garlic. and every fluffy piece of rice is completely infused with the flavour of the garlic, it is SO awesome.

our wrong order of unagi sushi was meant to be soft shell crab maki ($12), so we decided to order it again. i loved the roasted crispy soft-shell crab in the sushi. it just makes all the other soft shell crab items in other jap restaurants feel overfried and less tasty in comparison.

and lastly, the most big shot item of the day - the buta kimchi fried rice ($12). i say it's a big shot, because we had to wait 45 minutes for it!!!!!! :O seriously?! it was plain ridiculous. we asked the waitress to check on it over and over again, and attempted to cancel our order, but they just kept saying that it was coming. 5 minutes rolled into 15 minutes, and we were pretty much full and ready to leave any moment. when it finally arrived, we were thinking 'this had better be good'....and guess what? IT WAS GOOD! :D it had a subtler garlic taste as compared to the fried garlic rice, and was balanced out nicely by the flavours of the kimchi. omgosh, it was worth it. although i would have preferred that we didnt have to wait of course, i have to say that i didn't regret waiting for this dish (: YUMMY!!!

so overall, i LOVE the food in this restaurant, but i do hope that the service would have improved the next time i come here (:

by the way, the 50% promotion is between 6-8pm daily! just look at the symbols on the menu (:

En Japanese Dining Bar

UE Square #01-57

Tel.: +65 6735 2212

Sun-Thu: 6pm-12am

Fri, Sat & Eve of PH: 6pm-3am

Ichiban Sushi

This is my favourite place for Japanese food! :D it is found in the heartlands of Ang Mo Kio and the fact that it sees long queues during every meal shows how popular and well-received it is! :D

I really love the wide variety of sushi here, which i feel is much better than the more common sakae sushi or sushi tei. not that i don’t like the other two restaurants, in fact i love sushi tei as well, but for different reasons (:

This time when we went to ichiban sushi, we ordered less sushi and more of the other dishes. but here are the 3 types of MUST-TRY sushi, which i order every time i go there ;)

1.  My ABSOLUTE favourite sushi, the inari, with lobster mayo filling. Omigosh, if you have been eating a similar-looking one which is filled with crabstick, you are missing out A LOT. This one is MUCH MUCH better than  the crabstick version!! The lobster is tasty and I love the sweetness of the mayo. I am not usually one who likes mayo but in this case, it just adds to the flavor ;) and there is a hint of wasabi inside which just tops it off perfectly :D

2. Number 2 on the must-try list is also inari. This time, it’s the more common tuna inari. Almost everyone likes tuna in their sushi right? Just kidding. But yes, I love it (: and the sweet beancurd skin type of sushi is always much nicer than the normal version (: (: somehow I don’t like Chinese beancurd skin, but when it comes to the Japanese version, I can’t help drooling :P

3. Finally, this last type of sushi is unique to ichiban (I think). I have not seen it anywhere else. It’s called deep impact. inside it’s filled with tempura flakes which are nice and crunchy and crispy, and on top there is some tasty stuff (which I have no idea what it is :P) but it’s nice! So go try it (:

We also ordered the sukiyaki, which is a Japanese soup (I think it’s some sort of soy sauce?) which is REALLY REALLY TASTY! It’s kind of like steamboat, but the soup-base is much nicer :D there are all sorts of ingredients inside like tofu and veggies (so healthy! (: ) and you have a choice of meat to add in as well. We chose beef, and it came in raw slices which we added to the boiling soup. As the slices of meat were very thin, they cooked really quickly (: good for hungry tummies! There was also a raw egg to add to the soup. oh yes! And there was the cool Japanese tang-hoon, which is a really thick version, and it’s deliciously tasty (:

My sisters and I love soft-shell crab, so we always order the handroll when we go to Ichiban sushi. The crabstick is nice and crispy and there is some mayo inside, together with rice and veggies. This is one dish that is difficult to go wrong (: 

Z loves eating tempura! i like it too, but cos it’s so fried, i’m kind of put off by it as well xP prawn is quite standard, and by far the nicest! (:

We ordered the salmon teriyaki set for grandma as she’s not really into sushi and the other stuff. The salmon was nicely fried and the sauce was tasty. The set comes with rice, miso soup, fruit, salmon sashimi and chawanmushi (:

FINALLY, THE BEST SALMON SASHIMI RICE EVER! :D I really loveeeeeeee the ichiban sashimi rice! They are very generous with the salmon sashimi, which is awesome (compared to the pathetic unappetizing four pieces in sakae’s sashimi rice -.-). The rice is specially flavoured with sesame oil, which gives it a wonderful fragrance, and the red chili on top adds a nice kick to the dish! SUPER! (:

Ichiban Sushi

AMK Hub #02-01

Other outlets at Causeway Point, Hougang Mall, etc.

Tel.: +65 6555 1617

Daily 10am-10pm

Tell me what your favourite japanese restaurants are! i’d love to try them out too (: