Standing Sushi Bar

Though named as “Standing Sushi Bar“, the full service outlet at the Singapore Art Museum comes fully equipped with seats and tables as well as an extensive menu of bento sets, sashimi, tempura, appetizers and sushi.

All Salmon All The Time

Our main aim was to try Standing Sushi Bar’s specialty rolls, in particular those of aburi salmon! We chose the “All Salmon All The Time” ($16) which consists of raw salmon, cucumber, avocado, topped off with seared salmon and tobiko. This would be a favourite with salmon lovers due to the presence of both raw and seared salmon, which presents dual textures. The raw salmon would still retain that bit of raw chewiness and bite; while that seared salmon, with its connective tissues and flesh slightly broken down and tenderized by the searing, was more tender, exuding a slight charred taste. The cucumber provided that extra refreshing crunch, with the mushy texture of the avocados forming the backdrop. Indeed, each mouth presents a plethora of textures.

Taste wise however, it was slightly lacking, compared to Koh Sushi. We speculated that it might be due to a lack of sauce to bind the entire sushi together. Koh Sushi’s aburi salmon maki was tastier in flavour. Standing Sushi Bar’s version was less punchy and seemingly lacking in flavours.

Standing Sushi Bar
#01-03, Singapore Art Museum
8 Queen Street

Dolce Toyko by Ministry of Food

Macha Sundae

This Macha Sundae ($9) from Dolce Tokyo is the typical “it looks nicer than it tastes” kind of desserts. It is a colourful and ingredient-plentiful dessert, consisting of green tea gelato and vanilla soft serve with macha sauce, strawberries, canned peaches, marshmallows, cornflakes, chocolate brownie chunks, kanten jelly, panna cotta and an oreo cookie.

Indeed, it was a celebration of many ingredients, colour and texture. Sadly, the taste fell short in many ways. The gelato and soft serve were mediocre, nothing too great. The marshmallows are too hard and stale. The chocolate brownie chunks were just bland and dry chocolate sponge. The kanten jelly was tasteless and awful. The panna cotta was an overwhelmingly milky pudding.

Macha Sundae – it looks better than it tastes.

Dolce Tokyo
#03-23, 313 Somerset
313 Orchard Road

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar

The craze around Koh Grill & Sushi Bar is just unbelievable! Food reviews and instagram photos are just flooding the social media platform. We toyed with the idea of visiting Koh Grill & Sushi Bar past 9pm on a weekday night. But to our alarm, we were welcomed by a long snaking queue, across the width of Food Republic at Wisma Atria.

Our 2nd try saw us visiting the popular Japanese outlet past 2pm on a weekday. The queue was short, with less than 5 people. However, the waiting time for the food was horrendously long. Close to 45 minutes – which had deterred a couple so much that they left after waiting for 15 minutes.

We persevered as we were adamant about trying the “all-so-popular, which got everyone raving about” maki. And hence, after 45 minutes, we were served with:

SHIOK!!! Maki

Not the best plating nor prettiest maki we have tried. Rather than looking “SHIOK!!!”, we felt that it looked like an utter mess. In terms of taste, this maki was definitely not suitable for dipping in wasabi + soy sauce, due to the presence of the mayonnaise. To some extent, the mayonnaise was the binding glue for the entire sushi. The lightly roasted salmon was almost non-existent as we could barely detect any taste from it. Thankfully, the charcoal grilled eel did exude a subtle charred grill taste and fragrance. Bulk of the flavours actually came from the mayonnaise and the fish roe. To be honest, the maki wasn’t all that bad. But to define it as “SHIOK!!!” and with a waiting time of 45 minutes (upon order), we stopped short at giving it a full thumbs up.

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar
#04-21, Food Republic, Wisma Atria Shopping Centre
435 Orchard Road

Maccha House

Tiramisu

Walking past Maccha House and we were immediately attracted to the picture of the Tiramisu on the menu. Even up till we were served with the actual Tiramisu, we had harboured great hopes – despite the slightly non-uniformed topping of green tea powder.

However, we were sorely disappointed by the Tiramisu! A first bite and we were dismayed to realize it wasn’t cream cheese, but just normal cream! Within the Tiramisu were 2 thin, barely detectable layers of sponge. But the majority of the cake was just cream. Thick cream. And that made us feel that we weren’t eating Tiramisu at all, but just a typical Japanese cream cake! What a major disappointment!

Maccha House
#B1-40, Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road

Dozo Restaurant

Dozo Restaurant has always been famous for its affordable degustation menu which offers courses of French, Japanese and European heritage.

Complimentary starter drinks

Dozo’s 6-course lunch degustation meal started with a complimentary starter drink , meant to cleanse and awaken our taste buds. The drink was very icy and refreshing, a slight tinge of sourness just sufficient to tickle our taste buds.

Chef’s Selection of Assorted Platter

The Chef’s Selection of Assorted Platter consisted of 3 starters – foie gras on bread, scallop and smoked salmon. The foie gras was rich, fatty and easily disintegrated in our mouths. The bread was a good vehicle to soak up the savoury sauce. The scallop had a nice charred crust to it. It wasn’t over-cooked, still retaining a tender inner core. The smoked salmon, with its subtle characteristic saltiness, marked a good finish to the trio of starters.

Steam Fresh Bamboo Clam

Foie Gras Chawanmushi topped with Soil Garden

Gratinated Escargots baked with Yuzu Butter

The Steam Fresh Bamboo Clams were very fresh, with a bouncy bite to it. It came with a sauce reminiscent of the soya sauce based gravy in Chinese cuisine.

The Foie Gras Chawanmushi topped with Soil Garden was heavier and saltier compared to the typical chawanmushi, probably due to the addition of foie gras. The foie gras taste wasn’t outstanding, it came out more as a subtle savouriness in the background of the chawanmushi.

The Gratinated Escargots baked with Yuzu Butter was cheesy and buttery – perfect for the cheese lovers. The escargots were well-cooked, retaining the juiciness and bouncy texture.

Infusion of Cepes Mushroom

Bacon infused Pumpkin Veloute

The Infusion of Cepes Mushroom with Truffle wasn’t as thick and viscous as we had hoped. In terms of taste, the earthly fragrance and taste of mushrooms stood out strongly and wasn’t all too milky. The little piece of black truffle was a little bland though.

One thing bad about the Bacon infused Pumpkin Veloute was that it turned cold too quickly due to the larger exposed surface area. Otherwise, the pumpkin veloute was rich and thick, packed of pumpkin goodness. Not overly milky nor salty, just a very straightfoward and rustic pumpkin soup.

Seafood Platter in Saffron Sauce

Duck Confit with Orange Grain Mustard Sauce

Chef’s Selection of Sushi Platter on Wasabi Mayo

Seafood Platter in Saffron Sauce – every seafood lover’s favourite! The saffron gravy was packed with seafood flavours and it was just an absolute joy slurping every drop. The seafood platter consisted of mussels, clams, squid, scallop and baby lobster. The clams were a little fishy and seemingly not as fresh compared to the rest of the seafood. The baby lobster had a more chewy texture like crayfish and less of lobsters.

The Duck Confit with Orange Grain Mustard Sauce was very tender and the duck meat easily fell off the bone. The duck was a star on its own, with its succulent and juicy texture.

Chef’s Selection of Sushi Platter on Wasabi Mayo was probably the biggest disappointment of the meal. There wasn’t any wow factor in the sushi. Neither the vinaigrette rice nor toppings stood out. There wasn’t any outstanding and commendable flavours or textures and could easily pass of as a mediocre sushi dish from any Japanese restaurants.

Dozo’s Freshly Baked Warm Chocolate Cake served with Ice Cream

Milk Jelly with Black Sesame Ice Cream and Red Bean

Japanese-style Red Bean Puff with Vanilla Ice Cream

Dozo’s Freshly Baked Warm Chocolate Cake served with Ice Cream was definitely the best dessert to go for! It was a warm chocolate cake with little to fault, with the only downside being its petite size which left us craving for more. The chocolate casing wasn’t overly thick nor starchy – just light enough for us to break open to unveil the molten goodness.

Milk Jelly with Black Sesame Ice Cream and Red Bean – The milk jelly was like a replica of almond jelly. It was smooth, light and refreshing, without being overly milky. It was a good complement to the strong tasting black sesame ice cream.

The Japanese-style Red Bean Puff with Vanilla Ice Cream would probably not be too popular with those who dislike deep fried items. The red bean puff was deep fried and hence slightly oily. Biting into the puff revealed a semi-solid red bean filling. The red bean filling wasn’t as viscous as we had expected and was more towards being too fluid-like.

Dozo Restaurant
#02-02/03, Valley Point
491 River Valley Point

Sakae Sushi

Sakae Sushi

Sakae Sushi has got to be one of Singapore’s longest standing Japanese sushi franchises. Our strongest memory of Sakae Sushi was its high tea sushi buffet where we devoured plates and plates (excluding the red ones) of sushi and other Japanese finger food from the conveyor belt. But the influx of other popular sushi chains like Itacho and Sushi Express has caused a reduction in market share for Sakae Sushi. Thus, explaining the need for a launch of the new menu!

And the biggest beneficiary for such healthy competition?

Us! The food lovers!

Ika Okura

Asari Miso

Honey Sakura Ebi

For those who love the characteristic stickiness and gooeyness of lady’s fingers, along with the slimy strands of sap, do give the Ika Okura a try. The Ika Okura was a rather unique and refreshing appetizer of sliced lady’s fingers with small chunks of squid. However, the presence of the squid seemed to be overshadowed by the sliminess of the lady’s fingers. Taste wise, it was very light and not too strongly flavoured. It was more of a healthy cold dish to cleanse your taste buds.

On the other hand, the other 2 appetizers were much stronger in flavour. The Asari Miso, or seasoned clams, reminded us of Chuka Hotate. The taste was largely similar to Chuka Hotate. Only that the scallop was replaced by clams. The Honey Sakura Ebi was also somewhat similar to the local favourite hae bee hiam, aka spicy dried shrimp sambal, just that the former was less spicy and slightly sweeter. Both appetizers were pretty addictive – small little packets of strong flavours.

Kohada

Katsuo

Nama Kaki

The Kohada (Gizzard Shad) was something we had not tried before. We had initially though that the silver leather-lookalike skin would be tough and rubbery, but it turned out otherwise. The skin was indiscernible. There was slight similarity to the taste of the mackerel (saba), with a slightly outlandish fishy taste.

The Katsuo (Skipjack Tuna) was very different from the typical tuna sashimi. It had a strong smoky fragrance and taste, almost being able to pass off as some kind of smoked meat.

The Nama Kaki (Oyster) was very fresh – that’s the least one can ask for. The minced garlic atop, coupled with Tabasco sauce, added the extra kick to the already outlandish oyster sashimi.

Mentai Kamo Sushi

Katsuo Aburi Sushi

Incorporating duck into sushi seems to be rather popular in many sushi outlets in the recent years – a sign of the growing influence of the French style into Japanese cuisine. And if done well, this would definitely be a hit amongst customers. Sakae Sushi’s Mentai Kamo Sushi was probably one of the more popular dishes of the meal. The smoked duck was tender, without being overly rubbery. The subtle smoky fragrance and taste lingered in the background, with the grilled creamy codfish roe exuding a strong savouriness. We particularly enjoyed the Mentai Kamo Sushi.

The Aburi Nama Hotate Sushi was also another winner! The scallops were fresh, large and juicy. The scallops were lightly seared, giving it a half-cooked, half-raw texture. The touch of the salmon roe gave that last sea saltiness kick.

The Katsuo Aburi Sushi was similar to the Katsuo sashimi – where we could also detect that subtle smokiness from the skipjack tuna. The tuna slices however, were thinner in the sushi version. Coupled with the presence of the vinaigrette rice, the fishy taste of the skipjack tuna was slightly toned down.

Ooba Tempura

The presentation of the Ooba Tempura seemed a little too Chinese restaurant-like, didn’t quite look like a Japanese dish. The tempura consisted of a lightly battered white fish wrapped in ooba leaf. When we bit into it, we felt that the fish seemed to have been minced and then wrapped within the ooba leaf, in contrast to our initial expectations of a fish fillet. The batter was crispy, and not overly oily. On a whole, it was a decent tempura.

Seafood Kimchi Ramena

Chicken Kimchi Ramena

The Seafood Kimchi Ramen fell short of the strong spicy tanginess of Kimchi in the soup base. We could detect the subtle taste of kimchi, but we were looking for something with more punch and kick. The noodles were decently done. But the biggest shortcoming of the ramen was the eggs. We had expected a Ramen runny yolk egg, not an almost fully cooked egg.

Mango and Pear Pudding

A refreshing dessert to finish off the meal was the Mango and Pear Pudding. Both puddings were very strong in their respective flavors and would be suitable for those with really sweet tooth.

Note: This is an invited food review.

Sakae Sushi
#02-207, Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard

Hoshino Coffee 星乃珈琲店

Hoshino Coffee

Hoshino Coffee has opened at the new extension of Plaza Singapura for quite some time, but the long queue has also been a huge deterrence factor. And finally, when we had a chance to try Hoshino Coffee, to our utmost horror and disappointment, we realized that the signature “Fuwa-Fuwa” Hoshino Souffle contained beef!! And to make things worse, the “Hoshino” Pot Baked Curry Rice and the Omu Rice also contained beef! Such a bummer for the non-beef eaters! Furthermore, there was no mention/indication on the menu or order slip that these items contained beef. It was only after when we wanted to make our orders, did the waitress inform us! And that left us scrambling to decide on the alternatives.

BIG minus points for Hoshino Coffee. 5 of their top savoury main courses contained beef, leaving us with the pasta choices – which were not all that appealing.

BAD impression for non-beef eaters. If the menu had some sort of explicit indication that those food items contained beef, we wouldn’t even waste the time queuing.

Matcha Souffle

Not much of a choice we had. But to try their desserts. The Matcha Souffle ($9.80) with Match Softee (+$1) took slightly more than 20 minutes to arrive. Well, the souffle was decent, though the centre seemed slightly underwhelming in terms of volume. The centre of the souffle was a moist, gooey, matcha-rich mess. The outer parts of the souffle were drier and fluffier. The Matcha taste was evident – which was the most basic requirements. Perhaps for $9.80, the price was a little steep as the sheer volume of the souffle wasn’t that much. The Matcha Softee was a good compliment to the warm souffle; it was cold, creamy and rich.

Hoshino Coffee
#03-84, Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road

Tsujiri 辻利茶屋

Tsujiri, a 150 year old Tea House from Japan, has opened its first outlet in Singapore at the newly opened 100AM shopping mall.

Tsujiri O-maccha Latte

The balance between the milk and green tea percentage in the O-maccha Latte ($5.80 for Large) was adequately grasped. The subtle milky taste formed the backdrop of the O-maccha Latte, with the green tea flavour coming out strongly to satisfy the maccha lovers in us. The latte wasn’t overly sweetened, allowing the characteristics of the maccha to stand out. A decent cup of O-maccha Latte – a comforting and warming drink to end the day.

Tsujiri
#01-14B, 100AM
100 Tras Street

Osaka Ohsho

Osaka Ohsho Gyoza

The King of Gyoza has descended in Singapore! Established in 1969, Osaka Ohsho is touted to be the specialist in handmade gyoza from Osaka. The Osaka Ohsho Gyoza arrived in a plate of 6 ($3.90), with its tantalizing and mouth-watering golden brown crisp. When we flipped the gyoza onto its charred side, the special wanton skin split opened slightly to reveal the dumpling fillings of cabbage, ginger, garlic and pork. The skin was much thinner than most gyoza we have tried. It was soft and easily disintegrated in our mouths. The ginger and garlic toned down the strong characteristic taste of pork. The gyoza was pretty additive, wasn’t all that heavy on the palate. On the downside, the gyoza was a little oily.

Osaka Ohsho
#B1-75, Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road

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Bene Spaghetti

Steamed spaghetti? Well, that’s the biggest selling factor of the newly opened Bene Spaghetti, situated alongside Boat Quay.

Chicken Thigh with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce

Chicken Thigh with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce

Chicken Thigh with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce ($18) – The concept was interesting in that we had to wait patiently for the dish to be steamed a la mode in front of us, with the porcelain lid covered over the claypot. Once the timer set off after approximately 5 minutes, the waiter would arrive to remove the cover. This presentation in which the dish was served ensured that everything was piping hot. In fact, the cream sauce was still bubbling when the lid was first removed. Throughout the meal, the cream sauce also remained steamy. Despite the interesting concept, the taste of the Chicken Thigh with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce was at best mediocre. The blue cheese taste was insignificant and the sauce was simply just milky. It was as good as ordering the plain cream sauce version. The chicken thigh was neither well flavoured nor tender enough to be impressive as well.

Fried Gnocchi Cream Gratin with Clams and Vegetables

Fried Gnocchi Cream Gratin with Clams and Vegetables ($9.80) – This far surpassed the former dish. The gratin was sufficiently creamy, cheesy and a satisfying portion of the sauce was served. There was even enough sauce tocomplement our bread and spaghetti from the other dish. The gnocchi tasted differently from the conventional Italian ones. Besides the element of being fried, the flour used seemed to provide a sticky chewy glutinous texture and taste, while retaining the potato gnocchi taste. And perhaps due to it being fried, a handful of these gnocchi was enough to induce satiety.

Bene Spaghetti
83 Circular Road
Boat Quay

Keisuke Tonkotsu King (Orchid Hotel)

Another Ramen restaurant hitting the shores of Singapore is Keisuke Tonkotsu King – a small and rather space constrained joint which can at most accommodate 20 people has been drawing persistently long queues since its opening.

Keisuke Tonkotsu King

Similar to Menya Musashi, orders are taken by the waitress while we were queuing. And another plus point was the provision of free roasted barley drinks for those in line. Basically, there were 3 different choices of soup – Original, Black Spicy and Red Spicy. You could also customized the taste of the soup, noodle texture and toppings/condiments.

Side dishes/Condiments – Beansprouts, hard boiled eggs and freshly ground sesame

Provided on each table was also a free flow of beansprouts and hard boiled eggs. The beansprouts were slightly pickled, resembling the typical Korean banchan (side dish). It had a cold refreshing tanginess, which proved to be a sharp contrast to the salty Ramen. Black and white sesame seeds were also provided, along with the tools for customers to grind the sesame seeds which were then added to accentuate the taste of the soup.

Tonkotsu Ramen

Red Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen with Flavoured Egg

The Original Tonkotsu Ramen ($10.80) came with black fungus, a large slice of chashu and spring onions. The Ramen was springy and chewy, not too soft, with adequate bite in it. The soup was pretty salty, but wasn’t too overwhelming in the characteristic pork taste. While the noodles shone in terms of texture, the chashu was a major disappointment. The chashu, though coming in thin slices, was overly tough, not sufficiently tender and rather bland. The Red Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen ($13.80) wasn’t overly spicy on first taste, but instead had a spicier lingering after taste. The flavoured egg was well prepared, with a moist runny centre.

There is still room for improvement for Keisuke Tonkotsu King, especially in the chashu. It is a fairly decent Ramen joint, with every bit of the Japanese Ramen authenticity.

Keisuke Tonkotsu King
#01-19, Orchid Hotel
1 Tras Link

Genki Sushi

Ordering your food using an iPad? Having your orders delivered to your table by a “high speed sports car”? Sending the emptied delivery car with a press of the button? Sounds gimmicky, but this is exactly what is going in Genki Sushi.

Genki Sushi’s Double Decker Delivery System

Sake Oyako Don

Sake Oyako Don ($7.80) – Our favourite don remains to be the salmon and roe donburi. The salmon sashimi was fresh, very succulent, with a tinge of seafood salty sweetness. It was smooth and very refreshing. The rice was rather bland and lacking in vinegar, but this was compensated by the strong characteristic saltiness of the roe. If Genki Sushi can work a little more on the flavour of the sushi rice, this Sake Oyako Don would definitely be a crowd pleaser.

Sea Eel Whole (Anago Ippon)

Sea Eel Whole (Anago Ippon) ($5.80) – The sea eel seemed more steamed/poached than grilled. It was a bit soft and mushy, unlike the tenderness of unagi. Taste wise, it wasn’t as strong and flavourful as unagi. Basically, this dish turned out quite unlike what we were looking out for. There was a small chunk of rice encompassed within the eel, making it seemed like a piece of sushi with an oversized topping.

Genki Sushi
#03-32, Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road

Menya Musashi

Menya Musashi

The ramen craze in Singapore is not over, yet. Newly opened Menya Musashi has seen never ending queues since it opened its doors early this year.

Red Cha Shu Ramen

White Cha Shu Ramen

Black Tsukemen

There were basically 2 categories of ramen we can choose from – the Tsukemen ($14.90) version which is a dipping ramen and the typical soup ($12.90) based ramen. For each category, there was a further choice of white, black and red broth.

Given its red colour, the Red Cha Shu Ramen was expected to be on the spicy side. The additional spicy notes reduced the characteristic pork taste in the broth and was more exciting and flavourful compared to the white version. Though the white version was equally rich and thick, it could get a little monotonous with each mouthful. The ramen had an adequate bite to it, and wasn’t too soggy or soft. We did feel that the egg could be a little more runny as it seemed to be a little too overcooked. The winner of the ramen was definitely the cha shu. The cha shu had a slightly charred skin and a mild grilled/burnt fragrance to it. There was an adequate balance of fats and meat. The fatty parts were soft and melted in our mouths, while the meaty portions were tender and not overly tough.

This was also the first time we tried the Tsukemen dipping ramen. The ramen was served dry, alongside the bowl of broth. The accompanying broth was thicker and richer than the soup versions. In fact, it was also much saltier, hence could not be consumed like a soup, and was restricted to solely being a dip for the noodles.

Menya Musashi
#01-16, Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road

Japanese Kit Kat Assortment

Japanese Kit Kat Assortment

Japanese Kit Kat Assortment

Japanese Kit Kat Assortment

We’ve had many Kit Kat chocolates before, but this is our first time seeing 12 different flavours including
1) Shinshu Apple,
2) Citrus Orange Golden Blend,
3) Blueberry Cheesecake,
4) Amaou Strawberry,
5) Wasabi,
6) Matcha,
7) Hojicha,
8) Almond Tofu,
9) Niigata Pear,
10) Red Bean Dorayaki,
11) Cinnamon and
12) Strawberry Cheesecake

Priced at $25, each individually wrapped Kit Kat was around $2. Not exactly the cheapest, but we were rather enticed by the colourful packaging and different flavours. Interesting it may seem, but despite the variety of flavours, we were left relatively disappointed by the mild flavours which failed to bring out any form of uniqueness in these Kit Kat chocolate. It did not help that the base of the chocolate was made up of white chocolate which was rather sweet. It seemed that the sweet vanilla taste of the chocolate has overpowered the individual flavours which the Kit Kat was supposed to have. It would be good to see some milk chocolate combinations in future.