i'm always excited when new things open- especially so when it's something japanese. emporium shokuhin had opened at marina square, so since X and i were in the area, we popped by to grab dinner. there were quite a number of new restaurants, so we made a loop first before deciding which to eat at. 

i was actually quite surprised at the number of people there were at emporium shokuhin. it was a thursday night after all, and marina square itself appeared quite empty. what caught our attention, though, was the small queue at senmi sushi- while the other restaurants were crowded too, none of them had a queue. i have to admit that it was partly why we decided on senmi sushi. haha. 

thankfully the wait wasn't very long, probably because there was only two of us. we got counter seats, but i didn't mind. i like counter seats, actually, because i get to watch the chefs at work. (also i get to spy on what comes out of the kitchen, which makes deciding what to eat much easier. 

after perusing the ipad menu, we both decided to get the premium aburi chirashi ($26). i have to say that the ipad menu wasn't very helpful though. no description of the food, plus the picture was so tiny we had to squint to try to guess what was actually inside the bowl. after a while we gave up, and X asked the waiter about the difference between the normal chirashi ($18) and the aburi one. (apparently there's no difference, aside from the fact that one is torched, and the normal one includes ebi.)

on hindsight, probably should've gotten the chirashi, since it is the same fish. but then i got tempted when i saw the chef torching the sashimi- the smell was intoxicating. i probably wouldn't feel that cheated if i'd paid $18 for it. or perhaps we're just spoilt by thick cut sashimi. the slices in this chirashi were thin, and the number of slices for the price was just measly. the tuna, surprisingly, was meaty and fresh, but the rest were just meh. especially the torched mekajiki, which was just tough to eat. for this price, give me manzoku any day. 

we probably should've gotten the maki instead. saw people having gorgeous looking maki and totally had food envy. oh well... 

don't know if i'll be back. paying $30 (after taxes) for subpar chirashi is not my idea of a good meal. also, no tea was provided (extra $2) and water would cost 50 cents. why so stingy? aren't we already paying a 10% for service already, anyway? 

senmi sushi

#01-18 marina square