noms.: chirashi

chirashi

Showing posts with label chirashi. Show all posts

one of the things i miss eating, being on whole 30, is chirashi. sashimi cubes over japanese rice- so simple, but nothing quite comes close to it. 30 days without chirashi is no mean feat. when i found that teppei has chirashi with a salad option, i wanted to eat it immediately. came by on a sunday afternoon for a late lunch, so even though seats were limited, we managed to snag a table.

it was a DIY concept, quite different from the other teppei outlets.

i got the M sized bowl to customise, with salad as the base. i picked salmon, baby scallop and two portions of swordfish. one of the rules of whole 30 is no soy sauce, so i asked for no marination (also because i remember from having the regular chirashi at their other outlets that their marination was on the salty side), and no dressing for the salad as well. (the counter staff gave me disbelieving looks. don't judge me!)

even without dressing, it was yummy. never had sashimi without soy sauce, with just wasabi, but it was surprisingly good! the sashimi cubes were chunky and fresh- exactly the way i like it. the salad leaves, however, were pretty cumbersome to eat, as it was in large pieces. i was pleasantly surprised by the addition of wakame to the base- yum.

the M sized portion was a pretty light one, though, maybe because there wasn't rice. i found myself wanting some more food afterwards (also maybe because i came from the gym). it is a good, clean replacement for chirashi though! comparing this to the ones i've had at other teppei outlets... i find myself liking those better. for some reason portions seem more generous there, though my perspective might be slightly skewed because of the difference in base- greens instead of rice might be the reason why.

teppei syokudo
ion orchard
#b4-57

needed a light (late) lunch after the gym, and decided on pasarbella, since i was at suntec. not many choices, given that pasarbella hadn't really officially opened. wanted something clean and fresh, so rollie ollie caught my eye. not their first outlet- the first one is at star vista (which is too out of the way for me).

got the aloha poké bowl ($12.95), which reminded me of aloha poké at amoy street. it was basically a chirashi with vegetables- salmon and tuna, mesclun, avocado, cucumber, tamago, purple onion, alfalfa and flying fish roe, dressed in a light soy sauce. liked that i got a choice of rice- white, brown or tea-infused rice- of course i picked the tea-infused rice.

my food took quite a while, even though i was the only one. i was expecting it to be served more quickly since it was all ready-made ingredients (and i was hungry!) but then when i got my bowl, i noticed that it was really plated with care. couldn't complain about the sashimi cubes- lightly dressed in soy, not stingy with the cut, and fresh. mixed together with the other ingredients, it was a good eat. exactly what i was looking for. quite liked the rice, too- it really carried a faint whiff of tea.

will be back if i want a quick chirashi fix!

rollie ollie
pasarbella suntec
#01-k42
https://www.facebook.com/RollieOlieSingapore

i once queued for almost an hour for wasabi tei during dinner time with X, only to be told that they were out of japanese rice (though they'd be able to serve us normal rice). since what we wanted to have was chirashi, after a short discussion, we decided to scrape our plan of having dinner there, and headed to the sushi bar downstairs instead. that was a really long time ago, and somehow i never made it back there until recently.

they'd opened another space nearby, but after looking through the offerings on both sides, we decided on the original outlet. counter seating only, with an additional $2 per seat, no gst and service charge.

they're famed for having thickly sliced sashimi in their chirashi, which is exactly what i like. that made decision making a breeze. X also decided on the chirashi after some contemplation.

not a fan of cheap tuna, so i requested to replace the tuna slices. the chef willingly obliged with no extra charges, which meant that i got more salmon.

the slices were indeed thickly cut. the portions of fish were generous as well, with a good ratio of fish to rice. it came with mostly salmon, some salmon belly, mekajiki, octopus, crabstick, tamago, scallop and a scoop of ikura. X complained about the tamago being anaemic, and i concur- would've liked more of the egg. no other complaints otherwise, though. super filling- i was almost struggling to finish it, and i usually feel that sashimi is not enough. haha.

for $30 ($28 for the chirashi), the set came with an appetiser (hijiki seaweed when we went), miso soup, green tea and fruit. pretty good value, given how satisfying it was. service was nonexistent- we were served the chirashi by the chef over the counter with barely a grunt of acknowledgement, but who cares when food was the main reason we were there.

wasabi tei
far east plaza
#05-68/70

after being in melbourne on holiday for two weeks, i really needed some japanese food- definitely no more cafés, for a while at least. remembered glancing through their menu and noticing that they had pretty well priced set lunches, so i suggested going there for lunch.

it turned out to be a really good choice. for $15.80 (before taxes and service charge) i got a pretty good portion of sashimi, especially compared to the rice. i love it when i have chirashi and the proportion of rice to sashimi is just right. there were much more fish cubes than rice, and i ended up with just fish (my favourite kind of problem). also loved the cut of the fish- one of my pet peeves is when they dice up the fish in a bara chirashi so much that i can barely taste anything, which pretty much defeats the purpose of having it.

the set also came with miso soup, an appetizer and chawanmushi. interestingly enough the chawanmushi had yuzu- i've never had that particular combination.

i'm definitely coming back here. this might be one of my favourite places to have bara chirashi now, given how reasonably priced it is and how generous they are. here's to hoping they maintain standards till my next visit.

kai sushi & robatayaki
plaza singapura #04-68

i've been tempted by their concept ever since i saw on instagram that they were opening. sashimi + rice + vegetables- right up my alley.

so i swung by for a takeaway, since i was going to be in the area. picked up the standard nalu ($15.90, but i only paid $12.80 because they were having a 20% off opening promotion), which comes with two scoops of poké. for my two scoops, i got one scoop each of the original ahi tuna and salmon. three other add-ons were included too, so i picked the flying fish roe, edamame and pomegranate.

it certainly was a pretty bowl, with bursts of colour from the pomegranate seeds, pineapple chunks and flying fish roe. the bottommost layer was brown rice, followed by the greens, then the various toppings.

thankfully it wasn't just pretty, but also tasty. i loved the marination of the sashimi cubes- reminded me of teppei's, but not quite as salty (which is a good thing since i find teppei's way too heavy-handed). the variety of toppings added much texture and flavour to the entire bowl. it was kind of like a chirashi, just with much more vegetables. they were also quite generous with the sashimi, so i didn't end up with just rice. would've liked them to be more heavy-handed with the other toppings though- especially the edamame and pomegranate, especially with that kind of prices.

it was also quite a good portion. i felt generally satisfied with the bowl, though i don't know if i'll come back, especially when i compare it to the daily cut, which still seems to offer better value for money.

aloha poke
92 amoy street
https://www.facebook.com/alohapoke

tried sumiya's chirashi for the first time at its orchard central outlet. i remember being blown away by how value for money it was- very generous serving of sashimi cubes, accompanied by a variety of sides. so when the suntec city outlet opened, i was excited to see what they had to offer. but then i realised that somehow, the suntec outlet's prices were higher for the same thing. that was the reason why i didn't try it, until recently when they started offering set lunches at a comparably competitive price point.

went for the kaisen bara don set ($18.80). it came with a variety of sides- edamame, salad, potato salad and miso soup.

all the sides were competently done, but of course the main focus was the kaisen don. it was beautifully presented, but i wish i could say the same for how it tasted. the sashimi cubes were cut way too small (i remember the orchard central outlet's offering to be bigger cubes), and the avocado was on the raw side, adding nothing to the experience. while eating, i had a nagging feeling that something was missing, and halfway through the bowl, i realised what it was. they'd completely left out salmon roe from my bowl! i consulted the menu again to make sure that salmon roe was included before asking the waiter, who then questioned, oh, is it included? ... okay... i persisted and was presented with a separate dish filled with salmon roe.

the salty kick of the salmon roe made the kaisen don more palatable, but it was quite confounding that they actually managed to completely forget one element of the dish. the kaisen don also came with a variety of dips- truffle paste and some sesame sauce. interesting, but it covered the taste of the sashimi, which is missing the point.

the set also came with dessert, with a choice of either mochi or fruit.

really wanted to like this place, given how much i enjoyed the one at orchard central. unfortunately it doesn't quite measure up. doubt i'll be back for the chirashi, though perhaps i'll return for one of the fish sets.

sumiya

#03-332/333 suntec city

http://sumiya.com.sg

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

did a liang court food trail with L. there were three set meal coupons available, so we used up two at ryoshi sushi, since they were offering the bara chirashi set. L had had the bara chirashi at the westgate outlet recently, and had nothing but good things to say, so we were interested in making a comparison.

the first thing that struck us, though, was how lacklustre the service was. i had higher expectations, given that it was their flagship outlet.

the food came quickly. it was a generous mound of diced sashimi, with bits of pickle and cucumber mixed in. L commented that the dice of the westgate outlet's chirashi was bigger and much more generous though. still, it was a respectable chirashi- good for the price, but i wouldn't go out of the way to have it. i would, however, want to try the westgate outlet though.

the set also came with miso soup, salad and dessert. annoyingly enough everything came together at one go- including the ice cream. so by the time we got to dessert, it was already half melted. i wouldn't mind them serving dessert together if it was something that would be okay at room temperature, but ice cream?!

won't be back in a hurry. food was okay, but the service was such a turn off.

ryoshi sushi ikeikemaru

#b1-31/50 liang court

i've been wanting to come by for a while, and finally managed to today. dropped by for lunch after the gym today (just right across! really convenient), and the place was pretty much empty.

after some pondering, i decided to get the bara chirashi set lunch ($18.80). the manager was introducing stuff to me on the lunch menu, and i was briefly tempted by the aburi maguro don as well as another seafood don that came with uni (!!), but decided to be more budget conscious and try out their cheaper offerings first.

the set came with chawanmushi, miso soup, salad, as well as fruits. hot tea was provided the moment i sat down.

the bara itself was awesome. i'm usually not a bara fan, because the fish is diced so finely i can hardly taste it. in this one, however, i could taste the freshness of the fish. it came with generous amounts of ikura as well! the wasabi that came with the bowl was the freshly grated type. the rice was perfectly cooked and vinegared as well. the manager, who came to ask if i enjoyed my food (a resounding YES!), revealed that they use rice from hokkaido, but the difference was that the rice was freshly dehusked- only before the rice is flown over do they remove the husk. i loved the rice; almost finished all of it.

even the sides were good. i liked the wobbly chawanmushi, and was surprised by how soft its texture was when i took my first spoonful. it even came with bits of chicken and prawn!

they obviously take pride in their food. i will definitely come back to try their other lunch offerings- the aburi maguro don calls out to me (even though i'm not a maguro fan). a really promising place with excellent service. the manager was friendly and helpful, but not overwhelmingly so. appreciated the nuggets of information that he provided- it made me appreciate the food so much more (even showed me how to have soy sauce with bara chirashi!). can't wait for my return visit- so many things i want to try on their menu.

no service charge, only gst. one of the places that i actually want to pay service for- excellent service and excellent food.

magurodonya miura misaki kou

#03-314 suntec city

https://www.facebook.com/MiuraMisakiKouSushiAndDiningSG

knew that eat at seven was finally open, so since i was in the area, i headed over to check out their lunch offerings. at the moment only four of the restaurants are open. i was craving chirashi (what's new) so i was looking for seafood offerings. peeked at maguro donya miura misaki kou (gosh that's a mouthful) situated at the entrance looked tempting after i looked at the menu and spoke to the manager- i initially thought that they only did tuna stuff, and i'm not exactly a tuna person. but i wanted to check out the rest of the places before i decided, so i wandered inside to enbu. it's a charcoal grill place, but i saw that they had a lunch menu with kaisendon, so i was sold immediately.

i got the kaisendon with yuzu spicy sauce ($18) which came with a miso soup.

it certainly came prettily presented, but the taste of the bowl didn't quite measure up. i liked the yuzu spicy sauce well enough, but the sashimi cubes were just not fresh nor generous enough. did not get any salmon roe though there were some in the menu picture. i left most of the rice (which was underwhelming as well). the miso soup also came with lumps of miso paste (saw them making the soup while i was at the counter, and they probably didn't stir it thoroughly). i should've known better than to order kaisendon at a charcoal grill place- what was i thinking?! in retrospect, probably should have picked the tori warayaki that most people ordered. i was seated at the counter so i saw them grilling the slab of chicken over a straw fire right in front of me.

don't think i'll be coming back, except perhaps to try the tori warayaki, which goes for $15. their lunch offerings are competent and well priced- no gst nor service. too bad their food doesn't measure up.

enbu 炎舞

#03-307 suntec city

https://www.facebook.com/enbusingapore

was tempted by the prices, to be honest. i'm used to paying at least $20 for chirashi, so this price point was infinitely alluring. of course, i came with lower expectations, but this still didn't meet them.

for cbd area, i expected quicker service, for one. i came thinking that it would be a quick lunch. i ordered the deluxe bara chirashi ($15.80) and was told that i would have to wait for five minutes as they were going to make it on the spot. that was alright. what was not alright was that the wait stretched to twenty minutes. i was watching the counter like a hawk, wondering why my food was taking so long (let's be honest here, there's no cooking involved, just assembling), and realised that the reason was that they were serving takeaways first, regardless of the order they came. so people who came after me who ordered takeaways got their food much much earlier. this gave me a pretty bad impression already- i was ready to ask for my money back and leave (only didn't because i was hungry).

so my food finally came, a little while after i went back to the counter to ask. the chirashi that i got wasn't bad per se (i've had worse, but it was a way cheaper priced one), but i realised i would rather pay slightly more to get chirashi at teppei. at least the sashimi cuts would be more generous and fresher. the sashimi i got didn't taste fresh. it looked better than it tasted.

this was their menu-

not sure why they're popular. maybe i shouldn't have gotten the deluxe. if i'd paid $9.80 for the basic bara chirashi then maybe i would have had a different opinion. still, cheap chirashi just doesn't work for me- doesn't scratch the fresh raw fish craving. doubt i'll be back; would rather pay more and get a proper chirashi. besides, there are just too many better food options in the area.

the tuckerbox lunch

4 amoy street

https://www.facebook.com/thetuckerboxlunch

not the first time i've been here; the first i came was when they just opened. i found out about this place when X called chikuwa tei for reservations, and she was informed that they'd just opened a new outlet in bugis, and was urged to go there instead. that was sometime in february this year.

when we went there for the first time, the whole place was quiet. very different from our second visit. the place was buzzing and acoustics were poor, so we could barely hear each other. in addition, the place wasn't very big and tables were placed close to each other. my chair was placed in the aisle and i can't even keep track of how many times my chair got kicked by waitresses and patrons.

i got the chirashi ($25), of course. after some deliberation, X did as well. i don't know if it was because i had a blocked nose, but the sashimi didn't seem to be as good as when i had it the first time. the slices weren't nearly as generously thick as i remembered them to be, and my yellowtail was haphazardly cut. it was broken in places.

previously, the set came with salad, miso soup and ice-cream. this time, however, the set came with just miso soup and watermelon. the strange thing was, they actually served the miso soup and watermelon together first, before the chirashi even came. service was not ideal for a restaurant- perhaps they are understaffed.

still a gorgeous chirashi, but not as good as it was.

manzoku

18 purvis street

http://manzoku.com.sg

i've walked past this place countless times, even browsed the menu, but never been tempted enough to step in. that day, i was however lured in by the lunch sets that they were offering. the lunch sets should be relatively new as i don't recall ever seeing them offering that.

of course, the one i was tempted by was the signature bara chirashi set ($16.80), inclusive of salad, soup and an appetiser. given the price and the fact that i spied what looked like seaweed salad in a corner of the picture, i wasn't expecting an exceptional chirashi.

i was right- it came with both seaweed and jellyfish salad. i've never had any of these in a chirashi before- most of the time they come as sides, so i was quite taken aback.

the bowl was gorgeously presented though, with what looked like a mountain of sashimi cubes.

unfortunately, it looked a lot better than it tasted. the dice on the sashimi was too fine to actually discern its taste, so it made for a pretty meh chirashi. in fact, the seaweed salad and jellyfish salad were the tastiest components. the rice was meh as well- didn't even taste like japanese rice. i left most of the rice untouched.

nice place for lunch- quiet and service was quick. it was cheap, but for the price, i would rather go to sumiya. don't think i'll be back, though the set that woman beside me was having looked good (i had mild food envy).

santaro@hinoki
china square central #01-50/53
http://www.epicurean.com.sg/hinoki.html

heard that the sushi bar had just opened a new outlet in ngee ann city, and best of all, there was supposedly no queue! given the number of times i've queued for the sushi bar at their original outlet, that was reason enough to go. i haven't been back to the sushi bar since they implemented the gst and service charge, though it used to be my go-to chirashi place. their chirashi is good, but with the extra charges, it just wasn't as appealing as other places (which offer the same thing at similar prices, but coming as a set and having less queue to boot).

i went with R on a thursday night, having made a reservation on the day itself. it seemed that the reservation was unnecessary though. the decor was similar to the far east plaza outlet, but much more spacious- i can no longer hear the next table's conversation! the menu and prices were similar, but with some new additions.

of course, i got the aburi kaisen chirashi ($26.90), because aburi anything is usually awesome. we also got the aburi salmon roll ($14.90) to share.

of course, the chirashi was good, but it was marred by their lacklustre service. i asked to change my tuna to salmon (for an additional $1), but when my food came, i noticed that they hadn't replaced my tuna. i informed the server, and he took the bowl away. when it came back a few minutes later, the tuna had been replaced, but in a haphazard manner. the pictures were taken only after we spent some time rearranging the slices in a more photogenic way. extremely slipshod- does it take that much of an effort to plate up nicely before serving? besides which, it was an error on their part that they forgot to do the replacement. gave me a very bad impression that was only slightly saved by the fact that the chirashi was good.

i'm also slightly miffed that they choose to charge for a change from tuna to salmon. the other places do it (even offering white tuna) at no extra surcharge. oh well.

i have to say, though, that despite sounding like a good idea, it's actually quite unnecessary to torch some of the sashimi, because it seemed to have not much of an effect. the torching was good for salmon, but the mekajiki, yellowtail and scallop didn't benefit from it. i guess some types of fish aren't meant to be torched. if i do return i think i'll just get the regular chirashi.

R got the wagyu and foie gras don ($39.90) and she liked it. i tried a bite and it was pretty good- very different. i'm surprised that a japanese sushi bar does beef so well. though their service was again not up to scratch. they had quite a few different variations of wagyu don, one with truffle sauce, and when we asked regarding the difference, the server couldn't answer us properly. he gave us some vague answer about it having a stronger flavour (?) and a mushroom sauce (??).

honestly, i don't know if i'll come back. the lack of queue is great, but there are other better chirashis around, at a better pricing and with much better service. the aburi salmon roll was just as good as i remembered, so if i come back, it'll probably be for that. the sushi bar used to be a slightly cheaper alternative to other japanese places, no frills and all (that's why i didn't mind the nonexistent service), but now it's more mid-range. still, a good place for a chirashi fix.

the sushi bar

#05-34/35 ngee ann city

https://www.facebook.com/thesushibar.sg

finally managed to go for lunch at aoki with L! ever since reading all the "best chirashi" lists that always include aoki's mazechirashi, i've wanted to eat there.

they have two timings for lunch, 12 and 1.30. i booked the second seating, requesting for counter seats, and preordered the mazechirashi when i called. (i usually have a hard time deciding what to eat when faced with a menu, so preordering food is something new.)

i had a hard time trying to find the restaurant- i thought it was somewhere inside the mall, but turns out that it was located along the road, with its entrance facing the road. entering the restaurant was like entering a different world. it was all wood and muted lighting. i liked it, especially the layout, with the sushi counter as centerstage.

we were seated at the corner, right in front of the tempting wooden boxes of sashimi. L was especially enraptured by the juicy looking amaebi.

this was their lunch menu! their lunch sets are actually pretty good value.

the moment we sat down, we were served the pre-appetizer ($4). the pre-appetizer of the day was hijiki seaweed. nice, but hardly worth the $4. feels like kind of a rip-off. i initially wanted to tell them that i didn't want it, but it was served the moment i sat down. oh well. i wish they wouldn't do that though.

my mazechirashi also came with a salad.

the mazechirashi ($40)! it tasted just as good as it looked in pictures. easily one of the best chirashis that i've eaten (and i've eaten quite a number). each bite had the right ratio of sashimi bits, rice and egg.

the set also came with miso soup, pickles and ginger.

L got the nigiri sushi token ($55), and i got to sample bites of it. surprisingly enough we liked the minced tuna maki, even though we both share the same general dislike of tuna. in all, really good sushi.

the lunch set also came with dessert. vanilla pudding, momo ice cream and jelly. dessert is hardly their strong point, but it provided a good sweet finish. didn't like the vanilla pudding though and donated mine to L. i was hoping to get something more japanese, like mochi or something.

service was attentive though slightly rushed towards the end (i think because they were closing).

it wasn't cheap, but i think it was actually good value for money. maybe because we ate so slowly, savouring every delicious morsel, i was very full at the end of the meal.

i'm interested to try their lunch omakase ($115). perhaps will drag L back for it one day. so many other high end sushi places that i want to try still, though!

aoki

shaw centre #01-17

http://www.aoki-restaurant.com.sg

noms.

teppei syokudo, ion.

rollie ollie, pasarbella suntec.

wasabi tei, far east plaza.

kai sushi & robatayaki, plaza singapura.

aloha poke, amoy street.

sumiya, suntec city.

senmi sushi, emporium shokuhin, marina square.

ryoshi sushi ikeikemaru, liang court.

magurodonya miura misaki kou, suntec city.

enbu 炎舞, suntec city.

the tuckerbox lunch, far east square.

manzoku, purvis street.

santaro@hinoki, china square central.

the sushi bar, ngee ann city.

aoki 青木, shaw centre.

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