Mentaiko is one of those guaranteed crowd-pleasers in Japanese cooking. After all, who doesn’t love a blanket of creamy, umami goodness layered generously on their rice bowls?
With five branches scattered across Singapore, Mentai-Ya Japanese Cuisine is serving up this thicc Japanese-style cod roe sauce for customers in heartland areas like Tampines and Bukit Panjang.
We visited this place in November 2019, prior to Covid-19. Do check for pandemic-related updates and precautions before making your visit.
What do you get when you combine a nearly thousand years old drink with a hip, modern setting and the allure of social media pictures? You get Matcha Republic!
Wandering somewhat aimlessly around Uji, Kyoto and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of shops touting variations of matcha in the hometown of this marvellous, historic drink, Matcha Republic’s minimalist white storefront called out to me from the myriad traditional stores brimming with packets upon packets of matcha powder.
While Fortune Centre has established itself as a foodie haven for vegetarians and vegans, that has not stopped a handful of Japanese and Korean eateries from setting up shop in this unassuming mall. Gyosen has quietly made a name for itself with its affordable Japanese rice bowls and omaksase which are housed in two adjacent units on the third level.
With several Japanese-style or Japanese-inspired cafes popping up across Singapore, it’s interesting to see what each and every joint has to offer. One such business that has recently opened its doors at South Beach Tower is Waga Waga Den. A takeaway concept by Black Carvery Group, the same group behind Japanese fine-dining brands Black Cow and Shatoburian.
If you’ve always been curious about Kyoto’s iconic Menbaka Fire Ramen but never got to try it (for obvious reasons), they have opened their first and only international outlet in Cineleisure Orchard.
While I’m personally skeptical about how well overseas food concepts, particularly Japanese, translate to local palates, curiosity got the better of me when I saw it was relatively empty one late weekend afternoon.
So, how does Singapore’s take on Menbaka Fire Ramen compare to the OG outlet in Kyoto?
Shinsora has much to be proud of. Not only did it survive the worst of Covid-19 when it opened, but also its two chefs, Chef Sky Tai and Chef Leon Yap, are also World Sushi Cup Champions. Quite a mean feat considering both were born and raised outside Japan.
Today, the 10-seater omaksase restaurant continues to operate out of its Odeon Towers-based premises, with no more than a SafeEntry code hinting at its presence within Standing Sushi Bar. One might even mistake it for a private dining room with front-row seats to the sushi-making action.
Sen-ryo has been on my list of places to try for a while now, but it was only recently that I finally got to visit this famed Japanese restaurant at ION Orchard. Not for my busy schedule or procrastination, but for a waiting list that averages up to two months.
The Tochigi-based brand has been around since 1999, with a whopping 13 outlets scattered across Hong Kong, where its rise to fame in the region started. Its ION Orchard outpost is its first in Singapore, with queues showing no sign of abating in spite of it having passed its one year mark.
Chue On It 