Word has seemingly gotten around the opening of yet another Sushi Zushi outlet around town — these folks had become pretty much the talk of the town when they had first made their debut in the local F&B scene during the opening of their very first location at Funan. The brand had since opened a second outlet at Westgate for a while now, and their latest outpost can be found at the basement of Bugis Junction. The outlet of Sushi Zushi at Bugis Junction takes over the former premises of the now-defunct Expressteppanyaki — this would be around the small vicinity in which one would find other dining establishments such as the likes of LeNu Chef Wai’s Noodle Bar, Monster Curry and The Soup Spoon Union there. The hype around Sushi Zushi is all about their operating model where the set-up is pretty much like an Omakase concept — bar counter seats surround the food preparation area where the chef works in full view of the patrons, preparing the sushi, sashimi and all other dishes upon order; the Bugis Junction outlet seeing three such distinct zones to better manage the dine-in crowd here. The menu at Sushi Zushi’s outlet at Bugis Junction consists of sections dedicated to Appetisers, Sashimi, Sushi, Handrolls and Desserts — this is more aligned to that of its location at Funan rather than the newer Westgate outlet that incorporates a Charcoal Grill concept.

There are a number of monthly special items that are being offered by Sushi Zushi and one of such items was the Negitoro Uni Monaka when we had made our visit during its initial days of opening — these is also an item which can be found under the Sushi section of the menu. Sushi Zushi does not describe the various elements that are included with the item; with that being said, it can be observed that the Negitoro Uni Monaka does include elements such as Negitoro (minced raw tuna), Uni (i.e. raw sea urchin), Black Tobiko(?), Ikura, spring onions and a very small portion of sushi rice that sits within a wafer “case”. The best way to enjoy it is to fold the top “lid” of the Monaka down and take a bite into the Negitoro Uni Monaka — akin to that of a sandwich if one would put it that way. Sinking our teeth straight into the Negitoro Uni Monaka, the Monaka comes with a light, crispy and airy crunch that really showed the freshness of the wafer — checked all the right boxes there. Considering the load of other elements sitting atop the small mound of rice that lines the Monaka at the bottom, not much could be felt about the rice, though we did like how it was sticky enough to hold itself together; the rice does also seemed to have been seasoned to carry a light savoury note as opposed to the sweet-ish note that most vinegared rice in sushi tend to taste like. The Negitoro is fresh and gave a fibrous texture that adds a contrast to the smooth and buttery Uni and the Ikura that gave a popping sensation when it is chewed upon, though the Uni’s inherent brininess and the umami flavours of the Tobiko and Ikura certainly turned the Negitoro Uni Monaka into a flavour bomb that we just cannot get enough of!