Thinking about Japan.

the buffet at Hokkaido sushi restaurant is always a good place to load up on fresh sashimi. I particularly enjoy the salmon and swordfish, but the cooked foods are not too bad too!
P.S if you book via hungrygowhere you can enjoy up to a 30% discount off the buffet!

spicy salmon poke with veggies, avocado and edamame. my favourite combination from poke lulu. it makes me feel full without being bloated after.

the unagi tama don ($8.80) from @donyasingapore. barely-set egg and chewy grilled unagi atop a bed of japanese rice. the unagi can’t compare with the freshly killed and grilled man man unagi, but at this price point one can hardly expect that. I would come back if i were in the area and craving jap food. plus, there’s creamier nearby so can get waffles after 😬

waited for such a long time before this finally appeared as a regular item on @sushirosingapore ‘s menu. the sanshoku chirashi don - spicy salmon, salmon slices and chirashi mix atop a bed of japanese rice. a positively incendiary bowl, with the spicy salmon burning and numbing the tongue and the chirashi providing a nice mix of textures with the tako and ebi. would have liked more of that spicy salmon but overall quite a competent dish!

amazing tonkatsu from ma maison. the meat is tender and juicy, with streaks of fat marbled within. the coating of panko is wonderfully light and crisp, and stays intact unlike some other cutlets i’ve eaten that fall apart in a sad way. the shredded cabbage acted as a lovely palate cleanser to the rich pork.
but i enjoyed the company the best ☺️

the tendon in this bowl brings to mind a hasty amalgamation of two of the more popular brands in Singapore - Ginza Tendon Itsuki and Tempura Kohaku. There is the bowl of chawanmushi, the now-ubiquitous pot of beansprouts, the spicy sauce and the mountain of tempura that could feed an army. I counted 12 pieces of tempura, consisting of a slice of seaweed, a fillet of white fish, 2 prawns, 2 long beans, a slice of carrot, eggplant and pumpkin, a ear of baby corn and a shiitake mushroom. oh and an oozy tempura egg.
well, not so oozy.
This joint tries to make everyone happy with all the trimmings. however, the prawns are slightly limp, the egg is slightly over cooked, there is slightly too little sauce and the beansprouts are way too salty. I liked the white fish, though. it had a firm bite which contrasted the crisp batter.
a few tweaks here and there, and this place could be much better! otherwise, i’d travel a bit further for better tempura at the other mentioned joints. .

chanced upon this yakitori joint along circular road that only serves two dishes at lunch - oyakodon and a spiced chicken don topped with tamago. upon entering, I noted that most of the people eating were speaking japanese - always a good sign.
service at the restaurant is top notch, you are greeted with a loud shout of ‘いっらしゃいませ!’ on entering and a cup of cold barley tea is immediately served to your table.
the oyakodon arrived piping hot, accompanied with a side of pickes and a small bowl of soup. atop a bowl of rice sits a layer of barely-set egg and chicken, covered in a sweet sauce. this was crowned with a gloriously orange yolk. no chopsticks are provided, you eat the dish with only a spoon.
it’s hard to mess up an egg, and the soft, curd-like egg paired perfectly with the tender chicken cubes. the sweet sauce made the dish very moreish, and the yolk added extra richness to the proceedings. I felt the rice could have been a little less mushy, but that’s just nitpicking there.
at $15 after gst and service charge, this is no tamahide, but a very good attempt at comfort food!

amidst the nail salons, massage parlours and vegetarian food stalls of Fortune Centre lies this amazing stall. i had never stepped foot in there before and i would have never ventured inside if not for this. the mentai salmon don ($10 for small, $13 for upsized) is a flavour explosion with aburi-ed salmon covered in umami mentaiko mayo. each bite is a salty, creamy, fishy delight and i think i must have polished off the bowl in about 3 minutes. the rice has quite a strong vinegary taste, which helped it to stand up to the rich flavour of the salmon. it was pretty good on its own too! will be back stat.

the spicy sesame kaisendon from teppei syokudo. salmon, tuna, scallop and ?ark shell but instead of the usual salty teppei dressing the fish is coated in a spicy, savoury sesame sauce that really packs a punch. there are bits of chili padi within the dish to give an additional burst of fire. much more exciting than their normal dressing. now if only one could choose this spicy dressing in a DIY bowl...