If you are a fan of Marché, the Swiss-run restaurant at VivoCity, or even its imitator at The Heeren, chances are you would love Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar. Shokudo shares the similar concept of having several cooking stations under one roof, charge cards and themed dining, but with Japanese cuisine instead.
The 15,000 square foot eatery opened just weeks ago at the new basement extension of Raffles City Shopping Centre. Attracted by the fact that I can choose from over 230 dishes, I hurried down to check out the place. Many other people had the same idea, and it was only during my second visit that I managed to get in after a relatively short queue.
The design is colourful, modern and tasteful, with various areas of themed dining. The walls are dominated by murals of Tokyo city scenes overlaid with graphics of Japanese girls.
(Update: Asprah left a comment informing me that those aren’t really Japanese girls, but long-haired Japanese male rockers!)
(As I was rather enthralled by the art on those walls, I did some snooping around and found the artist’s website where you can see all the commissioned arts he did for Shokudo. here’s the link.)
There are even a few colourful neoprint machines at the centre of the restaurant! They sure are a hit with the younger crowd.
You would find the rosti here too, which is a signature potato dish at Marché. But other than that, the food is vastly different. In addition to traditional fare such as sushi, sashimi, teppanyaki and tempura, there are many more unusual creations.
Even for Western dishes such as burgers and pasta, they would be done Japanese style. The burgers come with eggs served sunny side up and – check this out – miso-flavoured beef patties!
So there I was, walking through the melange of various cooking stations, not knowing what to eat. There were so many choices and everything looked tempting to me!
Then, I spotted a queue at the omelette station. Normally, bland-tasting omelettes wouldn’t attract me much. But this time round, my Singaporean mentality kicked in. “if there’s a queue, it must be good la!” moreover, it was fun watching the chef cook the omelette in his cute square-shaped pan.
The dish is served popiah-style, with the omelette wrapped around the ingredients and cut into different segments. Delicious mayonnaise is then drizzled generously over it.
S$5.80++
Rating:
What you see here is the unagi (eel) omelette. I swear I am not exaggerating here, but boy, it was lip-smackingly good! I certainly had not expected it to be that good. I mean, there is only so much you can do with an omelette right? It was a little sweet, a little salty, and bursting with flavour all at the same time. I strongly urge everyone to go for this – we even got ourselves a second helping!
Besides unagi, you also get to choose from other ingredients such as crab meat, cheese, bacon, ham, sliced pork and mushroom too. Wow, I’m so going back to shokudo just to get a taste of the omelette again!
S$6.80++
Rating:
If you are in the mood for something more conventional, go for the Japanese hot plate. Besides the unagi seen above, there’s also beef, seafood or chicken (for the chicken lovers like me) to choose from. It’s nothing particularly out of the norm, but tastes good nonetheless.
S$4++
Rating:
Okay, this is just too funny to leave out. For something that goes back to the basics, and by that I really do mean the basics, there’s the fried tau gay (bean sprouts). I couldn’t believe it when my friend came walking back to our table with a whole platter of fried tau gay! And it actually cost 4 bucks!
This is followed by dessert! Dessert choices include cr�pes, waffles and even tofu cheesecakes. Always a fan of waffles, we went for the waffle with a scoop of gelato. Why gelato? Because the Japanese are a health-conscious bunch and gelato has much less fat than regular ice cream!
S$5.80++
Rating:
It’s a long wait, though, as the waffle is made from scratch on the spot. But it’s well worth the wait. At my next visit, I’m having the tofu cheesecake. I’ve never had one before!
As I was going around checking out the food stations, one particular station piqued my interest. It’s a pizza station! These Japanese pizzas are wafer-thin and certainly do not resemble the common pizzas!
This is a plastic replica of the pizza. Look just how thin it is! I was rather pleased to see these plastic food replicas at every food station here, the way many restaurants in Japan have them!
I really enjoy the wide array of Japanese food here. There are so many different dishes to sample such that even the fussiest eater (and by that I really mean me) would find something he or she loves. I’m already looking forward to my next visit!
Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road #B1-44E
Singapore 179103
Tel: +65 6837 3793
Service:
Feb 25, 2008
1
Oh tks for the review. I went past the other day and was wondering abt it. Sure looks yummy from your photos. :P
Mar 5, 2008
1
Went down yesterday to try on the food, really disappoint. Reach there about 6 plus to 7, the q for food is a bit long.
Food Order:
Rosti
tomato rice with grilles chicken
pumpkin soup
Japanese BBQ Eel Hot Plate
Japanese Cuury rice
Coke
Bill came up to $44.14
Rosti still not bad,
Tomato Rice is COLD. When my hubby took the food back to the table and i try, it cold, not even warm, my hubby asked how can it be, the chicken took off from the stove, we not sitting near to any aircon ventilation, so the food can’t be cool off so fast, although the aircon is cold, but not to the extend cooling off so fast. this goes to the curry rice and the soup too. I didn’t even finish any soup. As for the BBQ eel, will it last a bit, however it turn out to be cold too. Sigh.
When paying for the bill, ask the staffs for feedback form, no. Check with her what number do I call for reservation, she told me they don’t do any reservation, we have to follow the q outside, but how come I see so many reserve tag at the table when I dine inside????
Want to bring my family along for a meal, think i will think twice again. Worth of money = no.
Mar 23, 2008
1
Went last Thursday with some friends. It was quite packed. However, the quality of the food was not compromised. Some of the dishes we had were the katsudon, chicken katsu curry, soft shell crab tempura, omelette, crepe, etc.I especially loved the omelette. I wouldn’t hesitate to go back again soon to try the other dishes. By the way, the mural with the japanese “girls” are actually jrockers. they are all male. ^-^”
Mar 25, 2008
3472
Whaaa those are male rockers? I didn’t see that coming! (They sure seem an effeminate bunch don’t they?) Thanks for enlightening me before I embarrass myself further!
Apr 8, 2008
1
It seem like there are more ——-neg than ++++++pos comment for shokudo. Im on the neg side too.
For the price, service & food standard , i rather go to a proper jap restaurant. Dont think the management did a good job but i have to agree the decor & ambience is nice.
i wont just go back again unless friends wanted too.
Just my 2 cents worth of comment.
Jul 11, 2008
1
wa..sry drop by to see ur blog..ur blog is really nice..introducin so many kinds of tings..of cz i still like catergory on food..haha..well done!! all looks tempting to me…shall drop by to see more!^^