I was craving for sashimi and thought I would check out this little humble Japanese eatery at Thomson Plaza after hearing some raving reviews from fellow foodies about their possibly ‘cheapest in Singapore’ bara chirashi dons.

If you aren’t familiar with Thomson Plaza, it might be a bit tricky to locate Sushiro just by looking at its unit number. Well, to save you the hassle, just head straight to where the Koufu food court is on Level One. Sushiro is one of the stalls at the food kiosk area (where Old Chang Kee, Gong Cha, etc are) just facing the food court.

Lunch hour service starts at 11.45am. I was there about 11.20am and there were already a few people in the queue. Seating space is really limited – I would say 16 seats the most – after inserting extra chairs at the sides of the tables so for those keen to check this place out, either come early to queue or be prepared to wait.

Here’s a glimpse of their menu:

And there was also this additional hand-written menu that featured some special dishes.

Couldn’t resist taking a photo of this polar bear mascot hugging the chopsticks. Cute!

I felt service-wise, there was room for improvement because as I was waiting in line earlier, I asked one of the girls if the glazed duck was available, obviously she didn’t have a clue and had to ask one of her co-workers before giving me an unfriendly response. And when I was seated and finally managed to catch the attention of someone – that same girl who was just standing by the counter doing nothing saw me gesturing to her but she got her fellow co-worker to serve me instead. Hmm, I suppose she was the cashier but it wouldn’t hurt to multi-task by taking customers’ orders or serve tea, would it? Especially not when everyone else was waiting for food to be served and no one was going to make payment anytime soon. Well, needless to say, that also resulted in some waiting time for my tea and food to come.

Anyway, it was quite amusing to see the reactions of the family seated at the table next to me exclaiming how small the portions were when their food was served. Oh no, not a good start.

And here was the Bara Chirashi Don (S$12.80) which yes, I would say it was one of the most wallet-friendly prices I had come across for this dish. The portion of sashimi cubes looked deceivingly generous because the bowl was small with little rice at the bottom. Perhaps this was considered a good size for the petite eater but if I was feeling ravenous, I would probably need two bowls of this. Is it value for money? I’m not so sure.

But the good thing was, everything tasted fresh. The sauce that was doused over the seafood wasn’t overpowering so I could still taste the sweetness of the salmon, tuna, octopus and ikura (salmon roe) and the light fragrance of the spring onions. I enjoyed the textures of the ikura that burst in the mouth as well as the seafood that were of good sized cubes but it was a shame that some of the salmon cubes were rather sinewy. I also found some tiny bits of (cooked) prawns.

This Japanese-Style Glazed Duck with Onsen Egg on Rice (S$14.80) also came in a similar sized bowl as the bara chirashi don.

I enjoyed the thick slices of duck that were lightly torched for a subtle smoky flavour but it was a pity that the onsen egg (which I was so looking forward to dig into) was overcooked.

Also ordered the Salmon Sushi Nigiri Set (S$9.80) that consisted of 2 pieces each of the Salmon Nigiri, Salmon Aburi Mayo and Salmon Mentai Mayo. All tasted rather mediocre to my disappointment. I hate to say this but the aburi salmon from Sushi Express was way better than this even though 2 pieces only cost S$1.50++! It really reinforces the fact that cheap stuffs may not be bad and expensive ones may not be fantastic either.

Well, I have mixed feelings about Sushiro. While I don’t mind coming back for its bara chirashi don when I need my fix and I don’t feel exactly that hungry but I’m just not so crazy about it that I will purposely come all the way here for a meal. For now, I would rather pay more and go with my favourite salmon aburi rolls and chirashi dons from The Sushi Bar @ Far East Plaza which would be more gratifying.

Sushiro
301 Upper Thomson Road
Thomson Plaza #01-113F
Singapore 574408
Tel: +65 9450 1020
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Sushiro-Singapore-970518079675008
Opening hours:
(Mon, Wed-Sun)
11.45am to 2.30pm
5.45pm to 9.30pm
(Closed on Tuedays)

Tags: foodgood food in singaporejapanese food singaporejapanese restaurant singaporeplaces to eat in singaporerestaurants in singaporesingapore foodsushiro menuthomson plaza foodupper thomson foodwhat to eat in singaporewhere to eat in singapore