A first for me at Shimbashi, an eatery I've walked by tons of times...headed there for the tea time dessert special once and that's about it. One of the few places I know whose specialty is in handmade noodle..Shimbashi and Kuriya.
The introduction to handmade Japanese noodle from their website "The Zen of noodles is eating organic Japanese chilled or soup soba, traditionally handmade and freshly cooked at Shimbashi Soba restaurant. The secret is in the fresh grounded buckwheat prepared moments before lunch and dinner. The Soba Master selects organic fragrant buckwheat for its freshness, finess and specifically chosen for its nutrition."
With so much marketing of the freshness and goodness of Soba, I had to eat soba, nothing else. Not even sushi.
Being finicky eaters we are, we ordered all the three set menus they had! What better way to try most of their sides and their signature soba? There's a choice of soba/udon for all three sets but we were bent on just soba, nothing else this time!
Set A Chilled soba, sashimi, grilled fish, teriyaki chicken ($16.80)
Set B Chilled soba, Unagi (grilled eel), tempura selection (leaf, soft shell crab, brinjal), agedashi tofu topped with radish & salmon ($21.80)
Set C Hot soba soup, sashimi, tempura selection (prawns, eggplant), tamago & saba fish head ($23.80)
Chilled Soba: Chewy with a really nice bite. Tasty in its own right, not your kind of usual MSG but it's naturally tasty. I couldn't stop eating upon the first bite. Definitely easy to eat and delicious too! No miso/sauce for you to dip in, scattered with seaweed and tempura bits...uber yummy indeed, brings this comment to mind: The taste of handmade. Puts your regular Sakae Sushi limp/cold/tasteless Cha Soba to shame seriously.
Hot Soba: Found this tasting like Yee Mee, surprisingly though it doesn't lose the chewy texture even in soup albeit somewhat softer. Between the two, I still prefer soba, chilled.
Sashimi: Just alright I reckon, nothing the sort of melt in your mouth, but fresh at least.
Unagi: Grilled nicely, not overly soaked in sauce. I slurped the eel down, bones and fat.
Tempura selection: Nicely fried..to a crisp. The soft shell crab was just alright though, nothing to shout about.
Agedashi tofu & salmon: Not as flavourful as I'd like it to be, but complements the chilled soba.
Tamago: The normal sweet egg.
Overall, only the soba was exceptional, the rest are well, good enough. Presentation of their food is meticulous, meeting details like your lettuce leaf / making sure there's a leek separating your tamago from the saba. Prices are well, acceptable in this period of inflation. Service was prompt, polite and attentive. We had our cups of tea/warm water refilled so many times. Best part, they do not hurry you to leave despite the crowds forming outside the restaurant.
Definitely will be back for seconds...for the chilled soba/monthly special! Tea time dessert sounds equally good!
** edit: I headed back there two days later just for the dessert special! Just $5!!**
Ocha cheesecake with red bean and vanilla bean ice
Found the cake a lil dense, strong in green tea flavour. Yuzu jelly with mixed fruit and fried sesame sticks
A delightful dessert, the yuzu jelly was refreshing, texture quite like sea jelly. The fried sesame sticks are crunchy and sweet. Mango tofu with mixed fruit and vanilla bean ice
The mango tofu was pretty much like a mango pudding, delicious! Cream anmitsu (mixed fruits, jelly cubes, yam balls, mochi, red bean)
A common item on the dessert menu at any Japanese hangout, very generous with their servings (at least way better than the Aji one!!). Yummy.
Dessert special is available every day from 230-530pm. Every dessert order comes with a choice of beverage (tea/coffee/mugi-cha). I had Mugicha (roasted barley tea), really fragrant!
Recommended to make reservations for dinner!
http://www.res.com.sg/restaurants_view.php?v=5
Shimbashi Soba
290 Orchard Road
Paragon #B1-41
Open daily: 11.30am - 10.00pm
(Dinner last order: 9.30pm)
Comments
Post a Comment