When Standing Sushi Bar first opened, it stood out from the rest because of its concept and of course, its owner. What does Standing Sushi Bar, R's Burger, Xiao Bar Wang and Yanqing's Shanghai Kitchen all have in common? They are brainchilds of celebrity owners, darlings of the media. To some extent, that lends some extra shimmer to the eatery.
The attention seeker
A mid-day beer does not sound too bad..
Traipsed down with a gf to check the place out. The eatery was easy to find, diagonally from Sakae Sushi. Not as crowded as expected, we cosied up at the front of the restaurant. The cheery waitress assisted us with the order taking, I figured we looked too lost in a place where everyone seemed to know how to go about ordering.
Honestly, the variety is not huge...take a look at the board for daily specials or take a pick at the ala carte.
Sushi set ($12.80++)
Nigiri: Ebi, Sake (Salmon), Hiramasa (Yellowtail), Shime Saba (Mackerel), Tuna
Roll: Sake, Vegetable, Crabstick
Sushi: Inari sushi
I made a special request for no octopus nor squid and the kitchen kindly made replacements. An affordable selection of nigiri, rolls and sushi though at first glance it does not look like it can satiate a growling tummy.
Inari sushi tasted stale, the rice exceptionally grainy and not quite the fluffy rice I was expecting. Thankfully though, the quality of sushi got progressively better with sinewy slices of raw fish and pearls of chewy rice. At this point, I figure SSB's advantage is the rice used! The nigiris in general are fresher than the rolls. SSB sushi is different from the usual sushi joints, I'm somehow liking the idea of my sake with a long trail coating the morsel sized rice ball.
Temaki set ($9.80++)
The gf recently returned from Hokkaido and commented that the rice was "not as good as Japan's", in the most understated way ever. The handrolls looked oiishii though.
Both sets came with complimentary soup. I'm an upfront non-miso soup fan so I slurped this stealthily. Lo and behold, it wasn't miso soup...in fact a tastier and more flavourful version of miso soup packed with sliced radishes, carrots, an occasional jelly and random mushroom. I surprised myself by finishing every drop of it, as did the gf. Props given to SSB for the soup!
Pricey quality lunch it was. Careful thought was given to bag hooks beneath the tables! Cheerful service rendered, it felt homely but standing for lunch needs some getting used to. Otherwise, Sakae offers a more comfortable and cheaper alternative.
http://standingsushibar.com/default.aspx
Standing Sushi Bar
OUB Center
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