Words and Photos by Chiobu

I am crazy over aburi salmon sushi and I am so glad I found The Sushi Bar. Located in Far East Plaza level Three, it is facing Cheeks, the apparel store which has been around since forever. Yandao and I have been going there thrice in 2 weeks. This is how disgustingly loyal we are, even though they have turned us away twice, and the place has no ambience or service to speak of.

We ordered Chawanmushi ($2.80), Sirloin Steak ($14.90 for 100gm), Wafu Spaghetti ($10.90), mekajiki – Swordfish sashimi ($6.90 for 3 slices), california temaki ($4.50), and salmon aburi sushi roll ($14.50 for 8 pieces).

Chawanmushi is a can-don’t-need-to-order. Smooth, silky and average lor.

California handroll also OK only. Yandao requested to remove the avocado but the handroll still came with avocado. Pay attention people!

Now to the MUST-ORDER list:

Wafu Spaghetti
This is a MUST ORDER. This is probably the best innovation done to pasta. The cream sauce is so yummy, I think it is salmon roe sauce? The first time we had it, we though the look reminded us of Saveur spaghetti. The taste of this wafu spaghetti beats Saveur hands down though! However, the amount of sauce is not consistent. We have been here thrice, and the last time we were here, our spaghetti was dry. Sad max.

Salmon Aburi Sushi
This is the star dish of The Sushi Bar. This is probably one of the better Salmon Aburi Sushi, and it is definitely better than Shiok maki at Koh Grill and Sushi Bar. The seared mayonnaise and salmon flavours just burst in your mouth everytime you pop one piece. The thickness of the salmon is right, and there is always a very shiok feeling after popping one into your mouth because you can feel and taste both the raw salmon and the seared salmon. The ratio is perfected! We can never have enough of Salmon Aburi Sushi, especially at The Sushi Bar. We always order 8 pieces each.

Mekajiki Sashimi (Swordfish)
The swordfish sashimi are sliced into such thick slices, it adds to the oomph factor. This is also one of the better swordfish sashimi I have ever tasted.  It is so fresh and very palatable. So very satisfying.

The Sushi Bar is a great place because of its food – fresh, good quality, very mouth-watering and always satisfying. Oh, don’t order their hot green tea ($1.50) because their hot water dispenser has a very very very weird taste. We thought so on our first visit and by our third visit 2 weeks later, we heard their servers telling one another not to use the hot water dispenser because “customer complained that it tasted weird”.

They really need to train their staff. The first time we were there, the waiter took our orders, came back and asked us to check the order chit, which had a lot of other items which we didn’t order. We clarified, then another girl server came and asked us the same thing again. When we paid for the meal, they made the mistake of including items we didn’t order. Alamak, then why you waste my time asking me 2 times prior to this? Anyway, after we honestly told them which were the items we had, the girl took our money, chatted with the chef and had us waiting for our change. So we waited, and waited, and waited while they were complaining about a staff. “Yah, I am going to call him and tell him not to come in tomorrow.” Really, do you need to complain about your staff in front of your customers?

And when they had finished their conversation, she just slammed the cash register shut without giving us our change! She was not even apologetic for making us wait, and not giving us our change. And us, being honest customers, told her the exact amount to return us. We could have easily told her a higher amount.

Another area to improve is to efficiently use up the restaurant space. Since The Sushi Bar accepts reservations from Mondays – Fridays, it is really difficult to walk in and request for a table on weekdays because it is usually fully booked. However, on our last visit there on a Friday, we noted many tables were empty despite a long queue outside, mainly because people who made reservations were late. They should probably accept only a few tables for reservations, while keep the rest for walk-in customers, or else they are really dealing with the space inefficiently.  In fact, I was turned away twice when I was there at 6.30pm, even though the place was pretty vacant, because they were fully booked and I could “try my luck” after 8pm. Urgh.

Also, with the long queue, they should have some signages to show where to queue. Everytime I am there, there are like hordes of people outside the shop front and no proper indication to direct us where to queue. There was once I was there queuing, or rather, I thought I was queuing, then the waitress told us the queue was the other side. LIKE WHUT!!! Y U NO say earlier!

The Sushi Bar Singapore

14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza #03-89 Singapore 228213
T: 9625 0861
M-Sat: 12-9.30pm