Itacho Sushi – Dinner

For the lack of a better restaurant in Plaza Singapura, I suggested trying Itacho Sushi since I’ve heard some hype about how it’s really good, though I was very sceptical. I personally didn’t dare to hold high expectations of this Hong Kong originated restaurant, which targets the mass market.

As it was our first patronage, we ordered most of the items from the promotional menu which features some popular items. Some of them were kind of exotic with non-Japanese ingredients. Basically, their menu was pretty extensive and covers a wide variety of dishes including unusual ones.

Mekajiki (swordfish) sashimi – $10.50++

This was quite a disappointment. At $3.50++ per slice this sashimi is nowhere near budget price (think sakae sushi, where you cannot have any expectations) but yet, it was served almost freezing cold, as though it was just taken out of the freezer and being thawed on the spot. Even at budget sashimi places like Sakuraya Fish Mart where $10.50 could get me a bigger slab, the sashimi would not be this cold.

Salmon with Soy Sauce sushi – $0.40++ each

There was a limit of 4 pieces per customer for this. Supposedly, it’s a promotional item and originally cost $0.80++, but it seems like it has been on promotion for quite some time. The salmon was very thinly sliced and it’s thoroughly coated with the soya sauce so it has a strong salty flavour. At $0.40++ each, there’s nothing much to complain about it.

However, the sushi rice here wasn’t exactly worthy of the hype over this restaurant being a place for ‘good sushi’. The rice didn’t stick well together, and it fell apart easily. It was also quite warm which could be the reason for it not sticking well. I know by right the sushi rice should be warm, but it shouldn’t be at expense of not sticking well. If I had to choose between warm rice but it doesn’t stick, and cold rice but it sticks well, I’d rather the latter.

Scallop with spicy salmon sushi – $2.50++

This was on the promotion menu too. I didn’t get to try it.

Clam with salmon roe sushi – $1.80++ each

I guess I’m not a fan of raw clams so there’s nothing memorable for me.

Sea eel sushi – $6.50++

Again, I’m not a fan of eel, be it unagi or sea eel so this was normal to me.

Smoked duck sushi – $1.80++ each

This was quite interesting as I never tried duck on sushi before. Perhaps the restaurant’s Hong Kong origins did help in creating good duck as this was quite good. The duck meat was soft and tender and it didn’t have any funky duck smell.

Tempura squid with curry salt sushi – $1.80++ each

The tempura squid wasn’t the crispiest tempura as it was probably not assembled and served to us ala minute, but it did provide a crunch and wasn’t too stale. The taste of the curry salt was very distinctive. Overall it’s not a bad choice, but then again, I’m not a fan of squid being served this way, as squid served in flat slices tends to be chewy and tough.

Black pepper salmon – $4.50++

This coooked dish was on the promotional menu as well. Overall, I do not recommend this, as it was full of bones and meat was minimal.

Overall, I could see why this place got popular – it’s targeted for the mass market. Located in popular malls, serving a wide variety at affordable prices, it’s likely to attract crowds, which is the ‘mass market’. Based on the quality of food, I personally think Tomi Sushi fared much better in producing quality sushi. Generally the food here isn’t as awful as Sakae Sushi (which I do not regard as Japanese food.) but is probably just benchmark, in the same league as Sushi Tei.

Do note that they have a strange reservation policy as stated on their facebook page. If you were to reserve you need to have a minimum spending of $25/pax, or $50/pax for the ION outlet. So if you were to patronise during weekend peak hours, I guess you may need to queue up.

*****

Ambience: 6.5/10

Food: 7/10

Value: 7/10

Overall: Just benchmark. For settling a normal meal yes, for tasting good japanese food, no – there are better choices out there.

*****

Itacho Sushi

Plaza Singapura,

#02-35,

68 Orchard Road

Tel: 6337 8922

*****