Ichiban Boshi (Wisma Branch)

Hidden in an obscure corner of Wisma Atria, just beside Topshop, one would have easily dismiss the restaurant as yet another clothing shop, (Seriously, it is located at a damn strange location compared to the other restaurants) if not for the people queuing up for their seats just outside the restaurant. From the exterior, I quote from my friend, "It looks so damn expensive that I didn't dare to go in."

Ah... But thank god, never judge a book by its cover, or in this case, never judge a restaurant by its classy exterior (or interior, for that matter). This place serves up good food at really reasonable prices. And that is a godsend for a student like me! (With all the inflation going around, we need to save money! Save more money! Sorry. Sidetracked.) Just think about it: most of the sushi on the conveyor belt is only for $1.90! And of course, the smart thing to do would be not take the sushi off the conveyor belt but instead order it ala carte. (Freshly made taste better!)

However, if you really really want to make your meal worth it, order one of the set meals instead! With such a huge selection of set meals to choose from, you will spend much time poring over the menu even if your stomach is sending out growling signals. After much consideration, I settled for a Don Don Zen ($14.90) which includes a unagi omelette don, a mini spicy salmon sashimi with rice, soft shell crab, a mini chilled tofu, miso soup and two slices of oranges. (That sounds like a lot right? It is a lot!) I must say that I really enjoyed my food a lot. My favorite out of the lot will have to be the spicy salmon sashimi with rice where fresh sashimi with minimal chili padi and spring onion are served with vinegared rice - I polish it off without any other condiments, be it wasabi or soy sauce. It was good enough on its own. The miso soup, on the other hand, had a way too strong taste for me to like it. I like it to be a little more mild. Soft shell crab was tasty and it came in a sizable helping. (They sure don't scrimp on the amount of food!) Mini chilled tofu and unagi omelette don was also good but not that 'wow!'

The Don Don Zen set was so worth it that two of my other friends also ordered it! And we all polished it off! My two other friends ordered different set meal which were Tori Cheese Katsu Zen ($13.90) and Unagi Yanagawa Sashimi Wazen ($15.90) which were good too, according to them and their very very empty bowls. Being a chawanmushi fan, once I saw that one of them had a chawanmushi as part of the set, I immediately reached out my greedy hands for it. (Not just me, we all did. After all, what are friends for? Haha.) Mmm... The chawanmushi went down smooth and tasted real good. Even the first-time chawanmushi eater (He exists, for real!) was bowled over by it.

The service provided there was great too! The service staff gave us our iced water in cute Japanese mug (free! We Singaporeans love free stuff!) and refilled them promptly. They cleared away our cutlery and despite the restaurant closing, they didn't chase us out and allowed us to sit and talk happily with our stomachs full.

Unfortunately, at the end of the meal, I was way too full to try any of their desserts or anything from the conveyor belt. I guess there is always next time! With it costing $92.25 after GST and 10% service charge for the 5 of us, it definitely warrants a second visit.