Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Birthday Dinner at Sumire 笑 Yakitori House, Bugis Junction

We're back again barely two weeks after our first visit to the Jap eatery. This time, we're celebrating our evil sista's birthday. As usual, we made advanced reservations as we knew it will be crowded during meal times. The restaurant seemed rather empty at 6.30pm but almost all the tables had a name tag of those who booked them.





I managed to take a few close up shots of the not-yet-busy grilling station. They used electric grills instead of charcoal ones, and had a powerful exhaust hood making sure nobody smells of BBQ meat in the restaurant.





Having been here before, we quickly placed order on the iPad and sent in over 20 requests for our fave dishes and many new ones that we're interested to try.

Once settled down, a complimentary bowl of Cabbage Shiodare (U.P. $1.90++) was served. This was nice and refreshing as expected.


We ordered a different salad to try this time, Avocado Mentai Potato Salad $3.90++. I liked the mentai mayo dressing, not too bad.


Some fresh sashimi to kick start the meal, Salmon & Yellow Tail Sashimi $8.90++ each. Extremely fresh and juicy as usual, and the thickness was just right.



Next up, one of the star dishes of the day, Anago Nigiri $9.90++. Grilled Salt water eel with sushi rice topped with teriyaki sauce. The meat was so soft and dissolved instantly in my mouth! If we didn't already ordered so many dishes, I would've ordered seconds. Highly recommended.


Another star dish that had us singing praises was the Aburi Shime Saba $14.90++, Touched vinegar marinated Saba fish, uber fresh and succulent with slight crisp from the lightly charred skin, thumbs up!

And, did I mention that this was prepared on the spot at our table? Paparazzi moment...






The Yakitori dishes arrived soon after the fiery performance. We picked out some new items to try this time round, and some old favorites with a different dipping 'sauce'. Tsukimi Tsukune $4.90++, Hinatoro (Chicken shoulder) $4.90++ and King Liver w/ Goma & Chili sauce $3.90++.




I shared the Men's chicken meatballs with egg yolk with my other sista who loves runny egg yolk. Both of us enjoyed the dish very much, the chicken meatballs and creamy yolk was a perfect match. We also had the chicken shoulder skewer which was very tender, and the grilled chicken liver which was surprisingly creamy and flavorful. Other old favorites were grilled chicken skin original and served with teriyaki sauce, Tori Kawa $2.20++ each.



We didn't try the pork skewer items on our last visit, so we ordered a few dishes to try this time. Pork belly with salt and Horse radish & soy sauce $2.90++ each. Asparagus Bacon $3.90++, Enoki Bacon $2.90++ and Quail eggs Bacon $3.90++.






Most of the pork skewers were overcooked which makes them tough and chewy, even the bacon dishes were equally disappointing. I guess pork dishes is not their forte, there is definitely a huge room for improvement here!

Moving on, some delightfully done grilled vegetables to save the day...Grilled Oyster mushrooms $2.90++ and Sweet corn with soy sauce $2.90++. Both were pretty good.



Lastly, we had some fried dishes and a bowl of Ramen to share. The fried items were good, very crispy. But the noodle and the grilled prawns was lackluster. Fried Chicken soft bones $4.90++, Tori Karaage $6.90++, Tiger prawn w/ Mentai mayo $4.90++ each and Spicy Tori Ramen $12.90++.






There were a few dishes we had previously and ordered again today but not featured here. Do check my previous post for more photos.

Despite having a couple of disappointing dishes, our overall dining experience was still a good one. Service level here remains superb, and food prices are largely affordable. There are still many little gems hidden in the extensive menu that are yet to be discovered. So this will not be the last time you'll see us here.


Sumire 笑 Yakitori House @Bugis Junction
80 Middle Road #01-88/89 Singapore 188966
Tel: 6338 9963

Mon - Thu: 11:30 am - 10:30 pm
Fri - Sat: 11:30 am - 11:30 pm
Sun: 11:30 am - 10:30 pm






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