After having enjoyed great dining experiences at Sun’s first restaurant in Singapore, at CHIJMES, we looked forward to our lunch here, their second restaurant.
We were not disappointed. From start to finish, our experience was seamlessly good. Other diners obviously think highly of this restaurant too, as it was teeming when we arrived.
The manager informed us that we would have to wait half an hour for a table; we agreed and put our names and mobile phone numbers down on the list. We wandered off for a stroll to kill time. The only glitch happened here: The restaurant never called to tell us our table was ready, and we found out only when we showed up again slightly more than half an hour later and found several tables empty and no queue at the door. However, given the lunch rush we had seen earlier, we were willing to overlook this minor slip.
Once we sat down, things took off magically. Menus appeared, our orders were taken, and within minutes the first dish arrived. It was beef sukiyaki, and we swear it was one of the best we have ever tasted. It was the superb broth that made the dish. Rich and sweet, it enhanced the generous serving of beef strips, tofu and vegetables.
Next to arrive was a sushi and udon set. Also adequately portioned, it comprised an excellent prawn roll, tasty half-broiled salmon sushi and an assortment of other nibbles.
Our final dish was a house specialty, kamameshi, which is rice cooked with either meat or seafood in a pot; we chose the salmon. Kamameshi is by nature subtly flavored. As our salmon version was overshadowed by the full flavored beef sukiyaki, we recommend having kamameshi earlier in your meal rather than later.
For dessert, we split a goma (black sesame) pudding—a white creamy pudding coated with grey layer of black sesame paste. While this is not the most visually attractive dish, it tastes fantastic and we scraped the bottom of our bowl.
Throughout, wait staff were attentive and prompt; we got instant attention and never had to wait more than a few minutes for anything. This place has got its act together—you can count on it.
