So all your friends just spent the December holidays in Tokyo, and your only consolation was watching Japanese drama serials on your computer alone at home. While pictures of sushi and ramen at real Japanese restaurants popped up on your Facebook feed, you bitterly slurped on your Nissin cup noodles.
Well, your misery ends today. With the Entertainer mobile app, you get 1-for-1 mains at a long list of Japanese restaurants (hint: get your subscription here and enjoy a discount!) that will trick your Facebook friends (and yourself), for just a second, into thinking you’re living it up in Tokyo.
Shin Minori Japanese Restaurant
81 Clemenceau Avenue #03-15/16 UE Square
Phone: 6733 2272
This buffet restaurant is located in the UE Square area, which is frequented by suit-wearing, manga-reading Japanese salarymen. Go at the right time and you’ll actually feel like you’re dining somewhere in Shinjuku. It’s known for its all-you-can-eat format, which transforms your bulging belly from nagging ammunition for your significant other to a formidable strength. The buffet, which costs $39.90++ to $41.90++ depending on whether you go for lunch or dinner, is a pretty good deal considering the amount of seafood you can eat.
We recommend: With the Entertainer app, you have the luxury of choosing from either their lunch buffet or a main menu item.
Kinki
70 Collyer Quay, #02-02 Customs House
Phone: 6533 3471
Any banker who works in the CBD by day and is a fashion maven by night knows Kinki. The painfully hip restaurant-bar is reminiscent of the Roppongi district in Tokyo. To be honest, nobody is really there for the food—they’re there to mingle with the other beautiful people at the rooftop bar. But in case you actually want to eat, you enjoy 1-for-1 main menu items, which should save you an average of $25.
We recommend: Treat yourself and a friend to the $40 wagyu foie gras donburi, and then pay half the price with the Entertainer’s 1-for-1 deal.
Keyaki
7 Raffles Boulevard, Level 4 Pan Pacific Hotel
Phone: 6826 8240
Don’t try to wear your usual uniform of shorts and Havaianas to Keyaki. This fine dining restaurant on the fourth floor of the Pan Pacific Hotel not only has its own waterfall and koi pond, it also offers some of the freshest sashimi this side of Asia. It’s been around for a long time and is immune to the capriciousness of Singaporean tastes.
It is pricey though, and the set lunches or bentos are the least sweat-inducing option. With the Entertainer, you get to enjoy 1-for-1 deals on three à la carte sashimi or nigiri sushi dishes, and on a grilled, tempura or meat dish—and let’s just say you’ll be glad to have something to help defray the cost of the meal.
We recommend: Grab a friend and get the $52 unagi kabayaki (grilled freshwater eel and sweet soy sauce), instantly saving $26 each.
Jimoto Ya
3 Pickering Street #01-44/45 Nanking Row
Phone: 6223 3397
You can’t fool a Singaporean when it comes to ramen. We can tell apart a good ramen broth from a second-rate hawker centre imitation before the spoon hits our lips. Jimoto Ya will surely pass the test, as it was opened by the chef behind a Michelin-starred restaurant in Sapporo.
The ramen is reasonably priced in comparison with what other ramen restaurants in Singapore are charging, and there are also set dinner and lunch menus that enable you to enjoy tea and a side dish with your ramen. The Entertainer gets you 1-for-1 on ramen, curry or fried rice and two deep-fried dishes.
We recommend: Their ebi shoyu ramen costs $17. Use The Entertainer and you and a friend can enjoy this dish for just $8.50.
Fukusen
33 Jalan Sultan #01-02 Hotel Clover
Phone: 6291 4818
Located at a boutique hotel, Fukusen is an unpretentious Japanese restaurant that’s received very high ratings from diners on Singapore’s various food networks. It’s probably one of Singapore’s most underrated Japanese restaurants, and offers a very comprehensive menu.
Of course, you should not expect Sushi Express-type prices. Expect to pay for quality. Luckily, The Entertainer gives you 1-on-1 on sashimi, a specialty roll and a yakimono or agemono.
Nobiro Izakaya & Sake Bar
108 Faber Drive, Faber Hills
Phone: 6873 0095
This Japanese-style izakaya is located in the Clementi area, and local residents know them for their yakitori skewers as well as their reasonably priced lunch and dinner sets. Their drinks menu features an extensive range of Japanese liquors which their in-house sommelier can advise you on.
With The Entertainer, you get 1-for-1 on a lunch set, yakitori set and yakimono or agemono. Their lunch sets especially are reasonably priced at $14 to $26 and also available on weekends.
We recommend: Since you’ve got 1-on-1, treat youreslf to their $26 unaju (grilled eel) lunch set, which will cost you and a friend just $13 with The Entertainer.
Photo credits: Shin Minori, Kinki, Keyaki, Jimoto Ya, Fukusen, Nobiro
Have you dined at any of the above restaurants? Tell us how your experience went in the comments!