Ichiban Boshi @ Esplanade Mall

When we are at Esplanade, we some how gravitate towards ichiban boshi if we crave for Japanese food. We're went there recently and I realised that we have not blogged about our visits there before. So here goes ...

This eatery is one of the five restaurants (others being ichiban sushi, Men-Ichi, Yakiyakibo and Czzar) that has a combined reward card that allows you to get a stamp for every $20 spent. We completed our card so some of the dishes below were 'free' items that we could claim.

One of my favourite snack is the fried salmon skin below served with a generous dollop of mayonaise. With this dish, there might be times when they are out of salmon skin so I have had my disappointed moments. When I was there last, I was abit worried about ordering because previous visit there, instead of telling us they were out of salmon skin, they served what looked more like salmon chips ... salmon sliced thinly and fried. So send it back if it's not to your liking. Thankfully, this time round, they got it right. Yum.

The seasoned baby octopus came as a complimentary dish and it's also something that I like and easily polished it off all by myself *grins*

Another favourite that we usually get is the salmon maru dish below. It's thin sliced salmon wrapped around some rice, topped with generous amount of mayo and fish roe.

You can get a good selection of handrolls here. The seaweed skin could be a lot more crispy but otherwise, am quite happy with the stuffing. I had fried soft shell crab and Słowik had the tuna belly handroll. Don't wait too long to eat this when it's served because the longer you wait, the 'soggier' it will be. I like my handrolls crispy when I munch into it!

Oooh, the dish below is probably sinful in terms of calories but it is finger-licking good. Why? Probably because of the butter that is used in the sauce that coats the corn. And you have to eat this while it's warm *grins* Am drooling just thinking about this dish. If you worry that eating corn might get a little mess, what is helpful is how the corn is chopped to smaller pieces that makes eating much easier. So don't forget to order this when you're there!

Ika tempura or squid coated with tempura batter is also something that we're fond of having. This comes with a wasabi mayo dip that enhances the flavour of the ika. Another dish that has to be eaten warm.

The gyoza below is lovely when made fresh and make sure you eat it with the sauce. I prefer to have it while it's warm (not hot) so that it's still nice and soft on the inside yet crunchy on the outside.

Ice tempura, I have no idea how they do this. Fry the tempura yet the vanilla ice-cream inside is still in its solid state. The drizzling of strawberry sauce adds a nice sourish taste that goes well with the vanilla ice-cream and tempura coating. The two desserts below were complimentary.

The Japanese Cheese Cake is much lighter and less cheesy compared to the American counterpart. But my preference is still the American Cheese Cake because I love the taste of creamy cheese with each bite I take *grins* But if you want something more subtle, than the Japanese Cheese Cake will suit you better.

If you're planning to head to ichiban boshi, I suggest that you go early because during the peak period (especially during dinner), it gets pretty packed and you will have quite a wait. We usually try and be there by 6pm and another later would mean joining the queue. Also be prepared that when the crowd comes in, service will be affected and you would need to keep getting their attention to top up your drink etc. Otherwise, we have been pretty happy with our visits there and will continue to head there when we're in the area and craving for Japanese food!

Address:
8 Raffles Avenue
#02-14 Esplanade Mall

Tel: +65 6423 1151

Post and Photos by Zilla.