I was working late tonight and needed a quick bite in the vicinity. So I hopped on down the street to the sister (mother?) restaurant of Honjin Kushiyaki, seeing how someone mentioned how great the original restaurant actually was (140 Robinson Road #01-00, 6222-2243), despite my suspicions and what the menu unattractively advertised (think: set meals). The posting recommended the buffet, so I took a leap of faith, swallowed my anti-buffet prejudices and asked for it. Maybe it was a serendipitous stroke of luck, but I was told that it was too late already for it. Hmmm...OK, well the seafood was recommended too, so I thus fell back on some a la carte orders of sushi coupled with a serving of unaju.
Ehh...here's a case where I probably should have trusted my initial instincts. The sushi wasn't anything spectacularly fresh, the unaju was way too lean to provide much taste, and by and large this was rather dull. Maybe I came on the wrong night and ordered the wrong things or something, but this didn't do it for me.Granted, it could have been much, much worse, and in the end, it wasn't so horrible that I didn't eat it, but I suspect that the reason why this place is in business is more because of the close proximity to office locations (or the "value for money" of the buffet) rather than the food itself. In that sense, maybe I'll come back if my sole purpose is just to refuel before going back to the office (it was still bearable at least), but there definitely won't be any cravings for this place. In fact, if it really came down to it, then I'd probably just skip this and go straight to the kushiyaki side instead.
2 comments:
Great blog. I feel like I've met a kindered spirit. I'm based in San Diego, but I spend half my time in Singapore (one month here, one month there. Right now, "here" is Singapore).
Next time you're in San Diego, try having lunch at Las Quatros Milpas. It's a little hole in the wall eatery in Barrio Logan that's been there since the 1930s. They're only open in the mornings and early afternoon, and by noon the line extends down the block. Frontera Mexican food at it's finest.
Agree with you about Honjin. The quality is decent, never being particularly bad. But it's also never particularly good. It's in business because of people in the area who like Japanese food but don't want to schlep to Cuppage Plaza or aren't too fussy about food.
Post a Comment