Omnomnomnivore Adventures: Standing Sushi Bar

Written by Stefanie Yeo


Japan may be known as the land of the rising sun, but us greedy foodies also commonly refer the country as the land of sushi, sashimi, soba, and all sorts of absolutely delicious food that will fill your belly and warm your heart. On my maiden voyage to Japan, I’m determined to try as many scrumptious treats as humanely possible!

One does not go to Japan and not eat sushi - and if you’re looking for affordable sushi, you’ve come to the right place. In the debut of our Omnomnomnivore Adventures, we tell you why the Standing Sushi Bar is one of your best bets.

Photo by: Bryan Chua

A franchise of restaurants available all over Tokyo, the Standing Sushi Bar has a unique concept, which makes it a great option for people who simply want to eat quality, affordable sushi. It has outlets in many places, including Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Asakusa.

As the name implies, you eat the sushi while standing at the counter. You enter the restaurant, settle yourself at the nearest available spot, and place your orders with the chef. You actually get to feast your eyes on the sushi being handmade right in front of you, with the skillful sushi chefs wielding their blades, meticulously crafting your delicious meal.

Our sushi chef hard at work

Photo by: Bryan Chua

I ate at the Standing Sushi Bar outlet in Shinjuku, located at 1-12 Nishi-Shinjuku, last Sunday evening. I arrived at around 6.15pm, and while there was a queue outside the restaurant, I was standing at the counter within ten minutes. That’s the magic behind excluding stools at the bar – you just step in, eat up, and get going!

Getting your food is very simple. Just order what you want, and you can keep ordering until you're sated!

from left to right: yaki-salmon mayo, samon, and oo-toro

Photo by: Stefanie Yeo

I ordered three basic kinds of sushi: samon (salmon), yaki-salmon mayo (broiled salmon with mayonnaise), and the utterly sensational oo-toro (fatty tuna belly). The fish were so fresh and the rice was cooked to absolute perfection with a consistent, sticky texture. A note of caution though: if you fear wasabi, let the chef know before he begins preparing your food, as each piece of sushi has a thin layer of wasabi nestled atop the rice, under the raw fish.

Samon (salmon) sushi

Photo by: Stefanie Yeo

The salmon sushi had a very subtle flavour, a great way to start the meal- especially when eaten with soya sauce and washed down with hot green tea. The yaki-salmon-mayo, essentially broiled salmon sushi with mayonnaise, has a slightly charred taste, which complements the salmon and mayonnaise.

Watching the chef broil your sushi with a blowtorch is incredibly exciting, and popping the piece of sushi into your mouth immediately after can only be described as an explosion of flavours in your mouth.

This method of broiling the sushi is known as ‘Aburi’, which refers to grilling the topside of the fish, leaving the rest raw. ‘Aburi’ is only available for certain kinds of sushi, and it is definitely worth eating- the combination of partially cooked fish, rice, and creamy mayonnaise is absolutely to die for.

Yaki-salmon mayo sushi

Photo by: Stefanie Yeo

Our sushi chef broiling salmon

Photo by: Bryan Chua

My personal favourite was the oo-toro sushi. The tuna belly had enough fat to provide a delicious, flavourful taste. The combination of meat and fat exuded an exquisite taste – the tuna was silky, and my taste buds were screaming for joy when I ate the oo-toro sushi.

My personal favourite – oo-toro  (fatty tuna belly) sushi

Photo by: Stefanie Yeo

The food at the Standing Sushi Bar is delicious, and they have a wide variety of sushi, ranging from the simple tamago (egg) sushi to sushi topped with creamy sea urchin. They also sell hand-rolled sushi with a variety of fillings, from pickled vegetables to salmon roe.

Did I mention the Standing Sushi Bar is value for money?! Each menu item comes in pairs, and most of the sushi cost ¥150 for the two pieces. That works out to ¥75 for one piece of sushi – equivalent to SGD$0.90.

The most expensive sushi, namely my delightful oo-toro sushi and the sea urchin sushi, cost about ¥350 per piece- about SGD $4.20. Overall, I spent about ¥1000 on my sushi- talk about affordability!

The staff at the Standing Sushi Bar is also very friendly, and their service is top-notch. Immediately after a customer leaves, they would immediately wipe down the section of the counter to prepare it for the next.

The sushi chef who handled my meal was a very jovial man, pleasant and quite obviously proud of his job. The smiles on the faces of the staff as they interacted with their patrons made me feel warm on the inside, and I’m fairly certain it was not the work of the wasabi.

On the whole, I had a wonderful experience at the Standing Sushi Bar, and it is one of the few ‘cold food’ places that I will return to time and again. The combination of good, affordable food, great service and convenient locations earns the Standing Sushi Bar a five-star rating from this happy Omnomnomnivore!

Ramen in Japan!

Written by Bryan Chua

Sushi. Ramen. Anime. Manga. J-Rock. Sure, they all have one thing in common: they originate from Japan. And, sooner or later, the focus of conversations on Japan veers towards food, because Japanese cuisine is such as big part of the cultural experience. It is deemed as elegant (sometimes pricey), and just downright yummy. Although sushi may the most well–known food in Japan amongst citizens and foreigners alike, I have a soft spot for ramen.

Well, what exactly is ramen? Calling it mere noodles and soup doesn’t do it justice. In a nutshell, ramen is primarily the exquisite combination of noodles and a soup base made from boiling pork (and sometimes chicken) bones for hours to bring out the full flavour of the broth. Meat and vegetables are added later to make the ramen a complete meal.

If you ever come to Tokyo, I highly recommend these two restaurants:

The first on the list is Budoka Ramen. It is just a 5-minute walk from Exit 3B of Waseda Station, along the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line. My seniors, three Mass Communication alumni, currently undergraduates at Waseda University, recommended that I check out the ramen from this humble and seemingly ordinary little shop. Was it really that good? I had to taste it for myself.

I ordered a “staple” ramen set – Chashu Tamago (pork ramen with egg). The moment I sipped the soup, I knew this would be a very good ramen experience. The soup was red, thick and richly flavoured from the marinated Chashu. It also had tiny bits of minced meat, which helped to give the soup more body. Chewing the firm and chewy noodles added to the contrasting textures to the dish. The leek in the ramen enhanced the taste of the noodles with a refreshing and tangy aftertaste, which helped to cut the richness of the soup.

The fact that the noodles were bright golden yellow also helped to make the dish look appealing. I just slurped and slurped loudly. (In Japanese culture, slurping loudly is a gesture to indicate that the food is splendid!)

When my bowl was about ¼ full, it was time to savour the Tamago (egg). The soft boiled egg was skillfully prepared, its cooking timed perfectly to render the yolk semi-liquid and custardy, while the egg white cooked firm to the touch. It was just delicious. It was as close to heaven as I could get!

I finished my meal at Budoka by exclaiming “oishii” (“delicious!”) pretty loudly and thanked the chefs for the simple yet exquisitely prepared meal.

When it comes to ramen, one awesome meal wasn’t enough. I couldn’t forget the experience or the lingering aftertaste of Budoka’s Chashu ramen, so I explored Waseda again in search of Ippudo Ramen, the second ramen restaurant recommended by my seniors.

After walking for about 13 minutes, I finally arrived at Ippudo Ramen, in West Waseda. The traditional red lanterns, wooden shop theme and tattered Japanese navy banners outside the restaurant differentiates it from all the all the other shops located near it.

I ordered the Buta Ramen, which was again, a “staple” ramen combination. Although the soup was not as thick than the one at Budoka, it was special because a secret seasoning available only at Ippudo was added to the soup to bring out its fullest potential. Indeed, this soup left me speechless. It had this sweet yet salty taste (umami) that made my eyes light up when I encounter an unforgettable ramen.

However, the thin and limp noodles in the Buta Ramen was disappointing. When I chewed on them, the starch disintegrated (a result of overcooking, perhaps) and left me with a sticky-gooey mess in my mouth. Fortunately, that was the only downside to the dish. The egg was splendid, just as good as Budoka's version! (I’m now convinced that the Japanese make the best soft-boiled eggs!)

The pork in this ramen was thickly sliced to retain the most flavour in the cooking process. The feeling of biting into a piece of thick-cut, tender buta is just heavenly. The flavourful soup oozed out of the meat as I sank my teeth into it. The meat was fresh and was the perfect accompaniment to the soup! If not for the overdone noodles, I really enjoyed the Buta Ramen at Ippudo.

Nevertheless, I would still recommend Budoka Ramen and Ippudo Ramen if you are ever in the Waseda neighbourhood. Ramen in Tokyo is generally very good; one can hardly find any lousy ramen. If you are looking for a meal that is familiar, and more or less consistent everywhere, ramen is your best bet.

A Train Of Thought

Written by Jerald Chan




Tokyo truly lives up to its reputation of being the world’s most populous metropolis in the world. Back in Singapore, we always complain about how our trains are too congested. When I saw the crowds in Tokyo, my first reaction was ‘Singapore has nothing compared to Tokyo’ – in terms of crowds.

As ‘kiasu’ Singaporeans, we always want to be the first for everything; well, I certainly hope that we don’t beat Tokyo’s crowds. The train crowds in Tokyo just hit me in the face, quite literally. During rush hours, I’m not exaggerating when I say that people’s faces will be an inch away from yours. The whole carriage is basically a huge sardine can. You have people breathing down your neck and for some, it may feel like a violation of personal space!

People often get ‘stomped’ for the smallest things back at home, such as not giving up seats or being too touchy on trains. In contrast, it is almost impossible to not be in physical contact with anyone in the train.

“How do people put up with this everyday?” I’d ask myself whenever I get on the trains. I personally really hate crowds, so the train crowds here were quite a culture shock for me. But, the truth is: yes, people have to deal with it every day of their lives. And so do we, for our remaining days here since we’ll be using the train to get around.

The Japanese have always been known to be polite and nice. This can be seen even in the smallest ways like how people behave on trains, or even while waiting for trains.

The famous ‘Bishan Train Queue’ is a common sight in all train stations. If you think the ‘Bishan Train Queue’ is an amazing display of kindness or courtesy, wait till you see it in Tokyo. In every train station, people are always queuing in an orderly manner to enter trains and always make sure that there is space for other commuters to alight first – something I feel that we all can learn from the Japanese culture.

This is a mindset that is cultivated since childhood. They all have a mutual understanding of one another and are really polite – even in nasty situations when trains are so congested that they have to squish their faces against the door, or against other faces. There are no occasional ‘tsk’s or strange looks.

Even though Tokyo has the largest train crowds, they cope with it pretty well. To put it simply, they are very efficient. Before coming to Tokyo, I watched this really interesting video on Facebook about how and why Japanese trains are so efficient and never late.

In short, the Japanese take a lot of pride and effort in maintaining their trains and tracks. Having already watched that video prior to the trip, I felt much safer and confident of the train systems here.

What makes it amazing is that they manage to make sure that the train systems are safe and efficient, throughout all the lines. Try getting from Ikebukuro to Waseda using the map.

We tried getting there without any guide or help and nearly got our brains fried. Oh, and we almost got lost too. Nobody wants to get lost in a huge city like Tokyo. And if you are already finding it difficult to remember the train lines and stations in Singapore, try figuring this out.

So, if you do not want to get lost in Tokyo’s maze of a transport system, you can always try using http://www.trains.jp/. It basically helps you plan your route from one point to another, and provides all the different ways you can use to get there. In short, it's Japan's version of gothere.sg. 

There is also an app for it on the Apple App Store for iPhone users to help you navigate on the go! The best thing about this app is that it is ideal for travellers as well, because it does not require any Internet connection to help plan your route!

Photo from https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/trains.jp/id344946340?mt=8

All you need to do is type in which station you’re at, and which station you wish to go to. This app has saved us from getting lost quite a few times. We highly recommend it.

The Japanese train transport system is really quite a work of wonder, both architecturally and culturally.


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This is part of a series of posts where our writers who have never been to Japan before look at an aspect of Japan that impressed them the most upon arrival, and their experience in these areas from a fresh mind's perspective.