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 that will trick your Facebook friends (and yourself), for just a second, into thinking you’re living it up in Tokyo.
1. Shin Minori Japanese Restaurant
Image: Shin Minori
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 the capacity of your bulging belly from nagging ammunition for your significant other to a formidable strength. The buffet, which costs $35++ to $39++ 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, main menu item or 5 or 7 kinds of assorted sashimi platter, which essentially would translate into multiple trips to enjoy some Japanese goodness.
2. Kiku
Image: Kiku
21 Duxton Road
Phone: 6225 5567
This restaurant is a kappo-style one, which means super traditional Japanese foods prepared in the way they’re supposed to be, and if you wish you get to sit facing the chef, who prepares your food right under your nose. This turns the evening into quite an experience, so for goodness sake please put away your mobile phone for just two hours. This experience will cost you quite a bit, and you can expect to spend about $80. With the Entertainer, you get 1-for-1 sashimi platters, Omakase meals and grilled or main dishes. The omakase deal alone can save you about $100.
We recommend: The omakase menu, at $100++ is a clear winner, and can save you the same amount if you use the Entertainer.
3. Tburu Restaurant
Image: Tburu Restaurant
218 Orchard Road Level 5 Orchard Gateway Emerald
Phone: 6221 0004
Tburu is worth a visit just for the ambience, which features a great view of Orchard Road and floor-to-ceiling glass walls. On the menu is “modern” Japanese food, including sushi and grilled meats. The omakase meal will set you about $50. With the Entertainer, you get 1-for-1 on plates on table, sashimi platters and three sushi pieces.
We recommend: A plate of uni (sea urchin) sashimi costs $48, or $24 if you order two with the Entertainer.
4. En Japanese Dining Bar
Image: En Japanese Dining Bar
25 River Valley Road, UE Square #01-75 / 383 Bukit Timah Road #01-01 Alocassia Apartments
Phone: 6735 2212 / 6236 0080
This restaurant, which has two outlets, is one of the more underrated offerings out there. It’s been around for over 10 years, which is quite a feat in Singapore where fly-by-night restaurants are the norm. While the official specialty is Okinawan cuisine, it’s got a rather impressive variety of dishes in many styles, ranging from sashimi to Japanese-style spaghetti.
We recommend: Use the Entertainer to receive 1-for-1 deals on sushi platters, nabe and skewer platters, which should save you about $30 to $40 nett.
5. Kinki
Image: 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 about $30.
We recommend: Treat yourself and a friend to the $80 wagyu teppan, and then pay half the price with the Entertainer’s 1-for-1 deal.
6. Keyaki
Image: 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 à la carte sashimi, nigiri sushi and 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: Go for the insanely rich gyuniku (grilled beef) foie gras, which usually costs $40.
This post appeared first on the MoneySmart blog. MoneySmart.sg is Singapore’s leading personal finance portal that helps you to maximize your money. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with our latest news and articles. Compare and shop for the best deals on Loans, Insurance and Credit Cards on our site now!