chawanmushi (茶碗蒸)

had a simple pleasant lunch with my sister at Tonkichi @ Orchard Central today.

we were both eyeing the Friday special chirashi don lunch set when we passed by the other day, so we just ordered that – 2 sets.

the shortage of foreign workers is  showing up clearly in many economic sectors in Singapore, not least the restaurant service sector. we saw only 2 waiting staff, they were both well-trained and efficient but very busy as there were quite many tables taken up even though it was just 12.30pm – that maybe a good thing actually.

we were quickly given our chawanmushi – to keep us occupied. this was good. texture was very slightly dense but of smooth consistency, sweet-tasting and the chicken was good, no ginkgo nuts.

chirashi don

it was a rather long wait after the chawanmushi starter, just about 1/2hour. luckily we were not in a hurry.

chirashi don

the chirashi don has 7 pieces of sashimi – 2 salmon (good), maguro (ordinary), 2 tamagos (good) & 1 amaebi (good), and the vinegared rice was good too. I would consider it a good quality chirashi don set at S$15.90++ by most comparison. However the S$20++ chirashi don set at Kuroson would beat this hands down in terms of both sashimi quality & quantity & overall set quality which also includes free refillable green tea (hot or cold).

Tonkichi @ Orchard Central

the set also included a tiny soba – quite irrelevant carbo load but no harm having.

watermelon – looked slight pale but was sweet & juicy

the watermelon was juicy & sweet.

given a choice, I would always go to Kuroson, but if I am in the area (Orchard Central), I might just do this again.

c.h.e.f andy