[Day 6] Shabu Shabu @ Shabujo, Shinjuku

Japan trip won't be satisfied if we did not try their sushi, sashimi, omurice, shabu shabu, takoyaki and etc. So on the last night of our trip, we decided to go for Shabu Shabu which was perfect for that  cold and wet evening when everyone needs some hot food to keep warm. So after searching around for a decent Shabu Shabu restaurant near our hotel at Shinjuku ( 新宿), we finally settled for Shabujo which is listed in their recommending food good guide. For your information, Shabujo is about 6 minutes walk from JR Shinjuku Station, East Exit.

Shabujo offers both ala carte and set menu for patrons to choose from and since we have 12 pax, we decided to go for their set menu which we ordered combo meat sets (¥6200 / SG$75.60) plus a meat set with seafood (¥9000 / SG$ 109.70).

For each set menu, it comes with the following items:-

- Beer/Wine/Plum Wine/Soft Drink
- Japanese beef on special breed (about 100g)
- Amakusa-plum pork meat (about 100g)
- Assorted Seafood (such as scallop, snow crab, prawns and etc depending on the set selected)
- Assorted vegetables and mushrooms
- Sliced green onion (leek)
- Pickles
- Rice/Udon/Dumplings
- Salad shabu-shabu
- Ice cream

Mum and I shared a glass of Japanese sweet plum wine to keep ourselves warm from the cold weather (about 8 degree that night).

Shabu Shabu Salad with Cucumber, Lettuce and Japanese sesame dressing

Dipping Sauce for Shabu Shabu such as ponzu, goma (sesame sauce), chopped green onion, grated radish, chili oil and etc.

Their delicious pork dumplings (水餃子) were made with yellow chives and dried shirmp from Okayama Prefecture together with the sweet and juicy pork. Each ala carte serving of the dumplings cost ¥530 (SG$ 6.50) for 5 dumplings.

While waiting for the vegetables and meats to be served, we started off with some pork dumplings and hot soup broth to warm our tummy.

Amakusa-plum Pork Meat (about 100g)

Amakusa Plum Meat Pork Loin is pricing at ¥950 (SG$11.60) per plate and it is also one of the popular pick among women who is after healthier choice of meat at shabu shabu. Other than pork loin we also ordered the Amakusa Plum Meat Pokubara at ¥850 (SG$10.30) which has a beautiful texture that you won't regret having those fat just for once.

Japanese Beef on Special Loin (about 100g)

Sorry for the poor quality photo captured on this Japanese Beef on Special Loin as it suppose to show the beautiful marbled Japanese beef that will melt in your mouth slightly. A plate like the above cost about ¥2800 (SG$34.00) which is quite premium for Shabu Shabu.

Our group of 6 pax are more of meat eaters so we choose the Combo Meat Set (plus additional plate of Amakusa plum meat Pokubara ) instead of the meats and seafood that the other 6 members ordered.

After meal, we were served with some ice-cream of our choice on either Matcha or Vanilla and it was indeed a great dessert to end our Shabu Shabu dinner.

新宿歌舞伎町 しゃぶしゃぶ専門店
Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 2-22-5
2nd Shinjuku Building 1F
Telephone: 03-5272-8817
Website: http://www.shabujo.com

Capacity: 88 seats

Operating Hours:-
Monday - Thursday: 5:30 - 11:00pm (LO 23:15)
Friday, Saturday and PH Eve: 5:30pm - 3:30am (LO 2:45)
Sunday and Public Holiday: 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm (LO 22:15)

Itinerary of our Japan travelogue are as follow:-

~ [Day 1] Our Family Trip to Tokyo, Japan
~ [Day 1] Exploring Harajuku (原宿) and Takeshita Street (竹下通り)
~ [Day 2] Day Tour to Katsunuma Winery, Lake Kawaguchi and Koyodai In Narusawa
~ [Day 3] Exploring Shinjuku (新宿)
~ [Day 3] RAKERU （ラケル） @ Shinjuku, Tokyo
~ [Day 4] Tokyo Disneyland (東京ディズニーランド)
~ [Day 5] Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場)
~ [Day 5] Tsukiji Sushi Kiyoshi (築地寿司清本店)
~ [Day 5] Kaminarimon (雷門) @ Asakusa
~ [Day 5] Fujisoba (名代 富士) At Akihabara, Tokyo
~ [Day 6] Tokyo Ramen Street
~ [Day 6] Shabu Shabu @ Shabujo, Shinjuku
~ Exploring The Convenience Stores and Bakeries In Tokyo, Japan

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Nana's Green Tea Cafe At Plaza Singapura

Nana’s Green Tea Cafe is well-known in Japan as the “Japanese Starbucks” amongst a new generation of tea drinkers who are looking for tasty and artistic matcha creations. And on 21st December 2012, the cafe opens it's flagship store at the newly renovated Plaza Singapura which is located near Dhoby Ghaut Mrt Station. For information, other than Green Tea (matcha) beverages, they also offering food items to compliment the beverages and desserts too.

All green tea leaves served in Nana's Green Tea Cafe are imported ONLY from Kyoto (most famous production center of 'Matcha') where the cafe aims at delivering genuine Japanese taste and health to modern consumers. Matcha is a finely ground and powdered green tea which has many health benefits such as controlling high blood pressure, cholesterol, reducing the risk of diabetes, improving mood and alertness, boosting immune system and metabolism, reducing strokes by 21% as well as supporting anti-aging and etc.

Matcha Latte (Hot/Cold) @ S$7.00

I always love the Matcha Latte from Starbucks but now after trying the above I knew I am going to switch my choice to Nana's since both are of similar pricing but taste wise Nana's has a more fragrance and smoothing aftertaste when compared with the rest I tried.

Locomoko Don @ S$15.80

During the tasting we had two rice don and and one cold noodle dish. The first dish that arrived was Locomoko Don which is beef patty (burger) served on warm Japanese rice together with lettuce, cherry tomato, broccoli and a sunny-side egg. The beef patty could be slightly more juicier but overall it still goes well with the warm premium Japanese rice and accompany tomato sauce.

Our tasting portions of the Mini Locomoko Don

Salmon Don @ S$14.80

Next we had Salmon Don which was my favourite among the three tasting dishes. The bowl of Japanese rice was topped with fresh Salmon Sashimi and garnished with Japanese pickled ginger, spring onion, Daikon Cress and a touch of mayonnaise sauce

There is also an accompany sauce which taste similar like a mixture of Japanese Soy Sauce and roasted sesame seeds which goes well with the Salmon Don.

Mushi-Dori Goma Dare Udon @ $13.80

Lastly we had this Mushi-Dori Goma Dare Udon which was one their cold noodle dish. The Udon noodles was topped with steamed chicken fillets and garnished with cucumber, cherry tomato and served in Nana’s special sesame sauce.

This is one type of my favourite Japanese cold noodles which soaked in light and fragrance Japanese sesame sauce. The crunchy cucumber strips and tender steamed chicken makes it a prefect dish for hot summer meals. But personally I felt the sesame sauce could have be slightly better if the taste is stronger.

Matcha Shiratama Parfait @ S$11.80

Their new menu also offers a range of delightful dessert creations that are artistic and healthy like the Soft Cream Anmitsu, a soft serve vanilla ice-cream with red bean paste, white mochi and ‘Kanaten’ (traditional Japanese herbal jelly).

As a matcha lover especially on desserts and ice-cream, the Matcha Shiratama Parfait above definitely captured my attention and I really love the texture and taste of their matcha ice cream as well as all the surprises that I could dig out from the parfait. I would re-visit the outlet soon to try out other items on the dessert menu!

NANA'S GREEN TEA CAFE
The Atrium @ Orchard
Plaza Singapura
60B, Orchard Road
#03-80/82
Singapore 238839
Telephone: (65)6684 4312
Site: http://www.facebook.com/NanasGreenTea


Lastly I would like to thank Nana's Green Tea Cafe and Alisa from Publicist PR Consultants for the invite tasting.

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Chiso Zanmai Japanese Buffet Restaurant

During June School Holidays we have quiet a number of activities such as the Angry Birds Cable Car Ride (HERE), 6 Days Cruise Trip (HERE), exploring the new Ice Skating Rink at JCube (HERE) and etc. And just a week before the school holidays ends, my brother organized a buffet lunch meetup over at "Chiso Zanmai" since he knows our family loves Japanese cuisine.

Above shows my plating of "Kaiseki" which is a traditional multi-course Japanese cuisine where we just grab a big tray at the counter and pick-up our favourite Kaiseki dishes and enjoy our meal like what the Japanese Emperor did in the olden days. (All photos in this post are taken using iPhone since it is just our causal family gathering)

Chiso Zanmai is a Japanese Buffet Restaurant located at The Central, Clarke Quay which overtakes it's previous owner where Fisherman’s Market used to be. For the price of S$14.90++ to enjoy a Japanese style lunch buffet which serves up more than 80 varieties of food and desserts is definitely worth trying. And moreover Chiso Zanmai is originated from Osaka and this is their first branch outside of Japan.

Appetizers Counter

As usual to start off the buffet, I will pick up some cold dishes from the Appetizer Counter and enjoy it before heading for the hot dishes. For the appetizers, other than the above they also have cha soba, potato salad, mixed salad, deep-fried eggplant with bonito broth and etc. But my favourite choices are those shown above. 

These are my little boy's favourite and indeed they have quiet a good spread of Sushi upon selection too.

Hakkaido Ishikari Nabe is a common seafood and vegetables soup served in Hakkaido and most of us on our table loves this seafood pot with it's sweet and flavousome clear soup broth. As you can see from the photo above, there are prawn, flower crab, tofu, leek and etc in it which makes it prefer to go with steamed rice.

Ramen lover, you can choose between either Tonkotsu or Shoya soup base to go with your Ramen. For me, I will prefer the Tonkotsu which is pork base with a thicker and stronger taste compared to Shoya. Surprisingly the noodles are still quiet springy when bite so overall it still blends well with the broth.

Traditional Japanese Counter

There are basically two sections on the Hot Food Counter where you can grab some Traditional Japanese Cuisine or Teppan. Above shown a selection from Braised Squid with White Radish, Corn Cream Croquette, Stewed Pork And Potato, Crab Shao-mai and etc.

Hot Food

I did not snap much on the Teppan Counter as there are quiet a number of people around queuing for the food. But you can find yummy Takoyaki(octopus balls), Stir Fried Noodles, Tempura, Fried Pumpkin and etc. Above are some of the items from the Hot Food Counter that I love.

Mum loves these Deep Fried Yam which she mentioned is quiet similar taste to our Chinese Abacus Seeds.

Love this crispy and delicious Chicken Karaage that dipped in some Ponzu Sauce (citrus-based sauce) which gives it a similar taste like our Asian Lemon Chicken.

Dessert Counter

After a hearty meal, it's time to pamper yourself with some "sweet" dessert such as cake, tart, pastry or ice-cream. At their Dessert Counter, items are routine frequently through out the buffet and you can find some fresh fruits, cheesecake, mochi, eclair, jelly, ice cream or etc.

Since for the month of June they are having this "Matcha Fair", you could find most of their desserts are made with matcha theme. Out of those shown above, I love their matcha mochi, matcha tofu as well as the matcha tiramisu. Too bad I didn't get a chance to try their Matcha Panna Cotta which might be rotating in their dinner menu instead.

CHISO ZANMAI

6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-17
The Central @ Clarke Quay
Reservation: +65 6221 3177

PRICE:
Lunch (12.00pm - 3.00pm)
Monday - Friday
Adult: S$14.90++   Child(below 1m): S$9.90++   Senior (above 60): S$12.90++

Saturday, Sunday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$19.90++   Child(below 1m): S$9.90++   Senior (above 60): S$17.90++


Dinner (6.00 - 10.00pm) SASHIMI (DINNER ONLY)
Sunday - Thursday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$24.90++   Child(below 1m): S$14.90++   Senior (above 60): S$22.90++

Friday, Saturday, Sunday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$29.90++   Child(below 1m): S$14.90++   Senior (above 60): S$27.90++


Top-Up $1.99++ For Free Flow Of Drinks
Cold beverages such as green tea, iced lemon tea, root beer and etc
Hot beverage such as coffee (black, cappuccino, latte) and tea


So if you are looking for some Japanese Style Buffet at an affordable price, perhaps you would want to consider Chiso Zanmai which I personally think it worth what we pay for. Will check what's on their July / August dinner menu soon as I eying on their SASHIMI!!!

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