i chanced upon this conveyor belt sushi outlet when me and my friends (Acacia & Weiliang) were looking for a place to have dinner after school.
i saw that 99cents sushi poster and i almost had a mini orgasm!
Shin Tokyo, an affiliation with local japanese food chain Ramen Ten, is located at City Vibe, the mall next to Clementi mrt. i'm somewhat an adventurous person when it comes to food and i love trying out new places. the first thing i always like to check out when i enter a store is the ambience.
its quite a nice open concept outlet where all the seats are located next to the conveyor belt. the sushi chefs are right at the front in their open counter, so you get to watch your sushi get made right in front of you. i love the cool black chandeliers as it instantly gives the outlet a classier feel.
the seatings were mostly catered for either 2 to 4 people and it does look quite nice actually. if i'm not wrong only the backrest is cushioned.
the 99cents sushi are the ones with white plate only. theres like a choice of up to around 30different kinds of sushi for the white plates. quite a good variety. the stuff on the conveyor belt can sometimes be very repetitive but you can also order your sushi from the menu. there are also other stuff available on the menu like ramen.
oh, and the place is Halal certified too! so you can bring your muslim friends along as well.
i had the green tea which was like $2 or smthing and i dont think its refillable like other japanese restaurants. my empty glass was like on the table for ages and nobody came to refill. so i guess it either means its not refillable or the staff were just oblivious to their surroundings.
me and weiliang had sushi off the conveyor belt and ordered some from the menu. while acacia settled on a dry ramen.
now lets get to the most important factor. how good is the food??
well to me, they had some interesting selection of sushi in the menu like spicy salmon or tom yam tuna sushi. it was a bold and interesting choice to deviate from traditional japanese menu to cater to the local tastebuds with fusioned items. but while some risks bring you great returns, others turn out to be letdowns. the fusioned sushis came across as a forced marriage between 2 unwilling parties. in the end, everything turns out nasty.
the rest of the food were barely mediocre in the taste department. no matter how much vegetables you use to decorate a plate of ramen. the bad tasting ramen will still turn out bad. pretty but bad equates to pretty bad.
well, overall, if you're someone who frequents sakae sushi or share a deep love with sushi bought from cold storage, then probably this place is for you. the service in the outlet was basically average, nothing to laud about. in the end, the taste of food matters to me more than how the outlet looks. and if you want cheap and cheap tasting eats then go right ahead to Shin Tokyo.
just dont call me along.
AJ
