Hanare Japanese Cafe: A Champion's Chirashi

Bara Chirashi Set: $17.60

Take a stroll along Tanjong Pagar, and you'll see hordes of office workers trying their luck to get into Teppei, which has a 6-month long waiting list for their Omakase dinners.

But just a mere 50 steps away and tucked into the second storey of a shophouse, is its smaller counterpart which still offers great value to diners looking to get their bang for the buck. Think a bowl of warm rice topped generously with chunks of tuna, salmon, some slivers of scallop and some ikura hidden elusively in the bowl. The luscious pieces of fish are chilled adequately, thereby giving an important temperature contrast with the rice, and seasoned with shoyu for a little extra flavour. To my surprise, the restaurant actually provides real wasabi (not your typical horseradish paste spiked with green powder) to go with the Chirashi which was a really nice gesture.

The Bara Chirashi also comes with a free flow of 4 side dishes from the buffet counter, but the appearance of the food in the counter put me off so much I did not want to risk ruining my taste buds and wasting stomach space.

At $17,60, you'd be hard-pressed to find a place that can offer quality and quantity at this price range. Truly a bowl of scattered sushi worthy of champions, Hanare's Bara Chirashi is worth its weight in gold.

Hanare Japanese Cafe
99B Tanjong Pagar Road
Singapore 088250
6222 1976

Operating Hours:

Mondays to Sundays
Lunch: 1200 - 1430
Dinner: 1830 - 2200

Closed on Sundays

Nearest MRT Station: Tanjong Pagar

Please note that they do not accept reservations.