Dinner @ Tsukune Ichigo
June 25, 2014 in Japanese by thywhaleliciousfay
I have been to Tsukune Ichigo at least twice now. The second trip was made because I din get to try their signature chicken meatball sticks to my satisfaction. Uh huh, when I reached at 9pm on my first visit, there were only 2 sticks left. 1 stick each for my friend and I =( I wanted more!!! Keke.
Reservation is advised, although we managed to secure a table upon arrival without prior reservation on both trips.
And from the menu, we ordered:-
1) Tsukune set, $14 (above) – Under the 1st page of their menu (charcoal grilled chicken balls), it’s a set comprised of 5 sticks of assorted chicken balls. The 5 flavours are (from left to right) cheese, avimayo (avocado & mayo), tare (original sauce), okonomiyaki (okonomiyaki sauce with mayo & bonito flake) and kosho (black pepper). For first-timers, I will really recommend going with this. We loved how tender and juicy the meatballs were. So much so that we ordered 2 sets! Of course, one can choose not to go with the set and order the flavours individually which comes in 2 sticks per flavour. Our least favourite of the set is the black pepper which was really an overload of the pepper.
2) Reba pate, $5 (above) – Homemade chicken liver paste.
3) Mozuku, $4 (above) – Mozuku seaweed in vinegary sauce.
4) Nankotsu age, $8 (above) – Deep fried chicken soft bone.
5) Potato salad, $7 (above) – Japanese style potato salad.
6) Char siew, $10 (above) – This is almost like our Chinese dish. But it’s really good!
7) Buta shabu salad, $16 (above) – Pork shabu shabu & pot herb mustard salad with creamy sesame dressing. A must order. It’s a very refreshing dish.
8) Hokke hiraki, $23 (above) – Grilled hokke mackerel.
9) Tori karaage, $10 (above) – Japanese famous fried chicken.
10) Bukkake udon, $12 (above) – Cold udon noodle topped with radish, egg yolk and bonito flake. This unfortunately din quite make the cut. As stated in their menu, it’s really an overload of radish, radish and more radish.
11) Fondant chocolate, $8 (above) – Warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Let’s just say fondant cake is really not a Japanese dish. So we should stick to ordering Japanese desserts when we are at a Japanese eatery. It’s very much a chocolate cake without the lava chocolate. A dry chocolate cake too.
12) Kurogoma pudding, $6 (above) – Black sesame & soymilk pudding. A must try! It actually says something when almost all the dishes on their dessert menu are different types of pudding. So good. The pudding was so smooth. Had we not been full, we would have ordered a different flavour to try.
Tsukune Ichigo is not your typical Japanese restaurant type of restaurant. With the dim lights, it’s leaning more towards a pub feel where Japanese business men gather after work for drinks and food. Although it may be a little difficult to get the staff’s attention at times, I say the ambience is totally befitting of yakitori. Informal and convivial.
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TSUKUNE ICHIGO
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399 River Valley Road, Singapore
6736 1340
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Overall: 6.5
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Opening hours:-
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Food/Beverage: 6
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Mon – Sun : 18:00 – 23:30
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Ambience: 7
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Value: 7
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Service: 6
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I live at the river valley condo. I want to eat Japanese food. So, i find shops near my home. I started order foods. And, it have been a long time. The food never come there. So, I ask shop owners \”Where is my food?\” The Japanese lady answered badly. I think they don\’t understand English well. Prices are really higher than others shop. NEVER EAT THIS SHOP!! YOU WILL REGRET IT!!
I am sorry to hear about your bad dining experience. During my 2 visits, my friends and I were attended by the waiting staff who were mostly Filipino. No Japanese though. And they were a friendly bunch. I particularly remember us being entertained by 1 of the male waiting staff who had a good humour! Although I too admit it can be a little tricky getting their attention when they are running at full capacity. But I won’t say one should ban this place totally. Probably don’t expect that much in terms of service, since they are after all an izakaya, and not a high-class Japanese restaurant. =)