When I saw the amazing pictures on IG from Hokkaido Sushi, I excitedly put them on my to-visit list for some great Japanese food. A few friends have mentioned their restaurant before and just recently they launched a promotion for their ala-carte buffet at only SGD$38++ per pax for lunch (U.P $48) and SGD$43++ per pax for dinner (U.P $55).

I managed to secure a reservation for lunch and the restaurant was packed! Despite the crowd, service staff were very attentive and prompt. Was very impressed with the excellent service and also spoilt for choice for the buffet menu! There’s unlimted sashimi servings of Maguro, Mekajiki, Hamachi, Salmon, Tako and one serving of Hotate sashimi per customer. With a wide range of appetisers, sushi, maki (roll), temaki (handroll), agemono (fried items), yakimono (grilled items), itamemono (stir fry items like teppanyaki style) with noodles and rice; it took me a while to decide what to have.

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This is somewhat similar in style with the Fat Cow’s Sea Bream in Truffle Oil, in place we have Kanpachi (amberjack), black truffle bits with truffle oil. The Kanpachi was very fresh and refreshing with the truffle oil and spring onions. Kanpachi has lesser oils compared to its cousins (Hamachi and Shima Aji) and the flesh is generally softer with a delicate sweetness. Truffle oil with this fish is perfect! Would have preferred more generous amount of truffle oil and seasoning so that the fish is moist on the palate.

The tempura batter on the soft shell crab was light and slightly salted, just right with the crispy crab inside. Didn’t like the sauce much, but the soft shell crab was good on its own. Looking forward to the other tempura items I ordered.

A must-taste for this appetiser as I made it myself before hence I do have tougher expectations for this. At first glance, I was already a tad disappointed at the lacking amount of tobiko. I took a bit of everything on a spoon and had a taste. The century egg yolk sauce was a little overdone on the salt, it shouldn’t be this heavy.  The tofu was not infused with the century egg taste like the tofu at Koh’s Grill & Sushi Bar. From my experience of making this dish, the tofu have to “sit” with the century egg yolk sauce for a while in the chiller, so that the flavours are “absorbed” by the beancurd. This was a miss for me. With that little tobiko, it was also lacking in texture.

Next was my favourite of all favourites – Sashimi! The cuts were thick and fresh especially the Hotate. It was so sweet on its own, with no sauce or wasabi, that I was slowly savouring it in my mouth. The salmon was tender and buttery with the fats, the pearl white mekajiki was firm and not “veiny” at all (I really dislike those with lots of vein in them, makes the texture really uncomfortable to chew), the tako was sweet and not overly chewy. Hamachi was served seperately, these pinkish fatty slices of hamachi were rich and buttery. Reeeeeaaally loved the sashimi offerings. I barely had to use any wasabi for the servings.

This would have to be my favourite dish – Halibut grilled with salt. Halibut is a versatile fish that can be cooked in many ways, but because it’s a lean type of fish with little oils, it can’t be over cooked or it will taste really dry. This Ginkarei was grilled simply with salt to perfection! The firm flakes of the fresh halibut taste mildly sweet, heightened by the salt seasoning. I wanna try cooking this at home, but it’s trickier than cooking cod (cod have a lot of oil hence more room for mistakes). So I will need to try a few times likely 😛

Comparing to the Sushi Tei’s one, the amount of Ikura on this is too little. Well this is a buffet so can’t expect much. It’s still a decent chawanmushi, silky smooth egg with mushrooms, chickens, crab meat and a little citrus touch with yuzu. Still enjoyable because I just love chawanmushi!

Roasted crisp garlic on top of juicy Wagyu stirred fried with different types of mushroom in a soya-sauce seasoning. Awesome combination of umami flavours, really loved it. And the portion was huge too! It also reminded me a little of the Chinese oyster sauce stir fry style.

Actually I only ordered two sushi – the Garlic Miso Ebi and the Hamachi Truffle Sushi. The chef probably thinks I am hungry and gave me the whole selection 🙂 I obliged to taste most of them except the Maguro (I don’t take Tuna – dislike the texture but I do take Otoro :D). The sushi were very decent for a buffet. I was most impressed with the Hamachi Truffle  Sushi, well I practically adore any fish with truffle, the combination just works.

Oh that lovely light tempura batter! Fresh succulent prawns fried in the golden light batter with the tempura dip, really good tempura items. I would have ordered more if not for the fact I am getting kinda full by now.

Last bit of stomach space to try this dish out – was a tad disappointed. A little heavy on the seasoning and the mayo. Too salty and oily overall. Wished I tried something else on the menu.

After all the savoury dishes I have tasted, I needed a little bit of sweetness to complete the meal. I ordered the Momo Peach Ice Cream (Ala-carte SGD$7) for the sweet full-stop for my virgin trip to Hokkaido Sushi. It was lovely, sweet peach flavours and light.

Overall, there were more hits than misses and I haven’t even tried all the items I wanted to. Definitely exceeded my expectations for the value that I paid for. Would love to revisit soon to try their donburis and omakazes! Do call in advance for reservations and visit their instagram for more pictures of their yummy food!

Hokkaido Sushi
M Hotel Singapore Level 9
81 Anson Road
Singapore 079908
(65) 6221 3075 / (65) 81805131