Came across the social media accounts of House of Chirashi since some time ago, but hadn’t really made the visit there until quite recently. Being situated within East Village Mall, the establishment is pretty much a hole-in-the-wall space, occupying a unit relatively near to the main entrance and is a intimate space with a bar counter that seats six facing the sushi counter, and another bar table which seats another three by the window beside the door looking into the aisles of the shopping mall.

There is a wide variety of Bara Chirashi, Chirashi and Donburi (mostly featuring either raw fish, or Aburi-ed) items — the prices varies according to how premium each bowl is, but the most affordable bowl is the Salmon/Aburi Salmon Bowl at S$10.80, and the most affordable Bara Don/Aburi Torched Bara Don comes at S$16.80. This Spicy Bara Don is pretty much just the spicy variant of the Bara Don — features cubed sashimi, spicy sauce, Burdock Gabo, Shiitake, Sakura Ebi Shrimp and Hokkaido sushi rice; priced pretty affordably as well at S$18.80. I liked how the entire bowl seems to come served with more fish than rice — the cubed sashimi featuring an assortment of fish from the ever-popular salmon, to tuna, swordfish, shrimp and even Unagi; all of them being especially fresh and particularly loved how the Unagi provided a hint of sweetness that periodically sparks of a mini surprise amidst the other raw fish. The cubed sashimi are also well-sized, providing a good bite of the fish for the right texture and flavour. Despite the rice being unsweetened and being a wee bit warmer than the fish, this was one of the rare instances I didn’t particularly feel bothered with the temperature contrast; the fish, as well as the spicy sauce helps add enough flavour and fiery punch that antes up the flavour profile of the bowl sufficiently — one that is pretty surprising and definitely tingles the tastebuds even for those who are tolerable to a moderate level of spiciness; pretty unexpected for a Japanese establishment, and certainly comes pretty shiok for spicy food lovers.

As much as this is a post I am rather reluctant to make considering how small the establishment is and how much of a hidden gem they are, I must say I am very impressed with what they have to offer. I liked how much attention to detail they have placed to each bowl — a contrast of colours, that Tamago which comes with their logo stamped; these are all things I would have not expected from a Bara Chirashi bowl at this price point. No doubt the premium bowls are probably the ones which comes with more impact, but I must applaud their efforts in serving a very good bowl of Bara Don with such finesse at the price point; would certainly return for more. A spot that is worth making the trip for to the east; and a place to look out for — wishing the folks of House of Chirashi all the best in what is to come!