Sushi Zanmai (Raffles Holland V)

Tasty but lacking that oomph of authenticity.

Was passing by Raffles Holland V and found out all about Sushi Zanmai setting up their very first outpost in Singapore within the building. For those whom have not heard about the Sushi Zammai brand before, they are a chain of Japanese restaurants which does have quite a presence in Malaysia — locations where there is an outlet of Sushi Zanmai includes malls like Pavilion KL, Mid Valley Megamall and Subway Pyramjd amongst many others. For its outlet in Singapore, they are located at the third level of Raffles Holland V — they sense to have taken over the former premises of a Sushi Tei location, and is the only F&B establishment that operates within the said level in the shopping gallery of the building; this also means that the shop space or which that it occupied is one that is fairly large and similar to what most commercially-owned F&B establishments would take up. The space itself is decked in a way that would be similar to how most commercially-owned Japanese restaurants would look like — there is a heavy use of wood in the furniture and fittings; this includes that of the ceiling, partitions, counters and dining furniture which is undoubtedly oriental, but also warm and inviting being all cosy and modern. Given how Sushi Zanmai is a Japanese chain restaurant much to the likes of Sakae Sushi, Ichiban Sushi and Itacho Sushi in general, the variety of dishes served up at Sushi Zanmai spreads far and wide — the menu being segmented into sections such as Appetizer, House Specialty (mainly comprising of sushi rolls), Sashimi, Salad, Sushi Moriawase, Nigri Sushi, Gunkan Sushi, Temaki, Makimono, Miyazaki Wagyu, Agemono, Tempura, Nabemono & Wanmono, Noodle, Donburi, and Dessert. Beverages available at Sushi Zanmai includes a variety of flavoured soda, milkshake, juice, tea, canned drinks and alcoholic selections like Japanese Sake, beer and Kaku Highballs.

We ordered quite a number of sushi-based items since our dining partner whom has went to Sushi Zanmai in his visits to Malaysia previously — they did mention that the sushi dishes are quite the highlight at Sushi Zanmai and would be something that we should not miss out. That being said, we visited Sushi Zanmai during dinner hours on a weekend — we were also waning to give a Donburi item a go just to give a variety of items a try during our trip there. Whilst skimming through the Donburi section of the menu, the Fish Karaage Don was one that really stood out for us — no doubt some part of us wanted to go for a Donburi featuring raw fish slices, though we felt that we had enough of raw fish from the sushi that we were ordering; the Fish Karaage Don caught our attention since the terms “fish” and “Karaage” rarely comes together in Japanese cuisine. One thing interesting to note is how the Fish Karaage Don actually comes with a choice of either Pacific Salmon or Atlantic Flounder for the patron to go for — picking either would not incur an extra charge over the other since the price for the item is at a flat rate of $12.80++ irregardless of the type of fish chosen; our order would be for the Atlantic Flounder. The Fish Karaage turns out to be pretty much a stir-fried dish that sees the Atlantic Flounder sliced into cubes and flash-fried before being stir-fried with teriyaki sauce together with other elements like onions, long beans and Shimeiji mushrooms; there is also a sous-vide egg that comes alongside as well. We really weren’t expecting too much from the dish considering how it sounded odd, was priced rather low, and how Sushi Zanmai is a commercially-run establishment positioned to target the masses.

Paying our attention to the sous-vide egg first, we already liked how it came with the right consistency — a wobbly egg that comes with creamy, molten egg yolk that is best to be mixed into the entire bowl before one digs into it; this also allows for a smoother and silkier texture that binds all of the elements in the bowl altogether. The choice of Atlantic Flounder turned out to be a wise choice; we picked the Atlantic Flounder over the Pacific Salmon considering how the Atlantic Flounder is a white fish, and how Pacific Salmon would have already carried a distinct note that is typical of the fishz We found the flash-fried fish chunks to be actually moist and flaky within; very smooth and does not require much chewing even. In terms of flavour, it was almost similar to that of a Gindara Teriyaki (i.e. Teriyaki Cod Fish); the fish carrying its own hint of sweetness amidst the notes of Teriyaki — quite a “cheap thrill” to that of the Gindara Teriyaki that is often pricier. This, coupled with the crunch from the long beans and bouncy Shimeiji Mushrooms provided a good contrast of textures for the dish; the only qualm being there being not enough Teriyaki sauce to flavour up the entire portion of rice sitting beneath. During our visit, we were also impressed with the generous servings of the Mentai Ebi Fry Maki; priced at $5.80, but coming in a sliced sushi roll format comprising of around 7(?) pieces, while we were also pretty amazed by the use of mango in the Cranky Salmon Roll that gave a sweetness to the spicy Mentaiko sauce which we found rather interesting. Also really affordable were their Nigri sushi — $0.80 for a Tamago Nigri Sushi and $1.90 for Jyo Unagi Nigri Sushi (Premium Unagi) was definitely a steal. With food quality surpassing what we usually would think about commercially-run Japanese establishment targeting the mass market and prices kept low for the consumer, we would be pretty stoked if Sushi Zanmai expands their operations across the island — definitely one establishment we will think about for fast, casual Japanese dining with variety and quality at the price point it pitches itself at!