Lamination

Ah, restaurant ownership… the picture in people’s heads is of a proprietor, mingling with guests, flitting from table to table and asking them how the food was while dazzling them with a charming anecdote or two about funny customers.

The reality is crouching on the floor at 1:30 in the morning stuffing A4-size paper into sticky plastic pouches to shove through the laminating machine.  Is it just me or is inserting paper into these pouches one of the most frustrating things to do? You stick it in and the corner of the paper juts out which means you have to peel the pouch cover back and try placing the paper again.

Well, at least I have 30 copies of the set menu for Standing Sushi Bar Marina Bay Link Mall laminated now.

Dinner sets now available at 8QSAM

It has been a looooong time coming (I’ll explain the reasons in another post) but finally we have dinner sets!  No longer will people have to page through our a la carte menu and wonder how they can construct a meal.  After a hard day’s work everyone just wants to relax.

So at Standing Sushi Bar 8QSAM we have created a new set menu that applies to lunch and dinner.  Best thing is that we changed the price points and now the set meals are from 13 SGD onwards!

Check out our set menu

In a couple weeks we’ll have a new version of the set menu (with pictures) as well as a new a la carte menu for 8 Queen Street and Marina Bay Link Mall. 

Excuse the photo quality – it’s taken by my phone camera. It’s the Gindara Nabe set.  Healthy!

Call 6333 1335 for reservations at 8 Queen Street!

Lunch and Dinner Gozen set (multi-course meal)

One trait of Japanese restaurants seems to be the huge number of items on their menu. This is a trait that Standing Sushi Bar also has. Diners come, take a look at the menu, and many end up feeling overwhelmed by the number of choices. I can understand. People like a variety of food during a meal, but the effort it takes to wade through a large menu makes them want to stick with the basics they can order off the top of their head.

To help alleviate this, we have created some multi-course gozen sets for lunch and dinner. Perfect for the lazy diner who wants to eat the highlights from the restaurant (i.e. a diner like me).

These are available daily at our 8QSAM location.

Lunch Gozen – 42 SGD (includes everything below)

• Seasonal appetizer
• Salad
• Assorted sashimi (5 kinds)
• Ikura Chawan Mushi (steamed egg with salmon roe)
• Gindara with Teriyaki Sauce (grilled codfish with teriyaki sauce)
• Rice and miso soup
• Ice cream

Dinner Gozen – 60 SGD (includes everything below)

• Seasonal Appetizer
• Salad
• Assorted Sashimi (5 kinds)
• Gindara Mentaiyaki (grilled codfish topped with cod roe)
• Tempura Mori (2 shrimp tempura, 1 fish tempura, 3 vegetable tempura)
• Assorted sushi (3 nigiri, 2 maki)
• Miso soup
• Ice cream

Call 6333 1335 or e-mail eat@standingsushibar.com to make reservations!

Menu

For someone who considers themselves tech-savvy, I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to put our menu on the web. I guess I gravitate towards wanting to do more interactive updates – so writing blog entries, twitter messages, or even Facebook posts provide an opportunity to hear from people. Updating the website is one-way communication.

But it’s definitely useful information to share!

Our menu for the 3 locations

(Note – I didn’t say the posting of the menu would be pretty!)

Hoppy outside Japan!

According to CNNGo, Hoppy is hard-pressed to be found anywhere outside of Japan.  Merrily for us in Singapore, Standing Sushi Bar carries it!

What is Hoppy? It’s a beer… kind of.  Made from salt water, barley, hops and yeast it has a light flavor similar to beer with almost none of the carbs or calories.

What’s that??  A miracle drink??  A beer with low carbs and calories!  Amazing!  Though there’s a catch – hoppy by itself is very low alcohol (.8%).  Leave it up to the Japanese to innovate though… the way to give Hoppy its punch is by adding a large shot of shochu (50 – 70 proof) into the Hoppy giving it a 5% alcohol mix.

Voila – a beer that contains low calories, low carbs and is less-filling.

It used to be drunk by old men (as exclaimed by some Japanese customers when they saw it in the shop) but these days the young in Japan are drinking it for its retro cool factor. I suppose hipsters exist everywhere.

Liquid happiness in a bottle.  Come try it out!  12 SGD while stocks last!

If you can read Japanese, head on over to www.hoppy-happy.com to learn all about hoppy goodness.

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The one and only California donburi

The California Roll… one of the most popular and delicious types of maki sushi. It’s not a traditional sushi roll as it was invented in the US, but its appeal is worldwide. My friend (and regular SSB diner) Brandon contacted me today and gave some menu recommendations based on his recent trip to Japan.

One of the dishes he enjoyed was the California donburi.  It seems like such a simple idea that I’m surprised every restaurant isn’t offering this!  It’s the California roll but expanded into donburi… crabstick, cucumber, avocado, tamago (egg), and ebiko (shrimp egg) draped on a bed of sushi rice with light yuzu sauce drizzled on top.

So I went to Roy with this California donburi suggestion. He thought for awhile and was skeptical, “Why would someone want a California donburi?”  I didn’t have much in response other than, “Who wouldn’t want one? People like the california roll after all!”  After some back and forth we decided he might as well just make one so we could test it.

Verdict: Awesome.

I believe we’re the first restaurant in Singapore to offer California Donburi. We’ll test it out to see how people like it, so it’s only available for a limited time. California donburi and miso soup combo for 12.80. Get your avocado fix today!

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Sushi platters

Just a quick entry to let folks know that Standing Sushi Bar now offers party platters.

Perfect for the holiday season. Don’t stress out over what to prepare for guests! Instead transfer the worry over to Standing Sushi Bar and we’ll create a beautiful sushi platter for you.  Leaving you with peace of mind so you can knock back egg nog to your heart’s content.

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Christmas Eve Dinner Omakase

Did you know Santa Claus is a huge fan of Japanese food?  Particularly sushi! After a night of whizzing around in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, there’s nothing he likes more than knocking back a glass of sake and slipping sashimi into his mouth. All the protein is what keeps him going!*

While the sleigh bells are ringing, the kids are a-sleeping, and Raffles Place will be as quiet as a mouse, Standing Sushi Bar is going to be open for a special Christmas Eve Dinner Omakase.

We’re going all out to attract Santa to the sushi bar.  Forget milk and cookies, it’s time for a multi-course omakase to celebrate Christmas.

 
Our little bonsai tree is all decked out for Christmas

$100 – 6 Course Meal

1) Starter – Otoro, Hotate Tataki with house dressing

2) Appetizer – Turkey Breast Salad

3) Mix Sashimi – Assortment of 6 types

4) Steam Soup – Yumei Mushi

5) Grilled Fish – Yaki Sakana (Air-flown Japanese Sea Bream)

6) Steak with Garlic rice and Miso soup

Dessert

$150 – 8 Course Meal

1) Starter – Otoro, Hotate Tataki with house dressing

2) Appetizer – Turkey Breast Salad

3) Mix Sashimi – Assortment of 6 types

4) Steam Soup – Yumei Mushi

5) Grilled Fish – Yaki Sakana (Air-flown Japanese Sea Bream)

6) Foie Gras with Uni

7) King Prawn Ebi Mentai Yaki

8) Steak with Garlic rice and Miso soup

Dessert

Call Standing Sushi Bar at 6533 7078 or e-mail eat@standingsushibar.com for reservations. Seats are limited.

*I actually have no idea whether Santa Claus likes Japanese food.

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Happy hour

There are few common pleasures in life as enjoyable as happy hour.  Getting together with colleagues and friends over a few drinks at the end of a long work day is something I always look forward to. What better way to get to know one another?

Of course it’s even sweeter if you’re playing hooky from the office and imbibing the magical elixir during work hours!

So it gives me great pleasure to announce that Standing Sushi Bar now has happy hour!

4 pm – 7 pm, Monday – Saturday

3 bottles of Asahi @ 21 SGD

2 bottles of Suntory Premium Malt @ 20 SGD

10% off all sake, shochu, and umeshu (including bottles)

Menu of 2 SGD Japanese drinking snacks

Sushi Combo: 2 nigiri and a handroll for 5 SGD

 

Some interesting reading – the Japanese practice of nomikai (drinking party).

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Because it’s fun and nice to drink

Over 200 years ago, the Japanese poet Yosa Buson wrote the following words:

I cannot see her tonight
I have to give her up
So I will eat Fugu.

Today I’m placing an order for sake glasses that we can use for Fugu Hire-zake.  Fugu Hire-zake is the fins of the puffer fish (fugu) that are grilled and served in hot sake.

 
(From Jim Gray’s travel photos)

Two things I love.  Sake and a death wish.  Can’t wait!

Actually I’m surprised I haven’t been able to find this drink or any variation of grilled fish mixed with hot sake. One of the pleasant memories I have from Japan is when I was in Shirakawa (a small mountain village – so everything shuts at night) and we bought some cheap sake, a hollowed out bamboo vase, and grilled fish to soak in the hot alcohol. It tasted great!

 

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