Before all you Ben Ten fans come after me, let me say that I used to watch Ben Ten when I was younger. In fact, I was really excited when I saw this cafe cause I thought the dishes would be inspired by the Ben Ten cartoon. Unfortunately, this cafe has absolutely nothing to do with the Ben 10 Cartoon.

I must say I was sad when his cartoon character grew up though.
I much preferred him when he looked like an innocent, unassuming young boy (who had secret powers!)

As compared to his new, teenage bad boy look…

Ah well, to each his (or rather her) own.

On to the cafe! Benten Cafe is actually a fusion japanese-western cafe that has been around for quite a few years, but I never knew about them until recently. I decided to hop on down to their outlet at JurongPoint for dinner one day, so let’s see how their food fared!

Salmon Baked Rice ($11.80) 

This dish is topped with a generous amount of melted cheese, and comes piping hot, since they bake each order fresh. I was pleased with the generous amount of salmon they gave, compared to other eateries who tend to stinge on the toppings. The salmon was topped with a strange sauce though, possibly mayonnaise, which didn’t go with the dish. But, when eaten with the cheese and rice, you can’t taste it as strongly.

There was supposed to be mushrooms in this dish, but all we found was a thin sliver of mushroom. Not even a chunk. It was about 1/100th of a mushroom. No kidding, we only noticed it upon close scrutiny.

They offer other kinds of baked rice as well, with toppings varying from Seafood to Hawaiian. There is also a curry baked rice option for every dish, so foodies who love the heat might want to go for that instead.

Hamburg Steak with Salmon (topped with Black Pepper Sauce) ($13.80)

I have been meaning to try Hamburg steak, so I jumped at the opportunity. The hamburg steak is basically like a beef patty, the kind you find in hamburgers, just that without a bun. Their Hamburg was very moist and the beefy taste wasn’t too strong. I would recommend you to try it. Coming from someone who doesn’t like the taste of red meat, that is quite something! The serving size was very generous too, with the thick slab of Hamburg and a large piece of salmon.

The salmon was a little over cooked, on the verge of being dry. The black pepper sauce complemented the dish very well, and you could taste the black pepper, without the sauce being overly salty. They also offer Demi Glace sauce and Curry sauce — you get to choose one of the three.

The dish comes with a side of fries and vegetables, but I opted to change my fries to more vegetables. To be precise, the dish will be served with a side of fries, and ONE broccoli floret and about thirty teeny weeny corn kernels.

The corn tasted like the buttered corn cups you eat at carnivals. The broccoli was… well broccoli! Simply boiled, maybe seasoned with a teeny bit of salt.

Yes, I know this looks extremely unappetizing. That’s why I don’t take a photo of my plate when I’m done eating, much less post a photo of it on my food blog. (Where’s the food?!) I just wanted this photo to be testimony to how much I enjoyed the dish. I wiped my plate clean (Clean Plate Club, anyone?) despite the generous portions.

I would highly recommend this cafe for a comfortable dining environment, for their generous portions, tasty food and (fairly) efficient service. They have quite a few outlets so no worries about accessibility.

Rating: 7.5/10

Outlets
Iluma
Singapore
6884 7077

1 Jurong West Central 2
Singapore
6791 0882