I’m finally back with a food review! Apologies for my absence. School has been busy busy busy.

Anyway, I’m not sure how many of you have heard of The Sushi Bar at Far East Plaza…but I’m just going to jump right in and say that they have the most delicious Salmon Aburi I’ve ever eaten.

Aburi-style sushi refers to sushi that is partially grilled on top, and partially raw. This creates a really delicious smokey and creamy flavour, and is usually done with a blowtorch.

Okay, to be honest, this was the first and only place I’ve eaten Salmon Aburi at… but they certainly set the bar very high. In fact, I had never heard of Salmon Aburi before, until I read about this place who did a mean version of it.

Here’s what I tried:

Ebi Salmon Aburi

Mmm… Okay I’m not sure if that was the exact name of the dish, but it was a variation of the original Salmon Aburi sushi. It came with a fried prawn wrapped in the middle (hence ‘ebi fry’) and was pretty delicious. The prawn was still crispy and had a nice textural contrast to the creaminess of the mentaiko and the lightly grilled salmon. The avocado contributed a refreshing twist to the dish, and added to the creaminess of the sushi.

Soft Shell Crab Salmon Aburi

This is another variation of the original Salmon Aburi, with Soft Shell Crab instead of the Ebi Fry as seen earlier. This was delicious as well! I think it’s important to have something crispy in the sushi to help balance of the creaminess and richness of the dish. I personally preferred the Ebi Fry Salmon Aburi as the juiciness of the prawn helped to lighten the dish by adding a burst of flavour as well as the crispiness from it’s fried exterior.

Salmon Aburi

This is the original Salmon Aburi, and it comes with avocado as well (they all do, and I’m glad they chose to include it. Avocado and sushi are meant to be)

Instead of the fried prawn or the soft shell crab, it came with imitation crabmeat and a little salmon. I was rather disappointed. Given the steep price, I don’t think imitation crabmeat should even be on the menu. And Salmon Aburi should be all about the Salmon no?

It was creamy and tasted nice like the other two variations. The mentaiko was nicely torched as well. But it wasn’t as mind-blowing as the other two, since it didn’t have the crispy element to it.

Eaten with the pickled pink ginger, the sushi is really an experience. The slighty sour pickled ginger adds a bite to the Salmon Aburi, and enhances the flavours of the Salmon Aburi. Kind of like how the Japanese like to eat the Umeboshi plum with their savoury dishes to whet one’s appetite.

Prices are rather steep here, but it’s definitely a place to visit at least once. I haven’t tried their other dishes, cause I went straight for their Salmon Aburi dishes the two times I visited. I usually order one plate of Salmon Aburi and one variation of the Salmon Aburi dish, which will costs a few dollars more than the original. My dining companion and I usually share 3 plates of Salmon Aburi Sushi Rolls, which adds up to about 12 pieces each. Sounds like a lot, but its really manageable. I think guys can polish off two plates by themselves. The sushi rolls are a lot smaller than they look.

Do be prepared to join the long queues though. seems like most people love their food as much as I do!

Rating 7.5/10

P