Sakae Adventure: July's Special Seafood Promotions

This month's Sakae Adventure...

It has been a while since we dined in at Sakae (we usually call for delivery), so we went to Sakae Sushi @ Junction 8 on a week night just to try something new! Ehh actually it was because they don't have Sushi Buffets at this branch lah... Well, it was a good chance for us to explore a different part of the Sakae menu, plus I could use some of the Sakae Dollars that I had accumulated on my Sakae Card :)

We were there at the right time - July's theme for the Sakae Signature promotion is on Seafood!



We could hardly give this a miss, so we ordered the Special Ika Maki ($9.99).



You might wonder what about this grilled ika (squid) is so special.. and why do they call it a maki (rolled sushi)?

Well it is just as the name suggests. The ika maki is special because it's sushi rice wrapped up in a squid! And it's not just the usual white sushi rice though, it's sushi fried rice.



That didn't taste too bad at all! It was a lot lightly flavored than the color might suggest. The sushi fried rice was slightly sweet (I think it's tomatoes) and complemented well with the not-too-chewy grilled squid in a thin layer of teriyaki sauce. I would like to point out that it was quite professionally done too - the rice didn't just fall out of the squid rings when you pick it up with chopsticks.

On top of that, we also had some side orders, sushi from the conveyor belt, plus 5-pc gyoza on offer ($3.99)! For our entrees, wx got a Unagi Don ($14.99).



That was a huuuge portion even for someone the size of wx :p I was a lot smarter of course hehe. Since Sakae Delivery Menu does not offer any noodle dishes (except cha soba as side order), I settled for some soupy noodles to end my occasional craving for udon - the Niku Udon!



Sprinkle some Japanese chili powder and the soup becomes perfect. I would prefer if the beef were in thinner slices. But the udon noodles were very Q. sluuurpy!

Total: $67.05
I paid just 5 cents for this meal. The rest were deducted from my Sakae Card :) Don't you wish to be a Sakae eJournalist too?

Rating: ★★★

Crispy Fluffy Waffles

YAY It's waffles time again!

Do you like your waffles crispy or chewy, crunchy or fluffy?

Well, I like mine like this:



Yes...crispy on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside!

So this is what we had:



The Passion Fruit Mango ice cream was a little too strong taste (sour & sweet) for me - some might like the rich passion fruit sorbet-like mix in it though.

If you like the crunchy type of waffles, read my post on the Waffle Place Cottage last year.

Gelare is still around! They serve the fluffy type of waffles too. And I think they still have half-price waffles promotion on Tuesdays. A little out of reach for me though, so Haagen Dazs @ Junction 8 is my best choice. Plus, for every $10 you spend at Haagen Dazs until 8 August 2010, you get 5 letters to complete the crossword puzzle for the Haagen Dazs Word Hunt Contest! Hehe.. I just like little games like this. Fun, simple to do, and a chance to win great prizes :)

Rating: ★★★

Mushroom Park, the Mushroom Paradise

Weeehee! Chanced upon a restaurant called Mushroom Park (while cleaning up the database for a new dining app) and well, being a Super Mushroom Lover, of course I was dying to check it out! We made reservation on the website a day earlier so we could get 10% off our bill :)

We managed to arrive just before 7pm for our reservation (phew!). Anyway, it was alright because the restaurant was practically empty on a Tuesday night. The experience was great - it was a very nicely renovated place, peaceful and undisturbed, with "personal" attendants. Like VIPs!

We were impressed by the whole interior - glass table top with marble pebbles underneath, and a built-in stove right in the middle. You can tell that this place is really dedicated to serving their healthy mushroom steamboat cuisine. Classy!



The dishes were unique too! For starters, we had Mushroom Sashimi, Crispy Mushroom (like dried fruit crackers) and Shredded Mushroom (meat floss-like snack). Wow, didn't think we would be eating mushrooms like that! We probably looked like total newbs, wow-ing at everything like we're from the outerspace hehe. Oh, and the perfect drink to go with a healthy meal? The Chinese Eight Treasures Tea! (This is real stuff ok, not some instant 8-in-1 packet drink.)



This restaurant really goes all out in ensuring that its customers enjoy their mushroom steamboat the proper way. There is a process to follow and actually they will serve you for the most part so you can just sit and watch until you are ready to do your "shabu shabu" thing. First, they invite you to taste the original mushroom soup base, before anything else is added. Then, they add in the mushrooms, cabbage, Taiwanese frozen tofu, and a kind of herbal yam (explaining what each ingredient is as they are added). A kitchen timer is set on our table: Time left to devour is exactly 6 minutes. :)



Once again after it's ready for our chopsticks to make a dive, we were invited to taste the soup again - it had a nice extra sweetness to it from the mushrooms and vegetables added. Finally, we were ready for "shabu shabu"!





Fresh thin slices of beef and pork, and the soup were perfect complements for each other! So fresh and sweet that we ate it plain (without any sauce) after cooking it to just right in the soup. And the soup was just filled with the rich essence of the meat, the mushrooms, the vegetables - we couldn't help but finish the entire pot of soup in the end. :p

Another of our favorite dish was the special Mushroom Treasure (Steamed) Rice. Try their special red chilli sauce! The slight sweetness blends in perfectly with the steamed rice.



Now for the desserts :D Green Tea and Plum Jelly! It's nothing like the normal jelly or the Japanese konnyaku that we usually eat. This jelly is really soft yet still spongy (like jelly!). I love the Plum Jelly, lightly-flavored and not too sweet (I thought the Green Tea one was too sweet though).



That's it! All of the above are part of a set meal. There are five types of steamboat set meals, and an ala-carte menu as well. The cheapest, Healthy Set Meal is priced at $26.80++. The most valued (imo), Natural Set Meal or Creamy Dory Set Meal is priced at $36.80++. (There are also the Dynasty Set Meal, the Vegetarian Set Meal, and the Tilapia Fillet Set Meal, which were slightly over our budget.) We both picked the Natural Set Meal. But don't feel restricted that you have to pick the same set meal as your partner (even though you will still be sharing the same pot of soup)! The variations are only on the type of meat/fish and the rice/noodles. With the Natural Set Meal (& above), you get a free upgrade to the Mushroom Treasure Rice, which is otherwise $3 on the ala-carte menu.

This is definitely a thumbs-up place for me. In fact, I've already recommended it to my family, and I dined there for the 2nd time the same weekend - yes, I went there twice in 5 days! The restaurant was full house on the weekends though. So I would suggest to go during the week if you don't like the crowds and noises.

But hurry up if you are keen on trying this place, because they are closing down on 1 August 2010. Sobs, it's really sad. I wished I had found out about this place sooner. We only learned about the closing by chance when we asked them about their signature Mushroom Fishball, which they won't be serving anymore. So quick quick, if you are even considering about checking them out - I would say, go for it - why not! Only half a month left before it's gone forever!



Mushroom Park is located at 87 Serangoon Garden Way (near Chomp Chomp). Reserve online today so you can get 10% off like I did! [website]



Rating: ★★★★★

Swensen's 1-for-1 is (still) ON!

If you ever walked pass a Swensen's in the day and wondered why it's been so crowded all afternoon, it's because their 1-for-1 lunch treats is still on!

Check out our favorite picks:







We also ordered a Celebrity Brownie for dessert! (All desserts and ice cream are not part of the 1-for-1 deal.)

Totals out to only $30+ for 2 fully satisfied tummies ^^

Rating: ★★★★

Sakae Adventure: Family Dining @ Sakae Sushi

So I finally took my family to Sakae Sushi @ Wheelock Place earlier this month to use my $50 voucher. Picked this location particularly because I saw on the website that it has tatami rooms!

But we didn't get the tatami room :( It was all dark as if that part of the shop is not yet open for business. What's worse was that one of the waitresses actually told us to not put our stroller beside our booths (my niece was still in there at that time). A little disappointing but understandable, as I really thought that the waitresses should offer us a tatami room if they didn't want us to have the stroller in the walkway - could be dangerous with them serving hot food. (We should have requested then too :\) Reason is simple. We were a big party with 4 adults 1 child 1 baby plus a baby stroller. It's very inconvenient to eat while carrying a baby, you know. Instead of asking your customers to adjust to your store plan, you should be trying to accustom to all your customers' needs at all times. That's what customer service is about, right?

So then we ordered 2 unagi-don, 1 gyuu-don, some side dishes, and some colored plates off the sushi train. I must say that the Enoki Niku Maki is quite disappointing - overflowing with teriyaki sauce, too sweet! It's a lot darker (black sauce) than in this picture. But the Saba Shioyaki is not bad for my dad - I think he enjoyed it.

The meal totals out to be $95 - $50 (voucher) = $45. This is my first time ordering ala carte at Sakae Sushi, and I believe it would be my last LOL. To be honest, Sakae Sushi's food is not top grade, though still lot better than those really cheap ones. Ala carte..sure, but cost-wise, is a little too pricey for me. So their buffets are the best - value deals especially if you eat a lot or eat a wide variety! & you have my honest opinion here :)

Just one thing to note when eating buffets:
If you want to use Sakae Sushi vouchers or if you want to benefit from 10% discount and/or 12% rebate from your Sakae Card, then you have to go ala carte. Sad, but the buffets are in fact a "promotion", so not valid with any other promotions.

Oh, and why Sakae Sushi is not ideal for families?

Sakae Sushi's primary seating areas are the booths, because of the sushi train. But not great for a big family with kids. That's why a tatami room is perfect! Best to come in twos, so both can get their hands on the sushi train running by them :D

If you're interested in trying out at Sakae Sushi, check out Sakae Sushi's on-going promotions!

Oh, I noticed that there's a Sakae Pasta Shop @ Wheelock Place! Worth a try next time :)

Sakae Adventure: Sashimi Buffet @ Atrium

note: check out all the Sakae bloggers here! and err sorry no photos this time round lah. :\

Remember that I won a $50 Sakae Sushi voucher sometime early August? Well, I am now also officially part of the Sakae e-Journalist programme where I get to eat and blog at the same time.

So here is my first post of my eat-n-blog venture! (2nd if you count my entry blog post on Sakae Teppanyaki)

A few weeks back wx and I decided to use our $50 Sakae Sushi voucher. The idea was to eat well and still save money. So wx suggested that we try the Sashimi Buffet at The Atrium @ Orchard. Ehh we sort of did our calculations beforehand: if we just had the normal sushi buffet, it would cost us $18.90 per person ($37.80++ total) - ie. we lose out on $12.20 voucher value and we are only entitled to only 2 'red plates' (sashimi) total; sashimi buffet costs $24.90 per person ($49.80++ total) and we get unlimited 'red plates'!

3 Reasons Why Sakae's Sashimi Buffet Is Better Than The Sushi Buffet
1) 'Red plates' are more than just sashimi! Though I don't fancy them all, it's always good to bring along someone who loves them. *points at wx*
2) Sushi buffet has more limitations. For example, 1 'red plate' per person and 1 'mini udon' per person. Most of items (except a few) are unlimited in sashimi buffet.
3) To be charged at the sushi buffet value, you need to finish your food within an hour! Anything beyond that time period is charged additionally. Whereas for the sashimi buffet, no need to rush - you can just eat at your own slow pace and eat MORE! muahahaha

In the end, we realized we couldn't use the $50 voucher because buffets are considered as promotions (T&C states that voucher is not valid with other discounts or promotions). Okay, that's what I didn't quite expected. The buffets have been on-going for so long that I thought it was a part of the usual menu. >< Quite a wasted trip in that sense, but I've decided to bring my family to Sakae Sushi instead! Planning for sometime next month (Oct), in time just before the voucher expires. And that would be the highlight of my Oct's Sakae blog post. Good idea eh? Lastly - a shoutout to Sakae Sushi - wx and I suggest to have the Sashimi buffet across more Sakae Sushi outlets in Singapore. Currently only available at The Atrium, which is kind of out of the way for us. :p The Sushi & Teppanyaki buffet ($24.90 per person) sounds cool. Eager to try it someday - Funan DigitaLife Mall only.

Sashimi Buffet
Rating: ★★★★

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More Sakae Sushi's promotions at sakaesushi.com.sg.