Fresh Sashimi at Sakuraya

Entrance to the Fish Mart

Sakuraya Fish is one of the few places in Singapore that I regularly go to for my sashimi fix. They serve up on of the freshest sashimi in this city and its price is reasonable for someone on a student budget. They were once located in the Village Center off South Buona Vista Road but have since moved to its current location in West Coast Plaza. I went down with my family to have another go at my regular haunt for sashimi and japanese food.

Wide selection of sashimi to choose from

This restaurant works slightly differently from the typical japanese restaurant here. Instead of ordering from the menu, all their sashimi are displayed in the refrigerated corner and customers just have to simply pick up the ones that they want. The sashimi is flown straight from Japan and the stocks come in every Tuesday and Friday. They have a high turnover rate for their sashimi, so you can be assured that the sashimi that you are picking up is definitely fresh. So after handing over our sashimi selections, we went back to our seats to pick out the cooked food for the rest of our meal.

Sashimi Sashimi Sashimi

Our Sashimi Platter

After picking out the food for the rest of our meal, we were served our sashimi platter. The platter consisted of my all time favorites for this place: the Scallop, Ika, Salmon, Tako and Swordfish sashimi. The sashimi are all cut up in nice thin slices, so there is no big chunks of fish that would have left us with overwhelmed by the taste of the raw sashimi. On top of that, there isn't a tinge of the typical "fishy" taste that the sashimi haters usually complain about. My personal favorite from the platter is the Scallop sashimi. Its a little bit expensive (2 whole scallops for $8) but its texture, freshness and juiciness is worth every dollar.

(L-R) Scallop, Ika, Salmon, Swordfish & Tako

Next up was our appetizers. The Goma Wakame is so fantastic that we decided to order two portion for the four of us. The other appetizers were so-so, therefore I shall not dwell on it.

Appetizers

We decided to order Cha Soba, Hot Soba, Tempura Maki, Soft Shell Crab Maki and Shioyaki Saba for our main dish. Both Soba dishes were forgettable (except that the Hot Soba soup was quite tasty but their miso soup is of much better quality) and not really worth a try. However their makis are quite exceptional. The rice is packed nicely and doesn't fall out when being handled (a sign of a good sushi). They are quite generous with their ebi and soft shell crab servings and the sauce inside the maki blends well with the sushi. The Shioyaki Saba is also one of the must try for this restaurant. The freshness of the meat makes it nice and soft and its salted just enough to make it tasty but not overwhelming. It is also very value-for-money.

Hot Soba

Cha Soba

Tempura Maki 

Soft Shell Crab Maki

Saba Shioyaki

Last stop for the meal is into the mini-mart where they sell Japanese condiments, confectionary and snacks - like a mini version of Medi-ya in Liang Court. Pop by here after a good meal to see if there's anything that you can get to bring the beauty of Japanese Cuisine into the comfort of your own home

Putting the "Mart" in Sakuraya Fish Mart

All in all, this place serves up one of the freshest Sashimi in Singapore. Its price is also reasonable (still on a high side) and the service is decent. The few must-try dishes are sashimi platter (they are all good, so just pick the ones that you personally like), goma wakame, saba shioyaki and their makis (they are all good). My personal favorite sashimi is the Scallop sashimi and my favorite maki is their Salmon Avacado Maki. There is usually a crowd during dinner time but the turnover rate here is quite high, so do not be put off by the crowd. I assure you the quality of food there is worth a short wait for the table.

Name: Sakuraya Fish Mart

Address West Coast Plaza #B1-50

Opening Hours: 11 a.m. - 9.30 p.m.

Cost: $$$ (out of a total of 5x$)

Ratings

Food Quality: 90/100

Service: 75/100

Value-for-Money: 80/100

Overall: 83.33/100

Must try dishes: Sashimi Platter, Goma Wakame, Saba Shioyaki, Salmon Avocado Maki