When I first heard of Sushi Ryujiro coming to Singapore, it was at Sushi Masaaki’s and it seemed like the sushi scene had already anticipated their arrival. Fast forward 1 month later, Sushi Ryujiro landed in Singapore, taking over Sushi Aoki at Shaw’s. Partnering with Les Amis group, the Singapore outpost is helmed by Chef Ikeda san

When we visited one week after they opened, they were packed. We learnt they usually accommodate up to 8 diners but that night was a special occasion. Well, the friend and I could tell from the conversations the party were having next to us

The menu felt a little different from the website online, though 8 Nigiri to some might seemed a little too little..

Sample of their sake list. They have more. I didn’t take it all

Chef Ikeda-san is quite friendly, and takes to time to converse with everyone

Snapper Roe w Dashi & Ginger

This was good. I enjoyed the texture of the snapper roe, the sweetness of the dashi broth with hints of ginger in it. It was a lovely dish to start

Ara / Katsuo

The chewiness and sweetness of the ara complemented with hints of yuzu and wasabi was delicious. I thought the katsuo was equally tasty too. It’s different from the usual way we would expect, seared around the edges. But this was just a delicious fresh piece of katsuo where you would enjoy the raw flavours on its own

Uni Chawanmushi

The chawanmushi was decent, like how I would expect from a sushiya. But in my opinion, this was nothing outstanding

I really enjoyed this deep fried fish served with Daikon Radish sauce (though I forgot the name of the fish). I thought the sauce complemented the fish well. It made you wanna have another bite of it

Just look at how beautifully done the fish was cooked

Sakura Somen

When our final otsumami was served, the neighbour seated next to me said – this is really good, with a look that seemed like he wanted to have another portion of this. lol. I found the somen noodles really chewy. Yet, the texture was addictive and more so as you slurp it with the somen dashi. The sakura ebi were really fragrant with a nice crisp texture. I finished every single bit of it

Hokkigai for the Signature Omakase menu

The Gari at Sushi Ryujiro’s had all 3 flavours – spicy, sweet, pickled. The spice was a little more evident when you first chew on it, but was quickly overtaken by the sweetness and the acidity. Also, it had both the crunch and juiciness. The friend joked she could eat this pickled ginger with plain white porridge

Moving on to sushi proper. At Sushi Ryujiro, they focus on fresh sushi pieces. They don’t do aged sushi, no aburi pieces, just sushi enjoyed fresh on its own

Aori Ika

When I first picked the sushi up, the rice felt delicate. We later found out the chef liked his rice to have a little more texture and looser as compared to some rice that was stickier. Meaning, you have to eat the sushi immediately when the chef served it your plate. Else the rice would have fall apart if you left it alone for too long. The ika was chewy in texture and a little mushy towards the end with a slight sweetness. But the shari, in my opinion really stood out. The rice was cooked just right and vinegar nicely balanced

Kisu

Masunosuke

This was outstanding. I really liked the masunosuke. It had such an amazing flavour and sweetness with the right amount of fattiness

Kinmedai

Akami

Chutoro

Otoro

The chutoro stood out. Sweet with a melt-in-mouth like texture, I definitely preferred the otoro to the akami and chutoro. He also had a change of shari for his red pieces, with a stronger shari to complement them

Uni

Murasaki Uni

The friend told me – I think he gave us 5 layers at least. lol. It was a burst of sweetness in the mouth

Anago

Wah. His anago is probably one of the better ones I’ve had. So smooth, sweet, a little charred, and it melt in the mouth as you savoured the sushi slowly. To end the sushi meal with this was really satisfying

Kohada

Ama Ebi

Cos we greedy. We requested for extra sushi. I had the Kohada and Ama Ebi while the friend had the Botan Ebi. I thought the Kohada was good but the Ama ebi was even better. The succulent texture and the flavour of the prawns lingered on your tastebuds. The friend also liked her Botan Ebi very much too

Tamago

Ryujiro’s version of Tamago is really steamed egg. lol. Not cake-like, not custard-like but a steamed egg omelette packed with so much juice and sweetness as you bite down each layer of goodness

Ending with a birthday tart which we guessed it’s probably from Tarte since they are all under the same brands. lol

I had Sushi Ryujiro in Tokyo. I remembered my experience there was good though very rushed and stressful. Even Chef Ikeda-san said he also felt it was very rushed when he was dining there. lol. I felt dining at Sushi Ryujiro Singapore did bring back memories of my experience back there in Japan though it was definitely less stressful here. My personal take on this place is I really enjoyed the shari here. And the team did mention they had trial and tested 20kg worth of rice before finalising on this final take to serve in Singapore. Some might not get used to the way they serve their fresh sushi pieces cos when you had beautiful aged sushi elsewhere (and the umami flavour they give), you would feel like ah, you had it better. But I thought Sushi Ryujiro is still worth a visit, for some of their pieces are really quite worth trying

Sushi Ryujiro

1 Scotts Rd, #01 – 19 Shaw Centre

Singapore 228208