Ginza Bairin @ JCube

With the opening of JCube comes an Olympic-size ice rink and definitely a bigger and grander shopping mall, injecting more vibe into the already vibrant neighbourhood. But did you know that Ginza Bairin also opened another outlet there, in addition to their current one at Orchard ION?

Ginza Bairin's not a full service restaurant and when compared to places like Saboten and Tonkichi, it fades out a little. But I'll say that it definitely has great value and is of decent quality.

 Yes, their Special Katsudon was voted No.1 in Japan! Sadly, we didn't get a chance to savour the black pig version  but nonetheless, it was delicious especially with the oozing egg yolk. I'm such a sucker for runny yolks, am I? Haha. My only complain was that the coating of the tonkatsu was a little thick so when it got damp here, which is inevitable, I could feel the layer of coating distinctly. Spoiled the dish a little, but the dish was still good nonetheless.

Another of their specialities here, Tonkatsu Sandwich. The concept of sandwiching a piece of tonkatsu between 2 slices of bread came up in World War II when Japan faced a severe shortage of rice. After it was introduced, it became extremely popular and the rest they say, is history. Pretty neat idea I must say and oh, did I mention, the sandwich encompasses homemade tonkatsu sauce inside it too. Their homemade tonkatsu sauce is a blend of vegetables, apple and spices. A very unique sauce that brought out the flavour of the tonkatsu, you could taste the apples in the sauce.

We had a platter of the a-la carte toppings : Cheese Pork and Ebi Fry. These toppings were forgettable I must say, sadly. I was told that their bread crumbs here are specially sourced and homemade too so that their fried items remain crisp even after a long time. We had no time to verify that, neither did we bother haha. We dug in and the cheese filing flowed out once you bite into the pork, but I felt that the cheese didn't quite pair with the pork. The prawns were quite bad, very greasy and the prawns were not crunchy at all.

We also sampled their Big Pig Katsu Curry. Let's talk about the main character, the slice of Kurobuta fillet, first. Fact : Kurobuta, the black pig, is known for its finer marbling and shorter muscle fiber which results in a tender and succulent slice of pork. Verdict : It's true. There on the plate laid a succulent and tender piece of kurobuta fried to a crisp. Their special curry sauce was great too with chunks of vegetables and potatoes, served with warm Japanese rice, made a very fulfilling meal. I could do with this for lunch.

Last but not least, we had the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen. Created specially for the local market, you'll only find this in Ginza Bairin Singapore branches. Singaporeans do love our spicy food, don't we? Beware, you might want to taste a little of the pile of fiery hot chilli chicken minced meat before mixing it with the whole bowl of ramen. Mix only what you deem to be adequate because it can get too hot for you! Lovely bowl of ramen, though it was hot hot hot.

A very pleasant first visit to Ginza Bairin indeed, I would return here to satisfy my tonkatsu cravings if I ever have the urge yet a little tight on my wallet! 

Special for Nigel Eats Readers
Ginza Bairin is currently having a really attractive weekday promotion, with prices starting as low as $9.90! In addition to that, Ginza Bairin would like to offer Nigel Eats readers a free ala carte topping of Chicken Kara-age with every purchase of the special weekday set. All you have to do give a shout of "I LOVE Nigel Eats, Ginza Bairin Ichiban!". Valid till 31 July 2012.

Ginza Bairin
JCube
2 Jurong East Central 1 
#B1-K05 (S)609731

Many thanks to Athena from The Brand Elixir and Gina Bairin for the great invite.