I’m surprised I’ve never heard about District Sushi before – $10 chirashi don leh, how to not hear about it and chiong down? My first thought was, it’s either I’ve been too busy at work to follow my social media happenings or they are still pretty low key amongst the masses. I later found out that it’s really cause I suaku. My new year resolution is to go home before 8pm everyday.
I chanced upon District Sushi from a word of mouth recommendation when I bumped into an acquaintance in the area while i thick skinnly asked for lunch recommendation in the area. And she said, THERE GOT $10 CHIRASHI DON, but queue very very long. My eyes immediately lit up and brought out my aunty spirit and headed towards Sunshine Plaza.
Is it me or Sunshine Plaza sounds like the mall in Ikebukuro, Japan? Hmm.
The Place
Occupying a single unit on the first level of sunshine plaza, one would easily miss it amidst the amazing food within the mall, unless you were to go looking for it specially.
Sandwiched between 2 Thai eateries, District Sushi stands out amongst its counterparts along the stretch that faces NAFA, Toast Box, and Hang Out Cafe, with its snaking queue even before their opening!
I don’t have a picture of their interior, but it’s not the biggest nor the most comfortable place you’d expect, probably a 35-seater at max – and you can imagine the crowd, noise and rush in this place. There’s hardly a time of peace, if you’d look at their opening hours:
Like what I’ve told my dining counterpart, this is definitely a $10 dining experience, touch and go, Japanese fast food as we could hardly hold a conversation and felt the pressure to leave so as not to incur the wrath of other diners. Good place if you just wanna grab a quick lunch and head back to work, but not the best choice for a romantic date night.
You’d be handed an order chit while you’re in line, and thereafter be directed to the counter for your order once it’s your turn in line. Pretty easy and fuss free!
The seats are mostly communal so if you’re there for lunch, you’d be expected to share with other groups of people, unless you guys are seated at the bar area like the one above!
The Menu
The menu is pretty straightforward, and honestly, besides the $10 bowl of chirashi don, the rest of the items are not exactly the cheapest in town. Still affordable since prices are nett, but would I come for the other items? That’s debatable.
2 pieces of sushi is $5 and $6 for 3 slices of sashimi at such a setting makes me go hmmmmm.
Pictures of their dishes below (sorry not very well taken cause it was quite cramped)
OH OH BREAKING NEWS, AT THIS VERY POINT OF WRITING, IVE BEEN TOLD THST THEY HAVE INCREASED THE CHIRASHI DON TO $13. omg. No.
The Food
The elusive $10 $13 bara chirashi don was definitely the reason why everyone was there in the first place. There were at least 2 bowls of dons on each table, as far as I’m concerned, I definitely did not see a variant of their dons while I was there for lunch.
Look at those chunks of salmon sashimi and tuna! This was definitely worth every single cent of my $10 spent. Would I spend $13 on this? Hmmmm, it’s a yes but I’ll probably not travel all the way down there just for it. For $10, I would la.
What was lacking in the bowl was the rice they used, bland tasting rice, nothing like the well seasoned ones that we are used to; and some parts are more cooked than the other. That was probably the only thing that was lacking. While there were a lot of people hiaming (colloquial term for complaining) about the quality of the rice in this dish, I’m just like putting my hands up in the air with exasperation because what do you expect from a $10 bowl like this. $58 quality? For this amount, I’m pretty darn satisfied with the amount of sashimi served and the freshness of it! Head down early to ensure its freshness ok!
We also tried the amazing sounding Mentaiko Tamago ($6), which took ages to arrive.
But at $6… I’ve had cheaper and more torched mentaiko la. This was still pretty good though! So if there’s a side dish you gotta order, this would probably be it!
Closing remarks
I feel that it’s a HUGE pity that they decided to end the promotional price of the chirashi don, without any warning on their social media pages, which left alot of diners who made their way specially down, very disappointed.
Well, I would pay $13 for it but with that increase in price, I’d probably then raise my expectations on their rice which was evidently slipshod in preparation.
Nonetheless a good place for a relatively affordable japanese fix in the central area, but you’d definitely need to make sure you don’t come in too hungry because the wait in line will make you real hangry.
How to get there?
91 Bencoolen Street #01-15, Sunshine Plaza, Singapore, Singapore 189652
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday – 12pm to 2pm, 6pm to 8.30pm
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