Note: Sabar has relocated to 100 Tras Street #03-14, 100AM, 079027. The review here is for their previous location.
About Sabar
Sabar (Saba + Bar) is one of the 16 casual dining establishments handpicked from Japan, all of which are located at Level 4 of Wisma Atria, Orchard and they are part of the Japan Food Town. Most of their menu items are based on Mackerel (Saba in Japanese). Sabar originates from Osaka and they only use mackerel caught off Japan’s North Pacific Coast. Sabar also playfully uses the number 38 (38 in Chinese sounds the same as their name) in their Decor, Promotions (e.g. August is Sabar Month), Opening and Lunch Hours.
Our Review On Sabar
We ventured into the Japan Food Town on one Sunday and could not make up our minds on whether we should have Ramen or Chirashi. Finally, we decided to have Chirashi and saw the signboard of Sabar. We did not really know where the entrance was at first as we saw two different restaurants linked and yet operated by a different owner (the uniforms were different). Luckily for us, the server from Sabar saw us looking at the board, welcome us warmly into the restaurant and directed to one of their tables.
What We Ordered
- Toro-Saba Hitsumabushi (Teriyaki Bowl) ($25)
- Sabar Chirashi Don (Premium) ($18.80)
- Swordfish Sashimi ($11.80)
- Unagi Souffle Chawanmushi ($6.80)
- Calpis Water ($3.80)
- Ocha ($1)
Food Taste
— Toro-Saba Hitsumabushi
Toro-Saba Hitsumabushi is Sabar’s own version of the popular Unagi Rice Bowl (barbecued eel on rice with sweet soy sauce in a bowl). We initially thought Toro-Saba was a mixture of Toro (fatty part of the tuna) and Saba (Mackerel), however, after reading the decor in the restaurant, we realized that Toro-Saba was actually their signature ingredient and could be found in many dishes of their menu. And for their Saba to be known as Toro-Saba, it has to be from the North Pacific Coast of Japan, contains over 21% of Lipid Contents and weighs over 550gm. We also liked the design of the rice bowl.
The overall taste was good:
- The sweet soy sauce was not too overwhelmingly sweet and added on to the taste of the Japanese Rice.
- The soy sauce also added a degree of wetness to the diced Toro-Saba
- The skin of the Tor0-Saba came with a little crunch with each bite
- No fish bone was found!
— Sabar Chirashi
Their Sabar Chirashi was served in an interesting way. There was a small plate of freshly prepared sashimi on top of the chirashi rice bowl which came with scattered chunks of similar sashimi. This dish gave us two ways of eating it – enjoying the individual sashimi slices or to eat a few chunks of the sashimi together with the sushi rice.
The overall taste was good:
- Sashimi was freshly prepared and nice – good on its own or with the soy sauce and wasabi
- Generous sashimi chunks in the chirashi bowl
- The addition of cucumber in the chirashi bowl made the rice and sashimi less dry and gave an extra refreshing crunch
One issue about this dish was that we found only 1 piece of Sabar sushi (or we could not differentiate the sashimi taste).
— Swordfish Sashimi
We have a particular fond for swordfish sashimi for its tenderness and how smooth it is to taste when you put it into your mouth. For this item, it was freshly prepared but there is nothing really special about it. It just satisfied our craving for that day.
— Unagi Souffle Chawanmushi
We found the Unagi Souffle Chawanmushi a bit disappointing for the price we were paying. The item sounded fanciful but looked deflated and not as fluffy as a souffle should look when it was served. Taste wise (the egg and the one piece of unagi) it was just okay.
The Smart Dining Mobile App
Japan Food Town has this mobile app called Smart Dining which allows you to accumulate your spending to enjoy discounts on your next visit. And the more you spend with them; you get to move up the membership tier and enjoy more discounts.
Our Overall Review On Sabar
- Food: 7 / 10
- a higher rating would be given if we had chosen more of the Toro-Sabar items
- Price/value: 7 / 10
- price for Toro-Sabar was justifiable but the pricing for the other items could be better
- Service: 7 / 10
- some efforts and a little waiting time required to get their attention
- Ambience/decor: 6 / 10
- a simple eating area with tables quite closed to each other
- Overall rating: 3.375 / 5
How To Get To Sabar
Old Address: 435 Orchard Road #04-50 Wisma Atria Singapore 238877
Nearest MRT: Orchard MRT
New Address: 100 Tras Street #03-14, 100AM, 079027 (Google Maps)
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