Sakura Orchard

Happened to be in town yesterday and decided to try out Sakura at Orchard Shopping Centre which is just opposite Cineleisure. Weekend Dinner was pretty expensive at $29.95 per head.

The ambience was pretty okay, you will not have the feeling of eating in a sardine can and the place was done up pretty nicely. Seated by the window I was treated to a nice view of the surrounding shopping centres and the endless stream of people walking along the streets(dun expect too much). Service was also prompt and staff were courteous most of the time. Some of them were wearing face masks, hopefully that was to maintain hygiene not becoz of SARS or somthing.

Most importantly, the FOOD!

Well, generally it was a pleasant meal which I felt was definitely worth the price even for a weekend one. The Jap food bar has lotsa items to choose from, about 15 different types of sushi, a decent variety of Sashimi with squid, prawn, salmon, snapper and I dunno wad. There's also Cold Soba noodles, smoked duck and some appetizers like Fruit salad, scallop and abalone salad which I found really nice.

Then there's the western bar with pizzas(Ham and chicken I think), grilled scallops(w or w/o cheese or raw), mussels(grilled or raw), salads and its other condiments.

Next up would be what I think is the asian food area with roast duck(nice!), cray fish, mutton redang, beancurd with sauce, steamed fish with sauce and some dim sum(mainly siew mai, beancurd roll and pao).

As with the other Sakura outlets, there's the tepanyaki/grill corner with a wide variety of meats to choose from. There's satay(mutton and chicken), beef(not steak), lamb chop, dory fillet, unagi, mackerel(nice!), squid(not the panggang type) and some other meats as well. Adjacent to the grill is the fried food corner where there's fried prawns and fish and other common items but no fries.

The deserts section is split into 2 with the ice cream and sherbet at one side and the fruits on the other. There was about 6 different types of ice cream like peppermint and 2 sherbets(lime and orange) with choco rice or nuts toppings. The fruits section has at least 10 types of fruits with other items like 'gui ling gao', mango pudding, yam paste and thai sweet tapioca.

There's also a variety of drinks to choose from, soft drinks, cold teas or just the normal coffee and tea.

Overall experience was good with my personal liking to the roast duck, lamb chops, yam paste, appetizers, sherbet and mackerel. Apparently I saw some people having laksa and seafood soup which I have no idea where its from, but i presume it should be ordered from the grill section area. Grills are fuss free, no queuing as one just need to attach your table clips to your order and it will be delivered to u once its done. The entrance is hidden away since there's no indication of its entrance but it beside teh 7-11 and there's actually a small flight of stairs before a waitress will attend to u then u make your payment and take the escalator up to the restaurant. Do have a try.