Shimbashi Soba - Orchard

Shimbashi Soba
Location: 290 Orchard Road, #B1-41, The Paragon

Contact: 67359882

Opening Hours: Daily: 11.30am – 10.00pm

Last year, Shimbashi Soba added extra variety to their vegetarian section in the menu.  In the future, they plan to expand it even more.  What is available now is a variety of unique and special dishes.  As the name of the restaurant would suggest, they are synonymous for their soba dishes.  Additionally, this menu section is also completely vegan.  For certain Buddhist eaters, leek and onion are present in some dishes, so make sure to ask for their exclusion when ordering.

Shimbashi Soba is all about bringing some of the rarer and more traditional Japanese dishes to Singapore.  This is also the case with the tea on offer.  This is the Roasted Buckwheat Tea (sobacha) - A tea which is seldom known about outside of Japan and Korea.  The main flavour is a quiet nutty taste, that shimmers throughout the pot.  For those curious to know what buckwheat actually is - It is actually not a wheat, nor is it a grass.  It is more closely related to rhubarb.  High in anti-oxidants and vitamin B, this comforting cup of tea is definitely something that compliments the food on offer.

The opening dish of the meal was the Yaki Miso.  Unlike the usual miso most Singaporeans will be familiar with, this miso doesn't have the strong salt flavour.  This is because it is shiromiso (white miso).  This dish is a little more complicated than just grilled miso, though.  There are also walnuts, white leek, and Japanese rice crackers inside.  The walnuts give a welcome textural element, and the leeks add a nice flavour packed punch.  Visually, it must be said that this is one of the most unique and impressive dishes I have reviewed also.

Price: $5.80.     9/10

If you mentioned the words Japanese food to anyone, then surely the first image that will pop into their minds will be sushi.  Therefore, this review would be incomplete without sampling the sushi on offer here.  Here we have the Gunkan Nigiri Sushi 5 Kinds.  Starting from the left we have - tofu with spicy yukke sauce, wild vegetable and miso, grated nagaimo yam, Japanese fermented beans (natto), and pickled cucumber.  Overall, this is unbelievable sushi, the rice is whole and firm, the ingredients are cold and fresh.  Good value, as this style of sushi is quite rare.  The nagaimo yam was the highlight, as the raw Japanese yam matched expertly with the crunchy seaweed.  Definitely one you must order.

Price: $7.80.     9/10

The next dish was certainly a new experience for me.  This is the Dengaku Fu, the concept of this dish is simple, as is the case with most Japanese food.  There is a total of six gluten cubes.  This is real gluten, not glutinous rice (which I originally suspected it was).  The gluten cubes are infused with certain subtle flavours.  Firstly, the green cubes - No, not green tea.  They are, in fact, infused with wormwood.  The yellow cubes are infused with millet.  Neither flavours can really be detected, as I mentioned previously, the flavour is extremely subtle.  The texture closely resembles mochi, which is something I adore eating - Therefore this dengaku fu went down well with me.

More sushi is on the horizon, this time it comes in the form of the Shiitake Nigiri.  Mushroom within sushi is something I haven't dabbled with before.  Certainly they couple well together, though.  The highlight of the dish is the delicious juices of the mushroom exploding in your mouth, upon eating.  The rich smokey juices of the grilled mushroom, paired with soy sauce and the rice made for an excellent combination.  As with all the sushi, there is a superb freshness to all the ingredients.  Price wise, this is quite reasonable, definitely a dish I would order again next time.

One of the dishes I've always struggled to appreciate is tempura.  Therefore, when this Yasai Tempura & Matcha Shio arrived, I had my skepticisms.  The vegetables included in this dish were snow peas, sweet potato, eggplant, needle mushrooms, pumpkin, and shiitake mushrooms.  Along with the vegetables, there is a dry green tea and salt concoction, which you can see in the background of the picture.  Diners are meant to dip the tempura vegetables into this powder.   The batter was light and not too greasy, which I was relieved about.  The pumpkin lacked sweetness, however, the mushroom was packed with flavour.

This review wouldn't do justice to Shimbashi Soba if I didn't review their infamous soba dishes.  We start with the Sansai Soba.  I will start by giving a general comment about both soba dishes - One problem for certain customers may be the lack of flavour in these dishes.  For Asian palates this will likely not be a problem, but for others it could be.  The soba noodles are undoubtedly fresh, bouncy and finely milled - Definitely live up to the hype.  Price wise it may seem alarming, however, consider these are unique vegetables and the only freshly handmade soba noodles you can find in Singapore.

The second soba sampling came in the form of the Yama Kake Soba.  The Japanese yam is the unique selling point to this dish.  This rare and expensive ingredient is imported directly from Japan.  Also known as jinenjo, this yam is special in the sense that it can be eaten completely raw.  The finely grated (almost frothy) yam can be found floating majestically on top of the soupy soba dish.  The yam has a silky and starchy consistency.  It is this texture, rather than the flavour, which is the appeal.  The soba noodles, which were lurking below, were fantastic.

To end my dining experience, I sampled the Japanese dessert, known as Soba Kashi Moriawase, which also appears on the vegetarian section of the menu.  There are a variety of desserts all on one plate.  They include - soba balls with red bean, sweetened fried soba, kuzu flour derived glutenous cakes topped with soya bean powder and Japanese jelly.  These desserts certainly helped to illustrate the diversity of dishes that can come from soba.  As with all the food, these desserts were cool, light and refreshing.  A perfect ending to the meal.

Price: $6.80.     7/10

Conclusion - Overall the dining experience is excellent at Shimbashi Soba.  The only setback would be the price.  With there being no difference in price between meat dishes and vegetarian dishes, it could inevitably result in the vegetarian dishes being quite unpopular amongst customers.  If looking at only quality, certainly the food is some of the best Japanese food I have ever sampled. The yaki miso and gunkan nigiri sushi were my personal favourites, both also represents good value price wise.  Hopefully more restaurants can follow Shimbashi Soba's example, in creating more vegetarian options for its customers.

Overall Rating
Food - 8/10
Ambiance- 8/10
Service - 9/10
Value - 7/10