Tokumika Japanese Restaurant

My food companion was in the mood for Japanese food just before my fishing trip and since the rendevous point was at Serangoon Central, we decided to have dinner at that area. At my suggestion, although I wasn't sure if there were any Jap restaurants there, we ended up at the row of eateries at the shophouses along Upper Serangoon Road.

And, to his delight, there was a Jap restaurant named Tokumika amongst the steamboat restaurants. The restaurant was smallish and functionally decorated with about 10 wooden tables and chairs, a large transparent food chiller housing various types of sashimi towards the back and a unisex 1 cubicle toilet at the far end of the restaurant. It also appears to be local family-run (as opposed to Jap-family run) and boasts having fresh air-flown sashimi.

As I don't eat sashimi and we were rather short of time, I ordered the beef sukiyaki (SGD 12) and my food companion ordered the bara chirashi don (SGD 10). The prices on the menu were rather reasonable starting from SGD 10 onwards and a plate of sashimi sufficient for 2 smallish eaters was SGD 25. The restaurant also serves various types of Jap noodles like ramen, udon and soba as well as rice sets but the emphasis is on sashimi.

The Slog Reviews: 7/10 for the beef sukiyaki. Nothing wrong with the presentation of the food or the time we had to wait for the dish, but I found the soup too sweet for my liking and the beef while generous in portion, was not tender or sweet. The beef pieces were also kind of stuck together in an unappealing mess. My food companion on the other hand pronounced the chirashi don fabulous with generous chunks of fresh sashimi and after finishing his bowl (not a very large or remarkably small bowl), proceeded to order yet another chirashi don bowl. He said it was very good and I suppose there must be some truth to his statement because to my amazement, the restaurant filled up pretty quickly (it was a Fri evening) with couples, families and groups of friends/colleagues. The service was prompt enough and while I wouldn't think of going back again, my food companion has been bugging me to. The cost of the meal was SGD 38 in all excluding any drinks (the rice for the sukiyaki was SGD 2!) but then again, he had eaten enough for two pax.


Address: 27 Teck Chye Terrace
Tel/Fax: 6284 3842

NB: This restaurant has been closed since end Aug 2010