Sen of Japan: Japanese cuisine at Marina Bay Sands

Behold, the first blog entry for Japanese dining! Here’s my Sen of Japan review!

(Update: two years after this entry, I now have a SECOND review of Sen of Japan. Read here for more information!)

And yes, a friend and I definitely dined at a discount.

The American Express Love Dining programme gives up to 50% off dining for eligible card holders,  and it’s no secret that I’m a fan of these AMEX benefits. I particularly recommend the AMEX Platinum Charge card, for it’s huge range of benefits. 

In the list of participating Love Dining restaurants, Sen of Japan is the one out of two Japanese dining establishments participating in this programme (The other being Mikuni at Fairmont Hotel Singapore).

Sen of Japan

Located at Level 1 of the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, near the Promenade Exit to the Arts Science Museum, this place is all too-easy to miss. Personally, I find that most shoppers tend to stay on the B1 and B2 levels of the mall, so they almost never walk past Sen of Japan. Lol.

Inside lies a bar counter loaded with Japan-imported alcohol.

Menu

The both of us sat down and boy, did we have a hard time deciding what to order. 

 Check out the a la carte menu in the gallery below (click images to enlarge)

Sushi and Sashimi

The first dishes to arrive: the Oishii roll and Hamachi carpaccio.

The Hamachi carpaccio is a sliced yellowtail fish with truffle ponzu dressing.

This dish I loved – traditionally sashimi is simply dipped in a soysauce and wasabi combo. But here the exotic taste of truffle bits and ponzu – a citrusy soysauce – adds a touch of adult sophistication to the dish.

Next up: Oishii roll.

‘Oishii’ in Japanese means ‘tasty’ so the dish literally translated to ‘tasty roll’. Here, chopped blue fin tuna belly, Hokkaido is bundled with sea urchin roe in a bed of rice. Topped with a generous amount of ikura (salmon roe) and green onions, this dish was the best kind of raw fishy goodness in every bite. 

Ikura lovers would rejoice at this. There was so much of it that the large salmon eggs kept falling off the sushi rice, lol.

Being sashimi lovers, we were excited when our Sashimi Moriawase (Assorted Sashimi, 5 kinds) arrived alongside the Carbless roll. 

The 5 kinds of sashimi presented to us were: Maguro (tuna), Sake (salmon), Hamachi (yellow tail), Hotate (scallop) and Tai (red snapper)

I love how thickly sliced each cut of sashimi was. Served chilled on a bed of ice, with each mouthful we savoured the freshness. Among Japanese restaurants, this is among one of the better-quality sashimi – so good I found myself wishing we had more!

And then we had… the Carbless roll.

This is the first time seeing a sushi roll without any kind of rice. Instead, fresh salmon is wrapped alongside large prawn tempura, cruncy flakes (made from tempura batter), capelin roe and sliced avocado.

I don’t know if this sushi qualifies as Keto-friendly. But given that its literally carb free (and loaded with fish), the protein-rich dish is a great alternative to those who want sushi but wish to avoid carbs.

In a way this dish also messed with my brain – i found myself questioning: what is sushi? MUST it have rice in it? Without rice, is it just a fish wrapped up in seaweed??? 

No matter what – this dish was my personal favourite of the day. I’m a sucker for good salmon and the Carbless roll just hit all the right spots in combining salmon with both crunch (prawn) and soft (avocado) ingredients to give it a well-balanced texture. 

Mains: A5 Wagyu and Tiger Prawns

We had a Surf and Turf moment with our mains. Visually impressive, my friend and i had a ‘wow’ moment when these were served.

Behold – Wagyu (beef) and Tiger Prawns!

Japanese A5 Wagyu Steak: Grilled to your choice of finishing (in our case, Medium).

The verdict: As expected of A5 quality Wagyu – the highest rating that can be assigned to Wagyu – the meat was highly marbled, tender and juicy.

For more information on Wagyu rating, check out this link.

 This was served with both horseradish and a sweet and salty steak dipping sauce. Both complented the meat in different ways, with the horseradishing give the meat a sharp finish and the dipping sauce adding a tenderizing effect. For an extra crunch, the garlic chips made it all the more enjoyable.

People, I have died and gone to Wagyu heaven. This dish was also my friend’s favourite of the day – so highly recommended if anyone wants some really good beef. 

Not to be outdone was the King Tiger Prawns.

Two HUGE tiger prawns were grilled to perfection and topped with rich mentaiko mayonnaise sauce and flying fish roe. This was Oh-So-Juicy – rich flavourful juice gushed out of the crustaceans in each bite. Surprise mushrooms lined the shell’s inner parts – and even that had mildly absorbed the seafoody flavour.

So. Very. Divine.

Final Words and AMEX love dining discount (50% off)

It’s rare that you find EVERYTHING you order on a menu to be perfect or near-perfect. But at Sen of Japan, all dishes we had exceeded expectations and even (for better or worse), set the bar high for my expectations of good Japanese restaurants.

10/10 would totally return, especially with the huge discount I received with my American Express credit card.

(Update: I *did* return and have a 2nd review – check out this post for the next review of Sen of Japan!)

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American Express Platinum Charge Card (Image source: American Express)

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Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed on this page are that of Happy High Life and may not necessarily reflect the position of American Express. Happy High Life is not responsible for any decisions made by readers. The terms and conditions for credit card applications may be subject to change by American Express. Readers are recommended to check with American Express or its partners; the list of all benefits of the Platinum Charge Card can be found here.

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