Today we're jumping into a relatively new restaurant in town, which became an instantaneous hit for my two sons! This place was a pleasant surprise.
It's the Tsukimi Hamburg, located on Japan Street in Jurong Point.
Hamburg sounds like a German dish, but it's a standard way Japanese people eat meat patty. You wouldn't categorize it as "Japanese food," but it is a "Japanese Yoshoku Restaurant." This means it's a western food that is localized in a Japanese way.
You may have tried a few at other Japanese restaurants, such as Ma Maison or Saizeria. It's one of the favorite kids' menus.
Another thing about the restaurant's name - "Tsukimi" means moon-viewing, traditionally associated with the full moon during the mid-autumn festival. The Japanese historically celebrate the mid-autumn festival, perhaps slightly different from other Asian countries.
The term "Tsukimi" is also a standard way Japanese people name dishes with a raw egg or a sunny-side-up on top, as the egg yolk resembles the round moon. And restaurants will start introducing menus with "Tsukimi" as a seasonal special around that time.
Anyways.
As any decent restaurant in Jurong point goes, this place was pretty crowded this Friday night, despite trying to beat the clock and going early!
We started queuing just before 5:30pm and waited for some time. I think about 20 minutes.
Here are the details of the restaurant.
Tsukimi Hamburg at Jurong Point
Address: 1 Jurong West Central 2, B1-52 Shopping Centre, Jurong Point, Singapore 648886
Web: https://njoy.com.sg/brands/tsukimihamburg/
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/muXzrAs8HWnQLXZV7
So here is the Tsukimi Hamburg Restaurant, right at the entrance area (or exit, depending on how you look at it) to the always-bustling Japan Street.
I couldn't get a good picture because so many people were walking by!
The menu is displayed right at the restaurant's entrance, which is always good because you can decide on your menu while you wait.
The restaurant is well-lit and clean. I wouldn't say it's relaxing and spacious because it is a little crammed together and seems more designed to rotate customers quickly. It's more of a family or solo restaurant than your go-to date spot.
Here are the menus.
The "Dons" (comes with Tamago soup)
Tsukimi Hamburg Don $12.80++
Classic Hamburg Don $11.80++
Spicy Sakura Ebi Hamburg Don $11.80++
Wasabi Hamburg Don $11.80++
Spicy Nanban Miso Don $11.80++
The Set Meals (comes with pickles, salad, Tamago soup, and rice)
Bacon Hamburg Steak Teishoku $16.80++
Avocado Hamburg Steak Teishoku $15.80++
Foie Gras Hamburg Steak Teishoku $19.80++
Kinoko (Mushroom) Hamburg Steak Teishoku $16.80++
Raclette Cheez Hamburg Steak Teishoku $16.80++
Classic Hamburg Steak Teishoku $13.80++
These are very attractive Menus. I think the menu design is exceptionally clever. Even before trying my first dish, I was already thinking about what to order on my next trip! I felt it was that tempting.
As I always do for a first-time restaurant, I decided to go with the basic. The "Tsukimi Hamburg Don."
This is how it looks.
The idea is to take the sauce (on the right side), and pour it onto the Tsukimi Hamburg Don. Then you add a few drops of soy sauce on the top of the egg.
By the way, there are three selling points to this restaurant.
1) The meat
2) The egg
3) The rice
The meat mixes US beef, pork, and Miyazaki wagyu beef. I don't know what the ratio of Miyazaki Wagyu beef is, but it's one of the best areas of Japanese Wagyu.
The meat is indeed good.
$12.80++ for a Hamburg Don is very expensive in Japan, but when you think about the prices of restaurants in Singapore, it's very reasonable.
In that sense, I think you do get the bang for the buck.
The meat was soft and juicy as advertised, but most importantly, the taste of the meat itself was of good quality.
They say the egg is "air-flown" directly from Japan.
The egg tastes like the rich Japanese egg, with the vibrant egg yolk almost a redness to the color. Actually, the color has nothing to do with the taste. Japanese farmers give chicken chili to make their eggs red because eggs with richer colors sell better in Japan.
Nonetheless, the quality of the raw egg is just as advertised.
The third point is the rice.
My blog readers would already know how much I stress the importance of quality Japanese rice with Japanese food. It's truly an essential part of quality Japanese food, and I spend a lot of time (and words) explaining that part.
So it's always fantastic to see a restaurant talking about their choice of rice.
Tsukimi Hamburg uses Hitomebore rice from the Tohoku area of Japan. Although "Tohoku" is a relatively broad designation, it is an excellent area to get rice.
The rice at Tsukimi Hamburg was also a pleasant surprise. It was good quality rice that compliments the Hamburg steak.
Overall, it was a great dish at a reasonable price.
So, what's the verdict?
The guru rating
For the Hamburg Steak
8.5 / 10
As a Japanese guru, I rate this Hamburg Steak as an "8.5" out of 10. This means that I would absolutely choose to come here again. I would also recommend this place to someone asking me for a Japanese-style Hamburg steak.
I'm looking forward to giving it a few more trips soon to try different menus.
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