Cheap authentic Japanese food - Wasabi Tei

If Sumo House has "the cheapest Japanese food in town", then Wasabi Tei must have the cheapest authentic Japanese food in town.

Located on the fifth floor of Far East Plaza, in a tiny shop that seats only 16 persons (and that's already a squeeze), a typical visit to this place during meal time will see a wait in a queue lasting at least half an hour. The trick, we've found, is to come outside of regular meal hours. For example, when we came at 3.30pm one Saturday, an hour before they closed for a break, we had to wait only five minutes to get a seat.

This is what the shop looks like from the outside:

You're looking at the full width of the shop. It's that tiny.

The interior setting is a U-shaped bar counter where sashimi is taken from the freezer on display (only because the shop is so small), sliced before your eyes and served in generous portions.

Manned by only one serving lady and one authentically Japanese chef, who incidentally are so confident in the quality and price of food they serve that they do not bother giving you a smile when they take your order. Not that they are stuck up or anything, but they do tend to look quite intimidating if we should dare to change our order. We didn't even dare to take a photo in their presence, so this was a quick snap of Ms Budget's salmon sashimi.

Seats are so valuable in this place that they charge you $2 just for sitting there. Of course that comes with japanese tea, a soft drink or mineral water, but you must order a dish.

A plate of salmon (or assorted) sashimi costs $15. If you're going for something more filling, such as a meal that includes rice, you can try the $10 teriyaki grilled salmon or $9 grilled mackerel. Mr Budget has tried the latter two (he's not a fan of raw food like Ms Budget is!), and he says that he kind of feels like a cow after eating the huge pile of veggies that come with it. That's not to say the fish is small or anything. He wishes he had a photo of it to show you.

Ms Budget who has had both thinks that the sashimi served at Ministry Of Food (MOF) in AMK Hub is better, but she thinks the grilled fish is fantastic!

The outlet also has pricier dishes for those with more expensive tastes, but that's not us, otherwise we wouldn't be blogging about this no GST, no service charge, budget date. Payment by cash only though, so make sure you bring enough.

Wasabi Tei is located at:

Far East Plaza, #05-70

It is easiest to find if you go up the lift that faces Scotts Road.

Opening hours:

Mon-Fri: 12.00nn-3.00pm and 5.30pm-9.30pm

Sat: 12.00nn-4.30pm and 5.30pm-9.30pm

Closed on Sundays and public holidays

Sumo House - the cheapest Japanese food in town!

When we can't decide on a place to eat, which usually happens on a weekend evening, one of the places we frequently find ourselves going to is Sumo House.

Though the Japanese food is not splendid - actually it doesn't taste like Japanese food at all - the prices are good. The franchise which is available in Ang Mo Kio, Clementi, and Bedok, sells a la carte dishes and set meals, with the cheapest set meal being the katsu don at $2.90.

That's a decent price for a medium-sized bowl of rice, egg, and chicken, and it comes with miso soup, pickles, and some fruit as well. Actually, all the set meals come with those sides. To top it off, customers get free-flow of hot green tea as well, albeit somewhat diluted.

Like we said earlier, the food's not fantastic, but the prices are. A couple of Sundays ago, we had dinner here, and our total bill for a meal for two came up to $6.20 (including GST). A friend remarked that it's even cheaper than eating at a food court. We heartily agree. Like a food court though, it's also air-conditioned, and always crowded.

Another friend tells us that if you're the last customer for the night, the staff will give you a plate of sushi on the house. We have not yet confirmed this with our own experience, so please feel free to try it out and let us know what's the best time to go.

We normally visit the Sumo House in Ang Mo Kio for dinner on Saturday or Sunday. After dinner, and filled to the brim with green tea, we often make our way to the neighbouring Cash Converter. Though we hardly buy anything from here, it's a great place to window shop; you always find the weirdest things here and, once in a while, a real gem can be found.

We've been known to find gift-worthy items at jumble sales, secondhand shops, thrift stores, and Cash Convertor.

These are the addresses of the three Sumo-House outlets in Singapore:

Ang Mo Kio Central
Blk 710A Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8
#01-2633
Singapore 561710

Bedok Central
799 Upper Changi Road
#01-02
Singapore 467351

Clementi Central
Blk 451 Clementi Avenue 3
#01-309
Singapore 120451

Website: www.sumo-house.com

We haven't been to the other two, but the Ang Mo Kio branch is easiest to get to by MRT. Just cross the road at the traffic light on the side of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, and it is located behind the bus stop. The Cash Converter is just round the corner.