Benkei Japanese Cuisine - Oishi!

Amara Hotel used to have one of the better food courts on the fourth floor. They had a good variety and each one of them were pretty good. Among the most popular ones were the Korean and the Japanese cuisines. Due to the upgrading, the food court has since been closed and the stall holders all scattered, unfortunately.

One evening, I needed dinner but was caught during a storm. The rain was really heavy so I decided to drive from my car park opposite Keppel Towers to a nearby coffee shop which if you were to walk up to Keppel Towers, you will see a flight of stairs at the end of the road where Yan Kit Road is and right across is that coffee shop. As I parked my car, I saw a Japanese Cuisine food stall and decided to check it out. The place is actually called "ACE Eating House" @ 243 Cantonment Road.

That was when I found out that this is the same stall of Japanese food that operated at The Amara, the Benkei Japanese Cuisine. In case you are not aware, Benkei was among the earliest to have offered Japanese food of restaurant quality at very reasonable food court price and during lunch there would always be a long queue. I used to think "yes, this has to be the best thing to happened to Japanese food" then.

The quality of food had not changed but the sets has been simplified. We settled down to a set of mixed salmon and chicken teriyaki.

And another set of pork curry katsudon.

You will get a bowl of salad and a bowl of miso soup.

Enough for a happy meal.

Not only that, for dessert, they give you a piece of well-made agar-agar to complete the meal.

I caught Mr. Richard Neo working in the kitchen.

Those of you who used to be among the Amara crowd will know him.

These are so easy to eat.

Anytime of the day. Or night.

I saw that they are the only stall with a "B".

So why is Benkei different? Richard has been a chef with over 20 years experience in Japanese Cuisine. As he has proudly declared, he does not use tenderizers nor MSG and the food is at affordable prices.

Once, when I was in Taipei, Taiwan for work, I met a group of senior gentlemen conversing in Japanese. One of them spoke in Japanese and the rest were laughing. The guy who spoke and told the joke in Japanese was a Taiwanese. If one could tell a joke in a foreign language and they laugh, you are really something.  

So as you can see here, when the Japanese themselves are saying "Oishi!" and "Very Good!" there is a level of appreciation and compliments.

Finally, when the rain has stopped, I bid farewell to an old friend.

I thanked Richard for being a pioneer in bringing Japanese Cuisine to the heartlands. Check them out the next time you are around the corner.