Shin Nichi (Punggol)

After walking for more than 3 km at Punggol Waterway, air con was the only thing in my mind (you must surely know how hot Singapore is these few days). So it was between Popeye's and this Japanese restaurant. Since the prices at Shin Nichi looked pretty decent, we decided to have dinner here. 

I got myself a Mushroom Ramen Set ($14.80) and my friend got himself a Spicy Chicken Bento Set ($15.80). 

The Spicy Chicken Bento Set came with miso soup, salad and fruits. Both of us tried the spicy chicken and agreed that it was quite badly cooked. In other words, it tasted like what a novice would cook- just dump all the chicken into the wok/pan, add a few kinds of random sauces, do some stir fry, then serve it into a plate.

For my Mushroom Ramen Set, it came with sushi and dessert as well. It was char siew in the sushi. From the way the sushi was cut (you could see the meat on one side and not on the other side- not reflected in the picture), I think it pretty much describes the standards of the sushi master here.

There was enough ramen noodles and plenty of seaweed and mushrooms. The mushrooms were super big. However, while the mushrooms were juicy, they were rather salty.

When I was standing outside deciding whether to come in, I asked the lady outside what the daily dessert was. She said mochi- I really love mochi.

Later, a server and I had the following conversation.
Server: "Can we serve the lemon cheesecake?"
Me: "Um... I thought it was mochi."
Server: "We do not have any more mochi."
Me: "I don't eat cheesecake."
Server: "Oh. Let me check with the kitchen."
Me: "Okay."
(a few minutes later)
Server: "Okay, it's fine."

Thinking that I would see my mochi, it turns out to be green tea cake. I do not eat green tea cake. I passed it to my friend and he didn't really like it. For a person who is normally not picky about his food, I think this really says a lot.

I really liked the lady outside the restaurant because she was very pleasant and friendly. I hope she reads this review just because I think the place has potential to do better. The decor of the place and the menus are beautiful- but they need a lot of improvement on the food.

They also need to make sure that they know what is in stock in the kitchen- don't tell me mochi at the beginning and make me eat a green tea cake. Also, the servers in the restaurant need to communicate better. They are efficient in refilling teas which is great. But one of them seemed to have trouble trying to tell me about the cake matter. This place needs to pull its socks up!

Shin Nichi Japanese Restaurant
10 Tebing Lane, #01-03/04
Tel No: +65 6441 1938