Ichiban Boshi

Ichiban Boshi (いちばんぼし) is a chain of Japanese restaurants from Singapore. For today's dinner, we visited the outlet at Publika Shopping Gallery. The restaurant is located one level above The Bee.

The first dish that we ordered is Unagi Yanagawa (うなぎ柳川, RM35.80), where savory unagi fillets are served with scrambled eggs. Somehow, I feel that the unagi is not so compatible with eggs. We upgraded the meal to include garlic fried rice, miso soup (味噌汁) and fruit for an additional RM6.30.

The next dish is Saba Don & Udon With Satsumaimo Tempura Set (RM33.90). It comprises of a bowl of rice topped with grilled mackerel, a bowl of udon soup, and a serving of sweet potato tempura. The meal also includes chawanmushi (茶碗蒸し), miso soup and cut fruit. Unfortunately, the tempura is not as crumbly as it ought to be.

This is followed by Aburi Salmon Mentai Don (炙りサーモン明太丼, RM26.80). This rice dish is topped with salmon, egg, roe and mayonnaise. The salmon slices are briefly torched before serving. While the overall taste is acceptable, the amount of toppings is too little in proportion to rice.

Saba Yaki (さば焼き, RM19.80) or grilled mackerel comes with a choice of either teriyaki (照り焼き) or shioyaki (塩焼き). For the former, the mackerel is glazed with a sweet sauce made from soy sauce, mirin and sugar. I think the seasoning is substantially saltier than necessary.

Overall, the food at Ichiban Boshi falls short of satisfaction. There is much room for improvement when it comes to seasoning. I also feel that the service crew is grossly understaffed.

Address: C5-G3-24, Publika Shopping Gallery, Jalan Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Contact: 03-6203-2271
Business hours: 11:30am-10:00pm
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