Address
2 Handy Road
#B1-K2 to B1-07 The Cathay
Opening hours
- 12noon – 9.30pm (Mon–Thu & Sun)
12noon – Midnite (Fri, Sat & Eve of PH)
Would you return to this place?
Based on 16 reviews
| Definitely 25% | Probably 19% |
| Not Sure 13% | Probably not 13% |
| Definitely not 31% |
Average
Approx. S$13 – 23 per pax
Based on 13 reviews
Specialities
No reviewer input yet.
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Sushi for e recession!
Dec 1, 2008Honestly? I'm pleasantly surprised! It's really cheap! n good! well not really that good..but it's really cheap! 1st thing 1st... if u r one of those cheapos tat wana pay peanuts and get caviars n then complain mother n father for getting peanuts when u pay peanuts then get e hell out of my review! irritating ppl.... i mean wat do u expect for a 99 cents / plate of sushi? nogawa standard?!?!? hmph!
Anyway...located at e basement of Cathay (e food floor)... it's great for those catching a bite b4 or after movie! Sushi is pretty much self-service.. grab a tray stand by e conveyor belt n pick those sushi tat u fancy!
pretty good selection of salmon sushi unagi sushi hotate sushi soft shell crab makis etc.. for 99 cents a plate for 2 sushis.. it's dirt cheap! standard-wise i would say it's pretty much sakae sushi standard ... ie ok-ok lor.. but still it's pretty alrite la... although e sushi seems a tad too warm...
There's a pretty cute concept for ordering other dishes... u have a (pencil) holder tat's labelled with ya table number n all u have to do is shop around for e items u like.. grab e corresponding ice cream sticks into ya holder drop it off at e counter n wait for e food to b delivered to u!
The prices r very budget friendly n so do not expect top notch standard... i have tat idea in mind n so as to save ourselves from heartaches.. we pretty much steer clear of e ramens n teriyakis n tempuras...
However there's a couple of dishes tat i tot is quite alrite.. e bacon wrapped enoki mushroom is quite a steal at $4.90.. with 6 big fat pieces it's actually not too bad.. e hotate with mentai at $5.50 is also quite lovely esp since there's 8 (small) scallops.. i tot tat e mentai sauce is e same as with sushi tei so i lurrvee it! in fact i agreed tat e mentai anything would b a good dish to order!
e chanwanmushi is quite disappointing.. tasteless n slight watery despite having even a prawn in it so do give it a miss.. we also had e salmon head hotpot at $7.50 which is also pretty cheap coz it's quite a big pot n boy e salmon head is really hugh! great if u wana have some soupy comfort of salmon n veggies n mushrooms n tofus etc..
Overall i felt tat this is a good place for cheap sushi so do attack e sushis!! n perhaps a couple of other dishes.. lower ya expectations a little n it's gona b fun..oh n it's easy on e wallets esp in this recession so yeah!
(6.5 - not exactly for e quality but for e generous offer of pricier seafood)Must Tries
hotate mentai
I also recommend this place for
Type of meal : Buffet, Cheap Eat/Budget, Lunch, Dinner Occasion : Large Groups/Gathering, Children/Family, Boys Night Out, Girls Night Out Atmosphere : Vibrant/Noisy Spent about
S$20 / paxWould You Return?
Probably -
Bad Service, Lousy Food!
Aug 12, 2008Yesterday was my first time to this restaurant and I will NOT step into the place ever again.
Service:
Basically, I find the staffs there not attentive enough and they seemed so busy that they were unable to serve orders on time. I overheard that the table next to mine was complaining to the manager about a supervisor as the customer had to order 3 to 4 times but his orders were not served after half hour and even when the orders arrived, it was the wrong order. The staffs definitely do not seem as friendly and was rather rude to customers.
Food:
Bad! Really bad!
I had the Curry Ramen and it tasted like overcooked maggie mee. The ramen itself was not chewy and tasteless. The curry was tasteless and gross. I never finish the Curry Ramen after a few mouths. Never had such bad ramen in my whole life!
The Hotate with Butter was equally lousy. The Hotate was not fresh and the dish was so salty.
The Ika Teriyaki was salty as well and the squid tasted like rubber.
The Teriyaki Beef Ramen was not very nice. Blend beef with overcooked maggie mee. What more can we expect from there?
Even the Coke Float was bad, can you imagine? The ice cream was disgusting!
Never had such lousy japanese food in my whole life!
Ambience:
If the food do not taste nice, what ambience are we talking about here?
Value:
Price is almost the same as normal Japanese restaurants out there. Since the food and service are so bad, I would rather spend my money at other restaurants instead.
Overall:
Very bad experience there. Will never want to step into this restaurant ever again. Spoil my mood for the whole day! =(Must Tries
Nothing is nice there
Spent about
S$20 / paxWould You Return?
Definitely Not -
Beware - Zero ethics restaurant
Nov 8, 2009When you first pass by this little Japanese place at the basement of Cathay the first thing that catches your eye is the banner that screams SUSHI 99c. With that banner screaming at me like that, students like me, on a wallet diet entered the place for a good sushi offer.
So the plates of sushi came and went. all the sushi was of average standard, but it was 99c so it was nothing to complain about. However when i paid up our sushi amounted to more than the amount we were expecting.
Here the cashier informed us that not all their sushi was 99c.
Nothing in the restaurant, nor the screaming banner talks about this offer not applying to all sushi. do note that my boyfriend and i checked the banner astutely to note that there was no small print or any fine lettering that says that some sushi on the conveyor was not 99c.
When we spoke to the manager about it he could give no explanation.
The 99c sushi promoting strategy surreptitiously misleads potential customers and as a self respecting customer, i don't think anyone looking for a japanese meal should visit a place that treats customers as fools.
If the Hungry go where Rating Bar had a scale for ETHICS this place deserves a negative score.
-
Rather Bad, Considering
Dec 17, 2009It is pretty bad, considering. Had the buffet with 3 other friends. The setting is quite basic, not fancy or anything nice, but considering it is a $19.30 buffet, accceptable. Though I might mention the stools are rather uncomfortable to sit in since you can't lean back and the wooden seats hurts your butt after a while.
Beverage is normal mass produced beverage, nothing good or bad. Weird thing though is that you have to order them, cannot refill yourself as per other buffets.
Food is very bad. The fish tasted really bad, or rather to be accurate they are completely tasteless, so far as I am able to tell. Which is kind of weird since you might simply expect them to just plain old taste bad, but nope. Just tasteless. The other items were marginally tolerable, but considering how long they took to supply our orders, purposely I suspect, we didn't get to eat much of it; they taste sort of hawker-ish, in that they don't necessarily taste bad outright, just not good.
Value is extremely bad. The thing is, if you are ok with distasteful food due to budget issues, whether because you are a student also or just poor, you can find other bad buffets that are cheaper at around $15 or so. So it doesn't make a good choice even from the budget point of view. And of course if you are actually looking for something tasty, it isn't, so that is that.
Service is sub-par. They gave us some other table's orders twice (or thrice) and did not give us any plates to eat from until we asked. Cleaning auntie also flat out refused to resupply new plates, stating that there are no more plates; not sure whether she was claiming no more plates in Nihon Mura or she has no more plates. Generally speaking, service is slow and poor due to manpower issues. Found their attitude to be rather adrupt, a "we don't really need your business, so you can take it elsewhere if you don't like it" sort of attitude.
Overall, I would strongly advice you not to go. As in seriously, no point screwing your day over.Spent about
S$20 / paxWould You Return?
Definitely Not -
Beware - Zero ethics restaurant
Nov 8, 2009When you first pass by this little Japanese place at the basement of Cathay the first thing that catches your eye is the banner that screams SUSHI 99c. With that banner screaming at me like that, students like me, on a wallet diet entered the place for a good sushi offer.
So the plates of sushi came and went. all the sushi was of average standard, but it was 99c so it was nothing to complain about. However when i paid up our sushi amounted to more than the amount we were expecting.
Here the cashier informed us that not all their sushi was 99c.
Nothing in the restaurant, nor the screaming banner talks about this offer not applying to all sushi. do note that my boyfriend and i checked the banner astutely to note that there was no small print or any fine lettering that says that some sushi on the conveyor was not 99c.
When we spoke to the manager about it he could give no explanation.
The 99c sushi promoting strategy surreptitiously misleads potential customers and as a self respecting customer, i don't think anyone looking for a japanese meal should visit a place that treats customers as fools.
If the Hungry go where Rating Bar had a scale for ETHICS this place deserves a negative score. -
Interesting self-service concept~
Aug 6, 2009Nice decor and interesting self-service concept~
Not-authentic Japanese food though. I had a spicy tofu that taste like tofu goreng, some sushi that would never have been found in Japan... Taste of the food is ok, I would say.. if I don't consider that Japanese food.
Not much of service experience, but they are certainly short of manpower, even for a weekday night. The staff are rather responsive when approached, so I don't have any complains about it, since it is more of a self-service restaurant.
Good to experience it for once, but for the price, I would personally prefer to go to a normal Japanese restaurant...I also recommend this place for
Type of meal : Lunch, Dinner Atmosphere : Vibrant/Noisy -
Cheap Japanese Food
May 5, 2009Compared to the other 3 Nihon Mura restaurants I've went, only the outlet at The Cathay is worth going to. Maybe because of the place that brings the crowd, the food looks slightly fresher and more appealing to me. I try the sushi(s) on the belt only when my parents happen to eat take them. If I were to come with my friends, I wouldn't want to give it another try.. it looks as if it's been abandoned on the belt rotating.
The food in general would be.. Cheap and Considerably average. I mean, how good you want it to be when you're paying 99c a plate? However, certain ala carte orders are not bad. And it is worth paying slightly higher for it. eg, $6.50 for Salmon Fish Head. Only negative thing is the Fish head isn't always the same size, and the SIZE seems to get smaller and smaller.
The ambience in POOR. You basically queue for a seat, get your cheap jap food or sushi(s), eat and go. Playing Japanese music doesn't necessarily give the Japanese feel.
Value - Cheap and would only go for certain ala carte dishes. Other than that, the rest is low quality sushi.
The service is pretty fast and efficient I would say. Probably they have more manpower because it is usually crowded and have a queue during dinner time. Don't have any negative feedbacks on the service itself.Must Tries
Ala Carte Items
I also recommend this place for
Type of meal : Dinner Occasion : Children/Family, After Work Atmosphere : Vibrant/Noisy Spent about
S$9 / paxWould You Return?
Probably -
Hmm so so
Apr 23, 2009Was catching a movie at The Cathay and bf was craving for jap so headed to Nihon Mura at the basement. The place was quite packed with large groups of people who were talking and laughing loudly.
I was the more heath conscious and my bf's opposite so we ordered a varieties of stuff:
1. Baby lobster soup - Healthy with alot of cabbages but where are the aplenty of japanese tanghoon they always have inside soup?? Just a few miserable strands and the baby lobsters were quite tasteless
2. Sashimi moriwase - The sashimi were crudely sliced and of not even thickness. Freshness wise, it's still not too bad but quality wise it's 4/10
3. Ika Sashimi - Love ika so ordered another serving despite already being served on the moriwase set
4. Hiya Yakko - Cold tofu. Normal stuff. The tofu wasn't too fresh
5. 2 plates of sushi - The rice on it was good as it wasn't lumpy nor soggy. Like how the taiwanese would describe "ke li fen min" you can see each grain by itself
6. Mixed tempura - I didn't touch it but my bf wasn't that into it
7. Asparagus Bacon - Another unhealthy choice of my bf. I tried 1 but was put off by the strong taste of asparagus. If only they took their time to really BBQ the bacon, it would be better with the crisp and slight char of the meat rather than just the raw taste of the veg
8. Green Apple Juice - My favourite..real goodness
9. Sapporo Beer
We ordered a praw mentai which everyone forgotten so had to cancel the order due to show time.
Wasn't impressed with the food at all honestly but if given no other choice and is too lazy to eat, might consider a re-visit.Spent about
S$37 / paxWould You Return?
Probably Not -
Getting worse
Dec 22, 2008I had always liked to go to Nihon Mura as the food there are nice and afforadable. However, I was quite disappointed in my previous visit on last friday.
When we reached the restaurant, we had to wait very long before we get the attention of a waiter to bring us to a seat. As there are many customers on the friday afternoon, we had to sit at the tables outside the restaurant.
First of all, the rose tea that we've ordered had very little flower buds inside. They were in fact countable! As a result, the tea were very tasteless even after we leave the hot water in the pot with the flower buds for a long time. Even after we finished the tea for quite a long time, the waitresses and waiters do not realise that we had finished our tea. For two times, I had to take the pot to the waitresses to get it refilled.
As there were many foreign workers in this restaurant, we also had a hard time understanding them.
As the time that I went for tea was also the buffet time, the sushi on the conveyor belt was very limited, the sushi maker was also too busy to take any order from us. I also ordered the butter scallop. It was extremely salty. The scallops were also not that fresh as the flesh were stuck to the shell of the scallop.I also recommend this place for
Type of meal : Cheap Eat/Budget, Hi Tea Occasion : Large Groups/Gathering Atmosphere : Vibrant/Noisy Spent about
S$13 / paxWould You Return?
Not Sure -
Sushi for e recession!
Dec 1, 2008Honestly? I'm pleasantly surprised! It's really cheap! n good! well not really that good..but it's really cheap! 1st thing 1st... if u r one of those cheapos tat wana pay peanuts and get caviars n then complain mother n father for getting peanuts when u pay peanuts then get e hell out of my review! irritating ppl.... i mean wat do u expect for a 99 cents / plate of sushi? nogawa standard?!?!? hmph!
Anyway...located at e basement of Cathay (e food floor)... it's great for those catching a bite b4 or after movie! Sushi is pretty much self-service.. grab a tray stand by e conveyor belt n pick those sushi tat u fancy!
pretty good selection of salmon sushi unagi sushi hotate sushi soft shell crab makis etc.. for 99 cents a plate for 2 sushis.. it's dirt cheap! standard-wise i would say it's pretty much sakae sushi standard ... ie ok-ok lor.. but still it's pretty alrite la... although e sushi seems a tad too warm...
There's a pretty cute concept for ordering other dishes... u have a (pencil) holder tat's labelled with ya table number n all u have to do is shop around for e items u like.. grab e corresponding ice cream sticks into ya holder drop it off at e counter n wait for e food to b delivered to u!
The prices r very budget friendly n so do not expect top notch standard... i have tat idea in mind n so as to save ourselves from heartaches.. we pretty much steer clear of e ramens n teriyakis n tempuras...
However there's a couple of dishes tat i tot is quite alrite.. e bacon wrapped enoki mushroom is quite a steal at $4.90.. with 6 big fat pieces it's actually not too bad.. e hotate with mentai at $5.50 is also quite lovely esp since there's 8 (small) scallops.. i tot tat e mentai sauce is e same as with sushi tei so i lurrvee it! in fact i agreed tat e mentai anything would b a good dish to order!
e chanwanmushi is quite disappointing.. tasteless n slight watery despite having even a prawn in it so do give it a miss.. we also had e salmon head hotpot at $7.50 which is also pretty cheap coz it's quite a big pot n boy e salmon head is really hugh! great if u wana have some soupy comfort of salmon n veggies n mushrooms n tofus etc..
Overall i felt tat this is a good place for cheap sushi so do attack e sushis!! n perhaps a couple of other dishes.. lower ya expectations a little n it's gona b fun..oh n it's easy on e wallets esp in this recession so yeah!
(6.5 - not exactly for e quality but for e generous offer of pricier seafood)Must Tries
hotate mentai
I also recommend this place for
Type of meal : Buffet, Cheap Eat/Budget, Lunch, Dinner Occasion : Large Groups/Gathering, Children/Family, Boys Night Out, Girls Night Out Atmosphere : Vibrant/Noisy Spent about
S$20 / paxWould You Return?
Probably -
The Good and the not-so-good, It depends really.
Oct 19, 2008Possibly not the best Japanese restaurant around. Food quality and authenticity of ingredients used are questionable.
The Good:
Gives you the freedom to walk about and choose and pick what you like to eat or drink without the hassle of service staff waiting for your orders. All you have to do is just to pick out the wooden ice cream sticks that represent what you want, drop it in a metal cup with your table number attached to it and place it at the counter. The food will then be delivered to you promptly. Not good if you're a lazy bum and dont like walking.
Students get rather cheap and good deals on weekdays during lunch buffet, from 2:30pm to 5:30pm. But then again, its for students only.
Cheap sushi plates at only 99 Cents each, regardless of colour of plate. On the plus side, the service staff there tend to miscount the black plates during a few of several occasions while I was dining there. (instead of 15 she counted 14)
Service staff are friendly and polite.
The Not-So-Good:
The food dosent really make you go 'wow'. Chicken Teri-yaki tasted like normal economical chicken chop you find at Foodcourts or Kopi-Tiams.
Rice used isnt the japanese type (those sticky, fat and plumb grains) or at least it didn't tasted like it. Are they trying to cut down costs or what?
As mentioned, the authenticity of ingredients used are questionable. Are you really paying for real Japanese food?I also recommend this place for
Type of meal : Buffet Occasion : Large Groups/Gathering, Client Meetings/Business Dining, After Work Atmosphere : Quiet/Peaceful, Hidden Find Others : Wheelchair Friendly Spent about
S$15 / paxWould You Return?
Probably -
Bad Service, Lousy Food!
Aug 12, 2008Yesterday was my first time to this restaurant and I will NOT step into the place ever again.
Service:
Basically, I find the staffs there not attentive enough and they seemed so busy that they were unable to serve orders on time. I overheard that the table next to mine was complaining to the manager about a supervisor as the customer had to order 3 to 4 times but his orders were not served after half hour and even when the orders arrived, it was the wrong order. The staffs definitely do not seem as friendly and was rather rude to customers.
Food:
Bad! Really bad!
I had the Curry Ramen and it tasted like overcooked maggie mee. The ramen itself was not chewy and tasteless. The curry was tasteless and gross. I never finish the Curry Ramen after a few mouths. Never had such bad ramen in my whole life!
The Hotate with Butter was equally lousy. The Hotate was not fresh and the dish was so salty.
The Ika Teriyaki was salty as well and the squid tasted like rubber.
The Teriyaki Beef Ramen was not very nice. Blend beef with overcooked maggie mee. What more can we expect from there?
Even the Coke Float was bad, can you imagine? The ice cream was disgusting!
Never had such lousy japanese food in my whole life!
Ambience:
If the food do not taste nice, what ambience are we talking about here?
Value:
Price is almost the same as normal Japanese restaurants out there. Since the food and service are so bad, I would rather spend my money at other restaurants instead.
Overall:
Very bad experience there. Will never want to step into this restaurant ever again. Spoil my mood for the whole day! =(Must Tries
Nothing is nice there
Spent about
S$20 / paxWould You Return?
Definitely Not -
Cheapest Sushi Ever
Aug 9, 2008First i went there attracted by the unique outer design. It is half-buffet style where we pick our own choice. That's why i really wonder why the service charge is as high as 10%. They only served to bring out our food, not taking orders and refilling your tea. The servers walked so fast to deliver the order that we cant even ask for chili powder or something we wanted.
Maybe due to the cheap and very affordable price, the place is usually crowded and undoubtedly very NOISY. So, we managed to increase our voice volume as well.
Nevertheless, overall the prices are quite cheap, especially the 0.99 sushi. the menu is also quite delectable with a wide choice of mentai (my friend ordered ebi mentai for 12.90), teriyaki (i ordered salmon teriyaki for 6.50), nearly anything. We also ordered yabi mentai ( baby lobster mentai) 8.00, soft shell crab 6.90, ebi katsu 3.50, tori karage 4.90.
Not to forget the cheap desserts!! one think slice of mango mousse accompanied with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for $ 3.20. Sometimes it got 50% off!!Must Tries
ebi mentai, king prawn.
I also recommend this place for
Type of meal : Cheap Eat/Budget, Dinner, Hi Tea Occasion : Fine Dining, Girls Night Out, Chillout Atmosphere : Vibrant/Noisy Others : Beer Lists Spent about
S$14 / paxWould You Return?
Definitely -
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