Eat All You Can at En Japanese Dining Bar in Bukit Timah, Singapore

"Are you turning into the ambassador of the Philippines in Singapore?"

This was the SMS that I got from my sister after I shared a photo of myself and an old friend whom I met up with tonight. You see, the past weeks have been quite busy for me as I've been meeting up with visiting friends and relatives over lunch/dinner/breakfast/coffee/etc! While there's no denying how much I miss Manila, having people from home over makes homesickness more bearable for me and Paul.

During our first few months here, we were so happy to have friends who really took the time out to drop by to check on us. They really didn't have to but they chose to do so. Aren't we so lucky to have friends like them? Two of them are our dear friends and newlywed couple E and S. They decided to do a stopover here in Singapore before heading to their honeymoon destination so when we got the invite from E to have dinner in Bukit Timah, we cleared our evening schedule to be able to spend some time with them.

Dinner was at En Japanese Dining Bar which is popular for their Eat-All-You-Can buffet. There are 4 branches around Singapore and each has its own promotion. Among the 4 though, I'm glad we went to the Bukit Timah branch. After all, how can you resist having a hot pot buffet with all the beef, veggies and sushi that you want.

Instead of having customers line up to get food, they have provided each table with a back-to-back laminated menu where you can order the items that you'd like to have. I really like this set-up as it somehow eliminates food waste and encourages patrons to consume what they can only. Since we were a big party of 7, there surely were a lot of food that went around that evening.

Here are some of the yummy things that I was able to enjoy at En Japanese Dining Bar:

Edamame -- Boiled Green Beans
Too salty! This just got to be the only edamame that I didn't enjoy as this has been a staple in most of my Japanese meals.

Beef Carpaccio -- Thinly sliced raw beef on Ponzu sauce
I normally don't like raw beef but I do make an exception for top quality beef carpaccio. The meat was so fresh and tender. I love how well it has absorbed the umami flavor of the ponzu sauce.



Soft Shell Crab Temaki
I normally don't like deep-fried sushi as I don't find it authentic at all. Finally, with Paul's persistence, I tried the Soft Shell Crab Temaki and I got to admit, it was pretty good.

Mixed Sashimi Platter -- Salmon and Tuna
Now, this is what I love! I can't get over how delicious the Salmon Sashimi was. It was very fresh, had a slight sweet flavor to it and was just perfect in every bite. I can't remember how many platters we had that night.

California Temaki
While the Soft Shell Crab Temaki was good, I found myself having 2 (or was it 3) California Temaki that evening. I love anything with orange ebiko!

Now comes the highlight of our meal...

Australian Beef
We had almost a dozen plates of this! We all loved the tender, thinly-sliced beef which made our shabu shabu dinner so worth it.

Wafu Steak
I first tried Wafu Steak back in Manila and loved loved loved it! I love the juicy cut of steak that's grilled with only the yummiest marinade. It's so good and En's version was amazing too! Just to show how much we loved it, we kept on ordering the Wafu steak even while enjoying our dessert.

Matcha and Chocolate Ice Cream
Just a-okay lah... Nothing exciting about this. I was actually thinking of getting more Salmon Sashimi in lieu of the ice cream for dessert. Paul loved the Chocolate Ice Cream though.

Our meal at En Japanese Dining Bar was really memorable. For only $48++ per head on weekdays or S$52++ per head during weekends, I find the price very reasonable given that this is authentic Japanese food and the quality was really impressive. My only complain is that Bukit Timah is not as accessible to go to and I wish that they'd open more branches in the city center. Nonetheless, En Japanese Dining Bar's buffet is worth taking that extra MRT/bus/taxi ride to.

Visit En Japanese Dining Bar at 557 Bukit Timah road, Crown Centre, #01 - 14/16 Singapore. They're only open during dinner time on Mondays to Fridays and the whole day during weekends. Nearest MRT station: Botanical Garden.