This is a Korean restaurant serving traditional raw seafood and other delicacies in the Japanese-style. I would not described it as a Japanese restaurant as it would offend our Korean friends. No Jap restaurant will serve you so many side dishes a la Korean-style with your main dish – not without charging you and arm and a leg. Here – it is all part of the meal.
The main attractions are the sole fish and tuna sashimi. The sole fish (specimen shown in the tanks on the way into the restaurant) were definitely fresh. I have read somewhere that Japanese sashimi are made from fish rapidly frozen after they were caught offshore in specialised boats with these type of freezers. In the process, all parasites and bacterial are zapped by the low temperature. So it is safer than live fish because the bacteria and parasites are still alive when you prepare the sashimi. Hmmmm… a game of chance perhaps? Nevertheless, we were game enough to try. Also we ordered some tuna (as the restaurant was named after) – same fish, different parts.
The meal started with a rapid succession of dishes – porridge, kimchi pancake, some Korean side dishes that were heavily seasoned by sesame oil and garlic. Then, you get some grilled mackerel (sanma), some sushi and then mac and cheese?
The portions were generous (and you can asked for repeats if needed), and the variety plentiful. So we were quick full when the main attractions were served. The sole fish was near room temperature, but the tuna were still frozen. The contrast was the result of the live preparation of the sole fish and the unfreezing of the tuna that could be done in time. Strangely, the last time I was here, the same happened. I can only attribute that to the sparsely occupied restaurant on a Sunday afternoon. The location is CBD, and Sunday isn’t the busiest day in town.
The meal ended with a spicy seafood hotpot and bibimbup. I do not understand why, but when you served such a lavish and generous lunch with so many side dishes, you can only offer 2 slices of watermelon cut down to no bigger than your secondary school geometry set of triangles for dessert. And they don’t even have a proper dessert menu per se.
The 2 sets (yes – one tuna and one sole fish) totaled to around $350, but it was enough to feed 6 (or up to 8 for small eaters), so it worked out to be around $60 per person. Well worth the money.
The service crew is mainly FTs, the only Koreans are the bosses (I think). No problem, as they were attentive but were not well-briefed about what were needed for each dish. E.g. they did not clear up the side plates, or took away the kimchi dishes when they were usually constantly refilled in a typical Korean restaurant. Nonetheless, service can lah (Singlish for passable).
Ambience – nothing to shout about, not for dates. Price – reasonable. Food – good and fresh, but no attention to presentation – just good family food. Service – can lah.
Bukang Tuna 富江
Address: 28 Maxwell Road, #01-06 Red Dot Traffic Building, Singapore
Tel: +65 6327 4123
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