
We've heard nothing but
bad reviews about
Honjin through
several sites. The owner's other restaurant got canned too-
7th Storey Restaurant at Marina Barrage. Somehow,
the branches have flourished since 1991.
I've never bothered trying any of the Honjin branches. I didn't even bother with the 7th Storey restaurant I was skeptical, but the friends wanted to take us there to dinner at the Adam Park branch. We didn't go for the buffet whatever. Often, buffets serve mediocre to bad food. We were there for the beef shabu shabu.
But for a restaurant that so many canned,
Honjin 7 at Adam Park was still packed to the brim at 9pm. It's in a beautiful location. I used to come to this Guildhouse quite frequently in its previous incarnation. Now, Honjin takes up the entire building, open to public and additional discounts catered for
NUSS members. Quite impressive.
Can't be that bad, I thought.
The beef shabu shabu was decent. Light dashi was used as clear broth. At the end of the meal, the broth was used to make Japanese porridge for the table and fed 4 of us. I loved that porridge. It was light and yummy. Yes, it was S$45 for 12 slices and S$20 for subsequent orders of beef. But the many plates of US beef we had were beautiful. They were superior to the more gamey Australian cut. A full plate of perhaps 20 slices in a similar cut for shabu shabu from
Meidi-Ya will set you back by at least S$90. So I'm not too surprised at the prices at Honjin. While the servers mentioned that the S$45 portion of shabu shabu was only enough for 1 person, the man and I felt that it was enough for 2. We aren't big eaters.
We ordered many yakitori stuff and cooked sushi rolls as well. Those were pretty alright. I put my foot down and refused to order sashimi. One does not order sushi or sashimi at this sort of restaurants. It's obviously going to be disappointing. The Alaskan crab thingy on the menu was nonsense. For the price that was tagged to the grilled leg we had, the portions were measly. So stingy.
The service was adequate. Inexperienced, but attentive. The server gave us a good recommendation for a bottle of fruity and sweet sake. She cleared our plates fast and replaced them with new ones. Whatever we ordered arrived within 15 minutes.
Honjin 7 does have pricey food because it isn't top notch. I agree with the many critics that for the price, many other places offer Japanese buffets at a more attractive value with a wider range. If you ask me,
Tamaya has better quality food and offers a BIG Alaskan crab leg.
So yeah, it wasn't that bad. I guess our dinner experience at Honjin 7 is one of the rare few that is okay. But yes, in general, the food really isn't remarkable. I'm not brave enough to tell the owner in his face that the quality of his food doesn't exactly match his prices. Not when his restaurants are packed out week after week.
Would I go back to this branch at Adam Park? Yes. Would I try the rest of the menu? Not exactly- I'd pick my food with greater discretion for sure. The dinner company was awesome though.
Honjin 7
7 Adam Park
Singapore 289926
Tel: 6220 9989