Kushigin 串銀炭火燒

Cuppage Plaza and the adjoining Orchard Plaza are veritable treasure troves of Japanese entertainment. The congregation of Japanese KTVs naturally drew the opening of several authentic restaurants to serve the homesick expats. I have only been and returned several times to Kushigin (串銀炭火燒) and am seldom disappointed with the food. The atmosphere is wonderful too, just last evening we were the only 4 of about 6 locals in a restaurant packed full of Japanese working men (exclusively men, somehow) looking to wind down... on a Monday night.

Surprisingly, the tebasaki (chicken wings) were the first to arrive. They usually take quite long but I guess these were already started before I placed my order. So what’s so special about them? These dainty little fellows are obviously not from the usual breed of chicken. They are devoid of the excess fat under the skin which lends to a satisfying crunch as you bite in and a burst of hot chicken juices and fat embedded between the skin and meat.


Not pictured were the grilled chicken skin and the liver. The liver can be a hit or miss affair. Today, I thought it spent a few seconds too many over the coals. However, when the chef gets the window just right, meltingly tender chicken liver is just as decadent as foie gras. Unfortunately, they ran out of bonjiri (chicken arse) this time. I highly recommend that you abandon your inhibitions and give that arse a chance.

The grilled negi (leek) and negi (eggplant) are also my perennial favourites but they fell somewhat short of their mark today. The leek was a little stringy and the pieces of eggplant were too small for sufficient impact. Still, they remained sweet and juicy. I quite like the balance of flavours by the sharp salty soy and stinging grated ginger.


Asparagus Maki is somewhat of a misnomer, I feel. In this case, the asparagus clearly plays a supporting role behind the smoky and crispy pork belly. Full marks for the meat, but the young asparagus lacked definition.


I forgot to picture the Mini Tomato Maki, scoffing down the little balls of fire as soon as they were set down on the table. Here’s my recommended eating method: pop in mouth and bite softly until the tomato juice just trickles out. Slowly savour until you can stand the heat then chew. Unlike the asparagus, the tomato is unmistakably the star here.

The Shishamo was Ivan’s order but I was surprised by how well it turned out. The last few times I have ordered any fish (an Ayu and a Saba comes to mind), they have been way overcooked for my taste. The Shishamo stood well under the grill and the eggs were quite creamy.



Last up was the slightly unusual but delicious Grilled Fried Tofu. The crunchy smoky crust gives way to smooth tofu. Again the combination of grated ginger and soy works well.


The order in which in your dishes emerge can be hilariously random sometimes but in all, a great start to the week after a weekend struggling with quantum mechanics assignments.