Lunchtime goodness at Shin-Do (Century Square)

Shin-Do is strictly speaking not a new restaurant. It occupies the same shop space in Century Square's B1 and used to be known as Shin-Sapporo Ramen. However, the change is not merely in its name but also its entire concept because the former was more ramen-centric while the new version includes more options in terms of teishoku, sushi and appetisers.

To be honest, I wasn't too impressed with Shin-Sapporo Ramen in the past so I stopped going there since a long time ago. Apparently, under the new concept, ramen is still an integral part of the menu with the biggest attraction being the fire ramen but there are options for people who might not want to eat ramen that day. In a way, that helps in attracting a wider pool of customers other than the usual ramen lovers.

On a weekday afternoon while on the search for a late lunch venue, I walked past Shin-Do and saw its promotional panels. There they were, wholesome lunchtime-only teishoku sets which were going for as low as $8.90 ($10.90 for the more expensive items) nett with a free cup of hot or cold green tea thrown in. If you would like to have other drinks, you need to pay a small amount to top up. The food displays outside the restaurant looked rather appealing and I was keen to try a good deal if I spotted it so I decided to revisit or should I say, give Shin-Do a chance.

The set I ordered was the teriyaki chicken set which came with pickles (takuan) and a healthy dose of shredded cabbage with a small tomato. First of all, I've not been seeing takuan that often in the Japanese teishoku sets these days so it was a pleasant surprise to see it in my bento box. I really liked it for being of the right taste and the texture was crunchy enough despite it being sliced so thinly. I would have preferred this to be slightly thicker or to have more slices in the set. As for the cabbage salad, I thought that the portion size could be a tad too much for those who don't like their greens but I personally felt that it was a welcome addition to give the meal a slightly different texture. With regard to the rice, I thought that it was a bit too soft and overcooked but the grilled and shredded seaweed lent a nice aroma to the rice which was drenched in a sauce that tasted similar to the teriyaki sauce. Just one note of caution then, the chef might have to go easier on the amount of sauce for the rice since there was too much and made the rice saltier than I would have liked. Last but not least, the teriyaki chicken was tender and flavourful and there was more pieces than I assumed the set would contain. Anything that exceeds the customer's expectation is always welcome.

On another day, I came back for the tori karaage set which gave me a slightly different experience. The time of my second visit was during lunch hour so the wait for the food to be served was much faster than during the first visit. Not that I really minded the wait since I liked the taste of what I ate during that visit but it sure wouldn't hurt to have the food served quickly when I am hungry. In terms of portion size, I thought that the amount of the cabbage salad seemed to be slightly lesser and there was one less slice of the takuan. As for the rice, there was lesser sauce poured onto it and the flavour of the seaweed was even more noticeably this time which I attributed to it being grilled for a longer time before being shredded. The rice texture was also more to my liking this time. With regard to the tori karaage, it was slightly different from what I usually get which tends to be round-shaped. The version at Shin-Do had the chicken in long strips which I don't really mind unless they use breast meat which I dislike for its dry and tough texture if overcooked. Luckily, the fried chicken here was tender and juicy enough but there should have been more mayonnaise provided to eat the chicken with.

Both sets I had were in the $8.90 group and I must say, I was quite satisfied with their quality and portion size despite the low price. I'm glad that I found another nice place to eat at and will probably go back soon to try the other lunch sets or the items in the ala carte menu.