The exams are over and the holidays are right around the corner! Thinking of celebrating with your friends over a nice meal? Craving for Japanese cuisine but cannot afford the airfare? Head down to the &JOY Dining Hall @ Jurong Point to enjoy authentic Japanese food! Located at Level B1 in Jurong Point, next to Shokutsu Ten Japan Street, &JOY offers many Japanese delicacies which will surely satisfy your cravings.

This new Japanese dining concept uses technology to make ordering extremely convenient. Instead of queuing, you simply scan the QR code with your phone to browse a virtual menu and place your order. Once done, you can relax and wait for your order to be ready. The screens around the dining hall will let you know when your food is ready.

&JOY houses 2 specialty restaurants straight from Japan, and some fun new concepts which put a spin on Japanese cuisine. There are so many options that you will be spoilt for choice!

1. Roman Tei

Roman.Tei, a beef specialist from Osaka, brings fragrant and savoury meat to Singapore at affordable prices. The Double Beef Zen meal ($17.90) is their signature offering, served with 2 types of beef – yakiniku and grilled steak. The beef was tender and full of flavour, and grilled really well, as you can see from the picture.

Each set comes with the perfect ratio of rice, meat, salad, condiments, and extra soup. You can also enjoy a Hitsumabushi-esque experience by mixing your rice with the soup given for a mouthful of pure flavour. For the quality, this is very worth it.

2. Ramen KIOU

Yet another concept straight from Japan has just opened their first store in Singapore. Ramen KIOU is a well-known ramen chain from Osaka, with over 22 outlets in Japan and a presence in Thailand.Ramen KIOU also offers ramen in a more traditional style – the KIOU Ramen ($13.90). It features the same delicious noodles served in a milky pork bone broth, and topped with amazingly tender chashu which is 100% handmade. This was a solid bowl of ramen, with melt-in-your-mouth chashu slices, and good soup base.

3. Wadori

Looking for something light and convenient? Then the freshly grilled yakitori sticks from Wadori is the perfect snack. We tried their Fiesta Platter ($6.50) which comes with sticks of Pork Belly, Yakitori Chicken, Deep-Fried Chicken, Chicken Meatball, and Chicken Cheeseball. The platter is a great way to try everything Wadori has, and share some food with your friends.
The reason why Wadori’s yakitori sticks are smoky yet succulent is that they use a special white charcoal imported from Japan, called bincho-tan. The charcoal seals in the juicy flavour of every piece of meat and makes this yakitori one of the best in Singapore. You can even watch the chef grilling yakitori live at the store front.

4. My Gohan

If family-fare is more your thing, check out My Gohan’s set meals. They each contain a customisable main, soup, rice and souzai (side dishes).

There are also signature sets, namely the Akauo Saikyo Yaki ($14.90) where you get a grilled red perch with 2 sides, rice and miso soup; and the Hokke Hiraki ($16.90) – grilled dried atka mackerel with 2 sides of the day, rice and miso soup.

My Gohan makes eating a balanced meal easy and so delicious.

5. Sushi-GO

As one of the two new concepts, Sushi-GO is a hip sushi restaurant which promises to make the sushi experience more fun and more seamless.

Sushi is served via bullet trains which carry the dishes from the kitchen straight to your table. Combined with the website ordering system, this makes the dining experience fast and simple.

The restaurant serves more than 130 items priced from $1.80, including favourites like nigiri, maki, sashimi, and even appetisers, rice, noodles, desserts and drinks.

Sushi-GO also offers its unique “GO-Series” – they include the Salmon Mentai-GO ($3.80), Spicy Salmon-GO ($3.80), Unagi-GO ($3.80), Lobster Salad-GO ($3.80), Salmon-GO ($3.20), and Ebi-GO ($3.20). Each comes with a mini mountain of your favourite seafood served atop a base of sushi rolls.

We enjoyed the Salmon-GO ($3.20) a lot because there was not one, not two, but three different types of salmon sushi (salmon, mentai mayo salmon and cheese salmon). The restaurant even slightly aburi-ed the mentai mayo and cheese salmon for some extra smokiness.

When you are done with your meal, you can get tokens (one for every $20 spent) to try your luck at the ice cream claw machine just outside the store. Who knows, you may walk away with a free yummy dessert.

6. Pittarino

Last but certainly not least, we have Pittarino. It is a Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant which specialises in pasta and pizza. When we say specialise, we mean it. There is literally a giant pizza oven right at the entrance.

The pizzas are made on the spot with hand-stretched dough, and baked for exactly 2 minutes to lock in the juiciness of the toppings. Both the cream-based Bismark pizza ($14.90), and the Prosciutto and Rocket pizza ($17.90) are genuine treats. We especially liked how the crust was thin and chewy, with crisp edges.

The pasta is unique as well. Instead of using the dry pasta from the store, you will get Nama (fresh) pasta from Japan. The chewy texture is unlike normal pasta, making these pasta dishes one-of-a-kind. Be sure to try the Ebi Genovese Cream pasta ($14.90) or the Yuzu Vongole ($14.90) for a sumptuous plate of Japanese fusion pasta.

Conclusion

Overall, &JOY Dining Hall is a great casual place for family and friends to hangout and have a quality Japanese meal without breaking the bank. There’s even a convenient drink stall to pick up exclusive Japanese canned drinks and snacks to stock up your home with great Japanese food.

Roman.Tei and Ramen KIOU are both great additions to the local food scene, so we hope &JOY can continue to bring unique, authentic Japanese food to Singapore.

Of the new concepts, Pittarino stood out as the most tasty, but the others are definitely value for money as well. We really loved the casual feel of the place, and hope to go back again soon.

&JOY Dining Hall
B1 Jurong Point, Japanese Food Street, 65 Jurong West Central 3, Singapore 648332 (Boon Lay MRT)
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon – Sun)

In partnership with &JOY Dining Hall.

&JOY Dining Hall Review