Orchard Road is a must-visit for both locals and visitors to Singapore, whether you’re on a shopping expedition or just looking for a day out in the city. And walking along the long stretch of this iconic street, it’s easy to work up an appetite! While we’ve become familiar with many of the halal restaurants in Orchard Road, we were thrilled to hear of a new addition that serves up halal Japanese food ?
Credit: Giphy
We’re talking about Sora Boru! This Japanese eatery located at 313@Somerset recently received its halal certification from MUIS, and to say we were excited was an understatement. Specializing in one-bowl Japanese meals, Sora Boru’s menu includes donboru (rice bowls), chirashiboru (sashimi bowls), curry bowls and more, we’re happy to have a new restaurant conveniently located right along Orchard Road where we can now get our Japanese food fix!
We headed there for a team dinner a couple of weeks back get a taste of what Sora Boru has to offer. The restaurant is located at level B3 and when you reach the restaurant, you’ll immediately be able to see the counter which displays the toppings available for the chirashi bowls.
The restaurant is a casual, fast food-style eatery, with ordering kiosks near the counter where you can self-order and pay, or you can order at the counter as well. Once your order is ready, your queue number will be called and you can collect your food at the pick-up area.
Sora Boru’s menu specialises in rice bowls (‘boru’ in the restaurant’s name cheekily refers to the Japanese pronunciation of the word ‘bowl’), and luckily we were able to try several of their most popular dishes.
Two of the dishes we were most excited to try, were their signature beef dons - the Volcano Beef Don and the Snow Beef Don. Both bowls come in either Mini size (SGD7.50) or Regular size (SGD13.50). We like the availability of different sizes as it means even if we order other dishes, we can still get a Mini don to share! The flame-grilled beef slices are served on a bed of rice and your choice of mixed vegetables or beansprouts. The Volcano Beef Don is topped with a spicy sauce (the lava, if you will ?), while the Snow Beef Don has a cream sauce and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan.
The Volcano Beef Don had a spicy kick that was delicious - our team member Diyanah (who’s a lover of all things spicy) quickly declared it one of her favourite dishes. For those who aren’t really into spicy foods, the Snow Beef Don will save the day. The creamy sauce was a great balance of savoury and sweet that was super enjoyable. Other rice bowls available include the Chicken Teriyaki Toji Don (SGD9.50), Beef Yakiniku Toji Don (SGD12.50) and the Unagi Tamago Don (SGD19.50), so there’s sure to be a rice bowl to fit everyone’s tastes ?
Another dish we were excited about was easily the curry bowls (or curryboru), given that it’s quite hard to find halal Japanese curry here in Singapore. Sora Boru has about seven variations of curry bowls on their menu. We got the Breaded Ebi with Shabu Beef Curry Don (SGD14.50) and the Breaded Salmon with Shabu Beef Curry Don (SGD13.50).
The curry bowls certainly delivered - we found the taste of the curry very flavourful, and the pairing of the breaded seafood and the beef alongside the curry and rice made for a hearty and filling dish that we thoroughly enjoyed!
#HHWT Tip: You can choose your spice level for the curry bowls, either level 0 (not spicy), 1, or 2.
If you’re a lover of chirashi bowls, Sora Boru has also got you covered. For the uninitiated, chirashi means ‘scattered’ in Japanese and the dish usually comprises a bowl of rice that’s topped with sashimi and other ingredients. Sora Boru allows you to customise your chirashi bowls to your liking! You can choose either a Mini chirashi bowl (SGD9.50), Regular (SGD13.50) or Large (SGD16.50). The size determines the number of fish you can add to the bowl.
You can choose either rice or salad as the base of your chirashi bowl, so whether you want a hearty meal or something a little healthier, you’ll have either option ? You can then choose your sashimi of choice (which includes salmon, scallops, tuna, octopus and swordfish), add-ons (toppings available include tamagoyaki, corn and edamame among others), your sauce and also garnishes. We’d definitely recommend getting the scallops - they were deliciously sweet!
If you’re feeling too lazy to think of your customised bowl, or you want a bowl that’ll come with all the works, it’s also worth noting that there’s a chirashidon available on the menu - the Bara Chirashi Ebimayo Aburi Don (SGD18.90). The bowl comes with pieces of half-grilled salmon, tuna, swordfish, scallops, tamagoyaki and cucumber, along with blow-torched shrimp roe mayonnaise ?
Another menu item we were intrigued to try is actually a new addition to Sora Boru’s menu - the Sushi Keiki (or sushi cake)! Essentially larger-sized sushi moulded into cake form, you can choose from five variations available (SGD8.90 each). Our favourite was the Tuna Mango, as the mango pieces gave a nice bite of sweetness to contrast against the tuna sashimi.
Don’t forget to also check out the side dishes available on the menu! Besides plates of sashimi (between SGD6.50 - SGD8.50), you can also look forward to treats like Crispy Salmon Skin with Egg Mayo Dip (SGD9.50) and another of our favourites, the Chawanmushi (SGD1.90).
Overall, our team left Soru Boru feeling completely stuffed in the best way possible! We were pleasantly surprised by the affordability of many of the menu items (sashimi bowls from SG9.50? Yes please!), and the casual and fuss-free environment of the eatery made it perfect for a quick meal right in the city. We’d highly recommend the Volcano Beef Don and Snow Don for those looking for hearty beef bowls, while the Chirashi Dons are sure to please sashimi lovers. The curry bowls are a must-try too! Suffice to say, we’ll be heading back to Sora Boru for future meals ?
Halal status: Halal-certified
Average price of main dishes: SGD13
Address: #B3-19, 313@Somerset, 313 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238895
Opening Hours: 11am - 10pm daily
This article was brought to you by Sora Boru