Chuka offers a selection of delightfully plated dishes and value-for-money lunch sets. Those who enjoy posting their food adventures on IG must order the sushi rice balls served in a bird cage. The bird-cage presentation reminds me of W’s afternoon tea set. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able enjoy this from the menu - I visited during lunch hour and only a limited portion of the menu was available. On a brighter note, the lunch sets were extremely value-for-money. Featured here is the sushi sashimi lunch set that was served alongside miso soup and side salad too. Fresh and decent lunch, nothing so much of a ‘wow’ factor. There were fruits served on the side too - unfortunately, they came right out of a can. Ie. canned syrup-y fruits that I’d rather do without.

2 chicken thigh sticks, 1 porkbelly stick, 1 onsen egg

Freaking yummy indeed! The yaki sticks were grilled over charcoal upon order and therefore, the order took some time to be served on the table. It was lunch at the time of my visit and the place was understandably packed with the CBD crowd. At a colleague’s recommendation, I ordered the yaki mono don (there’s the option of Yaki Tori Don with an additional yaki stick - great for the ravenous stomach but not if you’d like to avoid food coma in the office!). As part of the lunch set, this was served along with a side of salad (drizzled with sesame sauce) and miso soup. The sweet & umami aroma from the grills hit me the moment this was served up on the table. I kinda expect lunch to be great at this point in time! I particularly like how the yakis were served on a huge piece of seaweed which added a touch of grandness to it. This was accompanied with small sides - pickled radish and kimchi, a lil’ bit of fusion element here.

My, both sticks of chicken thigh meat were succulent, tender and juicy. Both the chicken and pork belly yaki had a touch of burnt bits here and there, adding some charred aroma to the taste profile. I liked how the belly yaki was lean overall, nothing like excessive fatty, unchewable bits that you’ve to spit out in an unglamorous fashion (in front of your colleagues). Also, not forgetting the Japanese pearly rice underneath - each grain was well marinated with sweet & savoury Japanese marinade that added much umami-ness to the overall taste!

Priced at $17.80++, this was a very satisfying and value-for-money deal!

Part of the seasonal menu, this maki was priced at a premium - $24++/ roll. This was my favourite of the night! Pork slices wrapped nicely over rolled maki with unagi and Japanese cucumber stuffed within, then drizzled with nacho sauce, tempura crumbs, roe and bonito flakes! Each bite was a savoury burst of flavours.

You get to decide on the doneness - medium/ medium well/ medium rare. The husband decided on medium rare and this was served as such! Tender, juicy steak nicely sliced and marinated with teriyaki-like sauce (but not teriyaki) that was sweet and umami. The husband enjoyed the fried garlic chips served on the side as well - he thinks it complements the dish overall! I can’t comment (not a fan of garlic)

Baby oct gunkan sushi - up to mark with well-marinated baby octties that were tender, non-chewy and fresh seaweed! Don’t we all hate it when you can’t chew apart ‘old’ sushi seaweed?! At $4.80++, this set of baby octopus gunkan isn’t the cheapest around but I’d say there’s certain truth in ‘paying for the quality you get.’

A comfort to a rainy evening! We decided on this as it was one of the less-common options that we’ve came across. Served with diced tender chicken bits, egg, Japanese fish cake and spring onion. This was served with a prawn tempura, which the thoughtful husband has requested for it to be served on a separate plate so it wouldn’t turn soggy.

Crab meat, Avocado, Omelette, Aburi Salmon

The classic must-get for any maki. This was good as expected, with quality fresh produce that comes together in a delectable roll!

Gelatissimo serves up an array of innovative, bold flavours, with much of the flavour profile inclined towards American’s at the time of visit. Think - cookie dough, New York Cheesecake. Not sure if it’s a seasonal thing but there were a couple of Japan-ese flavours such as ume, rock melon (sorbet)etc. Aside from the mass appealing flavours, this gelato house serves up pretty wild flavours tho! We had a taste (but did not order) the chocolate chilli - it was, wowww. Spice from the chilli padi hit the tip of the tongue and back of the throat after the dense, chocolatey goodness tapered off. Unfortunately, not my kind of dessert -I’m a strong believer of sweet desserts to end off a meal!

At $5.50/pc, the portion size did match up to the price tag. Taste wise- there’s nothing much to shout about with respect to the chou pastry. Other than a crisp shell that did an amazing job staying crisp despite the luscious custard that it holds, it tastes rather mainstream and did not bring any aroma that I had expected. For comparison purposes, I think Beard papa’s puff pastry were a lot more aromatic. On the custard filling, they were luscious, smooth and creamy but nothing out of the ordinary as well. Baristart’s pastry wow-ed me more with the oozy consistency and aromatic custard. Pantler’s rendition was more jelly like. The only unique selling point would be the caramelised bits mixed into the custard. Having said that, you’d find this a plus point only if you’re a fan of caramel. Personally, I just felt it’s rather underwhelming that the highlight of the chou pastry is the caramelised crunch, rather than the pastry shell and custardy interior.

A classic of Hong Kong char chaan teng, nothing shouts more Hong Kong than a bolo pau.. and some char siew roast. At the point of ordering (dinner peak), we were informed that this required a 20mins waiting time, like all baked dim sum items on the list. However, this was served sooner than expected! Here’s a breakdown of the sandwich from top to bottom -
Bolo bun
Freshly baked till a nice golden yellow with crusty brown squares patterned over the bun and butter on the undersides. It’s nicely toasted to deliver some crisp (& mess) with each bite. I like how the bun felt ‘airy’ - y’know how disappointing it is to find a bolo with dense, doughy insides that makes you fill so stuffed that you don’t need a second bite.
Charsiew
Co-star of the bolo sandwich and would be key in determining the success of this sandwich. This was sliced to the perfect thickness, just right for a sandwich (neither too thicc nor miserly thin). It was nicely roasted with dark crimson sides that shone with some glaze. A good balance of lean meat-to-fat ratio, very tender and juicy, definitely up to mark!

Sunny side up
Perfectly executed with runny yolk! Nothing like a disappointing, cakey yolk centre.

Lettuce
Fresh, crisp iceberg lettuce in pieces (not sliced like the ones from McDonald’s). All part of a balanced diet I guess?

All the above were stacked nicely with some mayo to gel it all up. The presentation along whets up the appetite! My mother-in-law was sufficiently enticed and decided to add the same to the order.

For those who prefer to gobble this in their hands, do be mindful of the runny yolk tho! My MIL didn’t eat it too glamly as the yolk dripped down her bolo sandwich… and down onto the table! Of course, cutleries are available should you prefer to stay glam!

- Brown butter sage -
The husband and I thought this sounded interestingly sophisticated and we decided to give this a try! It would have been helpful if the flavour tags also includes a short description of the flavour profile given how innovative some of the flavours are. Unfortunately, there wasnt. We based our decision on what we thought was special, unique, and frequently appeared on reviews.

Texture wise, brown butter sage was creamy, thicc, with bits of mouthfeel from the lil' beads of sage (?) There were reddish brown and green dots in the ice cream, looking kinda christmas-y. While it added to the mouthfeel, there isn't any signifcant taste to it. Taste-wise, the beige-y ice cream appeared promising of brown/caramelized butter flavour but it wasnt prominent. The ice cream base tasted somewhat like sweet cream and nowhere close to 'butter' - I guess that's good in a way as it wouldn't be too cloying to finish on your own!

- Burnt white chocolate -
Burnt caramel (not a fan!) is commonly heard of but definitely not burnt white chocolate! I decided to give it a try - hoping it would take me by surprise. I'd expected it to be a heavy, strong flavoured ice cream given the white chocolate base and 'burnt' element but it turned out to be rather well balanced. In face, I think it's 'lighter' than the brown butter sage ice cream. The white chocolate ice cream tasted pretty much like a milk/cream-based ice cream. The 'white chocolate' profile did not come through strongly (I was... expecting something dense, like Cadbury's Dream white chocolate/Nestle milky bar!) but overall tasted rather decent. There were crunchy cookie-lookalike bits within the ice cream - we're not too sure what that was but biting into each one of them led to a burst of 'burnt' fragrance in the mouth! It was pretty... wow! We were pleasantly surprised that the 'burnt' element was executed in such form and pleasantly surprised that there wasnt any bitter notes to it's taste (unlike burnt caramel). The 'burnt' aroma, as ironical as it sounds, definitely impressed us.

We had our ice cream served in waffle cone - the husband was lured by the aroma of the herb-infused cone, reminiscent of the thyme cones from B.O.P. Quality wise, they're on par in comparison - very crunchy, very fragrant! We loved the innovative, adventurous flavours and agreed the flavours were enjoyed a lil' more with each mouthful - acquired taste I guess? Definitely not for those who prefer to stick to good ol' mainstream flavours.

Pork loin and grilled eel on rice
At $22.00++

The meats were tender and satisfying - specifically, the pork loin took me by surprise with its tenderness and juiciness! It was flavourful. I was half expecting it to be tough and chewy, given how thinly sliced it was. It does take skills to have it cooked to such tenderness! I was very much looking forward to the unagi, which was served with a light char. The tender unagi was fresh too - my spoon could easily slice through its skin! This combo jyu was a worthy combination of the best of both worlds and in a way, value for money. Particularly so given that there aren’t many places that offers combi dons. It’d have been better with an onsen egg thrown into the mix (comes at additional price point of $1.50), especially when the rice was a tad plain and bland due to the lack of glaze.