juicy & delicious scoop: fishy business – standing sushi bar

Posted by juicyndelicious on August 29, 2009 · 32 Comments 

There’s been a lot of news and online buzz about the latest foodie addition to Raffles Place – Standing Sushi Bar.

What is the Standing Sushi Bar about? Exactly as the name states: stand, order sushi, and eat! Repeat as often as you like – that’s part of the fun of a sushi bar!

image from standing sushi bar
Located at OUB Centre right in the heart of the business district, this new kid on the block was started by Howard Lo. Juicyndelicious will be going down next week to check out this hot new concept which we’ve heard a lot of great (n very yummy) things about.

image from standing sushi bar
Meanwhile, as we work up an appetite, we checked in with our favourite sushi boy to find out how he was doing, and to get to know his fishy side a lil’ betta.

Juicyndelicious Q&A with Howard Lo, Standing Sushi Bar

Q) If it were up to you, how would sushi have come about / been discovered?
The question reminds me of the only thing I remember from the novel “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway. The fisherman catches a tuna and views it as a sign of luck. Hungry, he simply takes a knife, plunges it into the fish, and pulls out a hunk of the meat to eat. I always thought that was very romantic for some reason. In reality, I imagine sushi came about much as anything comes about… people are lazy and someone decided that instead of cooking the damn fish, they would just eat it raw. Voila! Sashimi is born.

Q) Is Japanese your favourite cuisine? If yes, why? If not, which?
Yes, Japanese is my favorite cuisine. I like the clean, simple flavors and as ridiculous as it sounds, when I eat Japanese food, it just *feels* healthy. Take sushi for example… the flavor comes from the fish itself, a dollop of vinegar rice, and a light dash of soy sauce. I like the variety of small dishes that one gets with a meal, and it’s a visual delight – colors, layout of the food, even the order each course is served in (if you go for omakase). Did you know that the daikon (white radish), wasabi, shiso leaf, fish and ginger are supposed to represent the earth, sea, forest, and Mt. Fuji?

Q) What is your favourite snack to have with sake? Doesn’t have to be Japanese
Who needs snacks to go with sake!?! I enjoy drinking sake on its own, but yes, snacks do complement the flavor. I like relatively salty snacks like pond smelt (anchovies that are both sweet and salty) and kani miso, which is basically crab egg paste on crackers. I’ve always been fascinated by groups of drunk Japanese salarymen… knocking back sake and beer and loosening their neckties, finally talking about how they really feel. One of my favorite things to do in Tokyo is go to the small taverns (izakaya), eat random small dishes, drink sake, and watch the salarymen get progressively drunker. Have you ever tried to communicate with an inebriated Japanese man? Instead of the standard, “I love you man, even though I just met you,” alcohol-talk, they try to convey great life philosophies even though they can’t speak English.

Q) You live with your chef. Tell us what that’s like.
I’m an American-born Chinese person who likes computers, doesn’t cook, barely cleans, and only speaks English. The chef is a father of 2, doesn’t know how to use a computer, only speaks Japanese, and is just as messy as me. We’ve also had a procession of chefs coming through the apartment practicing their skills in filleting fish. Translation: Whole fish are delivered to my house, the scales and skin are removed, and then the fish is reduced into blocks that can be used for sushi. This also results in my apartment reeking of fish. I don’t think I need to say any more.

Q) Come up with a haiku about how you’re feeling right now
I turned my money
Into fish and sushi rice
People, stand and eat!

the man himself in his best japanese pose
The Standing Sushi Bar, in Howard’s own words:
As you’re standing and eating, check out what the other diners order and marvel at all the colorful fish on display… interested? Order it! It’s all hand-made in front of you). Be part of the Herculean effort to change the Singapore diner’s mindset around standing and eating. They stand and eat in Tokyo, Paris, New York, and everywhere else in the world, it’s time to stand in Singapore! If not, well, we put chairs out after the lunch rush so you can come in, sit down and relax too. J At night there is cooked food galore, our regular sushi menu, and a selection of premium sake, shochu, umeshu, and Japanese beer. Who says you can’t have a little fun in the business district?

Standing Sushi Bar:
OUB Centre, B1-02B
Singapore 048616

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