Nakajima Suisan Grilled Fish — Restaurant in Singapore

At last, I had the opportunity to sample the grilled fish at Nakajima Suisan, a place I have heard so much about. My friend, a regular, suggested we arrive early for lunch – 10am, to be precise. By 10:15am, a queue had already formed. I was the first customer and placed our orders (his and mine) as he was still enroute on the MRT. The restaurant gradually filled up.

I ordered the Akauo Hiraki (red fish) set for myself and the Hokke (okhotsk atka mackerel) set for my friend, specifically requesting they hold our meals until his arrival. However, due to the increasing number of customers, they served our food before I could reiterate my request. Fortunately, my friend arrived within five minutes after serving.

Now, about the grilled fish. Sadly, both were disappointingly not fresh. My red fish lacked the flaky, soft texture expected of fresh fish, strongly suggesting it was frozen. My friend's Hokke had a dark brown tinge, indicating it had been stored for some time. Given Nakajima's reputation as a fish supplier, we anticipated higher quality. A grilled fish restaurant serving subpar fish is already half the battle lost.

The rice was another significant letdown. Both my friend and I are quite discerning when it comes to rice quality and consistency, and Nakajima's has a reputation for being lumpy and overly sticky – a clear indication of an incorrect water-to-rice ratio. Far too much water was used.

The side dishes were adequate, nothing special, though a larger portion size would have been appreciated. The green tea was refillable nonetheless.

In conclusion, our meal at Nakajima Suisan Grilled Fish was deeply disappointing. A fish restaurant with its own supply chain serving poor-quality fish is simply unacceptable. I am baffled by its seemingly high popularity, reflected in its 4+ star Google rating. This will undoubtedly be my first...

Hmmm... Isn't Halloween over ?  Was wondering why the loudmouthed , skeletal elderly woman staff ( shown in the photo since she photo bombed ... twice) had the ElviraAddams-inspired bat-winged eye make up...but WITHOUT ANY CLASS in image or service. If she had concentrated on doing her job properly instead of being belligerent and shouting at customers as if she were working at a gambling den , my first dining experience here would have been better.

There is basically no ordering system or directions which should have been clearly informed by a staff but it was a non-existent service at the start. I had to enter the place unattended and ask a lovely dine-in female patron who then told me I had to order at the counter then get a waiting no. Apparently It isn't THAT hard to explain but no staff was attending at the entrance. "Elvira's classless twin" was just standing there ,giving the evil eye . I actually had to help inform another patron where he had to queue to wait for his seat.🙄 Then got shouted at by her , telling me not to talk and accusing me of causing the shop to close down etc. She should change jobs and be a script writer for drama on covid.

At the cashier counter , had to ask an older male staff to recommend since this was my first time there (maybe my last too ) - Mero Saikyo set @19.80 : The small piece of fish was grilled nicely so it was easily torn off by using the chopsticks. However the sides were meh and soup was also diluted. I am not sure why this place was given 5 star reviews...perhaps the saving grace was the fish. In fact , I was queuing BEFORE a couple but was served AFTER them. Everything else from the ordering to the limited seats , meh side dishes and bad service don't deserve...

Inflexible and bad situation handling by 2 staff. The written instructions for the procedure of ordering the food first was no visible enough amongst the long queue. It also stated that the number called may not be in sequence. 10 to 15 mins after queueing, we realised that we need to order the food first and the queue is for seats. After an hour plus of wait, it was finally our turn next to get a table! But 2 patrons behind us were called up instead. My friend is 7.5 months pregnant asked the female staff who was in charge of the seat assignment, to let her have a seat first. After all we did queue for out turn. She ignored us and my friend was embarrassed ended up crying as she felt hurt. The 2 patrons who just sat down tried asking that same female staff to allow my friend to have a seat, but no avail. I went to speak to another male waiter. Short uncle. Before I could say anything, he was aggressive from the start. I reminded him, " I'm asking you nicely as a favour as we didn't know the procedure, please make an exception for my pregnant friend to have a seat first" Shocking reply, "I know your friend is pregnant but it will be unfair to other people queueing who ordered before you. This is standard procedure." That is just unacceptable! We also started queueing before they arrived. It's not as if we cut the queue. Luckily the other tall waiter gave us a table once a table was freed up. Food wise is alright. Price for cod fish is considered abit value for money. Not worth for queue though. with the bad experience in the service, I would not recommend this...