Easties, there’s a new Japanese food festival happening right now at Tampines Mall with eats starting from under $2! Isetan’s Tsukimi Matsuri is now on till 8th October 2024, with 25 different Japanese vendors selling some popular and also unique street eats starting from just $1.60.
If you’re heading down to the festival, here are some of the food highlights you might want to check out.
Yo Chan Unagi Bento, $25
One of the more unique food items we’ve never seen before at a Japanese food fair are the self-heating bento boxes from Tsukiji Unagi Shokudo. These revolutionary bento boxes are actually an original invention by the founder, created so you can enjoy restaurant-quality, hot meals on the go. We got the Yo Chan Unagi Bento ($25) that came with whole unagi, pickles and topped with an onsen egg. When you’re ready to eat, just pull the string on the box and wait 10 minutes for the box to heat up. For someone who doesn’t enjoy cold meals, this innovative bento box is definitely ideal especially if you’re in a rush. After the 10 minutes of heating were up, the unagi became ultra soft and tender—definitely a step up from eating it cold.
A5 Wagyu Beef Skewers, from $13
Tsukimi Burger, $10
For wagyu beef lovers, head to Niku Master for some A5 Wagyu Beef Skewers (from $13) featuring skewered A5 wagyu beef cubes that are freshly grilled to order. At $13 per stick, the skewers definitely aren’t cheap—especially for what’s essentially a mere 4-ish bites per stick—and is undoubtedly a splurge. What we did appreciate is how the wagyu beef still managed to stay tasty, juicy and moist even after being left out for awhile, but definitely enjoy them while they’re piping hot. Otherwise, you can also go for the Tsukimi Burger ($10) that’s stuffed with a premium beef patty, beef slices and egg. The burger is not only really indulgently beefy, but it’s also super exclusive, with just 10 burgers available daily; so fastest fingers first!
Assorted Braised Seafood, $9.50 per 100g
There’s also plenty of options for seafood, like these assorted braised seafood items that also come in a deep-fried version. For $9.50 per 100g, you can pick between boiled octopus, boiled scallops, boiled shell, squid with roe or grilled squid. The seafood is also coated in a sticky, savoury-sweet soy glaze. Out of all the options, our favourites were either the chunky octopus or scallops, but the roe-stuffed squid were good too and kind of had the texture of fishcakes. You can eat them as is, but we’d prefer to bring them home to heat up slightly for a better taste.
Kumamon’s “Ningyoyaki”, $5
Mini Taiyaki, $10 for 16pcs
Butter Manju, $1.60
Sweet tooths have lots of choices here too, like these adorable Kumamon’s “Ningyoyaki” ($5), which are Kumamon-shaped pancakes filled with various flavours like red bean, custard, chocolate, sweet potato and more. There’s also Mini Taiyaki ($10 for 16pcs) that you can mix & match with various flavours like strawberry, caramel and matcha, among others. Taste-wise, the Kumamon pancake and taiyaki were pretty similar, save for their shape and is probably something you’ve tasted before. What’s more unique are these Butter Manju ($1.60) made with premium Hokkaido wheat for a fluffy and buttery texture. We preferred the custard flavour to the red bean, with creamy and luscious custard filling that oozes out, and isn’t too sweet.
3-Colour Dango, $3; Mitarashi Dumpling, $3
Strawberry Shaved Ice, $12
For rice cake fans, you can get the classic dango skewers here too, but in an upgraded jumbo version from $3 per stick. Otherwise, for something more refreshing, we’d recommend going for the Strawberry Shaved Ice ($12) dessert that’s filled to the brim with purely shaved fresh frozen strawberries. The treat is then drizzed with condensed milk and a swirl of milk cream for some added sweetness. There’s also a Strawberry Milk ($12) version, but the shaved ice version is much more value-for-money.
There’s plenty more to explore at the festival that we’ve yet to cover: such as award-winning fried chicken, apple pies, ramen, warabimochi, croquettes, okonomiyaki and more; plus other snacks, sake bottles, confectionery and dried goods. Prices at Tsukimi Matsuri start from as low as $1.60 each, and there’s lots of vendors offering complimentary food samples for you to try before buying.
Tsukimi Matsuri
Dates: Now till 8th October 2024
Address: Tampines Mall, Atrium, Level 1
Opening Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 11am-8.30pm; Friday-Saturday, 11am-9pm
