Ichiban Boshi (NEX)

Newly renovated. Although I prefer the previous ambience as there was more privacy. The menu changes every 6 months or so. Always interesting to look at new menu, and new dishes. The Q system is now based solely on WhatsApp, which makes it difficult to check on Q numbers and other people in the group to help keep a look out for your Q number.

Too bad the seasonal meatless menu no more. Nice sushi.

Visited on a weekday during post-lunch hours, and was very disappointed with the quality of food and service. Ordered a Don Don Wazen and a Kaisen Tomato Nabe, which arrived after 30 and 35mins respectively even though the restaurant was only about half-filled. The Don Don Wazen was lacklustre - the tempura sides was cold with a tough batter upon arrival, presumably left sitting for quite awhile after frying or from other's cancelled order. The mini unagi don also arrived at room temperature, with an overly salty omelette. Ended up removing the omelette from the unagi don and informed the staff in black shirt. I would expect the food items to be served fresh after a 30mins wait during non-peak hours.. The Kaisen Tomato Nabe was bad. Really bad. It was stated in the menu as a mix of seafood in a tomato broth with glass noodles. The scallops and prawns were not fresh, and had a foul fishy taste that contaminated the entire dish as it was a mini hotpot. The tomato broth itself was really bland, and was made worse by the fishy taste of the stale seafood. Also, the glass noodles were missing. We informed the server about the unpalatable dish, but no one got back to us. Also, why would assembling a partially-cooked small nabe dish take 35mins during non-peak hours? After getting home, I tried but was unable to find any info / review / images of the Kaisen Tomato Nabe by anyone on the web, and couldn't find the item on Ichiban Boshi's website menu. It was such a bad experience that I actually dug out the receipt to find out the name of the dish so I can make this review to inform others about it.

Ordered ichiban bento takeaway from grab. The rice was hard, unchewable as very undercooked. We had to cook other things at home to make it a meal. The meat and sauce was still good.

Food was more salty than usual apart from the charashi jyu. Service sucks though. Waved to service staff for attention. Told him wanted more order. Didn't bother to offer menu. Tried to retrieve menu from side of table with difficulty, but he didn't even bother to assist. Stood on one leg when i ordered. Orders came, but kind of expected we self service by getting the food from the plate. Hot tea were finished, but none came to refill despite the fact that the place was not busy at all. The previous team before COVID was more service oriented.

My nephew favourite restaurant and the food is still enjoyable over the last 10years. Simple average standards. Even though nothing special, nothing to pick on too.

Good selection of food. Promotion for CNY festive menu ongoing, with $10 return voucher with citibank card. Went on a weekday afternoon for lunch for 2 pax, not very crowded. Ordered 2 set meals. Disappointed that the meals were not served together, with quite a relative long interval compared to other restaurants. Chicken from one of the set meals not fully cooked. See the first photo. Informed the staff, they just acknowledged but no effort for any sort of service recovery. Overall can be a good restaurant dinning experience if the meals can be severed together and chicken fully cooked.

Food quantity is good as usual with prompt service. However, food waiting times can be long. For today, there was a piece of chicken which was slightly raw in my meal which was quite a put off. Upon feedback, the staff did try to offer me a replacement bt I was already too full. Service recovery could be improved as the replacement would not be appropriate.