The newly revamped Kuishin Bo – which stands for "food connoisseur" in Japanese – has had a long history of 15 years at Suntec City, providing its diners with an overwhelming spread: from fresh sashimi (imported weekly from Norway, but descaled, filleted and despatched from the central kitchen daily) and sushi to yakitori and ageomo (grilled and fried food). With its wooden interior, barrel-shaped booth seats, vintage beer posters and paper lanterns, Kuishin Bo scores points for trying to model after an authentic experience in Japan for its diners: walking into the restaurant felt pretty much akin to entering a retro izakaya (casual bar) or alleyway in Japan.

New Highlights

1. Quarterly thematic food fairs Kuishin Bo’s reopening brings with it several highlights. One, the introduction of quarterly thematic food fairs (available daily, 11.30am-3pm & 5.30pm-10pm) whereby selected gastronomical delights from various regions in Japan will be showcased on top of the already extensive buffet, then rotated every three months.

From now until 27 September 2015, Kyushu and Okinawa have been selected to have their local delicacies featured. An educational card accompanies each dish from the food fair (pictured above), explaining to diners the history and inspiration behind it. I found the Karashi Renkon (lotus root with spicy mustard, pictured below) a refreshing appetizer – crunchy with its tempura exterior, yet filled with a smooth, slightly spicy mustard that tingled the taste buds – exciting my palate for the later dishes to come.

2. Kids Haven The second highlight is the colourful and attention-grabbing Kids Haven corner (pictured below) that’s exclusive only to Kuishin Bo’s Suntec City outlet. On weekday nights and weekends, kids-friendly dishes such as Chicken Karaage and Curry Cream Baked Rice are served in addition to favourite childhood snacks like popcorn and DIY ice kachang. Taking into account the height of children, all counters in this area are also specially lowered to cater as much as possible to them.

3. Hands-on demonstrations Third, special events (1pm-2pm, 7pm-8pm) like mochi tsuki (rice cake pounding ceremony) and doughnut-making demonstrations are available every Saturday and Sunday of July, where customers can take part in the hands-on demonstrations and sample the freshly-made treats. The same space (pictured below) used for these special events – consisting of a mini stage and retractable projector screen – can also be rented to companies for private functions.

Food

Apart from their new highlights, the buffet also had some stellar dishes that I loved. The Ginseng Scallop Porridge (pictured below, with condiments) is a nourishing, flavourful, yet comforting bowl of homely goodness, cooked with Korean ginseng and dried scallops.

The Peanut and Red Bean Mochi (pictured below) was one of the best I had ever tasted. Kuishin Bo hand-makes these stuffed pillow-soft dumplings of chewy glutinous rice flour daily from RE&S’ own central kitchen.

Be sure to use this pretty nine-compartment dessert plate (pictured below) to pile on all your sweet treats, and maybe also you know, snap a quick Instagram photo for your feed.

Kuishin Bo’s swiss rolls – yes, though nondescript looking – are amazingly delicious. Don’t miss out on the Earl Grey Swiss Roll and Lavender Swiss Roll, in sweet pastel colours of pink and purple respectively (pictured above). One bite into these fluffy confectionaries and you taste immediately a light fragrance of their individual flavours. They aren’t too sweet either, in fact they taste just right.

Meal-time Specials

During dinner hours, be sure to enjoy the free flow of Zuwaigani (snow crabs) and listen for the iconic “dong dong dong” bell, which alerts guests to hourly “specials” of limited quantities, such as Japanese desserts and abalone. To the working crowd thinking of new places to visit for lunch: head for a satisfying 60-minute Lunch Special with Kuishin Bo, where checking in and out of the restaurant within one hour allows you to enjoy the lunch buffet at just $24.90++ per adult (on weekdays only) as compared to the usual $36.90 per adult. Kuishin Bo, 3 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec City North Wing, #03-334, Singapore 038983 See also: Browse all Japanese food Best Buffets in Singapore

Written by Eunice Tang