COCONUTS HOT SPOT — Good news for those of you working in the Bugis/Raffles City area. A new lunch spot just opened up near you, and it’s got rather healthy options (in case you’ve been looking worriedly at your rapidly expanding waistline and wondering how your resolution to #eatclean went down the drain so fast). Don’t worry, you won’t find yourself picking miserably at your salad, ’cause the hearty bowls are flavourful and tasty — so much so that you may not even miss your regular chicken rice or char kway teow stall.
Ninja Cut is the industrial chic sister outlet of Ninja Bowl at Duxton Road, and if you’ve ever been to the latter, expect a pretty similar, fuss-free experience — except things are a little more premium here. The bulk of the menu spotlights bowls chock full of the good stuff like tender proteins, fresh seafood, flavourful veggies and a variety of add-on bases, including leafy greens ($2), ninja rice (vinegared Japanese pearl rice, brown rice and seaweed flakes, $2), buckwheat soba noodles ($2) and quinoa ($3).
No matter your preference in meat or seafood (or none of the above), there’s a bowl for you at Ninja Cut. For example, let’s say you can’t live without red meat. You’re gonna love What’s Your Beef? ($18), a filling portion of roast beef ribeye, grilled corn furikake, sauteed mushrooms, onsen egg, honey-glazed carrots and garlic chips. It’s only available in 30 portions every day, so you gotta get there early to sink your teeth into the succulent slab.
Other meat options include Gimme Chimi Chicken ($14), where sous vide chicken breast rubbed in Cajun spices and topped with chimichurri sauce is the star, or #CrispyGoals ($14), featuring crackling pork belly, miso cucumbers, pickled beets and a wobbly onsen egg.
For something a little lighter, Oh My Cod! ($18) is a lovely plate of pan-seared cod fillet marinated in sake and saikyo shiromiso (white miso paste), and surrounded by asparagus, edamame and carrots.
But if you prefer your fish fresh out of the water, try the Waikiki Surf ($16) for cubes of yuzu-marinated salmon poke with aburi avocado and sakura ebi, or the Tuna-Na-Na-Na ($16) of tuna tataki, miso cucumbers and an onsen egg.
All-day brunch items also feature on the menu (yes, we can hear all you brunch fanatics rejoicing now), and they’re definitely worth indulging in. Unless you’re on a strict diet, skip past the yoghurt and granola ($12) and head straight for The Cheeky Cheese ($18) — it’s ridiculously good. The 24-hour braised Japanese curry beef cheek practically melts in your mouth, and when paired with that mix of sweet and savoury from the brioche grilled cheese sandwich, the result is seriously addictive and worth all the calories. We kid you not.
Another favourite of ours is the warm truffle Polenta Mash ($18), served with sauteed mushrooms, aburi pork slices and shaved parmesan. It’s creamy and cheesy, and quite satisfying for a rainy day, we’d imagine.
Last but certainly not least, save space for the Marvellous Matcha ($16), which you might’ve seen making the rounds on social media. It’s a fluffy matcha hotcake that explodes with molten matcha when you cut into it, and it comes with homemade dango, yuzu peel, ricotta cheese, speculoos crumble and azuki beans. We’re not serious matcha fans, but damn, this lava pancake undoubtedly stole our hearts.
And on the drinks menu, you’ll find standard coffees and slightly more interesting teas like pomegranate oolong ($7) and raspberry nectar ($7), as well as refreshing glasses of coconut lemon mint ($8) and elderflower lemonade ($8).
Ninja Cut is at 32 Seah St, 6264-7727. Mon-Fri 9.30am-7.30pm, Sat & Sun 9am-6pm.
