I was pleasantly surprised by the food at Ochacha. I admit that I’m a snob and was a bit surprised that a friend would suggest here of all places for lunch. Since I’m trying to keep an open mind and be more open to new experiences, I gave it a shot. Of course it helped loads that my friend was giving the treat!
I had the salmon sandwich set lunch. For $7.90 I had a soup, sandwich and drink. Very decent value. I didn’t find anything special about the cold macha tea. It was, well, green tea. I don’t think I’m made to be a macha connoisseur.
True to its Japanese styling, the food came in nice crockery with fancy shapes. Too bad the tomato soup I had was too sour. I think they tried to make it from fresh tomatoes but couldn’t get decent ones to fit their price point. Try again with canned ones next time.
The sandwich was very good. The soft multi-grain bun was stuffed with good quality smoked salmon and lettuce. It was completed by a sprinkling of furikake, giving it lots of umami flavour. I liked the sandwich a lot, but not the salad. The salad was the typical Japanese fast food side salad with some wilted iceberg lettuce at the bottom and other miscellany on top. I don’t see why the lettuce was wilted and brown at the edges when they could do it fine for the stuff in the sandwich. The wasabe peas didn’t add anything to it, especially when they got soggy too fast. There were also some potato crisps with green powder on the side. I presume they’re some kind of Japanese flavoured ones to complete the Japanese theme.
In short for food, sandwich: PASS, everything else: FAIL.
My friend had this vegetarian soba salad. He said it was good but didn’t elaborate any further. You’ll have to go try it yourself then.
Service-wise, this place was great. The staff were super smiley and very obliging. They described the drinks to us to help us decide. When they served the food, they waited patiently for a break in conversation before putting the dishes before us. And when my tea was too sweet despite me asking for less sugar, they gladly replaced it with a no-syrup version. Well done, 10/10 for service!
OChaCha
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-44F Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: 6333 5886
eat. drink. cook. travel. 