Big Bowls Project – Halal Japanese Salmon Bowls To Settle Your CBD Lunch Woes

Amoy Street Food Centre continues to be the go-to hub in the CBD area that everyone turns to for their weekday lunches. It’s hard to grow tired of the spread there when so much variety offered. From artisanal toast, Mexican fare, chicken rice to even poke bowls, you’d be spoilt for choice.

The poke bowls served here aren’t like the usual chirashi don or kaisendon-looking types with speckled raw fish and salad on rice. Rather, theirs are more towards the likes of a salmon bowl that are not only delicious and more affordable, but also halal-certified.

We ordered their Homemade Recipe (S$8), Szechuan Black Bean (S$8) and of course we couldn’t leave without getting their best seller, their Mentaiko (S$9.50).

While salmon bowls are healthy enough on their own, health enthusiasts would be happy to know that their Homemade Recipe is the bowl that has the least amount of calories. While it has the lightest marinade, it’s nowhere near bland or tasteless but in fact, the subtle flavours bring out the natural flavour of the salmon more.

Seasoned with soy and sesame, the clean taste of the fish, along with jasmine brown rice, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, made the entire dish satisfying and filling without running the risk of a food coma when you step back into the office.

Their Szechuan Black Bean, in comparison, is packed full of flavours that assault your tongue from the get-go. It’s the owner’s personal favourite bowl, and understandably so.

It’s very much reminiscent of your mother’s black bean steamed fish served during dinner time. Just like you’d expect, the characteristic aroma and savouriness of the black beans are unmistakable, though of course, it’s as salty as you’d expect it to be too.

The bowl we anticipated the most was their Mentaiko bowl, after all, who doesn’t like mentaiko? Blowtorched right before serving, the mentaiko had a lovely smoky char to it that complemented its creamy ocean brininess. Along with the onsen egg, the entire dish felt far too luxurious for its price, and can definitely be considered a steal. For a really indulgent bite, scoop some mentaiko sauce with the runny egg yolk and eat it with a slice of cherry tomato!

While we enjoyed the flavours of their Szechuan Black Bean and Mentaiko, we really missed the original taste of salmon that was more present in their Homemade Recipe, but understandably, it’s a payoff considering how strong the sauces are.

For those who’d like to go the extra mile in making their meals healthier or just those with smaller appetites, they offer raw spinach leaves as a replacement for the rice. We’d highly recommend trying their rice though, as the nutty flavours of the rice resembled a healthier version of chicken rice, and went really well with the salmon.

With even their premium bowls costing less than S$10, the fish served were big honest chunks cooked just right—firm, flaky and moist, it definitely gives you something to look forward to on a mundane workday.

Big Bowls Project
7 Maxwell Road
#02-90 Amoy Street Food Centre
Singapore 069111
(Closed on Saturdays and Sundays)
Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 2.30pm
Nearest Station: Telok Ayer