Koh Grill & Sushi Bar @ Wisma Atria Orchard ~ The SHIOK Maki Is Really Very SHIOK!

If you're wondering what "shiok" means, it's our local slang to describe something that is highly satisfying, or to express a feeling of extreme pleasure. More often than not, we use it when we're eating food that is really good.

An instance would be the Shiok Maki from Koh Grill & Sushi Bar. The humble eatery is nestled in level 4 of Wisma Atria, right beside Food Republic.

If you're lucky enough, you'd get a nice window table overlooking the bustling Orchard Road below. But according to my friend, if you can manage to secure a reservation and beat the queue during meal times, that's considered very lucky already. Better go during off-peak hours if your schedule allows (like what we did).

So, what is this Shiok Maki ($16.80) about?

Essentially a sushi roll, Koh Sushi offers two versions with Unagi (1st generation) or Tempura Prawn (2nd generation). Both are wrapped with avocado, topped with salmon and smothered an excessive amount of housemade mayonnaise-like sauce.

The combination is then given an aburi (sear-flaming) treatment and finished off with a generous serving of tobiko (flying fish roe).

So much sauce, so much tobiko, but these are exactly what makes the shiok maki so shiok. The melange of textures and flavors (especially the smokey aroma) converging as one melting, creamy goodness in my mouth was nothing short of gratifying. It's the kind of food that you know is calories hell, one which might call the bastardization of Japanese cuisine, but still want to continue to indulge in. Shiok lah!

My personal preference lean towards the charcoal grilled eel rendition, it having more of the melt-in-the-mouth sensation compared to the one with deep-fried prawn.

The Shiok Sushi ($6 per pc) would be the per piece version of 1st gen Shiok Maki. Doesn't need much calculation to derive that ordering the whole maki roll would be more worth the price value.

Another item which I greatly enjoyed was the Sake Aburi Sushi ($4.20 for 2 pcs) which featured lightly seared salmon over vinegar rice and topped with the same housemade sauce and tobiko. It felt like a scaled-down, more dainty form of shiok sushi, but just as tasty in its own way.

But of course, Koh Grill has much more to offer other than shiok maki and its variants. Their menu book is extensive, with pages and pages of sushi, sashimi, tempura, grilled items, sukiyaki, rice bowl, bento set, and noodle dishes such as the deliciously sweet Yaki Udon ($10) vying for our tummy space.

It seems not right if we don't try some grilled stuff at Koh Grill, so we ordered the Chicken Wing ($3 per stick) and Asparagus & Pork Belly Roll ($3 per stick). Both were nicely executed over charcoal flame, but could be better if there's a drizzle of sauce to provide additional moisture.

I would also recommend the Pitan Tofu ($4), an utterly refreshing chilled beancurd paired with piquant century egg sauce. The sauce was such an absolute delight, that it is already decided Pitan Maki ($16.80) would be part of our orders on our next visit.

Definitely ordering the shiok maki again for sure. With the food being delicious and affordably priced, my current record is visiting Koh Grill for three days consecutively! Wondering if it's gonna be broken any time soon! Lol!

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar
Address: 435 Orchard Road, Wisma Atria Shopping Centre, #04-34, Singapore 238877
Contact: +65 6836 0609 / +65 9180 3805
Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am-10.30pm

Prices stated are subject to 7% GST (no service charge).