Celebrate Chinese New Year at Kid’s Friendly Japan Gourmet Hall SORA

Japan Gourmet Hall SORA consists of six different Japanese restaurants that serves up elegant Japanese dishes

CONTENT: Yiew Kai Jie
IMAGES: Luxe Multimedia

Is travelling with your kids become a nightmare or a burden? Has that need for your alone time been overtaken by the fear of your kids running off and disappearing from your sight? Especially when it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year or a place you can bring your kids to eat during the holidays? Look no further than the Japanese gourmet food hall SORA! Taking up 7,760 sq ft space and having a seating capacity of 300 diners, SORA is the largest restaurant across the four terminals in Changi Airport.

The dining enclave, which is located at Terminal 2 on the public area on Level 3, houses six Japanese restaurant brands that serve up an oishii line-up of food including ramen, sashimi, okonomiyaki and Nippon-inspired desserts and beverages.

Modelled after a airline lounge, Japan Gourmet Hall SORA boasts comfy booth and tatami mat seating options. At the tatami area, diners can immerse in an authentic Japanese dining experience, they just have to adhere to proper Japanese etiquette by taking off their shoes choose to either kneel or cross their legs while eating their food- just like what they would do before entering a zashiki or tatami room. The seating options also come with nifty features such as tables fitted with charging points for mobile electronic devices and makes it an ideal place for meetings to take place while one is consuming delectable Japanese delights!

SORA, which translates to ‘sky’ in Japanese, marks the first time that ANA Trading – the trading arm of Japanese airline company, All Nippon Airways – is operating a food hall outside Japan.

A Fuss Free Yuzu Yusheng in the East
Kuro Maguro is offering its exquisite Golden Prosperity Yusheng during the Chinese New Year period. This is one of the few Japanese yushengs that feature premium-grade sashimi imported from Kanagawa Prefecture. Instead of the usual sweet plum sauce, SORA’s yusheng uses their homemade tangy yuzu sauce specially imported from Japan. Priced affordably from $38.80 to $42.80 nett, the yusheng comes with options such as salmon, maguro and even bara chirashi-style sashimi. It is available for dine-in and takeaway from now till 4 March. While the vegetarian ingredients tasted average with the unsweetened yuzu sauce, the fresh sashimi was acknowledged as it was extremely thin and did not have an overpowering fishy smell compared to other yushengs in most chinese restaurants.

Kuro Maguro also fishes out meshi (rice dishes) with kaisen (seafood) and torobutsu (tuna) that are air-flown daily from Japan. Their prices start from $18.

Keep your kids occupied with food for the whole family
Japan Gourmet Hall SORA is an ideal place where you can enjoy magnificent food in peace while letting your kids have fun at the interactive kid’s corner. Along with having fun with their mutual little friends, they can play educational games on the giant tablet or watch various kids cartoon on the television screen. The restaurant also offers specially designed kid’s menus from Tsuruhashi Fugetsu, a renowned okonomiyaki chain that hails from Osaka; and Kuro Maguro.

Available from $13 onwards, Tsuruhashi Fugetsu’s signature Japanese savoury pancakes are made with fresh cabbage, yakisoba (fried noodles) and an assortment of battered meat and seafood, before being grilled for a minute and being literally slathered in Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise and topped with bonito flakes. On first sight, the dish looks incomplete, like it’s missing something that will not only enhance its flavour, but make it visually stunning. Now, parents can top up $4 for a cheesy version of the dish! That gooey layer of mozzarella and cheddar cheese will add depth to an already-flavourful dish and is a perfect instagram moment as the dish is cut into! Watch as the stringy cheese is being pulled apart that is sure to put a smile on you and your kid’s face!

Kuro Maguro has also come out with a healthy kid-friendly sushi platter ($8.90)- it comes with inari sushi, maki sushi and tamago sushi.

Besides Tsuruhashi Fugetsu and Kuro Maguro, there are four other restaurants for families, colleagues and friends to uncover at SORA. Diners who enjoy fusion cuisine will feel right at home at Japoli Kitchen, which offers simple Italian dishes infused with a Japanese finish. Its menu highlights include the range of freshly-made pizzas and pastas that includes its signature Mentaiko Pizza and Porcini Risotto. The restaurant uses fresh pasta and flour specially imported from Japan, this makes the pizza crust extremely light and non starchy. For a non-italian restaurant, this restaurant certainly has one of the best tasting pizzas that i’ve had- and prices only start from $10.80!

Balancing out the restaurant line-up are other Japanese restaurants such as Menya Takeichi, (the brand’s 100th outlet worldwide) which is widely known as Tokyo’s top chicken ramen chain. Its collagen-rich Chicken Paitan (S$13.90) has a very natural and smooth tasting broth that is sure to relive and delight customers who have went through several rounds of the richness of the food made available at SORA.

Not to be missed out is Tendon Kohaku, which has drawn long queues everyday since their first outlet in Eat at Seven opened. Deep fried tendon drizzled with their special sauce. Prices start from $16.60. Adding a touch of Korean flavours to the culinary delights is Tokyo Sundubu, Japanese’s largest sundubu restaurant chain that serves the hearty Korean stew rich in collagen. Sundubu Jjigae is a treasure trove of hand-made soft tofu, vegetables and ingredients such as chicken, beef, asari (sake-steamed) clams and shrimps, available from $15.

For all the sake and cocktail drinkers out there, SORA Bar which offers sake and signature cocktails such as Singapore Sling (made from the same recipe as Raffles Hotel) and Mojito to wash the grub down.

SORA’s contemporary chic interiors are heavily inspired and stay true to Japanese influences. The décor boasts intricate exquisite Japanese craftsmanship such as the Kumiki (Japanese woodcraft) and kumiko (lattice-like timbre trellis) that embellish the counter tables. Adorning the walls are murals of bonsai and pine trees that are hand-painted in a style reminiscent of the time-honoured history of Japanese art.

Although I initially thought SORA was a typical run-of-the-mill food court, the atmosphere was extremely different from that of a typical food court. The service was impeccable, the restaurant manager was extremely knowledgeable about the food that he was serving to us and showed us a unique way specifically on how to eat the food to fully enjoy its flavour! Overall with the food, service and decoration which will whisk you away to have intense feels to travel to Japan. I expect this restaurant to be a huge hit with Japanese tourists and locals who want to have a taste of Japanese food at an affordable price.

SORA is open on the 15 February 2018 (the eve of Chinese New Year): 1030am – 6pm (Last order at 5pm), 16 February 2018 (1st day of Chinese New Year): Closed. Operation will resume as usual from 17 February 2018 (2nd day of CNY): 1030am – 11pm (last order: 10pm)

SORA is located at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2, 60 Airport Boulevard #036-058/059, Singapore 819643.

For more information on SORA, visit SORA’s Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/japangourmethallsora or call +65 6386 7005.