The Place A hidden dining concept nestled within Artichoke in New Bahru, I checked out the new Jellyfish Sushi, a ten-seat counter by chef-owner Bjorn Shen which opened in January this month located at the back of Artichoke’s main dining space.

A cosy counter-seat space, the idea of Jellyfish Sushi is a sushi-like approach without strict adherence to tradition, and particularly – the exploration of bread sushi for now.   

Heading up the kitchen is Mathew Woon, head chef of Artichoke for the past seven years, along with Fernando Tendean, head chef of Baba G’s Pizza Place, Bjorn’s restaurant in Bali. And so I asked what’s the difference between Small’s (also nestled within Artichoke) and Jellyfish Sushi – Small’s takes on a more diverse and inventive concepts like all-fish Korean BBQ, beef paired with kakigori, and anything that hasn’t been done before; while Jellyfish Sushi explores sushi in anything but traditional form.  

The Food Priced at $165++ per person, expect up to 12-courses for the omakase menu which evolves every few months. For beverages, you can expect a good selection of Sakes on the menu.

My meal started with a trio of appetisers as follows:

Hiroshima Oysters
The dashi-poached Hiroshima oysters are wrapped in spinach with diced leek, zucchini and celeriac, finished in a chilled tomato-infused dashi. Fresh and refreshing at the same time. 

Salmon Maki-No-Rice 
A rice-less salmon maki roll served atop a cream sauce made of avocado, salmon roe, chopped pickles, fennel and shikuwasa (Okinawan citrus). 

Grilled Anago 
Small bite-size pieces of the salt water conger eel. 

Bread Sushi 
The next part of the meal is the highlight of Jellyfish Susui for me where you get a series of bread sushi. All the bread is brushed with vinegar (white balsamic and rose balsamic vinegar) as with how a traditional sushi rice (shari) is prepared with white and red vinegar, except that we have bread here along with Italian vinegar.

I also want to highlight that each bread sushi uses different parts of the bread – the edge, the base, the middle part of the bread, and so on. And therefore, I must say each bread sushi lends a different texture on the palate.

Shime Saba & Stracciatella
The first bread sushi I had – the Mackerel here is salt cured then pickled in plum vinegar. The mackerel is encased with bread along with salted zucchini, stracciatella cheese, and wasabi mayo. 

Presented as a hand-roll with nori, it is a burst of flavours for me.

Kanpachi & Salted Lettuce 
I then had the Kanpachi (amberjack) which is marinated in soy and wasabi and layered over salted lettuce dressed with smoked vinegar. Served on the lower half of the bread for its spongier crumb and firmer crunch and topped with pickled mustard seeds.

Madai Carpaccio & Pistachio 
Thinly sliced red sea bream is presented carpaccio-style and dressed with garlic oil, spring onions, myoga, pickled ginger, sesame seeds and lemon zest. It is also tossed with rocket leaves and pistachio pesto and served on the top crust of the bread for a softer, fluffier mouthfeel. 

Have A Break With Heirloom Tomato 
Palate cleanser – Peeled cherry tomatoes pickled in umeboshi (sour plum), Japanese vinegar, and sugar for 3 days. 

Nagasaki Blue Fin Tuna (Akami, Chutoro, Otoro) 
Next up is a showcase of a trio of tuna.

Akami – Negitoro of finely chopped tuna and leek is served on the “rib” or side crust of the bread for added crunch. 

Presented as a hand-roll wrapped in nori. 

Chutoro – Cubed medium fatty tuna is paired with avocado and underripe tomato, dressed with soy sauce and wasabi, and placed on a base of perilla leaf and nori. 

The dish is presented as a bara-chirashi-style composition over a crisp monaka wafer. This wafer presentation and flavour is my favourite of the trio of tuna.

Otoro – Lightly seared otoro topped with garlic chives marinated in soy sauce. Served on the bottom crust of the bread. 

Not part of the original menu, I was lucky to try some bits of the bread drizzled with vinegar and olive oil, along with some tuna butter.

Cold Noodles 
The last savoury course features Wakame Ramen served with two dips of Roasted Saba Tsuyu (infused with charred bread) & Cold Asari Clam Potage. Clean flavours of the noodles which I prefer it to go with the Roasted Saba Tsuyu dip!

Sweet Potato
Moving on to desserts, I had a small bite size dessert of sweet potato with fig butter and hazelnut. 

Matcha Pudding, Warabi Jelly, Okinawa Black Sugar 
The final dessert is a Matcha pudding layered with a warabi jelly sheet, topped with Okinawa black sugar syrup and finished with Nishiki goma (sesame seeds).

Rants I think the noodles portion could be reduced, and in replacement it would be nice to have another piece of bread sushi.

Will I Return Again? A creative play on sushi, this is a cosy and intimate dining spot to check out if you are into inventive cuisine, and of course, you will enjoy this if you are a bread lover. The flavour of each course is pretty robust and it does not feel like a carb heavy meal at the end of it for me.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5 

Jellyfish Sushi 
46 Kim Yam Road 
#01-02 New Bahru 
Singapore 239351 

Opening Hours 
Tuesday to Saturday: First seating: 6pm to 8pm; Second seating: 8.15pm to 10.15pm 
Closed on Monday & Sunday 

Ranted by The Ranter