Milan Shokudo Review: New Japanese-Italian Restaurant With Mains From $4.90++ In Bishan

Milan Shokudo has affordable Japanese-Italian food in Bishan

With a menu comprising affordably priced doria, hamburgs, pasta, and pizza, as well as a suspiciously familiar free-flow drinks bar, it’s hard to talk about Milan Shokudo without also mentioning Saizeriya.

Since they opened  in September this year, reviews of the restaurant have continually compared them to the beloved Japanese-Italian chain. Upon hearing all this buzz, we just had to head down to try their food for ourselves.

Food at Milan Shokudo 

It’s not a Saizeriya dupe without a variation of the iconic Milano Doria. For the uninitiated, doria is a Japanese-Western rice gratin dish where steamed rice is covered with white sauce and cheese, topped with sauteed meat, then baked. 

In this instance, Milan Shokudo’s Milanese Doria ($8.90++), like Saizeriya’s Milano Doria, comes with yellow turmeric rice and sauteed minced beef. It was also served piping hot, with the layer of cheese on top still bubbling.

On one hand, the turmeric rice was flavourful and paired well with the creamy white sauce and baked cheese. On the other hand, the minced beef was overcooked and had a dry, brittle and almost crispy texture, which dampened my enjoyment of the dish. 

Perhaps it was just a bad batch of beef, as my colleagues and I agreed that the rest of the dish was fairly well-executed. Fortunately, Milan Shokudo has other doria options that swap out the beef for other ingredients, such as the Scallop Mentai Doria ($13.90++). 

While browsing the menu, we saw that the pasta was advertised as handmade, so we decided to give it a try. We ordered the Smoked Duck Carbonara ($10.90++) and topped up $1++ for a  Poached Egg.

My colleagues and I were sceptical about the quality of the pasta at first, as we aren’t big fans of Saizeriya’s. Upon tasting it, however, we were pleasantly surprised by the creaminess of the sauce, the rustic shape and al dente texture of the pasta, as well as the tenderness of the smoked duck.

The egg was also well-poached, with a yolk that remained satisfyingly runny even after we left the dish sitting for a while. In fact, this turned out to be one of my favourite dishes. 

Following the pasta, we had the Quattro Cheese Pizza. For $8.90++, you get a mini pizza that’s slightly larger than a Pizza Hut personal pan. As the name suggests, the Quattro Cheese Pizza features four cheeses as toppings, namely cheddar, camembart, parmesan, and mozzarella. 

It’s served with a small tub of honey, which lends a complementary sweetness to the cheeses, while balancing out their salty and slightly tart flavour.

The crust was also thin with just the right amount of crispiness, which provided a good contrast to the soft, stringy texture of the cheese. 

Next was the Cheese Hamburg ($10.90++). It stars a chicken and beef patty with a layer of melted cheese alongside a spread of fries, corn and a sunny-side up. It’s also served with a savoury brown sauce.

The patty was thick yet tender, and well-seasoned. Though it was slightly dry for my liking, this was quickly remedied by dipping it in the brown sauce. 

As for the sides, I would have preferred more seasoning on the egg, but the corn had a nice char and the fries were adequately crispy. 

Unlike at Saizeriya, Milan Shokudo’s Garlic Focaccia ($3.90++) is served in slices. This was probably our least favourite dish, as the garlic flakes on the focaccia were noticeably bitter and slightly burnt. The focaccia itself, though, was fragrant and had a pleasant, chewy texture.

We ended our meal on a sweet note with the Japanese Homemade Pudding. AKA purin, this is a classic Japanese dessert that stars custard pudding with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Although it had a smooth, velvety texture and a delicately sweet vanilla flavour, the dish is relatively pricey at $6.90++. For $2++ less, you could order a Margherita Pizza ($4.90++) instead.

While enjoying your meal, you can quench your thirst at their free-flow drinks bar, which is priced at $3.90 per adult, and $2.90 per child aged four to 12. You can choose from a selection of soft drinks such as Coke, Sprite, Fanta and iced lemon tea.

Ambience at Milan Shokudo 

We arrived around opening time on a Friday, so the restaurant was still fairly empty when we were seated. By about 12:30pm, however, many seats had already been filled up by hungry lunch-goers. If Saizeriya’s popularity with families is anything to go by, I foresee Milan Shokudo being even more crowded on weekends. 

This is bolstered by the fact that Milan Shokudo is located at Junction 8, which is easily accessible from Bishan MRT Station. 

The verdict

Milan Shokudo serves cheap Japanese-Italian dishes that don’t compromise on taste. Despite being slightly pricier than Saizeriya, their higher-quality food is well worth the few extra dollars. If they were to open more outlets nearer to where I live, I’d certainly pay them another visit.  

Since you’re in the area, walk over to Mister Donut next door to try their famous doughnuts! Alternatively, check out Nasi Don for Japanese-inspired nasi lemak.

Address: 9 Bishan Place, #02-34/35 35A, Junction 8, Singapore 579837
Opening hours: Daily 11:30am to 10pm
Tel: 6259 6698
Website
Milan Shokudo is in the process of getting halal-certified.

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Photos taken by Melvin Mak and Kaedynce Chew.
This was a media tasting at Milan Shokudo.