Grilled Fish Keisuke, Tanjong Pagar: An unexpectedly generous lunch with unlimited sides!
- Grace Phua
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
It’s 3.30pm, which means a late lunch is in the cards for me. Most of the Tanjong Pagar stretch was already winding down, closed in preparation for the dinner crowd.
I was just about to give up and head to 100AM Mall for something generic when a nondescript Grilled Fish Keisuke across the road caught my eye. “Fish” and “Keisuke” are two of my favourite words, so I hastily crossed over.
Entering the unassuming shop beside the loud Deliveroo next door, I stepped into a compact space — the kind I imagine gets completely flooded during peak lunchtime hours in Tanjong Pagar. Part of Chef Keisuke Takeda’s wider family of restaurants in Singapore, the grilled fish concept feels quieter and more pared-back than his ramen counters. Lucky for me, I was the only one there at this odd hour.
I was seated at the counter, facing the searing station. In front of me is a spread of unlimited side dishes that genuinely surprised me: ika mentaiko, soy-simmered beef (yes, really), spicy pickled mustard greens, unlimited rice, and containers of seaweed ready to be mixed in as you pleased.
I balked at the Ika Mentaiko (squid with cod roe O.O). This was like an umami dream come true. I started with a sheet of crisp seaweed, layered on rice and ika, wrapped it up, and took a bite. Ridiculously good!
I might have scooped up about half the jar while waiting for my main grilled fish dish.
These kinds of extras — like free-flow hard-boiled eggs and beansprouts at Keisuke’s ramen outlets — are part of what some diners know the brand for in Singapore. What I didn’t expect from the grilled fish version were these colourful sides.
The soy-simmered beef, shredded and almost minced, packed a delicious punch. The container was nearly empty too, which I took as a good sign... clearly a favourite. The spicy pickled mustard greens weren’t all that spicy, but I enjoyed their salty tang in small bites.
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We hadn’t even arrived at the mains yet.
Set meal prices start from S$16.90, beginning with the tori momo/toro saba shioyaki set, and go up to just under S$32 for the most premium options on the menu — a fairly approachable range, especially considering the generous sides that come with each set.
The full line-up looks like this:
Salmon Shioyaki Ikura Set — S$31.90
Toro Saba Shioyaki Set — S$16.90
Shima Hokke Yaki Set — S$21.90
Gindara Misozuke Yaki Set — S$28.90
Maguro Kama Yaki Set — S$24.90
Tori Momo Shioyaki Set — S$16.90
Tori Momo Teriyaki Set — S$17.90
Salmon Harasu Yaki Set — S$26.90
Buta Kata Rosu Misozuke Yaki Set — S$20.90
I went with the Salmon Shioyaki Ikura Set – it certainly felt premium, but in hindsight, the ikura add-on (roughly a S$6 top-up) didn’t quite justify itself for the portion given.
The set also comes with a fried egg - yummy! Miso soup, unlimited rice, and the Kyoto-style dashi ochazuke (in the flask).
The salmon itself was lovely: crisp skin, tender flesh, with the grated radish and ikura tasting clean and fresh. It felt indulgent without being heavy.
Somewhere along the way, I turned into a bit of a food alchemist. I mixed the egg into the rice, added seaweed, poured over some dashi, and just played around with the combinations.
My lunch experience morphed into something almost DIY in a sense... made even better by the fact that there was no one watching.
I even tried to finish the entire pot of dashi; it was smoky, comforting, and deeply satisfying. Many others online echo my sentiment as well.
I ate so much that it genuinely felt like I’d gotten more than what I paid for. It wasn’t just a meal so much as a little playground: rice, dashi, fish, sides, all meant to be mixed and enjoyed your own way.
I hadn’t planned to eat here. It was one of those walk-in, last-minute decisions that turned out far better than expected. Sometimes, the best meals are the ones you arrive at by accident, with no expectations at all.
📍 Grilled Fish Keisuke, 101 Tg Pagar Rd, Singapore 088522
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