Grill Manten-Boshi, Tokyo-based omurice specialist now open in Harbour City

Now that the weather is cooler, I’m finding myself craving comfort food. Hot pot, steamed dumplings, beef brisket, and last week I travelled across town to try Grill Manten-Boshi, an omlette rice or ‘omurice’ specialist, at Harbour City.

Grill Manten-Boshi was founded in 1978 by Yoshinao Kubota, a disciple of Emperor Shōwa’s imperial chef, Tokuzō Akiyama. That’s quite the pedigree — what’s his omurice like?

The Egg

The omelettes here are made using three Ran-Oh eggs, known for their high quality, deep orange yolks. They’re cooked to a soft, fluffy texture and are very moist without feeling undercooked.

The Rice

We ordered three different omelette rices: the Eel Omelette Rice ($248), Hamburg Steak Omelette Rice with Grill Manten-Boshi Gravy Sauce ($238), and Angus Steak Omelette Rice with Grill Manten-Boshi Gravy Sauce ($298).

The eel omelette rice, created for the Hong Kong location, contained fluffy rice cooked in chicken broth. Very nicely seasoned and tasted almost creamy.

The beef rice dishes came with a tomato rice and we’re told the curry dishes (that we sadly didn’t have room to try) come with a curry-seasoned rice with raisins.

We enjoyed all of our dishes. If I were to choose one though, I’d go with the classic hamburg steak which was soft, moist, just fatty enough and came with two sauces. The eel rice was also great if you’re an eel lover (the piece of eel is huge!) though I felt it tasted a bit monotonous after a while and could have used a sauce with more edge.

The Sauce

The attention to detail continues with the sauces. There’s a tomato-based omurice sauce, a Japanese yakiniku sauce, and a curry sauce. All are made with beef ribs and a variety of fresh ingredients including carrots, onions and celery that are then simmered over the course of a week. And that’s not just PR speak.

The first dish to come out was the deep-fried Crab Cream Croquette ($148). Who doesn’t love saucy fried food? But this isn’t your average bar snack, the omurice sauce that emanated from this dish made me do a double take. It’s deliciously rich and flavourful.

We also tried some lighter dishes like the Salmon with Grill Manten-Boshi Sauce ($98, the sauce in this case was a light vinaigrette) and the Japanese Seafood Salad ($148). Both were light and fresh, with the salad being a table favourite — nothing out of the ordinary but a good rendition.

If you still have room (note that the portion sizes for the omelette rices are huge!), there are various milkshakes made with scoops of Movenpick ice cream, souffle pancakes, and waffles.

The classic Japanese Souffle Pancakes ($108) come with whipped cream, maple butter and maple syrup and are melt-in-the-mouth perfection. Regretted sharing this one!