My meal at Muji Cafe Paragon – economical rice Japanese style (Outlet Closed)

The proper name of the Muji Cafe Paragon is Cafe & Meal MUJI Paragon. It is located at  level 4 of this glamorous shopping mall on Orchard Road, Singapore. It is right next to the regular Muji store. Decorated in the trademark simple wooden finish of Muji products, this was a good-looking cafe.

The dining concept and food display reminded me of our food court ‘economical rice’ stalls. Muji Cafe Paragon is a self-service cafe.  Queue at the counter and select the dishes to go with the rice or bread, just like at the usual food court.  But instead of choosing “two meat one veg” or two meat two veg, you elect to have either one hot dish and two cold dishes (3 Deli) or two hot and two cold items (4 Deli). Together with bread or a bowl of rice, these meals cost $12.90 or $16.90 respectively.

Here is a closer look at some of the food items.

Don’t you think these dishes look like the humble economy rice items that have been dressed up? I opted for a 3 Deli meal and selected the Saba with sweet and spicy miso sauce (hot), chicken & pasta salad (cold) and vegetable omelette (cold) with rice.

Japanese food has to be eaten with the eyes as well as the mouth. I tried my best to take a nice picture of my meal. But somehow I could not do it. It looks too much like food court economical rice, except that it is a bit neater because the rice is plated separately.

The warm saba with miso sauce was a good fish dish and the sort of food that goes well with plain rice.  But eating cold food, particularly cold pasta and salad with warm rice doesn’t seem right. The cold omelette would have been so much better as a warm dish. So although each of the cold items was not bad by itself (but they were not particularly tasty), eating them together with rice was just not harmonious.

We are fans of Muji, their products and philosophy behind their brand, but we could not help feeling that the Muji Cafe food was a bit of a disappointment.

Ratings:
Food: 2
Service: NA
Value: 2
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 2 TOPs

Café&Meal MUJI Paragon
#04 – 36 to 40 Orchard Paragon
290 Orchard Road
Singapore 238859

Tel : +65 6735 0123

Opening Hours:
Monday – Sunday, 10:00 – 21:30
Full Menu available after 11:00
Last Order at 20:45

Nearby Stations : Somerset, Orchard

Muji Cafe Website