Yonehachi Takashimaya was not our first choice for lunch that day. But as it is still one of our favourite places in the Orchard Road area for a simple meal. The Japanese glutinous rice meal turned out to be a very good plan B.
The Mini Restaurants at Food Village Takashimaya B2
Basement 2 of Takashimaya Shopping Centre is where most of the food places in the mall are located. Tucked away on the eastern end of the floor is a bunch of eateries that look like a food court but operates like mini restaurants. Orders are placed, payment made and diners are assigned to specified tables that are earmarked for the respective restaurant.
There are ‘proper’ restaurants on the higher levels of the mall such as Crystal Jade and Hanare by Takayama. But these can be too serious and expensive for a quick meal. There is of course a regular food court on B2 but sometimes we prefer some peace and quiet and not having to share tables. In times like this, this part of the mall is like the Goldilocks food place of Takashimaya – not too fancy but not too congested.
Our first choice for lunch was Nakajima Suisan (picture below) – which is a popular grilled fish place. Unfortunately many people also had the same idea. Seeing the snaking queue made us quickly change course and it was easy to decide on Yonehachi which looked so peaceful by comparison.
Yonehachi Takashimaya
Like the other mini restaurants in this area, Yonehachi operates out of a booth where the food preparation takes place. Some of the food is displayed and orders are taken at the counter.
Yonehachi specializes in okowa（おこわ), a Japanese glutinous rice dish. It is steamed glutinous rice cooked with different ingredients such as red beans, chestnuts or seafood. The rice is the star of this place and they are on display steaming hot.
Menu
The Yonehachi Takashimaya menu in 2025 looks similar to the one from our 2015 visit. Some items and prices have changed but the main structure is consistent. On this visit we chose the Shio Salmon Shokado set ($18.90) and Chicken Cutlet Shokado set ($16.90).
Chestnut and Salmon Okowa Lunch
For our salmon shokado set we selected the chestnut okowa. It was a great choice. The chestnuts looked and tasted lovely – sweet and fragrant. It is rare to find Japanese chestnuts in Singapore restaurants. The salmon was grilled lightly – just nice to be cooked with a light golden crust. We thought this was a very good combination.
For the chicken shokado set, we decided on salmon okowa. In the case of this dish, the salmon was mixed into the rice. We would have preferred chunky pieces with some texture. The chicken however was nicely cooked and remained tender.
Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 3
Value: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs
Yonehachi おこわ米八
B2 Takashimaya, Ngee Ann City
391 Orchard Road
Singapore 238873
Tel: +65 6333 8227
Opening Hours: 10 am – 9 pm
Nearby MRT Stations: Somerset, Orchard
Lovely photos! Looks like a great place to have a meal! Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.