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I ask a friend what he thinks the new chef's table concept within Artichoke is all about. Without batting an eyelid, he says, "Just Bjorn Shen doing something wacky again". And our visit to Jellyfish Sushi proves true enough. The Artichoke founder and former MasterChef Singapore judge is indeed up to something wacky – and wonderful – again. And that's after overhauling his headlining Mediterranean restaurant, turning it into a pizza parlour last year, and after reinstating his first chef's table concept, Small's, at New Bahru in 2024.
His newest F&B venture is Jellyfish Sushi, another restaurant-in-a-restaurant that sits within Artichoke and beside Small's. What's the difference between this and Small's? Think of Small's as Shen's original experimental R&D playground of sorts, ingredient-led and often diving into his recent hyperfixations, spinning them into fixed dinner courses priced at around $138 per guest. This month's iteration: a Korean Duck Feast featuring the 'wagyu of duck' from Silver Hill Farm in Ireland. Now, Jellyfish Sushi carries the same curiosity-driven ethos and fluidity (hence 'Jellyfish'), but with a sharper focus on sushi-like creations and raw or lightly treated ingredients, particularly seafood.
At launch, the intimate 10-seater is serving a 12-course 'doughmakase' ($165 per person), or in other words, a bread sushi omakase. Instead of the usual shari (vinegared rice) in traditional Japanese Edomae-style omakase, it's bread that takes over. Just like how shari is carefully tempered to pair perfectly with every sliver of fish, down to minor adjustments in temperature and texture, the same goes for the bread here. With this debut menu, Shen wants to ask: What happens when you use bread instead of rice as a de facto receptacle? Could the different textures and parts of a loaf level up the sushi experience?
Turns out, the answer is a resounding 'yes'. If you think about it, raw or treated fish on bread is not as uncommon a pairing as you would imagine – the Danes have their smørrebrød, the Dutch their broodje haring and so on. After a trio starter of spinach-wrapped Hiroshima oysters in minestrone, rice-less salmon maki and grilled anago, I am served the first 'bread sushi' course: cured mackerel with stracciatella and zucchini, wrapped in bread and nori, hand-roll style. Nothing amiss so far. In fact, the flavours are as cohesive and complementary as they can get.
The second course comes in the form of soy and wasabi-marinated kanpachi with salted lettuce and smoked vinegar. The two-biter is served over the bottom half of a slice of bread, similar to an open-faced sandwich, which allows the firmer base and spongy centre of the bread to provide a nice, denser crunch.
But my favourite is the third course: red sea bream aged between sheets of kombu – a traditional method called kombujime to achieve a greater depth of flavour – dressed with garlic oil, spring onions, pickled ginger, sesame seeds and lemon zest. Think yu sheng but savoury rather than sweet. Rocket leaves and pistachio pesto are added, and the salad-like dish sits above a piece of thin, fluffy top crust.
Harking back to Edomae sushi, the next few courses will feature tuna as the key ingredient. We're back in hand-roll territory with negitoro and leek over the crunchy side crust ('rib') of a piece of bread, wrapped in nori. The crescendo starts here, with cubed chutoro, avocado and tomatoes over perilla leaf and nori, reminiscent of bara-chirashi. A crispy monaka wafer is the carb of choice for this particular medley. And finally, the fattiest, richest course is the otoro, soy-marinated, lightly seared and topped with garlic chives, served over the bottom crust of the bread.
Next, and a close contender for my favourite dish of the evening: ultra-chewy, green wakame noodles from Awaji Island, presented with two dips. The soba tsuyu boasts a clean, rich depth, thanks to roasted mackerel bones and charred bread infused into the broth, while the cold asari clam potage coats each strand perfectly for a creamy, carbonara-like consistency. Enjoy both dips interchangeably, but find yourself coming back to the tsuyu, which is simple, addictive and reassuringly familiar after a meal full of surprises.
Our overall rating of Jellyfish Sushi: 4/5
Jellyfish Sushi's bread sushi sounds more unconventional than it tastes. In a food scene as vibrant as Singapore's, the average diner might already resonate with many of the ingredients served – they just happen to be rearranged in ways that feel new but taste uncannily familiar. If I were to nitpick, I'd expect the concept of bread to take even more precedence in a menu touted as a 'doughmakase' experience, with more emphasis on the baking process, type of bread and so on. A conceptual lapse, if anything, given that the flavours are spot on.
That said, future plans for Jellyfish Sushi are already in the pipeline. In the next few months, guests can expect to try sushi in other unexpected forms. So don't be surprised if you see risotto or Vietnamese summer rolls make an appearance – or hey, maybe even jellyfish.
Jellyfish Sushi is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm to 10.15pm at 46 Kim Yam Rd, New Bahru, Artichoke, #01-02, Singapore 239351.
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