Sun With Moon - Japanese Dining & cafe

Ootoya- Itadakimasu~

Explore the other side of Japanese Cuisine with teishoku. Teishoku (set meal) is part of a typical Japanese dining experience. It usually comprises of a main, a bowl of rice, miso soup and Japanese pickles. And Ootoya, with majority of its chef and waiters being native Japanese, offers a wide range of authentic japanese teishoku at affordable prices.

Rakuzen - Food Bloggers Lunch Outing

Since their opening 2 years ago, Rakuzen offers unique and innovative dishes, not only catering Japanese cuisine but also Asian-Japanese fusion. Finely detailed wooden decoration and stylishly designed, Rakuzen is set to provide Japanese food lovers an alluring ambiance and enhance their dining experience.

Ministry of Food - Goodbye our love~~

You may seem insignificant to some others...
But in our eyes, you are so dainty, charming and precious...
There's always a place for you in our hearts...
This may be the last time you appear before us...
Let us just enjoy every moment with you, till the end...
Goodbye our love, plum rice tamago~

Food Feast at Chinatown! Happy 3rd month anniversary to SF~

Watami @ Ion- Highly raved, little surprise

Located at Ion Orchard, this Japanese casual restaurant sure stirred up a big hoo-ha. Long queues could be seen especially in the evening. The ambience was not bad and the wooden decoration in the restaurant was indeed distinctive.

We were there around 6pm and were lucky that there wasn’t any queue at all. Highly enthusiastic and friendly staffs greeted us and led us to our tables. The service provided was really commendable. Napkins were handed out to us individually and drinks filled up promptly. We were astonished that the staffs actually knelt by the side of our table to take our orders. You will not experience this kind of service at all either in Ichiban Boshi or even Sushi Tei.

Sashimi Deluxe ($13.80)

This sashimi platter consists of salmon, tuna and hotate (scallops). We had many complaints about the salmon and tuna sashimi. The size of the salmon and tuna sashimi was probably half the size you find in Sushi Tei and they were not very fresh, with a slight fishy smell. Fortunately, hotate sashimi tasted better. It was fresh, fat and juicy, with a slight sweetness. Absolutely heavenly!

J's & A’s rating: 3/5 for salmon & tuna sashimi, 4.25/5 hotate sashimi

Kani & Hotate Cream Croquette ($5.80)

This golden crispy ball was delicious! The cream exploded into your mouth when you bite into it. But there wasn’t any sight of kani and hotate chunks. (A: I would prefer to eat croquette full of kani or salmon flakes)

J's & A’s rating: 4/5

Irodori Sushi Grandeur - scallop, seafood salmon & eel ($10.80)

The sushi here was pretty ordinary. The rice was dry, sticky yet still crumbly which caused the ingredients to fall off very easily. The fillings inside each sushi is the same, except tt the toppings were different.

J's & A’s rating: 3/5

Tompeiyaki ($6.80)

Omelette with sliced pork and cabbage, this dish took the longest to arrive. The egg was dry and thin, with the sides slightly burnt unlike the ones in Shokudo or Waraku which are thicker, sweeter and more fragrant. Nothing special for the sauce too.

A’s rating: 3/5, J's rating: 2.5/5

We did not order any dessert this time round because the food did not impress us. We know there were many good reviews of Watami but the quality of their food failed to meet our expectations. Nonetheless, the service here was praiseworthy.

Watami Japanese Restaurant

#B-23 Ion Orchard

2 Orchard Turn

Singapore 238801

Tel: 65099366

http://www.watami.com.sg/

Chikuyo Japanese Cuisine

Since we were young, Old Airport Road Market & Food Centre has been our frequent makan place. Each time we visit there, it brought back all our childhood memories. Remembered the times where we used to buy our clothings from the shops on level 2 and thereafter, we would head down to the food market to have our meals. But as we grow up, we started to stray away from the food centre as we can find better clothings and food from the shopping malls. This evening, we decided to head back there for our meals.

A: I've been craving for Unagi since last week! And decided to order my unagi bowl from Chikuyo, they serve yummy unagi!

For only $5.50, you get such a huge serving of unagi! The unagi was well-grilled and soft. The teriyaki sauce was nothing special, pretty much the same that you can find in other Japanese restaurant.

Janelle ordered the Cold Soba Noodle with Unagi ($7.50). Though it was slightly pricy, it came with a generous portion of soba noodles! The soba noodle was definitely better than Ichiban Boshi. It was very springy!
(J: I would prefer the soba and the sauce to be more chilled though.)

There are 2 japanese stalls near Chikuyo but if you observe, most people will order their food from Chikuyo. Try it and you'll know why! But we would recommend you to try out the unagi, we tried salmon and chicken before but felt that unagi still tasted better. Quality food, generous portion and reasonable price!

J's & A's rating: 4/5 Unagi and Soba Noodle

Chikuyo Japanese Cuisine
Old Airport Rd Market & Food Centre
#01-89

R Burger- The 1000mg Collagen Burger!

R Burger, a totally new concept of burger franchise that sells generally healthy and tasty burger. It completely revolutionized the fast-food burger chains from Burger King or MacDonald’s. The most distinct feature of R Burger is the use of marine collagen in the steamed bun, with 1000mg of collagen in each burger! That’s good news for ladies who want supple and youthful skin! We are able to eat healthily and at the same time, getting more collagen. *Just from our point of view. Haha*

We ordered a Salmon Burger ($4.30) and a Tofu Burger ($3.80).

The Salmon Burger tasted alright but we wished that they could be more generous with the salmon in the patty. There was hardly any taste of salmon. However, we do like the Ankake sauce (black vinegar) in the burger. The steamed bun was soft but it was not warm enough when we ate it. The shisho leaf had a herbal minty taste. You either like it or dislike it.

J's & A’s rating: 3.75/5

We preferred the Tofu Burger because of the soft, juicy chicken tofu patty in the burger. The patty was also thicker than the salmon patty. The sauce was lighter and more forgettable though.

J's & A’s rating: 4/5

R Burger
Ion Orchard
B4-56/57

Patisserie Glace- The tart heaven~

Patisserie Glace~ A place for cake lovers... It is an authentic japanese pastry shop located in the quiet Chinatown Plaza.

(J: So glad tt it's within walking distance from my workplace! :)) They were featured in many media and food blogs. Surprisingly, what Glace attracted us was not their cakes but their rin rin cheese tarts!

We tried the Strawberry Souffle ($5) on our first visit. Undeniably, it was a light cheese cake just like any other japanese cheesecakes topped with big strawberries. The strawberries were fresh and sweet! However, it failed to impress us.

Had Fromage Syun ($5.80) and Maple Syrup Rin Rin Cheese Tart ($3.50) on our second visit. The cheese tart left us speechless, our eyes lit up immediately and we exchanged glances. OooHhmpH WOW~ This is heavenly! Surprisingly, the maple syrup cheese tart was of the right sweetness and the strong fragrance of maple syrup flashed back strong nostalgia of the times J spent in Vancouver. The tart was crusty and buttery.

Fromage Syun left us feeling bewildered. The taste was indescribably d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s. We were overwhelmed with a mixture flavors. Oh, raspberry? Oh, lemon? Cheese? This is soo intriguing! Will definitely try it again and hopefully by then, we can give a better description lol.

Our tart cravings brought us back to Glace again for the third time. This time round, we tried the Chocolate Rin Rin Cheese Tart ($3) and Raspberry Cheese Tart ($3). Felt the rush of endorphins as the creamy chocolate cheese melted in our mouths. Dark bittersweet chocolate was used, definitely satisfying for chocolate lovers!

Raspberry cheese tart is basically the original rin rin cheese tart with raspberry puree filled in the centre of the tart. Cant really taste the raspberry from the swirls until we bite into the centre of the tart. The original cheese tart had a tinge of saltiness which we suppose come from the smooth, rich cheese. Raspberry puree added a tinge of sourness which complemented decently with the cheese. And as usual, we love the crispy, buttery cookie base :)

Mont Blanc $5.60 is a Japanese perennial favourite. Glace imports the chestnut from Japan, paired with chestnut paste from France. Sadly, it disappointed us. Probably the chestnut paste was not our cup of tea. We actually could not detect any trace of chestnut from the paste, other than the small toppings of chestnuts. It felt more like whipped cream. The cake again, was the usual japanese light sponge cake.

We ended our dessert session with a Caramel Rin Rin Cheese Tart ($3). Sadly, this was the most disappointing cheese tart amongst all others we've tried. It tasted just like the original cheese tart with no trace of caramel. Maybe it was too faint to be picked up by our tastebuds.

A & J's ratings: 4.75/5 Maple Syrup Rin Rin Cheese Tart, 4.5/5 Fromage Syun & Chocolate Rin Rin Cheese Tart , 4.25/5 Raspberry Rin Rin Cheese Tart, 3.75/5 Strawberry Souffle & Caramel Rin Rin Cheese Tart, 3/5 Mont Blanc

Pâtisserie Glacé (Cadence Products Pte Ltd)
34 Craig Road #01-10

Chinatown Plaza

Singapore 089673
+65-6400-0247

Mon-Fri: 1100-1800 hrs. Sat, Sun & Public Holidays: 1100-1700 hrs

http://cakeglace.com/

Manpuku Japanese Gourmet Town

After a long day of shopping at Tampines 1, we finally settled for dinner at Manpuku! We saw many people ordering Moonlight Okonomiyaki ($12.80) at Botejyu and we decided to try it out ourselves!

Okonomiyaki is a kind of Japanese-style pancakes or pizza. Okonomiyaki usually includes chopped cabbage and various toppings like thinly sliced pork, squid, yakisoba noodles, tenkasu (tempura crumbs), corn, green onion, squid, shrimp, dried bonito flakes, bean sprouts and etc.

Moonlight Okonomiyaki includes squid, prawns and sliced pork with a fried egg on top. The yolk represents the "moon"!

We actually waited half an hour for our okonomiyaki! Look how busy the chef was!

The inital taste of okonomiyaki was fantastic! Crispy pancakes with lots of cabbage & onions inside. The prawn and squid was sooo fresh! Prawns were really sweet and crunchy. However, the okonomiyaki got a bit dry after being put on the hot plate for a while.

J & A's rating: 4/5

Next we went over to try out Tofu Steak Omu Rice ($9.80). Tofu steak was actually minced beef and mashed tofu patty.

The omu rice was much tastier than the moonlight okonomiyaki! Never knew that rice could be so delicious! The rice was flavoured with some sweet sauce which we've yet to figure out what was it. Tasted a bit like ketchup with teriyaki sauce? haha.. the mushroom and onions in the rice enhanced the its taste! If we had room for more, we will definitely order one more set! The tofu steak was super tender & juicy, drenched in some beef sauce with black pepper! We feel that it could be the tofu which made the patty softer!

J's & A's rating: 4.75/5

Manpuku Japanese Gourmet Town
10 Tampines Central 1
#03-16/19 Tampines 1

The Taiyaki VS Mr Obanyaki!

Food Tour Part IV
4th Item of our 1 day food tour was.....Taiyaki! Spotted this newly opened Taiyaki at Ion Orchard and we can’t resist buying one after seeing “Premium Azuki” as one of the flavours! The way they make the taiyaki is so different from the one at Takashimaya. Do have a look when you happened to be there! They have many exotic flavours which we have not seen before!

However we decided to get our Premium Azuki Taiyaki ($2)! We waited for sooooo long!
Finally it’s ready!

First bite...

The pancake was crispy but it tasted rather plain. However, it is definitely much thinner than other taiyakis. They spread only a thin layer of batter onto the mould before adding generous amount of fillings.

You can tell from the photo that the colour of the pancake was much lighter compared to Mr Obanyaki.
BUT, we do like the premium azuki red bean paste! Chunks of red beans were given generously and was not just the “paste” only itself! You can feel the individual azuki beans and even their skins in your mouth!
(A: We both love the azuki red beans here but I feel that I prefer Mr Obanyaki in Takashimaya. The pancake was more fragrant compared to the one at Ion Orchard. Why can’t I have the best of both worlds?! )

J's rating: 4.5/5 azuki red bean,
A’s rating: 4.25/5 azuki red bean, 3.5/5 taiyaki pancake alone

The Taiyaki @ Ion Orchard

Provence- Overly rated?

Food Tour Part I

Woke up early today to start our 1 day food tour! With high anticipation, we finally made our way to Provence at Holland Village!

Here are some of the bread that we’ve tried:

Provence No.1 best seller – Milk Pan

We got it straight from the oven! It was still hot when we eat it. However we feel that the bread was not soft enough. The milk custard was not bad though. Strong fragrance of milk when you bit into it. However we feel that the Raisin Cream Cheese Bun from barcook bakery was way better!

(J: Somehow, the combination of the salty bun with sweet milk custard did not appeal to me. I was also expecting the cream cheese to ooze out like hot lava when i bit into e milkpan but oh well. If i had not tried barcook before provence, i would probably have fallen in love with milk pan but e winner was clear upon comparing provence's milk pan with barcook's raisin cream.)

J's rating: 4/5, A’s rating: 3.75/5

Next, we had the blueberry bun.

The bread was much softer than the milk pan. More cakey in the texture.

(A: Actually I prefer this than the milk pan! Haha! Full of blueberry fillings!)

J's & A’s rating: 4/5

Black sesame cream cheese bun

Strong black sesame and cream cheese taste! The top was crispy and somewhat similar to that of a croissant. (A: The cream cheese flavour was just too strong for me. Don’t really like it.)

(J: The bun was tad too sticky n hard and the cream cheese felt like a cold cheese stick.)

J's & A’s rating: 3/5

And finally, the chocolate wassant.

The wassant is soft but it lacks the chocolately taste. It taste pretty normal for us.

(J: I was expecting a croissant size bun n boy, its really small!)

J's & A’s rating: 3.25/5

Conclusion??

Well, people have different taste & views for good food. Provence is not as fantastic as we thought. We won't go to holland v specially just for Provence but wouldnt mind dropping by if we r nearby. Luckily, Provence has stepped foot into Orchard Ion and we dont have to travel tt far anymore! So, we will just stick to our Barcook Bakery! Raisin Cream Cheese Bun! So addictive, so soft & so irresistible!!

Provence Bakery & Cafe

http://www.provence.com.sg/

Ochacha- Ohhh sooo goOd~ Ohhh sooo baD!

We’ve been to Ochacha a couple of times for their famous macha drink. Our favourite drink is Ochacha silk (green tea powder + soya milk) which is thick n creamy. Never ever order it in cold! The Ochacha silk will be diluted by the melting ice. We’re back again once more to try out other yummy goodies!

Ochacha Silk ($4.80)

*1 for 1 Mon – Fri from 3pm – 6pm!*

J's & A’s rating: 4.25/ 5

We ordered the matcha cotton cupcake BUT it was so disappointing!! Although it was green in colour, there was no matcha fragrance at all! In fact, it's tasteless. The texture of the cake is more of a sponge cake than a cotton cake. We did not even manage to finish half of the small cotton cake!

(A: I thought pandan chiffon cake was way nicer than this. Much softer, spongier & full of pandan flavour. LOL)

Matcha Cotton Cupcake $2.90

J's & A’s rating: 2/5

Now came our unexpected surprise!! With the discontentment we had earlier. This Sakura Egg Sandwich definitely lit up our evening!

Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80)

We were SPEECHLESS when we took the first bite.

Silence for a moment....

It was DELICIOUS! We can’t describe the taste BUT YOU GOTTA TRY IT! This was the BEST EGG SANDWICH we’ve ever tried! It’s an extraordinary egg sandwich! That’s why it tasted sooo good! The bread was so soft! Definitely softer than cedele’s bread! We can’t find any words to describe this sandwich bcos its neither sweet, sour, salty, spicy nor blah blah blah but the taste of it is certainly one of its kind... U can be sure that you will not end up in disappointment!

J's & A’s rating: 4.5/5

P/S: The prices r exclusive of 7% GST.

Ochacha

252 north bridge road

raffles city shopping centre,

#b1-44f singapore 179103

tel : +65 63335886

http://www.ochacha.com.sg

Mr Obanyaki- Yummy fish pancake!

We found a yummy japanese snack in Takashimaya! Tayaki!

Taiyaki is actually a Japanese fish-shaped cake made by using pancake batter. The batter is poured into a fish-shaped mold for each side. The filling is then put on one side and the mold is closed. It is then cooked on both sides until golden brown.

A: Janelle first introduced this to me when we were at Raffles City last week. Frankly speaking, I had never tried this fish pancake before. However, the Taiyaki at Raffles City Basement doesn't taste good. It was cold and sticky inside with very little azuki red bean paste. Janelle then told me that there is a better one right at Takashimaya!

The Taiyaki at Taka is so delicious! Crispy on the outside and soft inside. Most importantly, It was hot from the mold, filled with a generous amount of azuki red bean paste! I love it soo much! Other flavours that they have include chocolate and cheese. However I feel that Japanese sweet snack tasted best with azuki red bean!

J: I would have given a higher rating if i can bit the red beans from the red bean paste.

J's & A's rating: 4.5/5

Mr Obanyaki at Takeshimaya B2

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