Chili Padi @ Bugis

This one's located opposite the Pet Shop at the corner of Bugis Junction's air-conditioned street, hidden from view by the bus stop in front of it.

What's not so hidden when you walk to the front of this small restaurant is the buffet spread that is laid out next to the glass window.

Walking into the retaurant will get you greeted immediately by a few smiling ladies dressed in orangey-red batik tops.

My all-time favourite here is the pork belly soup (or affectionately known as 猪肚汤 in cantonese.

Simple buffet style offering a range of peranakan and chinese cuisines. Curry, Pork Belly Soup, kueh kueh topped with coconut shavings and fruit & jelly desserts are always on the menu here.

Highly recommended if you're thinking of paying abit more for a nice meal (but definitely not more than a standard restaurant. Chili Padi's home-cooked style will definitely appeal to people like me who miss home cooked meals.

I spent about $15 per person for dinner.

Sushi Tei @ Holland Village

This one's a two-storey building among the row of restaurants opposite the hawker center in Holland Village, and they don't take lunch reservations, so people interested in dining here can just do the walk-in.

Ground floor is the area where the sushi conveyor belt runs around the first thing that greets your sight immediately when you walk in - the lobster tank.

We were immediately led to the 2nd floor where the standard dining area is and I was surprised to find a nice corner with tatami style flooring.

When we got down to ordering, the nice colourful menu had many pages of different styles of Japanese Dining, such as Nabemono, Sushi, Makimono, Sashimi, and many more!

It took quite a long time for the food to be served, though. The wait was seemingly excruciatingly long for a hungry man, even though the restaurant only seemed 80% full.


Cha Soba - They put 3 ice cubes under the noodles to make it look like there's a big helping, but still left me feeling hungry after I had finished it. No quail egg here, too. $7


Nabemono.



Tofu Mentai Cheese - This one is a MUST TRY. The Mentaiko (明太子) is the spicy roe of the pollock fish, and can found in both Japanese and Korean fare. This one is tofu coated in mentaiko and topped with a generous helping of cheese. Try it yourself, bet you'll like it! $10.



Sashimi - The saving grace for this restaurant would be the fresh sashimi. Although I reckon we didn't really get a good cut of Maguro this time round (flesh was tearing apart at the lines), the Hamachi and Salmon were neatly cut into THICK slices and they tasted fresh and tantalizing! Good thing about Sushi Tei is that they allow you to make a choice from different combinations of sashimi, e.g 3, 4 or 5 slices at different prices. The different combinations also feature a wide array of selection for sashimi, even the rarer ones like sea urchin (Uni), amaebi and many others. 5 slices - $22

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The Shishamo here was disappointing though, as it was only served in plates of 2 pieces.

I spent about $28 per person.

Tampopo @ Liang Court

Decided to have our lunch at Tampopo at Liang Court today, and we were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant was not full as expected, and we managed to get a table immediately. Staff were courteous, as usual, and the menus were informative and full of pictures.





Jo had a bowl of famous Kyushu Pork Bone Black Pig Soup Ramen. This one's the specialty of this restaurant and is highly recommended by thehumblegourmet.



I ordered the Zaru Soba and was surprised to see that they had given me a big serving of buckwheat noodles.


Salmon skin is a MUST TRY here! The salmon skin is fried to a crisp, served with mayonnaise and sprinkled with spicy powder and sesame seeds.


Sashimi Mix Platter B - This one costs $35 and consists of Maguro (Tuna),Sake (Salmon), Tako (Octopus), Hamachi (Yellow Tail) and most of all, my favourite Mekajiki (Swordfish). The sashimi was extremely fresh, probably cos it was a Tuesday (any jap foodie worth his salt would know why). They were cut into thick slices, and for each fish there were about 3 slices. Wasabi was very good too - powerful, mind-blowing, nasal-clearing stuff!


Hokkaido Shishamo - Jo liked this alot!


Agedashi Tofu - Yummy stuff!


Uni and Amaebi Sushi - Uni(Sea Urchin) tasted soft and heavenly, and the amaebi came with the prawn head too! Sublime...

The overall experience was very gratifying, and definitely a place to come back and visit again in future!

I give it (8 out of 10).

Well Done!

I spent about $42 per person.

Tampopo can be located at the Ground Floor of Liang Court, right next to the main lobby of the Novotel Hotel.

Kyoto Sabo Aji-Tei @ Plaza Singapura

Had dinner there with an old friend of many years, and we were greeted immediately by some polite staff at the door, which is the usual standard expected of Japanese Restaurants here.

The restaurant is not too huge, but the "darker-than-usual" ambience is good for couples looking to have a nice, quiet meal there.

Food is pretty affordable, too.

The Salmon (cooked) meal. Salmon was done quite well, not too oily, not too dry, just right, and able to retain the original taste of the salmon.

My Hokkaido Scallops Spaghetti with Cream Sauce. The spaghetti and cream sauce was the usual taste but the highlight here is, of course, the Hokkaido Scallops.


Close up of the Hokkaido Scallops, which tasted very fresh and tasty.

I spent about $25 per person.

Kyoto Sabo Aji Tei can be located at Plaza Singapura, Unit #02-01.

Hanabi Restaurant @ King's Arcade

Hanabi is located in the corner of King's Arcade along Bukit Timah Road, and you've gotta take the filter lane where BT Road meets Farrer Road to reach there. If you had taken the flyover over Farrer Road, good luck trying to navigate your way back to King's Road via Empress Street.

Parking at King's Arcade is strictly residential only, so you can try parking at Coronation Plaza or the carpark directly opposite Hanabi.

We were immediately greeted a la Jap style when we entered the restaurant, and we were pleasantly surprised that there wasn't a full house of noisy patrons, as we had expected from Hanabi's reputation. The lady boss seemed very nice and helpful, and was also thankful that we were taking photos of our food to help her publicize her restaurant!

Decor of the place





The jar of flowing water next to our table... very therapeutic.




Sushi Bar at the corner


招财猫！


Cheese Chawanmushi! <-- DIE DIE MUST TRY!!!

This one brings tears to my eyes as the flavour of cheese blends in perfectly with the steamed egg here and there's even a cheezy surprise at the bottom - half melted mozarella! Definitely a MUST TRY for cheese fanatics like me. =D


Kushi-style (on-a-stick) Shishamo

This one was grilled to perfection, as the size of the shishamo was larger than the usual you get at those less-than-proper Japanese Restaurants. As usual, my favourite part of this fish is the head (surprisingly not the eggs).


Zaru Soba

This one tasted quite the usual, but the texture of the buckwheat noodles was a little different as there was some degree of chewy-ness. Missing a quail egg, though.


Sashimi Moriawase (Mix Platter)

This one is the perennial must-have for me - the main reason I'm being recognised by my fellow authors as Mr Sashimi(which obviously speaks for itself). The sashimi was very fresh, as usual on tuesdays, but there was an obviously larger portion of salmon to make up for the significantly fewer pieces of Maguro. Another downside is that they do not serve Mekajiki(Swordfish) here.

La Forketta - Ristorante Italiano

Finally my post is up! Hahaha!



Went to this Italian restaurant at Dempsey Hill with Vijay and Jonathan. (Been planning to go out for lunch since forever but the weather...) La Forketa is just around the corner of our workplace. So near yet so far, considering that we walked there and back. Haha. But its good for our digestive system since its a really heavy meal. Went there intending to have Ben and Jerry's for dessert. But end up... too bloated to eat after the 3 course meal. LOL!

The place is very classic, decorated with a very "open" concept. Very different from the only other Italian restaurant (Michelangelo's) which I had been to. But nice all the same.


Tea.


Breads.


Salt and pepper and ??? I have no idea whether that is a display "flower" or lettuces for us to eat. =X

My Order


Minestrone soup.
Very unlike other minestrone soup which I have tried before. Minestrone soup, as I know it, should be orange-y in colour. This, however is towards the light yellow side. It may look creamy but it isn't. The generosity of vegetables in the soup make sure that I enjoy it down to the very last mouthful.


Spaghetti with clams.
More famously know as Spaghetti Vongole. This is a must-try for me! I love spaghetti. I love clams. I love it more when these two are served together in white wine! Need I say more? Haha. One thing I must say is that this restaurant is definitely not stingy with its food! There are like, endless amount of clams! I eat and I eat and I eat and I eat and there still are more for me to eat! =P Overall, this dish is very nice though not spicy enough in my case. Hence even though this dish is up to standard, I still prefer New York New York's Spaghetti Vongole just because its spicier. Haha.


Tiramisu!!!


And a closer look.. *drools*
The texture of all Tiramisu which I have tried before is like normal cake. Hard, not soft. But this cake is creamy! I can literally feel it melt the moment I put it into my mouth! Really tasty with just a hint of alcohol!

Vijay's Order


Bruchetta with Cheery Tomatoes


And a closer look...

Vijay: The bread was crisp and drizzled with just the right amount of olive oil. There was also a sprinkle of dried Italian herbs for its distinctive flavour. The cherry tomatoes, however, were overwhelming but gave the dish its body. Overall, it is a healthy eat, and an excellent starter!



Penne Pasta with Salmon

Vijay: Do not be fooled by its unflattering looks! The sauce is actually cooked salmon, blended, and mixed into the penne pasta. The pasta was cooked to perfection, as was the salmon sauce. The salmon sauce was rich and when mixed into pasta, proved to be a sizable portion, fit for anyone who's terribly hungry!


Warm Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Sauce

Vijay: The cake was warm and it was made with dark chocolate! It was more towards the bitter than sweet, but it was well paired with the sweet chocolate sauce. It was an ideal way to end your gastronomical adventure, at La Forketta!

I love this cake too!!! =P

Jonathan's Order



Tuna salad.


Roasted Pork (I think)


Cheesecake with raspberry sauce.

Its nice. And seeing that I'm not a huge fan of cheesecake, this is high praise! LOL!

And with this, our meal came to an end. =) A restaurant worth trying!