Sun Japanese Dining @ CHIJMES

It was my birthday and i was dying for Japanese food, my good friend bought me dinner and we had a wonderful time.

Food was good and flavourful, though not authentically japanese. Rather it caters more to singaporean taste.Great for night out with friends and lots of reasonably priced sake,

Sashimi....

Salmon & Scallop carpaccio

Tamago sushi

Squid stuffed rice

Egg glorious eggs in dashi broth....

Sun salad with bacon, avocado

Last of all, my favourite unagi. This is really not bad as you can taste the smokiness on the unagi....love!

Horse Mouth @ Forum Shopping Center

This was a specially discovered place when I went to dine at Uma Uma Ramen. A trap-door unveils and lo & behold....a downstairs discreet izakaya bar in the middle of Orchard Road. So I went back there to try again, and food wise, it is very good and delicate, though I think they can go a long way to lowering the prices.....coz this is not Kaiseki....its just izakaya.....Enjoyed the sake there though and the absolutely hilarious conversations with the bartenders  -'aka the dynamic duo of Orchard Road' ( self styled I presume)

Love the graphics of the menu

Grilled dried Salmon - instead of Eihire, we got this...pleasantly surprised...it retains the taste of salmon, yet with a smokey flavour not unlike jerky.

Me being the ultimate bitch - ask for glass & ceramic sake cups...to see if the sake breathes better in the unglazed bizen sake cup.

Pork Belly Skewers - this is very very well done. Absolutely yummy.

Daikon Salad -the daikon is very sweet......otherwise I though the dressing is a tad oily.

Tsukune - first time my tsukune is not on a skewer, it taste more like a broiled chicken ball. Not bad, it has a rather delicate taste.

Stewed beef with veges - this is really lovely...the proportion of fat is just right. Though a bit pricy for the type of food, it is nonetheless very delicious.

We had a cocktail......I should say, I was very very impressed with this one.

'Dynamic Duo of Orchard Road ' - youngsters nowadays....... :)

The decor was pretty amazing, and its not bad for a gathering of friends, and if you want someplace with a bit mystery.....

Keisuke Tokyo @ Millenia Walk

After an old friend mentioned that his absolute fav ramen in town is the kani ramen. I went in search of the legendary challenger that is supposed to beat my favourite Nansuttei . They just happened to be next-door competitors.....

Ok the throwndown:

1) Broth - the Kani broth is really good, I must say...not too oily and really savoury.

2) Noodles - the thick flat noodles they use...hmmmm is their weak link. The think noodles probably works very well in winter tokyo...but in the heat of SG, most people would rather match the rather heavy tasting soup with a lighter and more QQ noodles. Unlike Nansuttei's version ( which seems to me still an amazing combo) , it feels a tad heavy towards the end. No lingering aftertaste or aftertexture to be exact.

3) Others - they do decent gyoza too......love their egg, and the extra beansprout.

Conclusion : go to Nansuttei first, if the queue is too long, head towards here. There are many varieties of ramen ( Shio, Shoyu , Tonkotsu..) so I would like to try one of the other variations and update more.

It is supposed to be a famous shop from Tokyo, so you can see the reference photos they post of their main Tokyo outlets.

Love the touch of garlic & season beansprout.

The thick flat noodles I was talking about, and the thick rich broth.

Pity they don't have one where the noodles are either thinner or more springy

Nicely pan-fried gyoza

Nansuttei @ Millenia Walk

This is a place recommended by my japamaniac sister. So I went there after gym to reward myself for my interval training session.....

This has got to be the best ramen I tasted as far in Singapore....

Broth - very good, actually it has a lot of oil...but I just can't taste the oil...it is savoury, rich and yet leaves a soothing aftertaste.
Noodles - a bit doughy, though I prefer the QQ type noodles...this type does go well with the rich broth
Others - no funky business, just good delicious ramen.

There are two ramen shops in Parco at Millenia Walk, just look out for this logo, and the long queue of people behind.

Big fan of this Negi Ramen - Leeks are sooo crunchy and delicious, soup is greeeatt.

The noodles , usually not my favourite type , goes superbly well with the broth

Did I mention about the gyoza? Oh yes, its a must-try....they have one of the best Japanese gyozas in town. The meat very fresh, and skin very bouncy, it all tasted so fresh. Yum!

Nirai Kanai @ Liang Court

Nirai Kanai was a place I used to frequent in my previous existence in Singapore. Then it was at Far East Complex ( now not sure what it is )....Orchard Road seems like an alien place to me..:(

Well, I found it in Liang Court Basement, and remember the good times I had with my friends drinking Shochu and pigging out....

I guess coz I was eating too much good Japanese food in HK (see my post on my all-time favourite HK okinawan joint Raku-en) , my taste buds had sadly grown out of Nirai Kanai. Though I used to think it great, my current sense is that it is just pretty average.

The decor is pretty quaint, and I saw loads of Japanese family there.

Bittergourd is one of Okinawa's specials - so stir-fried bittergourd with eggs , tofu and pork is a very well-known dish. Its good, but not great. I really prefer Raku-en.

Peanut Tofu - Always like this

Bittergourd tempura Ramen- the bittergourd tempura taste great, but the soup and ramen are too salty, and couldn't beat some of the ramen joints around town.

Saving grace - their little amuse-bouches are very yummy. Meat miso paste ( to be eaten with rice) & pickled daikon :) makes my day any time

Sabo Ten @ Millenia Walk

Sabo Ten seems to be popping up everywhere, I saw them at Hong Kong & Taipei when I was there last month.........The photographs looks really good, and my japanmanic sister and family swear that it is the best Tonkatsu you can find in singapore...so why not give it a try.

Things I love:
1) The sesame which you can mix with the tonkatsu sauce...gives it such nutty fragrance, and bits of texture
2) never ending supply of fresh crunchy cabbage - the shiso soya sauce dressing is in my opinion, much more tastier than the sesame dressing.
3) never ending supply of delicious Japanese rice - very yummy rice. Like the ones i used to buy in HK, 1 kg for 40 SGD....you get the idea.

Things I don't love so much:
1) they serve only fried stuff......in this enlightened age of low calories diet...what do you do.... well....order a variety of different fried stuff and enjoy the above ( see 'Things i love').

Good place to bring kids of 10-12....they love the fried stuff, and would be good to initiate them to raw cabbage too :)

The ubiquitous Sabo ten logo - you can find it in the airport too!

The crunchy and delicous raw cabbage, which acts as a counter-balance to the deeep-fried set lunch.

Grind the sesame seeds first - I heart this

Then add the tonkatsu sauce on top, this you have to eat with the Tonkatsu

I ordered tenderloin with asparagus with cheese & chicken and a crab cream croquette...all deep fried. But it is really not greasy.......though it did not reach the perfection of balance and harmony I aspired in all my meals.

The lunch was great, I really enjoy it....I do wish that there were more non-deep fried things.....got a mini ulcer straight after the meal......

Ippudo Tao @ Mohemmed Sultan Road

Ramen is always a good place to go if you are having dinner with younger men, it fills them up and keeps them fairly entertained.

Ippudo Tao have great soup base and very chewy noodles....the noodles are flatter - a bit like mee pok but with a ramen chewiness.

a place I would definately go again, with or without a younger man!

Beautiful restaurant setting though I am not sure the semi-outdoor concept is conducive for ramen in Singapore. I can imagine that its great to have a hot steaming bowl of ramen in winter Japan......but in SG, you need AC to create that same feeling...

The one with normal Tonkotsu Broth - yummy

Black Sauce Ramen - broth so delicious...and see the noodles in the flatter mee pok fashion....love it. And not too much frills in their ingredients - some black fungus, scallions, egg & char siew.....Yum!

Men Tei @ Robinson Road

This place looks like they serve bad ramen......but actually to the contrary, I really like their ramen. The broth is tasty and not as oily and heavy as some others. You can taste the depth of the kelp and bonito based. The noodles are very 'al dente', very nice....on top of that, you don't have to queue like mad to get in....

truely a little gem in the middle of CBD.

Menu again!

I was captivated by the description of the noodles and their famous char siew....unfortunately, I order one without the char siew, and ask for all kinds of veges instead.

I had the shio ramen, which is the lightest tasting of the lot. This really did not disappoint. I am hesitant to try shio ramen in singapore because, not many places understand the subtle flavour of sea salt. This place does it pretty well........maybe they use hakata sea salt.

En Bar@ Mohemmed Sultan Road

I first went to En Bar, introduced by a friend ( who have sadly pass away very young), so I always remember this place because of him.


It was one of the first real Okinanwan izakaya joints in SG even before the common people knew what izakaya was....now they are all over the place though....


So then En Bar serves amazing food, great ambience, great alcohol, great owner ( I remembered a balding Jap guy)......


And now, sadly, standards did not really keep up. Most food was alright, though super not expensive, and the sake is very cheap there...........It could be a nice place if you want to drink more than you eat.........

Theres so much dishes to choose from

Tuna Carpaccio - love the spring onions and yuzu sauce....but really lacks a bit of depth....but really not bad for casual food.

One fav test for izakayas - if their 'tsukune' are up to scratch....though this looks a bit unusual, it doesn't taste that memorable.

Squid ink noodles - This is alright

KimChi Tofu - very average though...

Cod in sweet mirin & soya sauce - the cod is a bit too soft....so was a tad disappointed, was hoping that it could be a bit more firm

Gyoza! Not too bad, but not mind blowing.........