Kusabi @ The Central, Clarke Quay

Located at Level 1 of The Central, this place is quite small in size. Attempt #2 to eat there. Went there at about 1+pm on a Saturday, and the place was practically empty except for another one or two occupied tables.

table setting

nice ambience

Nice to have the entire restaurant to yourself. Hahaa.

history/origin

limited offer menu

Our lunch time still qualified for the 'limited offer' even on a weekend, so we chose that. For the limited offer, we can select a bowl of ramen (half-size), then select a side dish and finally a drink/dessert from the list. All these for $12++. Not a bad deal mah, since ramen (full size) per bowl is already $9+ onwards.

My friend ordered Uobushi Tonkutsu Shoyu Ramen (add $2 to upsize back to normal size, otherwise it is half-sized), with unagi don as his half-side dish and a goma ice-cream for dessert. I had the Toribushi Ramen (chicken based soup) at half-size, side dish was gyoza, and orange juice for drinks. Added a plate of char shiu as well ('coz I was worried that they'll give me half piece of char siew for my half bowl ramen... which to my delight, it wasn't the case.. hahaha!)

chopsticks, awaiting to attack the ramen

Iced water was served without any fuss. Service was very good that day. Our friendly waitress was very polite and everytime she was about to serve us something, she'd say, "Shitsereishimasu" and she always have a smile on her face. Such a sweet girl.

After a short wait, our food arrived. Makan time!

half-sized toribushi ramen (bottom), regular sized uobushi ramen (top)

gyoza, drizzled with vinegar

Uobushi Ramen

Toribushi Ramen

Looking back at the ramen pictures, just realised that I forgot to take a picture of the noodles. Oops. The noodles for Uobushi and Toribushi are different. The soup for Uobushi (with fish powder/stock, I think) was an acquired taste. I liked my chicken-based soup Toribushi ramen more. It came with a piece of good sized charshiu and half an egg, and lots of spring onions. The noodles were springy and well-cooked, and soup was warm and just nicely salted. Gyoza was pretty run of the mill but its fillings were a tad dry. Perhaps need more vegetables.

chili oil

Add a few drops of the chili oil onto the noodles, and immediately, the taste was transformed. More kick! But be careful. Just a drop or two will do (per bite).

egg

yummy charshiu

The charshiu was mostly lean meat but it was tender with some fats at its side (yummy!), and has a nice smokey flavour (subtle). For the additional side dish @$5++, you get 3 pieces of charshiu.

serviettes served on a tray...

goma (sesame) ice cream at icy cold

It was a filling meal. Total costs came up to $36 for 2 pax.

Wild Oats @ Punggol Park

Located at Hougang Avenue 8, Punggol Park. My friends suggested this place, probably because it was opened by Chef Willin, one of Singapore's celebrity chefs. Hahaa, or rather, maybe I wanted to visit this place because of that! =P

We made reservations for the eve before National Day. Was late, but encountered no problems in pushing back the reservation time. Carpark space was scarce, so depends on your luck. Arrived at 8pm (original reservation time was 730pm), and there were many unoccupied tables.

main podium is first destination

The dining area seemed to be separated into 2 main areas. One that is near the water (where the podium is), and another that is its opposite side. The smoking area is not the one near the water and lush greenaries.

indoor

i was outside the glass door...

menu

The menu really really does have just a few items only... We ordered otah bruschetta, mushroom soup and chicken chop with garlic mayo sauce to share. For drinks, I had the 'Breeze in the Park'.

smoking area

dine by the waterfront

cutlery

order chits

It was pretty hard to get someone over to take our order. The service staff seemed to be quite focused on their task at hand...So, you just gotta wave harder...

mushroom soup

breeze in the park

otah bruschetta

Mushroom soup tasted quite healthy (maybe deemed as a little too bland for somebody). Not as thick as some other places but retained the nice wholesome flavour of mushroom. The cocktail tasted pretty diluted. Everyone on my table liked the otah bruschetta. Nicely spicy, goes well on toasted bread.

chicken chop with garlic mayo sauce

fries

The chicken chop (we chose garlic mayo sauce out of 3 options), was tender and juicy. The sauce was likeable but our breath probably smelled of garlic thereafter! Served with baked beans, chopped cabbage and shoestring fries. Overall, was quite yummy.

chendol

Chendol was sweet and refreshing on a warm night. The gula melaka was sticky and oh-so-yummy! Stir the whole thing till some of the ice melts, and it tasted even better. The red bean was neither too soft nor too hard. Just nice. Sweet, but not overly.

cranberry cooler (i think that was the name, not sure) non-alcoholic

finished the food, and the drinks and one of our friend was still not here yet...

mango margarita

Conclusion, the cocktails that I tried that night, all tasted pretty weak... Food was alright, but limited selection. We liked otah bruschetta and chendol.

The total bill was about $80+, and my share was $30 for 2 alcholic drinks, the food and desserts. Should have ordered the chicken wings.. because I was hungry again when I got home after that.

Hong Kong Street @ Novena

Been to this place a few times. Sometimes for lunch, sometimes for dinner. But almost with some certainty, there are just that few dishes that we ordered, over and over again. And, this place was always busy and bustling with diners.

signboard

utensils and chillies (not very spicy)

a glass of cold barley while waiting for the food

As usual, we ordered a large 'san lao he fen' or 'sam lou hor fun', 'har jiong gai' or prawn paste chicken and a fried fish noodle soup (small).

san lao he fen

closer view

San Lao He Fen, a pale white looking dish consisting of 'hor fun' (flat kway teow noodles), lots of beansprouts, and fish slices (non-fried) that doesn't score any points in the looks department, but tasted yummy! It has a good dose of 'wok-hei' (that smokey charred smell/taste of the strong wok fire). Unfortunately, the fish slices does taste quite bland.

'har jiong gai' (prawn paste chicken)

deep fried goodness

Prawn paste chicken doesn't taste very strong, served piping hot with crispy skin but inside was still moist, tender and juicy. Not overly salted, so can be eaten on its own. Smear it with some of the sambal chili and it's addictive.

In my haste to devour the food (was hungry!), realised that I didn't take any pictures of the fish bee-hoon soup. That dish is a favourite of another friend. It has milky soup base, with ginger and vegetables in it. The fried fish was chunky and meaty. Comfort food.

This meal fed 3 girls and 1 guy comfortably. Total cost was about $13 per pax.