Waraku @ The Central Clarke Quay

Located at Level 3, this place looked big from the outside, but it's a different story once you're inside. I've only visited the Marina Square branch before, hence yesterday was my first time at Waraku @ The Central.

Went there quite early at 530pm, so seats are a plenty. We were seated at one secluded section, and it was quite difficult to attract the attention of the waitresses.

hot green tea

We ordered beef yakiniku, shishamo, beef houba and sushi.

beef yakiniku don (regular)

There're 2 sizes to the rice item (if not wrong, same goes for noodles). Choose M or R. I guess M means medium for small eaters or half bowl, and R is regular sized meal. My friend liked his yakiniku don ($11.80++).

sushi

The sushi pieces were quite small, and each ala-carte order is 2 pieces. But I liked it nevertheless, the sushi felt a little warm, but the fish slices were firm to the bite. The wasabi looked mild, but it really packed a punch!

maguro sushi

hamachi sushi

shishamo

Frankly speaking, I've only tasted shishamo once, and that was in one of those sushi chains. I remembered it being skinny, and crispy. The shishamo here is somewhat different from the memory of the previous experience that I had. It's like a mini pan-fried fish (means not crispy), soft flesh and laden with roe.

beef houba

Beef houba was interesting as the beef pieces were grilled with miso bean paste ontop of a Japanese magnolia leaf.

the top and bottom part of the beef looked cooked but the inside is still raw

end product, cooked beef houba

The beef was tender, but it doesn't have the grilled taste. The shitake mushroom was nicely soft after it was cooked with the miso paste.

For dessert, we ordered vanilla shiratama (although IMHO, matcha would've been better).

vanilla shiratama

If not wrong, the shiratama refers to the white ball thingy that's glutinious rice balls. The dessert looks like oyster shell, with pearls in it. Cute, but the vanilla ice-cream was still frozen, so it was quite difficult to eat at first.

In total, the bill was $45 for 2 pax, after POSB/DBS 10% discount.

TCC @ Novena Square

The Coffee Connoisseur or simply known as TCC. It's around, everywhere. Visited its outlet at Novena Square during afternoon time. The temperature at the indoor seating area is warmer than the outside.

cafe facade

Ordered coffee affagato (ice-cream with expresso), TCC brew (coffee) and a dessert, "Dark Devotion" which is basically lava cake.

interesting writings on the napkin

The affagato looked a little different from what I remembered. Had it like a year ago at its Centerpoint outlet. The current version seemed to have more coffee.

affagato

The dessert arrived last, and it looked kinda pretty.

Dark Devotion

with vanilla ice-cream

raspberry

The cake ooozed with molten chocolate once the fork cut into it. Heavenly! This, you definitely need a spoon!

oozing with chocolatey goodness!

However, the dessert was kinda pricey at $11++. And, credit card promo does not apply on public holidays.

Sun With Moon Japanese Dining & Cafe @ The Central

Happened to pass by, and was enticed by the drinks at half price promo (currently running daily from 3pm till 8pm). Fancy a glass of wine @ $4.95++?

white wine (housepour)

They were also showcasing some dishes from Kyushu, so gave it a try. Kurobuta gyoza sounded good with the wine, so tried that.

kurobuta gyoza with chili oil dip

It was served in a hotplate, sizzling as it was placed onto the table. Hot and oily. And it has a saucer of chili oil dip that you'd normally see in a Chinese restaurant.

tiny parcels

not much vegetables

Hmm.. couldn't really tell the difference in the kurobuta gyoza and ordinary pork gyozas. Think I'd prefer the normal pork gyozas with lots of vege than this dryer pricier version. But the wine was nice..

Kazokutei @ Tokyo Walker Plaza Singapura

Kazokutei (originating from Osaka) is part of 5 brands banded as part of 'Tokyo Walker' at Level 4 Plaza Singapura. It specializes in handmade udon. I think there are many many ramen shops sprouting in Singapore, hence a udon shop seemed a little more special.

The shop itself is small, and seats are near one another. For people sitting back to back, it is very easy to feel the movement of the other party.

i can hear what you are saying...

our 4-seater

We visited on a public holiday at about 430pm. Early dinner, as we called it. The shop was not empty and there were about 4-5 seats occupied. However, most of the 4 seaters were placed with 'Reserved' sign.

menu

The menu is fairly simple. Udon + fried stuffs or udon + meat in shabu-shabu or sukiyaki style. We ordered the wagyu beef udon sukiyaki for 2 pax. I asked the service staff whether our table for 2 pax is big enough to place all the dishes. She agreed that it'll be kinda tight, so she offered to place us at one of the 'Reserved' seats for 4 pax. We got 'upgraded'! Haha. For tea, they only have houjicha but that's ok for us.

After a while, another waitress came and delivered 2 small servings of udon, 2 small bowl with raw egg inside, 1 plate of tori karaage (4 pieces), and 1 plate of wagyu beef slices. She said, "Beef shabu shabu?". We said, "No, we ordered wagyu beef sukiyaki." She looked at her order slip and said, "Beef shabu shabu, correct?" We showed her our order slip and said, "No, we ordered sukiyaki." Then she looked at our order slip and said, "Ya, ya... correct, beef sukiyaki. Sorry." -_-'''  Of course, the ingredients for both wagyu beef shabu shabu and sukiyaki are the same with the exception of the broth. But still...It'll be good if the waitress know what she's bringing to the customer.

So she plonked the stuffs on our table and walked off. The udon came cooked because there were steam rising from it. At this moment, there was no soup nor mini gas cooker on our table. So we decided to be patient for a while, and started nibbling on our tori karaage. Very soon, we had finished the cooked food item (except the udon of course). I stared at the raw food and looked at my friend. Then we called the person who took our order and enquired where is our pot to cook the meat. She replied that it'll be coming soon. So she brought the mini gas cooker out and placed it on our table. About 2 minutes later, the soup came (with the other ingredients such as vege, tofu and mushrooms already inside), and she did apologize for the delay. Then we waited for the pot to come to a boil. Very soon, we realize, we don't have any bowls nor spoon. So once again, had to inform the waitress. She said, "Oh ya! Hehe.. "

raw wagyu beef

handmade udon

Came in individual servings in cute little basket

raw egg

skinny tori karaage

sukiyaki

The food itself is not bad. The sukiyaki was not overly sweet, but we're not sure why the ingredients came already cooked in the soup as the picture in the menu showed the tofu, mushrooms and vege as fresh items. The udon was nice, good chewiness and smooth. And it was long! Hahaa, signs of handmade goodness? The beef was fatty and doesn't taste much like the beef that I know. My exposure to wagyu is considered novice level.

closer view of the ingredients: carrots, vege, leek, golden mushroom, shitake, tofu

 The soup ingredient was really catering to 2 pax as we found 2 pieces of tofu and 2 pieces of shitake mushroom. Ok, all accounted for!~


We didn't have much stuff that required dipping into the beaten raw egg, so we poured the rest of it into the soup towards the end of our meal.

soup with the egg flower

Total cost of the meal was about $32. I just realized that I was so hungry to the extent that I had forgotten to take a picture of wagyu when cooked. Oops, missed.

Pho House @ Suntec City

Located at Level 3 near Toy's R Us Suntec. It's where a small colony of restaurants exist close to one another.

shop front

It was an impromptu decision to have Vietnamese food that night. We were there at about 8pm on a Saturday. Their menu board displayed the set meal combinations available. If not wrong, there were a total of 17 sets to choose from. The formula was pretty simple. Have a set meal at $13++, and you can choose 1 appetiser (either spring roll or rice roll), 1 main course (either noodles or rice) and 1 drink (either ice-lemon tea or Vietnamese drip coffee).

Once decided to eat there, we were led to our table very quickly and I think it's because there weren't many customers, they gave 2 tables for us 2 pax. Haha, spacious. My friend ordered a satay chicken rice set while I chose pho bo. Both of us ordered prawn rice roll as appetiser. For drinks I had ice-lemon tea, while my friend chose a Vietnamese drip coffee.

hoi-sin sauce at the bottom left, and vietnamese fish sauce with chili at the top

prawn rice roll (goi cuon)

The fresh spring roll was nice. Light and refreshing. I liked it dipped in the chili fish sauce. Mildly sweet and not salty at all. Basil leaves in the spring roll gave it that extra oomph. Fragrant.

satay chicken rice

salad with chicken strips

satay chicken

Tasted a little of the satay chicken, and it was quite salty. Probably need to eat it together with the rice.

pho bo

beef balls, beef 'steak' and beef brisket

dipping sauce, basil and taugeh

noodles

The Pho Bo, I like! Tasty broth that was light yet flavorful and served hot. Yums! The beef brisket was tender and breaks easily when chewed. The beef balls were heavenly. Soft and tasted like it was handmade. However, the beef 'steak' was tougher and if you like chewy meat, then this one is for you. For me, I'll just go with the beef balls and beef brisket. Actually the waitress will ask which combination of ingredients you want to be in the pho bo. Either just beef balls, or beef balls and steak or everything. Maybe can ask for just beef balls and brisket? ;)

Vietnamese drip coffee

with condensed milk

My friend commented that the Vietnamese coffee served here is not strong enough. I didn't try it, so guess my dear readers have to gauge it for yourself. Mine was ice-lemon tea and it was pretty thin. But I'm not complaining as it was cooling on a warm night. When my glass had just a bit of the ice tea left, the uncle (who is a service staff there) came around and asked if I wanted a refill. Hmmm, I didn't know whether it was chargeable or not, so I declined. I was chit-chatting with my friend after dinner, and we sat there for about another 10 minutes or so. This time I had drunk all of the ice tea. The uncle came around again with the ice tea plastic jug, and offered to refill some. So I said ok. Conclusion is, the refill was free. Hahaa!

A meal here for two pax should costs under $30. Good comfort food, and friendly staff. Not the best in terms of quality, but good enough to warm the stomach and heart.