Itacho Sushi @ ION Orchard

Located at B2 of ION Orchard towards Paterson Link. The queue was still ok for a Saturday evening (around 645pm), and we got seated after waiting for about 10-15 minutes. Saying yes to counter seats means shorter waiting time ;)




Had a clear view of the sushi master, who was all smiles and had lively exchanges with his staff (kitchen and service crew). Sushi master spoke some Japanese some Cantonese, while his kitchen crew were mostly speaking in Cantonese.


sushi master at work


colorful bottles of sake


The sushis are priced at per piece and ranges from below $1 to above $6.


plump looking scallop sushi


Was imagining luscious oily texture for the fatty tuna mini rice, but it turned out to be something quite different. The tuna was finely minced, and served in an glass saucer. I think the rice portion was probably 2-2.5 times of the amount of rice on one piece of sushi. Not alot, so it's just for sampling. It is very clean tasting, and eating it with wasabi soy sauce gives it more kick.


fatty tuna mini rice (does the glass saucer look like an ashtray?)


unagi mini rice


foie gras sushi


eel sushi ($6)


The eel (anago?) sushi looked impressive, and it tasted real soft.. but somehow, I didn't quite like it.


As usual, I will always want to try yellow tail sushi in all sushi joints! The sushi looked quite 'thin', but the hamachi meat was plump and has adequate oil to it. The small dollop of greenish thingy on top of it, tasted somewhat like a citrus zest.


hamachi sushi (i like~)


jack mackerel


My dining companion commented that the california maki here didn't taste quite like what he tried in Tokyo. Well, no comments on that since I didn't try any from there. The crunchy tiny egg roe lining the outerside of the maki was a perfect foil to the soft rice.


california maki, with tiny crunchy roe


saury, fatty aburi salmon and ark shell sushi


They're having a 50% discount promotion for salmon in soy sauce (originally was $0.80 per piece).


aburi salmon in soy sauce, must try!


The aburi salmon in soy sauce was cheap and good! It's yummy when eaten together with the raw onion slice. Recommended!

Tokyo Eats

When I was in Tokyo Dec 2009, the weather was cold, and it made one crave for a bowl of steaming hot ramen! We were staying at the Monterey Hanzomon Hotel, and nearby was a soba stall manned by an elderly couple. The joint is self-service, and you buy the ticket from the vending machine outside of the restaurant and then pass the slip of paper with the name of the dish that you ordered to the chef, and he'll prepare it for you. Seating is limited but there were two tables to eat while standing.


yasai soba


The yasai (vegetable) soba was very affordable at 290 yen only ;)

I wanted to try ramen but didn't have the chance till stumbled upon a stall in Asakusa. It was also those vending machine type, so one basic bowl of chashu ramen was just 300 yen or so.


ramen at Asakusa


As we were travelling with kids, we ate alot of fastfood. Macs in Tokyo, do not have plastic bag. Only paper bags are available. And remember to separate the trash before throwing them into the correct bins!


no big breakfast, but got muffins and stuffs


pokemon~!


need no further introduction...


juicy pork patty with peppery taste


at Yoshinoya Harajuku, with kimchi side dish


beef bowl


Tried Gindaco, and it most certainly didn't taste like the one in ION...


yummy tako balls!


with custard fillings


The most expensive dish that I ate was at Tsukiji. Ordered a sushi set that cost 800 yen. Haha, ya.. not THAT expensive ok.


sushi set


maguro


with some fats


lots of these tamago in Tsukiji.. the ones with mentaiko not bad


On most days, we da bao those cheap bento box from our neighbourhood shop.


fried chicken cutlet rice, for only 390 yen!


crispy cutlet!


stir fried beef bowl (chinese style)


think this one is like those new year bento.. but the fish wasn't good...


Maybe next time, can go for those more luxurious eats? Haha!

Eating Out in Kajang

Back home, breakfast is usually, eating outside food. On weekends, my sis would go to the market, so our dad drives us to eat either in Kajang or Sungai Chua which is slightly further away.


Da Ji at Sungai Chua


Usually, I like to order a cup of coffee and chee cheong fun. The cheong fun in Malaysia, in a way, is more fun (sic) to eat! Why? Because you can mix it with yong tau foo stuffs, and put a little sweet sauce, chili sauce and curry sauce mix and a dash sesame on top, voila! A hearty breakfast!


chee cheong fun


wanton noodles soup


My dad likes this hawker centre, "Happy Cafe". Haha!


rows of stalls


And, he likes food that are not good for you! Such as char kway teow (laden with oil!) and curry (heaty!).


char kway teow


curry noodles, with juicy see-hum (cockles)


The prawn noodles in Malaysia is different from those in Singapore. There's more variety in terms of taste as compared to those in Singapore which tends to be more cleaner tasting on the palate.


prawn noodles, shioks!


i like the soup!


There's a eating place nearer to the Kajang market, and it is only open at night. That place is called 'Da Zhong', and there's this stall that sells BBQ chicken wings. The chicken wings here is cooked upon order, so expect to wait for about 15 mins. This is a must-try!


yummy chicken wings


Another thing to try, is the nasi lemak from any roadside stall (but pick a hygenic one la..). I'd order it with hard boiled egg, sambal see-hum (cockles), peanuts, and anchovies sambal. Of course, if it's my dad ordering, he'd add one piece of chicken. But of course, in this case, the nasi lemak will then be around RM$4-RM$5 per pack.



looks messy, but taste good!




Don't forget to try the zhi-char in Malaysia, and order the black black hokkien mee.


a plate of glistening black hokkien noodles




However, my mom prefers the Cantonese fried noodles.


Yuan Yang Cantonese noodles, where the noodles are beehoon (deep fried) and hor fun


Don't forget to try these dishes, if you're in the vicinity! ;)

Saizeriya Ristorante E Caffe

Located at Level 2 of Liang Court, the restaurant looked serene from the outside, but once inside, the ambience seemed to be very very noisy. We went there on a Friday night, and need not wait long before the service staff found us a table. Next to us was a very large group of diners (probably around 10 pax), comprised mostly of youngsters. Conversation in normal volume would be near impossible!

Spied other diners ordering the finger food such as sausages, chicken wings and escargots. Male diners were seen tucking into hamburg or steaks.

My table ordered gratin bacon (shouldn't it be bacon gratin?) and hamburg (beef with pickled vegetable). Add another $2.58++ for free flow of drinks from the drink bar.

The gratin ($7.18++) was baked penne with milk, cheese, bacon and tomato sauce. If guys were to eat this one, then probably have to add their foccaccia bread or order some finger food, otherwise, the portion might not be enough. Hamburg ($7.18++) arrived quite late. Beware of the very salty brown sauce (tasted like shoyu mix) served alongside. Quite oily but the hamburg was juicy and tender. And the sweet corn was enjoyable.



gratin


penne, soft and cheesy


hamburg


juicy, tasty beef patty!


loved the sweet corn!


Service staff were courteous but if you're seated at some corner, then it might be quite difficult to catch their attention since they're quite focused in serving the food and the noise doesn't help. Empty plates were cleared quickly. The air conditioning at some areas were quite strong. Brrr!

The drinks bar had orange juice, milo ice, barley and lime, plus the usual suspects of gassy drinks, tea bags (mint, camomile etc) and a coffee machine that can spew out latte, cappucino and coffee.


free flow orange juice from the drinks bar


Good for the budget conscious.