Yuzuya @ Upper Thomson Road

Located along Upper Thomson Road near Thong Soon Avenue, Yuzuya is a Japanese ala-carte buffet restaurant. We endured massive jam on the SLE on a Friday night in an attempt to dine there. On the night of our visit, the restaurant sees few other diners and it was quiet.

House of Yuzu

The buffet is priced at about $29++ per adult for dinner and drinks are charged separately. The menu includes appetisers, grilled items, sushi, sashimi, tempura items, noodles and rice dishes. Most of the items comes in 1 piece or 1 stick per order. So the friendly waitstaff will ask for the quantity to be served at the point of order. Some of the items such as tori karaage will come in 3 pieces per order. For drinks, my table ordered yuzu citrus and ocha. Note that only ocha (green tea) is refillable. Alcoholic drinks such as sake/beer are available as well. Non alcoholic drinks are priced between $1 ~ $3.50.

The hot yuzu citrus drink was pleasantly sweet with some yuzu bits at the bottom of the mug.

Our strategy in ala-carte buffet seemed to be this: Order small quantity of the items that we wanted to try, and afterwards make a reorder if we liked it. We were there in the restaurant at about 830pm, and left at about 10pm. So we made probably just 3-4 rounds of ordering. Last order was at about 930-940pm.

Ordering of sashimi items in any Japanese ala-carte seemed almost mandatory. I view it as a more cost effective method to enjoy sashimi in quantity. The sashimi available for order were: salmon, red snapper, yellow tail, tuna and octopus.

tai (red snapper), hamachi (yellow tail) and sake (salmon) sashimi

salmon

The hamachi and salmon sashimi were sliced in adequate thickness, but the tai sashimi came in really really small pieces. Sashimi quantity was also 1 piece per order, so do indicate to the friendly waitstaff if you'd like to have more in that serving. I noticed that for our last order, the salmon sashimi came in thicker slices. For buffets, it would be better to eat the sashimi right after it was served, as the freshness level dips if left out on the table for longer period of time.

Items that we enjoyed but ordered just once:

beef

hot soba

baby octopus

potato cheese croquette

Items that I didn't try:

mekajiki (swordfish) sushi

garlic rice

fried sweet potato

Items that were not in my reorder list:

ebi tempura

gyoza

 shitake mushroom wrapped with pork belly (grilled)

The ebi tempura was just ok, with quite a thick coating of tempura batter on somewhat not so big prawns. The gyoza was really thin with little filling, while the grilled pork belly wrapping the mushroom was tough, and has a very hard to bite/chew skin.

Items that we enjoyed and reordered:

chicken yakitori

deep fried tebasaki (chicken wings)

grilled shishamo and mushroom

tori karaage

The chicken yakitori was tender and nicely marinated. The tebasaki although appeared quite flat and thin, was nicely marinated. The grilled mushroom was not much of a looker but it tasted good (if you like mushrooms!) with a heavy funghi scent that's almost as heady as alcohol. Shishamo tends to be heavily salted here, so you might want to just scrape off some of the salt before tucking in.  Tori karaage has a light batter coating, adequately flavored and it was juicy. The grilled chicken balls (tsukune) has a good texture and easy to chew.

Almost all of the grilled/fried items needed to be eaten right after it was served, as it would harden if left too long on the table.

There was a 11% discount for the buffet (excluding drinks) when paid using DBS/POSB card. So the bill came up to about $33 per pax.

Sushi Tei @ Vivocity

Located at Level 2, this outlet seem to be crowded during lunch time almost everytime that I passed by. Decided to drop in for lunch today, and queued for about 10 minutes before getting seated.

Currently it is having an Autumn Promotion where you can get to try fugu fish! However, it was a tad too expensive (and probably luxurious) to have that item for lunch, so we decided to just order a Matsutake Dobinmushi from the autumn promo menu. Also ordered a Kan Buri sushi (coldest season yellow tail sushi) to try from its Kan Buri Promotion menu.

As we were in the mood for sushi, we ordered nama hotate, salmon belly, hon maguro (blue fin tuna), mekajiki and sea welk sushi.

dobinmushi, served with a slice of lime

I've always heard of Matsutake mushrooms when watching Japan Hour, so it piqued my interest in this breed of mushroom. The taste of Matsutake was not as strong as anticipated. Kind of woody and has a nice scent. The soup was clear and light flavoured. Enjoyable.

Matsutake mushroom!

When eating sushi, how can one forget about wasabi and vinegared ginger?

wasabi

ginger

The Kan Buri sushi came out looking quite different from the picture depicted in the menu.

kan buri sushi

Hon maguro was bright red in colour and has nice texture.

hon maguro

The sea whelk sushi was crunchy, so it's a refreshing change from the softer texture of say, salmon.

sea whelk sushi

mekajiki

salmon belly

The Matsutake dobinmushi costs $9++, and the Kan Buri sushi is $5.80++ per 2 pieces.

Old School Delights @ Upper Thomsom Road

Read about this place from a popular local magazine some months back, and we used to pass by it when we were seeking food nearby, so finally decided to drop in recently on a weekday night for dinner.

menu on chalkboard and yummy cakes on display

We ordered mee siam, laksa, nasi lemak and deep fried chicken wings. Top up $3 to get 1 drink (eg. barley, lime juice) and a small basket of fries.

For drinks I had iced lime tea. It looked like regular iced lemon tea due to its colour, but with lime taste. I think I still prefer iced lemon tea, thank you.

iced lime tea

The place exudes old-schoolness in the utensils as well. Check out the container that holds the chopsticks and spoons.

old school container

I had mee siam, and it was pretty decent. Much sweeter than I expected, and not spicy at all! The ingredients were pretty simple, just taupok, tauhu and half an egg.

mee siam

nasi lemak

The fries arrived piping hot, and has curry powder sprinkled on it. Hmmm.. it was a curious taste. But I liked the tartar sauce dip. Goes well, with the fries.

The deep fried chicken winglets (about 6 small winglets per order) were nicely browned, juicy and tasty. Yummy and recommended.

In total, we spent $30+ for the meal and it was enough to feed all three of us, with no room for cakes.

Boon Lay Raja @ Jurong East

Located Level 2 of Block 135, it is directly opposite of Jurong East MRT station, walk across the sheltered walkway, reach traffic light, cross the road and you will see NTUC Fairprice. Walk to the left of NTUC, pass by all the small shops and turn right to access the stairs or lift to Level 2. The lift opens directly infront of the restaurant.

Yesterday, we saw the place was 80-90%  full at about 8pm. I actually thought they had a wedding going on! It was my second visit to the place. The first time, it was rather quiet on a weekday night with probably only 30% occupied. The atmosphere yesterday was rather rowdy. With tables and tables of people eating, chatting and drinking beer.

We ordered crispy chicken, deep fried baby squids, claypot tofu (with roast pork) and a braised pork (南排). We were in a party of 4 adults and 2 young children.

deep fried baby squid

crispy chicken

claypot tofu

braised pork

The crispy chicken has became the de-facto dish to order. The kids loved it! The braised pork was rather lean, and it looked like dong po rou. Liked the vege that came together with the meat. Rather sweet. Baby squids were really tiny, and after leaving it out on the table for some time, it got rather hard to bite.

The meal costs about $68.

L'Operetta @ Boat Quay

Located nearer to Riverwalk, and furthest from UOB Plaza. There is an open air carpark nearby the place across the road.


The restaurant was not hard to find as it is situated next to Superbowl (大碗粥). Yes, the decor is of opulence but not overly so. It has an air of elegance, and yet a certain masculinity in it. Well, partly because my table view is directly into the kitchen where one can see about 5 strapping males working! I spied a lady in there as well.

First thought upon entering the restaurant was that it felt like walking into a well-to-do friend's home. There was a homely vibe to the place, as the owner can be seen entertaining guests like old friends.

table setting

First saw about the wood fired oven pizza from ieatishootipost blog, hence we were keen to try. Ordered 2 types of pizza; pescatora (squid and prawns pizza tomato base) and a cream base pizza (ham, cheese with basil). The pizza is about 10inch in size, so two of these is just probably enough to fuel the fire for more food in our hungry tummies. So, we ordered pasta as well. Squid ink pasta, kurobuta pasta and fettucine with prawns with subtle curry flavor.

First up, was the pescatora pizza.

pescatora

deliciously fresh squids and prawns

My first time trying any wood oven fired pizza. Appearance wise, it looked like a naan with toppings. The dough was slightly chewy, bendable and light bitter tasting. Pescatora pizza has just tomato sauce, fresh squids and prawns, sans cheese. Very mild, and pleasing taste. The seafood was delish! Springy squid and crunchy prawns. It just screams fresh.

simple and refreshing

Next up, was the ham and cheese pizza. There should be a more glamorous name to it, but the receipt is not with me, and I didn't order this, so that's that.

pizza with ham and cheese

It was the fragrance of the cheese that captivated the senses first. Not much of a looker, and appearance wise, very plain. But it sure was tasty! I loved the cheese. However, the midpart of the pizza looked a little undercooked.

simple decadence

The dishes here do come, one by one. Probably to allow us to savour the individual taste of each item. After finishing two pizzas, we were still hungry for more. Next, was the kurobuta pasta.


This dish was a nice looking one. Colorful in splashes of yellow, red and green. Robust flavours; from the burst of tanginess of the tomatoes, the meaty flavour of the tender pork and subtleness of the herbs. Yums.

kurobuta pasta

The pasta tasted somewhat like an al-dente udon. Its shape are also irregular making it having a very handmade feel to it. It is good. Springy, chewy texture coated with flavours.

The restaurants also has a drinks list for diners to choose. We opted for the more ordinary, iced water.

iced water

Next, was the curry flavoured fettucine with prawns. A friend commented that it tasted like twisties albeit in a good way. In my opinion, it is a likeable taste. Unusual for pasta, but it works. The fettucine here is softer, and each strand brings a delightful infusion of flavors into the mouth.

attacking with gusto!

delicious morsels of seafood

Our order of squid ink pasta arrived last even though the order was placed before the curry flavoured additional order. Hmmm.



Nevertheless, this dish is worthy of the wait. Dark, and mysterious and beckoning us to taste. The taste of the sea. Every slurp, was lip smackingly good. Just don't smile for the camera when eating this!

squid ink pasta

can you tell where the pasta ends and the squid begins?

Service crew were immaculate, and plates were changed every now and then. Enjoyable experience indeed. There were alot more pizza flavors on the menu, but we cannot possibly try all of it in one sitting! Would love to come back someday for the funghi pizza.

For dessert, we were told that currently, they only serves dessert of the day. And for that day, they were having a dessert trio that comprises of tiramisu, pineapple tart and yuzu sorbet @$15++, and comes with complimentary coffee/tea/latte/cappucino. Feeling adventurous, we ordered one to end our meal.

dessert of the day

First impression of the dessert, "Gosh, that is really tiny!". Hahaa. Tiramisu is foamy and can taste slight bitterness. Pineapple tart was very sweet. Yuzu sorbet was mild and refreshing. I think I'd go for a regular sized tiramisu if they had one.

tiramisu

yuzu sorbet

Enjoyable experience, good food and good service. We spent approximately $36 per pax for the dinner.

Hooked On Heads @ Sin Ming Plaza

Located at Sin Ming Plaza, the place was fairly empty when we visited on Friday at about before 8pm. Thought the name of the restaurant sounded morbid...but of course, 'heads' here are referring to fish heads (I think, I hope!)

dark furniture

The restaurant has a nice homely feel to it, but I felt that the airconditioning was quite strong.

logo on menu

So we ordered curry fish head (half @ $22) and one small he zhor (deep fried prawn with meat). For drinks, we had premium calamansi, orange juice and fruit punch (@$3 each). There's buffet option (minimum 4 person) at $21.80 per pax. That's cheaper than half a fish head!

our colourful drinks calamansi, fruit punch and orange juice

curry fish head (half)

fish head

he zhor

he zhor inside view

nice belachan

The fish head curry was not bad, but it wasn't wow. There's the usual assortment of lady's fingers and tomatoes (but no brinjals?). Curry was thick and tangy. The he zhor tasted quite different from what I used to eat way back in the late '80s. The version here tasted more like ngoh hiong, and its filling include water-chestnut bits. The he zhor that I was used to, tend to be darker colored balls with dense minced meat filling. Oh well, times has changed.