Not to be mistaken with the infamous place in Japan

I was browsing through various website the other day and I had come across this pretty interesting restaurant. And the most important point about this restaurant would be this amazing dish that is so so filling.... O.o...

'Thai Ice Tea' Being a heavy tea lover, I will always start off a good meal at a Thai restaurant with a good glass of 'Thai Ice Tea'. With a good amount of sweetness, topped with the nice aroma and taste of the tea leaves, makes this a pretty good drink to start your day.

Enough of the drink, it's time to move on to our 'Main', which compromise of a plate of 'Jasmine Rice' and...

'Stir-fried Soft Shell Crab with Yellow Curry' (Phunim Phad Pong Karee) The sinful thick curry would be a big (+). You can easily wipe out a bowl of white rice just by covering it with a sinful portion of curry gravy. Not only the gravy tastes good, the Soft Shell Crab that comes with it are pretty interesting too. Though you can easily count the number of Soft Shell Crabs that were given using your 10 fingers but that isn't the most important point. The most important point about this dish would be the fact that they are pretty crunchy, juicy and the taste of the curry has blend in nicely.

'I-Thim Nara' This comes with a scoop of Coconut Ice Cream and 8 other cups of interesting toppings. There's the crunchy 'Peanuts', 'Sweet Corns', sweet 'Nata De Coco', 'Attap Chee'(Palm Tree Seeds), 'Red Ruby' (Water Chestnut coated in Colored Sago), 'Lot Chong'(Pandan Flavored Rice Flour Droplets), 'Jackfruit' and 'Sticky Rice'. And iet the D.I.Y Game begins... Trust me, do not start with the 'Sticky Rice' first, else you will regret it. The scoop of ice cream is simply far too small as compared to the 8 different cups of toppings. As I wiped out 1/3 of the overall portion of toppings, the scoop of sweet coconut ice cream was completely gone. But it was fun mixing the different types of toppings of a different taste and texture and savor them at one go. At the earlier stage you might be mixing those that you favor the most, but as you move on, you will realize that you need a strong incentive to balance things a bit. And that's where the 'Sticky Rice' will step in. At the end of the day, despite of my huge appetite, I only to managed to wipe out 70% of all the toppings. And the nice waitresses over here was actually asking if I want the leftovers. A bit too much for my stomach therefore... Anyway if I happen to visit that restaurant again, I would probably just place an order for this, which is the most filling dessert that I have eaten up till now. :D

So where can you give the dessert a good try?

The name of this restaurant would be 'Nara Thai'. It currently has 2 outlets in Singapore. The one in the above shows the outlet located on Basement 3 of 'ION Orchard'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  11:30 - 22:00 Daily
  (Last order at 21:30)

* Click here to find out more about 'Nara Thai'.
^ Click here for the Facebook Page of 'Nara Thai'.
~ Click here to find out more about 'ION Orchard'.
# Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'ION Orchard'.

Gyoza Ya

I suddenly have the urge for 'Gyoza' the other day, therefore I started searching for good 'Gyoza' options in Singapore. I immediately set off for the place once I have decided on the restaurant.

'Jya Jya Noodles'(じゃじゃ麺) The appearance of this dish looks pretty similar to the Chinese Noodles, 'Zha Jiang Mian'(炸醤麺). Within that small little bowl, there's the flat and thick Japanese Noodles, 'Somen', 'Cucumber Stripes', 'Spring Onions' and most importantly the meaty 'Miso paste'.

The restaurant has also prepared an illustration showing the steps to enjoy a good bowl of 'Jya Jya Noodles'. And it's written in both English and Japanese. Besides for the appearance, the taste of the Noodles are pretty much similar to the 'Zha Jiang Mian' too. As you mix the chewy Noodles and the meaty paste together, the overall dish becomes pretty tasty. On top of that, I loved the chill sensation of the stripes of Cucumber. However, since the stripes of Cucumber are pretty thin, therefore it has lost the crunchy touch, which is kinda disappointing.

The would be the outcome, after spending a bit of time playing along with the illustration. It's pretty much similar to a bowl of Japanese Ramen that comes with a thick broth. Though the taste and the texture of the Noodles remains to be pretty good, but frankly speaking, I still prefer a bowl of Japanese Ramen much much more. :D

'Gyoza'(餃子) This would be the signatures of this restaurant. Besides for Boiled Dumplings, they are preparing and selling Pan-Fried Dumplings over here too. Best of all, from time to time, they would be releasing limited editions 'Gyoza' too. For example, they have released Pan- Fried Red King Crab Dumplings for the month of September. :D

'Yaki Azuki Gyoza'(焼き小豆餃子) Yes, indeed. These Red Bean Dumplings do comes in the shape of a dumpling and it's pretty sweet but these dumplings ain't good enough. This is mainly due to the fact that these Dumplings ain't crunchy enough, which is a big disappointment. :(

'Pan Fried Dumpling with Pork'(焼き餃子(豚)) As compared to the previous plate of Dumplings, this is amazingly good. There's a nice balance in the use of the meaty ingredients and the vegetables. On top of that, it has this crunchy sensation which is a must have for 'Pan-Fried Dumplings'.

The name of this restaurant would be 'Gyoza Ya'. It's located on basement 1 of 'Robinsons Orchard'.

Opening Hours:

• 11:30 - 20:00

* Click here to find out more about 'Gyoza Ya'.
^ Click here for the location of 'Robinsons Orchard' on Google Maps.

Case of the missing finger...?

I have tried countless 'Fried Chicken' from different parts of Singapore, but this is the first time I'm giving 'Korean Fried Chicken' a try. But what makes it so different from the normal 'Fried Chicken'? That would be something that I will be exploring today. :)

'4 Fingers Crispy Chicken Set Meals' This would be one of their best sellers. It comes with both wings and drumettes topped with a small portion of fries and a drink. Over here, you get to choose the favoring for the Chicken. You can choose from 3 different sauces, they are 'Soy Garlic' or 'Hot' or 'Mix'. As for the fries that comes with the set meal, there are 2 different seasoning for you to choose too and they are 'Kim Chi' and 'Seaweed Red Pepper' fries. Anyway, I ended up choosing the 'Mix flavor' for the 'Chicken' and fries that doesn't come with any seasoning.

The fries are pretty normal for a start. Although they are neither too soft nor too crunchy, but there isn't anything special about the taste of the fries too. Probably I should have gone ahead with one of the seasonings, in order to get a unique experience. As for the 'Fried Chicken', it's actually quite different from the 'Western Fried Chicken'. Unlike the 'Western Fried Chicken' that comes with a thick crispy layer of coating, over here you won't be getting that. What you are actually getting over here would be a far more thinner and less oilier layer of deliciously marinated crispy coating. Though it's slightly a bit sticky too. However as you dig into the meat of the Chicken, the juicy and chewy sensation would be a big (+). It fact, the taste of the sauce is so good that I just couldn't stop myself from licking my fingers. :P But, it would be great if they can increase the portion much much more, so that heavy eaters like me wouldn't leave the place with an half emptied stomach.

So where can you give the 'Chickens' a good try?

The name of this restaurant would be '4 Fingers Crispy Chicken'. The above shows the outlet located on basement 4 of 'ION Orchard'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  10:00 - 22:30 Daily
• Not sure about the other outlets, but the queue at 'ION Orchard' just doesn't fails to amaze me. It just keeps going on and on. There's always a queue leading out of the place, every time I pass by the place.

* Click here to find out more about '4 Fingers Crispy Chicken'.
^ Click here for the Facebook Page of '4 Fingers Crispy Chicken'.
~ Click here to find out more about 'ION Orchard'.

Burning with Style?

After numerous weeks of eating and trying out new diners, I realised that I haven't been trying Indian food for quite some time. I started keeping a lookout for interesting Indian diners and I managed to come across... this.

'Papadum' After placing my orders, this basket of 'Papadum' just appear out of nowhere. While waiting for my orders, I decided to give the 'Papadum' a go first. Well, the texture is reasonably crispy. Luckily, I was dining alone, else it's kinda sad if I have to share this delicious basket of 'Papadum' with a group of people.

'Spices / Sauces' I don't think I have used any of these at all. And that just proves how good the 'Papadum' and the subsequent food items are... :)

'Vindaloo Curry + Saffron Rice' These are the items that I have ordered for my dinner the other day.

'Vindaloo Curry(Chicken)' This is/would probably end up to be the most reddish portion of Curry that I have seen for the year 2014. I was stirring it for a short while and it seems that the texture of the Curry over here, isn't watery at all. In fact, it's pretty thick and solid. Oh by the way, as you placed an order for this, the waiter will ask you to choose the level of spiciness that you want. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest level. Taste wise, I would write about it in a short while. (Anyway, I ended up trying level 7 :D.)

'Saffron Rice' Hmmm, in fact I don't find this any different from the usual 'Biryani Rice' that I'm getting outside. However, one thing I don't like about the food over here would be the portion. The portion of the food over here just isn't big enough for me. :(

Once I started digging into both dishes, the colors of the Curry looks pretty overpowering. In fact, it was really very spicy and tasty. The first few spoonful might not have an impact on you, but the tension will slowly build up and burn you inside out for a short period of time. This in fact was pretty good. I wonder how the highest level would ended up to be. Well, that's something that I'm pretty interested to find out. On top of that, the boneless chicken that comes with the Curry are pretty tender and well 'marinated' with the Curry. However, to summarize the overall dining experience, I still find the spicy Curry to be the most memorable part of that meal.

So where can you give the food a good try?

Located in 'Cuppage Terrace'...

lies an 'Indian' Dining restaurant known as 'Curry Culture'. And that's the place where you can find and give the spicy 'Vindaloo Curry' a good try.

Opening Hours:

• 11:00 - 23:00 Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'Curry Culture'.
^ Click here for the interesting menu of 'Curry Culture'.
~ Click here for the location of 'Cuppage Terrace' on 'Google Maps'.

What's with the dancing Bee?

Pretty much similar to the kids in Singapore grown up eating "McDonald's", the locals in Philippines grown up with 'this'. So what's so fascinating about 'this'? That's gonna be something that we will be exploring in this post...

This would be the mascot of...

'Jollibee'. Before I move on to the food itself, there's another obstacle that I have to overcome first. And that would be...

the crazy long queue... Even though there are 6 counters over here, but the queue is complete madness. Just inside the restaurant itself, rather than queueing up in a straight line, they are twisting and turning the line a few times. On top of that, the queue will continue all the way to the empty space next door and it started twisting and turning again... Even though the queue move in a relatively fast manner, but I still ended up queueing for an hour or so during a Sunday afternoon. =.=

'2 piece Chicken Meal' The set comes with a fizzy soft drink(the choices of the soft drink are pretty much similar to those that you are getting at 'KFC') and...

A lump of white rice, a bowl of gravy and also 2 pieces of 'Crispy Chicken'. Initially, I also thought that it was supposed to be a 'Whipped Potato', but as I open up the container, I realised that it's merely gravy. My expression were pretty much similar to (O.o)? As I ripped open the lump of rice, then I realised that most likely I can choose to either dip pieces of 'Chicken' into the sauce or pour it all over the rice(which works kinda similar to 'Curry'). Taste wise, the crispy and not too oily crunchy skin is pretty good. Topped with the tender and juicy meat just makes it even much more better. As I dipped it inside the sweet gravy, the taste of the gravy kinda reminds me of the gravy of the 'Whipped Potato' of 'KFC'... I guess the 2 piece 'Chicken' meal works pretty much similar to a normal 'Western set meal', you are suppose to have the 'Chicken' with the rice and the gravy. Otherwise you might ended up like me, eating a lump of white rice with gravy all over it. =.="" This is pretty okay, but it might be much more interesting if I have eaten it with the delicious pieces of 'Chicken'. :P

Currently, they only have an outlet in Singapore. It's located on level 6 of 'Lucky Plaza' shopping centre, which is located along 'Orchard Road'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  09:00 - 21:00
• Whatever you do, try to avoid the weekends. Otherwise, you will be amazed with the big crowd of people queueing up outside the restaurant.

* Click here to find out more about 'Jollibee' in Singapore.
^ Click here for the location of 'Lucky Plaza' on Google Maps.
~ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'Lucky Plaza'.

Thai food hidden in a corner...

After giving the 'Japanese food' upstairs a good try, my stomach still have lots of space for food. Therefore, we ended up giving this place a try too.

'Tom Yum Soup Set Meal' Most of the thai dishes that they are offering over here are mainly main dishes. It would either be a set meal that includes a bowl of rice and a plate or bowl of ingredient, or a plate of special 'Fried Rice','Phad Thai', etc... I ended up giving the 'Tom Yum Soup' a try, since that was one of my favourite thai dishes.

My first impression of the 'Tom Yum Soup' was pretty good. Not only the colour of the soup looks pretty appealing to me, and in terms of the amount of interesting ingredients added into the bowl of 'Tom Yum Soup', I would say that they are pretty generous. Ingredients like 'Golden Mushroom', 'Fish Balls', 'Prawns', 'Crab meat sticks' have been added into the bowl of soup. As I slowly tuck into the food, the nice mixture of sweet, sour and spicy taste of the soup is a (+), but the texture of the soup is a bit too powderish for me. But this also means that there might be chances that they might be using lots of spices rather than instant 'Tom Yum' paste throughout the process of preparing the soup too. :D Anyway, the taste of the 'Tom Yum Soup' have blend nicely with the taste of each individual ingredients too. As I bite the ingredients, I could also sense and taste the 'Tom Yum Soup' bursting out of the ingredients too. :P (For me, the biggest drawback would be the fact that the food over here isn't spicy enough.)

So where can you give the thai food over here a try?

The name of this place would be 'Afira Amazing Thai Food'. It's located in one of the corners on level 1 of 'Far East Plaza'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  11:00 - 21:30
  (Closed on Sundays)

* Click here to find out more about 'Far East Plaza'.
^ Click here for the location of 'Far East Plaza' on 'Google Maps'.
~ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'Far East Plaza'.

The secret behind the shiokness....

Since I was spending some time browsing through some magazines(food magazines, what else...) in 'Kinokuniya'(Takashimaya Branch), therefore I decided to walk over to 'Wisma Atria' and give the infamous Japanese Food in the food court a good try.

After queueing up for an hour or so, I finally got a seat. But, the one of the waitress over here suddenly told me very amusing. She told me that I could just ask for a counter seat much much earlier since I'm dining alone. I was kinda annoyed because there's no indication and the same waitress was asking me the number of people dining together more than half an hour earlier. Anyway I ended up placing for the 'Shiok Maki' and the 'Shiok Maki 2nd Generation'.

'Shiok Maki' Basically, this is a normal 'Sushi' roll that is stuffed with 'Avocado' and 'Grilled Unagi(Eel)' and it's covered with a slice of lightly roasted 'Salmon'. That's not all, besides for the slice of 'Salmon' that's covering the 'Sushi' roll, it's topped with a generous spread of 'Mayonnaise' and 'Fish Roe' too. Taste wise, since I have a big mouth, I would pop a big piece of 'Shiok Maki' into my mouth directly. The small 'Fish Roe' that will gradually create delicious sparks inside my mouth, topped with the sweet taste of the mayonnaise and the nice taste of 'Grilled Unagi', 'Roasted Salmon' and 'Avocado' have pretty much explains why the 'Shiok Sushi' is so infamous and so 'Shiok' at the same time.

'Shiok Maki 2nd Generation' As for the 2nd Generation, it's pretty much similar to the original 'Shiok Maki', but the 'Grilled Unagi(eel) and 'Avocado' have been replaced by the 'Fried Prawns' and the nice sweet 'Mayonnaise' have been replaced by 'Mango Sauce'. Although the 'Fried Prawns' are pretty crispy, but I don't find it as good as the original 'Shiok Maki'. Probably because the most outstanding ingredient in the '2nd Generation' would be the 'Fried Prawns' and it have overshine the presence of the 'Salmon' and all the other ingredients.

The name of this place would be 'Koh Grill & Sushi Bar', which is located inside 'Food Republic'. And 'Food Republic' is located on level 4 of 'Wisma Atria Shopping Mall'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  11:30 - 22:30 Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'Wisma Atria Shopping Mall'.

Circle + Gold = (Marukin) Ramen

I learnt about the existence of a new Japanese Ramen shop from my teacher last week. Therefore, I decided to give it a try on the following day.(Looking at my actions, I probably can form a group known as the 'Noodls' group, which sounds like some underworld gang.)

The above shows the 'Issai Gassai Shoyu Chicken Clear Soup Ramen'.
You will be getting quite a wide spread of ingredients in this
simple bowl of Ramen. There's Chicken Wing, Chicken Meat Balls,
Chicken Char Siew, Wanton, Boiled Egg, Mushrooms, green onions
seaweeds, etc...

The following are my own opinion.
That think that the ingredients are much more delicious than
the Ramen and on top of that, the Ramen tasty Ramen soup is
not salty at all, which is another Plus+. However, the Ramen
Noodles are pretty normal. If they can change it to something
much better, I will most likely be going to...

Photo of the ingredients been mixed together.

Chicken Char Siew is shown in the above.

There are altogether 4 different Ramen Soup base at this store
and that would be 'Shoyu Chicken White Soup', 'Miso Chicken White
Soup', 'Shio Chicken White Soup' and 'Shoyu Chicken Clear Soup'.

Besides for Ramen, they also sell...

Side dishes like 'Marukin Salad',
which taste pretty much similar to the 'Colestaw' at 'KFC'.
However, there are a few more kinds of vegetables that been
added to this side dish and the ingredients are much more fresh.
Some other side dishes that they are selling includes, dishes
like Japanese Green Soya Beans, Cold Tofu with Chilli Soy Sauce
Chicken Dumplings, etc...

The above shows the 'Doburi' Rice bowl topped with Chicken and
mushrooms. Besides for the above, they also have Rice Bowl that
comes with all sorts of Chicken ingredients, Rice bowls with
Shrimps and seasonal vegetables topped with flavoured chilli pepper.

Japanese Ramen stall 'Marukin Ramen' is located at
Basement 1 of 'Scotts Square' Shopping Centre.

* Click here to find out more about 'Marukin Ramen'.