Men-ichi @ NEX Mall Serangoon

Men-Ichi @ NEX Mall Serangoon (Score: 3.0 out of 5)

So wifey and I was able to complete a full promo card from Ichiban. We decided to try the other restaurants from this food chain and decided to go to NEX mall as they had most of their brands available in this mall. When we got to NEX mall, the RES restaurants occupied a good corner of the mall where they named the area Japanese Street Food.

We decided to have some ramen in Men-Ichi as the freebies in the promo also looked best with this chain.

Our Orders

Miso Ramen - $15.50 + 1.50 for extra egg.

I won't say that this is the best ramen but it is good enough. The ramen in Ukkokei (Philippines) and Men-tei (Robinsons Road) are still to beat for top spot for ramen. 

Gyoza - free with promo

The gyoza was good but like others its also just gyoza. I still wait for the day to say "This is the bomb" to a gyoza. This gyoza though was cooked just right as the skin has some crispness and chewiness in it. The filling had a right proportion as well.

Kanitama - free with promo

This was unexpected. I'm not a big egg lover but I liked how they prepared this. Its basically a mushroom omelette that was based with light sweet teriyaki sauce. I loved the saltiness and sweetness that this dish had. It's simple but good.

Char Siew Don - free with promo

This was a disappointment. If I had to pay for this, I would immediately ask them to return it to the kitchen as this is not worth $1. Ok, it might not be that bad but just look at it. If you say that it looks dry and the char siew looks like its been massacred, well its because it was. I had to ask for extra sauce on this so that it became edible. Tip... don't order this here just stick with the ramen and you'll be fine.

Price and Value

All-in-all the bill amounted to SGD 22.36, which was to cover the ramen, extra egg, and 2 cold tea. I think Men-tei ramen is the same price but its still a lot better. However, $15 now seems to be a standard for ramen places whether its good or bad. I'll go back to this restaurant but since they also have a branch of Shimbashi Soba here, I might just as well eat there next time.

Rating:

Food - 3

Ambiance - 3

Value - 3

Service - 3

Overall 3 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes

Address: #B1-79 NEX, 23 Serangoon Central

Tel no: +65 6634 4638
Website: http://www.men-ichi.com.sg/

Tonkatsu Ma Maison (2nd Visit)

Tonkatsu Ma Maison (Score: 3.5 out of 5)

It's been a almost a year since my last visit and wifey and I craved for Tonkatsu. So we tossed a coin, between Tonkichi and Ma Maison and alas... Ma Maison won. I remembered I wanted to try their special Mangalica Tonkatsu.

The Menu

Restaurant details:
Restaurant details:

The menu didn't change since our last visit. I'm not complaining but people must be getting over the hype too.

Our Orders

Manglalica Tonkatsu - S$ 39.00

I waited for a year to try this dish. So its thick and a bit pinkish... for S$39.00, I was expecting sparks to fly on the first bite but unfortunately it didn't happen. It just didn't have the taste, texture and experience that I was expecting. I'd order the normal hire or katsu cuts the next time I visit. 

Cheese Mille-Feuille Katsu Set (Deep-fried Multi-layered Sliced Pork Cutlet with Cheese) - S$30

So wifey ordered the mille-feuille with cheese again. This was unintentional but it just really looks good in the menu... How can you resist pork and cheese in the same dish. The set came with the mandatory shredded cabbage and miso soup (which by the way is superb) and "brown" rice.

Price and Value

All-in-all the bill amounted to SGD 70++ which isn't so bad but I think something is a bit lost now with Tonkatsu ma Maison. Service was never a strong suit and neither was it for this visit. Food is still better than good but it didn't have the same surprise of the first visit. 

Worse yet, the Sunday queue I associate with this place was gone when I visited. I got there at 12:30 noon and was expecting to wait. We just went inside with no probelm whatsoever. Hope they revitalize the restaurant else this will be a restaurant I will miss if and when it closes.

Rating:

Food - 4

Ambiance - 3.5

Value - 3.5

Service - 3

Overall 3.5 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes

Official Website: n/a
Address: 333A Orchard Road, #02-35/36 Mandarin Gallery
Tel no: +65 6733 4541

Ukokkei Ramen Ron @ Pasay Road Makati

Ukokkei Ramen Ron @ Pasay Road Makati (Score: 4.0 out of 5.0)

I love noodle dishes. Ramen is on top of my list but it is very easy to get disappointed as it is easy to destroy this dish. Soggy noodles, too salty, not much toppings, lacks flavor. None of these are applicable in this place. In fact, it is the opposite. This place is so good that I think I'll eat here every time I'm back in Manila.

I have to thank my sister Julie for recommending this place.

Note: Only the ramen dishes are excellent. The other dishes are mediocre at best.

The Food

Ukokkei Shio Butter Corn - P350

This was good and had a good helping of chashu as well. The ajitamago is a separate order but I highly recommend getting it as it just makes the dish taste better. The flavor of the soup is not as strong as the miso based soup but it is good none the less.

Ukokkei Miso Chashu - P380

This was my order and all I can say is yummmyyyyy!!!! It had about 4-5 slices of chashu that was cooked to perfection. The miso soup base was tasty and to my liking. Just add a little bit of chili powder for some heat and you are ready to go. The ajitamago (egg) is also an additional order but again it is well worth it (P40.00)

Yaki Gyoza - P120

If it looks too charred, then guess how it tasted.... Yup, I think I had better gyoza in food stalls. This is forgettable and so are the other dishes like their fried rice. Its like they forced other menu items just to provide option to none noodle lovers. In my opinion, they should just remove the other items altogether as it might just pull them down or make the other dishes sing as well.

Price and Value

If i paid for this dish 3 years ago, I'd say it was very expensive. But during this trip in Manila, things seemed to change and P300-P400 is the new "normal" price for dishes in restaurants. Though the restaurant itself is not in the prime Makati location, it may seem odd to pay this much but I didn't mind.

It would be difficult to beat the ramen of Ukokkei. I havn't tasted ramen in Japan yet and I think that would be the place to go to to find someone who can beat this. I can only name a few ramen houses in Singapore that can beat this (Men-tei in Robinson Road is one of them).

One problem though is service. I found them not to be very attentive and the staff seemed to be too playful to my liking. Avoid parking in their basement as it is too steep and they don't have their own restroom.

Rating:

Food - 4

Ambiance - 4

Value - 4

Service - 3

Overall 4 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes!

Restaurant details: 

Address: Tesoro Bldg., 822 A. Arnaiz Ave. San Lorenzo, Makati

Number: +63 2 856 4588

Reservation is not available.

Tetsuya's @ Syndey Australia

Tetsuya's @ Sydney Australia (Score: 4.5 out of 5)

Japanese style degustation. Fine fine dining Japanese. Surreal food. Unbelievable dessert. How do they prepare that again? Can I have seconds? Can you give me more of that signature dish please. 

Your a foodie? You don't mind paying $300 per person? Your in Sydney? Then you must must visit this place. 

 

The Resaurant

Sorry, had to borrow a pic.

The Degustation

Fresh Bread with Truffle Infused Butter

This is yummy. I think I had 6 pieces of bread and 2 cups of butter. The truffle infused butter is just soooo good. i have to learn how to make this.

Coffee? Nope that ladies and gentleman is Chestnut soup.

Pacific Oysters with Ginger and Rice Wine Vinegar

The only problem with this dish is the fact that I had fresh oysters from the Fish Market the day before and those were just better than these (and much cheaper too).

Monbazillac Des Anges

Wifey prefers very sweet white wine and I have to say this was simply just the best sweet white wine that we've had. It blows Sweet Lips away.

Scallop Like Oysters with Roasted Rice Vinaigrette

This is probably the strangest and the least favorite dish from the menu. I just didn't understand what they wanted to serve us. 

Salad of the Sea

Marinated Scampi with Walnut Oil and Egg

This was very good as well. Each dish here was fresh and this is no different. See that yellow patch on the left side? That is an eggyolk. Believe me or not, even that tastes different. (and good different).

Confit of Petuna Ocean Trout with Apple & Endive

Unpasteurized Ocean Trout Caviar

This is Tetsuya's signature dish. It simply is the best piece of fish that you can have. I can eat this over and over and over again and not have enough of it. When you see it, you might say huh? Is this suppose to be special? Trust me, this is special. 

I actually ate this very slowly just to savor each and every single bite.

Snapper with Soy Butter & Nameko Mushrooms

Roast Breast of Duck with Eggplant & Corn

Slow Braised Beef Short Rib and Pickled Mushrooms

The only meat dish in the menu but Tetsuya just did beef ribs justice. It melted in my mouth and just had layers and layers of flavor.

Pear Sorbet

Apple Granita with Mint Ice Cream & Basil Jelly

The pear sorbet and apple granita was a God send as we already had layers and layers of flavor in our palettes by the time it reached this stage. It was refreshing and just cut through a lot of the different fat we've had earlier.

Date and Coffee Brulee

Some restaurants serves creme brulee and then tetsuya serves you creme brulee. They probably shipped the milk from some remote place in Japan cause it was just superb. 

Chocolate and Hazelnut Marquise with Cognac Ice Cream

This is the best dessert (period). It tastes as good as it looks. The chocolate was rich and creamy and simply sinful. 

Coffee

Price and Value

For food, I would say that this is one of the more, if not the most expensive, treat that we have had. We paid about SGD 275 per person. That includes the degustation menu and the wine. 

We did decide to try Tetsuya in Sydney rather than the Singapore restaurant as the branch in Marina Bay Sands charges about 500 per head. Perhaps we will try that in one during our golden anniversary.

Rating:

Food - 4.5

Ambiance - 5

Value - 4

Service - 5

Overall 4.5 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes!!

Restaurant details: 

Website: http://www.tetsuyas.com/

Address: 529 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Numnef: +61 2 9267 2900

Reservation is a must.

Sushi Express @ 313 Somerset

Sushi Express @ 313 Somerset (Score: 3.5 out of 5)

After a so so lunch @ CoCo Ichibanya and having a nice massage plus some other Sunday activities, we decided to have a "snack" @ Sushi Express. It really caught our attention earlier as there was a long line and they were having a promo of $1.00 per dish in their conveyor belt.

The Restaurant

What you don't see here is that there is another line to the right with about 20-25 people.

With a $1.00 price yes I love Sushi too.

Once you are seated, you are given this ticket. It basically tells you that you have a 50 min limit in your seat. 

Conveyor belt of goodies.

Our Orders (More of Highlights)

Mock Abalone

Sweet Shrimp

Not sure what this is but it was good.

Scallop

Sea Eel

Swordfish

Surf Clam

We were quite satisfied with the sushi that we had. We would prefer if more sashimi was served though. In general the food was fresh and the conveyor belt always had a good variety on it. You'll need to wait for a few mins for the top sellers like salmon sashimi or the scallop but once they are served, they do give enough. 

Not all the dishes were worth $1.00 but there are items like the scallop, sea eel, shrimp, and abalone which are winners. 

Price and Value

With all the ++ we paid $14.00. Normal price will be $1.50 after the promo which is still not a bad deal. Hot tea is already included and Japanese ginger is also free. 

Rating:

Food - 3.5

Ambiance - 3

Value - 3.5

Service - 3.5

Overall 3.5 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes

Restaurant details: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sushi-Express-Singapore
Address: 313 Orchard Road, #B3-24 313@Somerset
Tel: N/A

Curry House CoCo Ichibanya @ 313 Somerset

Curry House CoCo Ichibanya @ 313 Somerset (Score: 3 out of 5)

We were suppose to have lunch today in Tonkichi @ Orchard Central but due to some time difficulties we decided to have a quick lunch in 313@Somerset. It was a toss between Popeye's Chicken and Curry House CoCo Ichibanya. Guess who won. 

CoCo as far as I know is quite popular. There were several occasions where we visited the vicinity and there was a queue outside. Today, however, there was no queue. Just a few tables were occupied. Why? I think its because of a new restaurant that had an opening promo of $1 per sashimi/sushi dish. But more on that later.

The Restaurant

Yup, that's how the place looked liked when we arrived.

Traditional curry display for Japanese curry restaurants

Menu stand outside.

Our Orders

Thinly Sliced Beef Curry (14.00)

Apparently I didn't order the beef curry version of this but some other type of sauce. I didn't really understand their explanation but it tasted like curry and tomato sauce together. Wasn't a big fan of the dish. I liked wifey's order more. I think they can afford to put more beef on this @ $14.00. It also lacked some heat which would make this actually a good dish.

Pork Cutlet with Cheese ($14.00)

The pork cutlet was actually quite good. I'm not sure though why they decided to place the cheese far away from the pork. Since half of the plate is covered in curry, I almost asked the manager if there was actual cheese in the dish. We only saw it after almost finishing the dish, as it was covered by the curry.

The pork was crunchy but a bit on the fatty side. It would have been better if it was leaner and a tad bit bigger. The curry was also good and had the right amount of heat (we requested for mild spicy). Was it worth $14.00, just barely. 

The place used to be a queue magnet so I had a higher expectation. But it ended up just being mediocre.

Price and Value

With all the ++ we payed about $40.00. We had a small side of salad and a sprite (additonal $3.50). I can think of some other places where if I add say $10 more then I'd be a happier person today. 

I'll put this restaurant on my just barely recommendable list. Nothing great here. I believe they can improve their quality still and revive the place but if they continue where they are now, I think they will close.

Rating:

Food - 3

Ambiance - 3

Value - 3

Service - 3

Overall 3 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes

Restaurant details: http://www.ichibanya.co.jp/english/
Address: 313 Orchard Road, #B3-25 313@Somerset
Fax: +65 63419978