Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Ngee Ann City. Show all posts

Singapore Food Log: Tampopo at Takashimaya, Orchard

Condiments for Tampopo at Takashimaya Orchard

Tonkatsu black pork ramen from Tampopo Takashimaya

It has been raining lately and the weather in Singapore finally become a bit cooler. That means it’s the right time to eat the soupy stuff. However, instead of cream soup or herbal soup, I feel like eating a bowl of ramen. A bowl of ramen from Tampopo to be exact. I still remember the first time I tried Tampopo. I see a lot of pork-based ramen out there but Tampopo elevates this basic ramen staple by using black pork instead of ordinary pork. The picture menu from Tampopo shows a sign of chili in front of some of its ramen choices. This is because their soup broth has a subtle flavor of chili and not-so-subtle look of spiciness. Don’t worry, they are not that spicy unless you see many chili signs in front of the dish but I did not recall seeing one.

The outlet at Ngee Ann City tends to have long queue everytime I pass by during dining peak hour. However, if you reach slightly earlier like 6PM on Saturday, you won’t have to wait for a table for a long time. I usually order Tampopo’s famous dish, its black pork shabu ramen. However, this time I wanted to try something else so I ordered Tampopo Black Pork Tonkatsu Ramen (SGD 16.80). The black pork tonkatsu is served on a mini steel tray lodged on top of the ramen bowl to keep it safe from getting soaked in the ramen broth. However, I intentionally let some small pieces of the tonkatsu to soak in the broth and then slurp it together with the ramen. I’m not sure why but Tampopo’s ramen seem to be loaded with veggies. Good for those who usually don’t really eat their greens.

It was my dining buddy’s first time at Tampopo so he ordered Tampopo’s black pork shabu ramen. He slurped the whole bowl so I suppose he loves it too. There are a lot of condiments available but I realise I did not use any, except to take picture with Brown. The ramen is already so full of flavour you don’t really have to add any condiments to it. The good thing about it being located in shopping mall is that the restaurant opens everyday from 11AM to 10PM, following the operating hours of the mall I figure. Go try it out if you have the chance, ok!

Sometimes when we are in Orchard, we really don't know what we are supposed to eat. I guess we are spoilt by choices but the choices...are kinda common because in Singapore, a lot of restaurants have branches at the other malls. So yeah, in summary, we are pretty bored by the choices available. And that's the reason why when a new restaurant opens, a snaking queue is always spotted at its entrance. #spoilt #firstworldproblem

Okay, let's go back to our adventure. When we were checking out the latest addition to Ngee Ann City (which is those area which is used to be owned by Kinokuniya), we spotted a new restaurant called Patties & Wiches. I initially mistook the word "Wiches" for "Witches" and was expecting some kind of Harry Potter's theme kind of food here. Hahaha.

Turns out Patties & Wiches offers burgers and sandwiches. Ah, I guess that's where the name came from. The casual restaurant is helmed by Japanese chefs. I am not really into sandwiches because I always thought that is the food that you can create yourself at home. So, I quickly move on to the burgers menu and ordered for myself a P&W Cheese Burger.

The P&W Cheese Burger comes out pretty simple. A mini portion of fries, tomato and cabbages at the side (they should increase the portion of the sides). The P&W Cheese Burger uses wagyu beef in the patties and hence, the exorbitant price of a burger at SGD 22. It tastes pretty good thankfully.

P&W Cheese Burger at Patties & Wiches Ngee Ann City

Patties & Wiches also serves cakes which are created by the famous Chef Yamashita. I have heard so many good reviews about the slice cakes from Chef Yamashita but never have the time to visit his patisserie at Tanjong Pagar Plaza. We wanted to try Mt Fuji which is a Mont Blanc cake but to our surprise, that particular cake has been sold out that day. So we had to settle with Ichigo, the Japanese version of Strawberry Shortcake.

Strawberry Short Cake from Chef Yamashita at Ngee Ann City

Just like any other Japanese cakes, Ichigo has lighter texture (like sponge). The cream and strawberry taste sweet but not too sweet. I guess the main thing that I like about Japanese cakes are the lighter texture which I hope will reduce my calorie intake when eating a cake. True? False? XD

Ichigo Short Cake by Chef Yamashita at Patties & Wiches

You can find Patties & Wiches at level 3 of Ngee Ann City. I don't think a reservation is required because so far I managed to walk in twice into this restaurant without reservation.