Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Orchard food. 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!

Unagi omelette from Koh Grill Wisma Atria

Do you know why I love the concept of Japanese restaurants? It’s because they usually have counter seats which are the most suitable seats for introvert diner who happen to feel like eating alone. Yay. Good news for the introvert souls living in Singapore because there are many Japanese restaurants in the country. I suppose who can hate Japanese food after all. Hehehe.

I have actually visited Koh Grill before when the restaurant has just opened in Wisma Atria, one of the shopping malls in the bustling area of Orchard. We went to try out the famous Shiok Maki and the queue for seats was well...kinda long. But i suppose that’s because we came in a group back then.

Today I decided to check out the restaurant after my gym class ended at 8PM. I find this timing to work well because it should have past the peak dining hour on weekend although to be honest, sometimes it’s hard to fix peak hours at eateries in Orchard. The area is flocked by tourists and they are known not to follow dining rules. But thankfully the counter seats are available and I could quickly get my seat. Counter seat is really good because nobody care about what you are doing there. You can watch how the sushi chef cut the fresh sashimi, play with your phone, take picture of you cute companion, daydream or even dose off until the food arrive at your table.

I did not feel like eating Shiok Maki (which is basically a maki filled with either unagi or jumbo prawn tempura drenched in sauce depending on which version you choose) so I chose something different, unagi omelette. It’s grilled unagi served on top of egg omelette which is cooked on top of a hot plate. Hmm I wonder why is it so difficult to explain the dish so thankfully a picture speaks a thousand words. I did not know grilled unagi goes well with fluffy omelette but I wish the portion of the eel can be a bit bigger after all I’m greedy hehe. But then again, it feels like the right portion after I finish my bowl of Japanese rice. Ok, now I’m confused. The overall feeling that I get is warm comfy sensation in my stomach. Japanese rice is awesome and its awesomeness can enhance the dish that it’s served with.

Since Koh Grill is always bustling with customers, you won’t get peaceful quiet environment when you are enjoying your food. It’s okay, just imagine it like you are eating in an izakaya in Tokyo. They are loud too. Ok overall, good food, nobody care about you eating alone, counter seat, I guess I will give another visit to Koh Grill. Either alone or with Brown. Woots!

Singapore Food Log: Tanuki Raw, Orchard Central

Front side of Tanuki Raw Orchard Central

Bar seating area of Tanuki Raw Orchard Central

I have included Tanuki Raw in my to-eat-list for I don’t know how long but finally after a long wait (and partly due to my own laziness), I managed to make bae to bring me there. We reached Tanuki Raw after our movie date with Skyscraper (which is unbelievable and yet very entertaining movie, but then again which movie is believable nowadays) at 7PM on Saturday evening and there is a queue line forming in front of the restaurant. Oh no.

Thankfully, even though the restaurant looks pretty small from outside, there are many seats available inside the restaurant. We just needed to wait for around 15 minutes and the waiter assigned us two seats at the bar area. I enjoy sitting at the bar area because I can see how the bartender making cocktail and if you loves to enjoy your alcohol intake (SGD 10) with fresh oysters (SGD 2 for limited 6 pieces per drink order), you may want to grab the happy hours deal (5PM - 8PM daily).

A lot of people comes to Tanuki Raw to enjoy the happy hour only but I came with different mission: to eat the famous Truffle Yakiniku. Regular Truffle Yakiniku costs 18 SGD however, with just additional 5 SGD you will get a piece of pan-seared foie gras which literally just melts in your mouth. Fresh truffles will cost you additional 7 SGD so since my cheapskate standard has reached its limit, I gave this a pass.

It seems that Tanuki Raw loves to play around with its menu because they have the “New Kids on the Block” section on its menu featuring the latest creation that the restaurant chefs made. Bae opted for the yuzu pepper katsu don and Tanuki Raw was so generous on the katsu pieces. However, I personally feel that the star of the dish is the yuzu sauce. The problem is I love my truffle yakiniku bowl so much, my tastebud is overpowered by it so I could not taste the yuzu pepper katsu don properly. However, bae seems to enjoy it just fine so all is well I suppose.

Water is provided for free so if you don’t feel like ordering any drink, you’ll survive. The restaurant can be a bit too noisy to have a good chat though. We literally could hear the whole conversation that our neighbours were having (especially after their alcohol orders have been consumed). So Tanuki Raw is not a place where you can have a quiet conversation unless you manage to get the al fresco seats, maybe. But I kinda doubt it will be less noisy out there.

I would love to go to Tanuki Raw during lunch hours to enjoy their lunch deals starting from 12 SGD++. Should I go there tomorrow?

"I think of you, I haven't slept. I think I do, but I don't forget."

I am so annoyed with a lot of people at work today. Actually I do realise that I get frustrated when work become overwhelmed but not as pissed as when I had to deal with annoying people. Sadly, a lot of these pests are available at my work. Hmmph. Oh well, I suppose I have to find a good way to keep my sanity while having to deal with them on a daily basis. Any idea, peeps?

Anyway, someone from office suggested a new workout class named Cru Cycle. It's basically one of those fancy private cycling studios located along the posh Duxton Road. The studio was manned by beautiful looking people, I'm not kidding and I kinda feel out of place for a while when utilising my SGD 25 worth of trial class.

Crucycle Studio at Duxton Road Singapore

The minimum amount that you have to pay for the trial classes is SGD 50 for 2 classes though. I had thought that it was expensive until I realise that one normal class can cost around SGD 40. Hmm, seems too ex for my budget but let's see why my colleague is so addicted to this exercise. First of all, since it's a cycling class and nowadays, the latest bicycles have special clip on function on the pedals, so you have to wear special shoes which sole can be clipped on to the pedals. I am never good with any sports which require a certain degree of technology so it took me a while to try to clip my shoes to the pedals. The friendly staff who's manning the front desk helped me out with the setting of the bikes and that includes clipping on the shoes.

Cycling shoes for Crucycle at Duxton Road

Overall, while the music used for the exercise is fun to listen to while cycling and there's certain part where you feel like you are cycling on tour with a wolf pack, I find the whole package for the normal classes (the non-trial classes) too expensive as I am already a member of Fitness First. I should just join RPM classes in the gym since I had paid for the membership anyway.

After cycling through the dark (yea, the class is quite dim, a bit wasted when the instructor is cute), it's time to reward myself with good food and great company of a friend. We went to Orchard Gateway to try out Kanshoku Ramen Bar which supposedly sells a nice dry Truffle ramen. But we opted for pork-based soup ramen, the Signature Kanshoku Ramen (SGD 13.90) in the end because we were curious how do 8-hours boiled broth and 4-hours marinated pork taste.

Truffle Broth Ramen at Kanshoku Ramen Bar at Orchard Gateway

We also ordered fried gyoza (SGD 5.90) to share between the two of us. Everything's fried taste good. Really.

Fried gyoza from Kanshoku Ramen Bar at Orchard Gateway

After our ramen meal, as usual there is always room for dessert. Dinner buddy wanted to try out Chimney Cake Soft Serve and I was lost when she told me about this dessert stall named Chimney which is located at *Scape in Somerset.

Chimney basically offers cinnamon-coated pastry filled with soft serve ice cream. There is, however, savory option available too. Since I was in the mood for sweet stuff, I proceeded to order Chimney Cake with Soft Serve (SGD 4.50) and choose vanilla ice cream for the soft serve. While it looks good when it's just served, you have to eat this dessert fast before the ice cream starts to melt and dripping from the bottom of the pastry (which has hole). It was a big sweet mess when I realise the ice cream has started to melt but otherwise, the dessert taste quite good and filling too. I won't eat this for a date though especially when I just started dating. Hahaha.