小豆An @Ion Orchard

I love my Ah Balling from Golden Mile, kids prefer these "Ah Balling" equivalent from Ion Orchard, at a much heftier price tag too  :S

Japanese Mochis! Rice ball dessert with red/white bean fillings. I don't quite fancy mochis, those I have tried so far has really thick gooey skin with hardly any fillings, tantamount to chewing playdough -__-

I bought these because they are so very pretty, but was skeptical about the taste though.
But these pretty mochis prove me wrong, they can taste as good as they look. Skin was firm (not gooey), thin (not inch thick) with ample bean fillings so I don't feel like chewing playdough  ^^

At $2 per piece ($12 if u buy 9pcs), and about 2/3 size of an Ah Balling, Japanese sure know how to package a simple rice ball dessert for a premium price.

*ps: with weekly classes near Ion, i have a hunch i will be contributing regularly to their sales.

Clockwise: すいか(Watermelon), こうばい(Red Plum Blossom), チｴリー(Cherry), あやめ(Iris), 青りんご(Green Apple), 红りんご(Red Apple), かき(Persimmon), さくら(Sakura)

SABOTEN @ Parco Marina Bay

I often gripe about the vast difference in the service locally as compared to Japan. Boy, I was bowled over by the amazing service at Saboten. The staff attending to us courteously bowed at every of our request and attended to us promptly. Considering we had 5 jumping, climbing and yakking children, we were definitely not an easy table to serve.

Saboten is supposedly Japan's (Shinjuku origin) largest tonkatsu specialty chain. With unlimited refill of salad, miso soup, rice and green tea; the basic set meal which cost around SGD$22+ is definitely very worth it (:



DIY grinding of the sesame seeds. This was fun. Kids were painstakingly grinding every single seed, ensuring that each and every sesame was perfectly grinded to powder.

The grinded sesame seeds.

One of the reasons Saboten claims that make them stand out from its competitors. Home made Tonkatsu sauce. Sauce is made from scratch using generous amounts of  fruits and vegetables, crediting the sweetness as natural, without any sugar added.

 Mixed the sauce with the grinded sesame seeds and tadah.. we have our dip (:

I don't remember the name of this set I ordered  :(

This neither, can't remember but it was some creamy roe thingy?
But the katsu are good  ^^

What really awed me that evening was this innocent-looking bowl of shredded cabbage. It was so amazingly fresh, crisp and with a choice of either the citrusy yuzu-based vinegar or creamy sesame sauce, this salad definitely beats all its competitors hands down.
This salad was so good we asked for multiple servings that nite :P

Ended the meal with a matcha ice cream which was delightfully yums ^^

I used to satisfy my tonkatsu cravings at Tonkichi, but Saboten has now top my list of favouritEST tonkatsu restaurant in Singapore ((:
(ps: will return to try other items and get the names of the Katsu I ordered :P)

WATAMI JAPANESE CASUAL RESTAURANT @ Raffles City

Somebody had cravings for Jap cuisine, so here we are.
Hungry was definitely an understatement for us today.

Watami Salad

My little man decided to have this, he actually didn't order his fav udon! Luckily Mommy knows best, ordered a bowl of plain udon (lightly flavored with the soup from my sukiyaki) which he gladly slurped up.
Nothing special about this salad, just your usual greens + tuna.

Edamame Beans

A must order for my little princess each time we eat Jap. She loves the beans, and will rattle on about how mommy dearest will give her the bean pod as a teether when she was a baby.

Yaki Udon

This was nicey! Fried Udon Noodles.. very very tasty.

Sushi Grandeur

Salmon, grilled eel and tuna. Look at the salmon belly fats... drool...

Wafu Hitokuchi Steak

Hotplate bite-size beef steak. Medium rare. Right doneness, yummily marinated, just right chewiness. Thumbs up.

Wafu Pizza

Japanese Pizza with Chashu and Teriyaki Chicken.
If you are someone who don't like their pizza to be heavy on the flour, this is good.. and really really thin, like paper thin.
I love this pizza, tasty not bland, thin not thick and it does not give you the bloated aftermath of consuming too much bread ( :

Sukiyaki Nabe

This pic is to highlight the FATS of the beef. Look at it... gosh, I can have a whole plate of it.
(A pact has been made to have a Sukiyaki pork+beef-dip-in-jap-sauce-hotpot style serve with wine at XXX place soon... very soon).

This was one good meal. Mainly because we went just approaching lunch peak, thus we didn't have to queue, service was decent and food was fab!


(pardon me, I am hungry at 1am. Can't pen much. Let the pics do the talking. Dang, foodblogging in the middle of the nite is SO NOT RIGHT.)

PASTA DE WARAKU @ Square 2 Novena

Salmon, Avocado & Tofu Salad

Seafood pasta (in thick soup)

Bacon Carbonara

If I count the amount of calories & carbs I have consumed today, I will sink into a depression mode.

A friend of mine came down from KL for a visit, with the family in tow. Didn't wanted them to travel far, didn't wanted to bring them for chinese cuisine (KL has all the great roadside stalls), and gotto find a place child friendly. So here we are, Waraku! Might not be the best choice, but its the first place I thought of.

I ordered the "usual" Bacon Carbonara (yes, that seems to be on my table each time I patronise Waraku), Salmon Avocado Toufu Salad (another of my "usual") and Seafood Pasta in thick soup.

The carbonara as "usual" was cooked nicely Al Dente with generous servings of the oh-so-irresistable bacon. The salad never fail to wow me with the perfect mix of toufu, avocado and salmon sizzled with sweet Japanese sauce.

BUT.. I DIDN'T get to try the seafood pasta :(

Cay slurped it all up in less than 15mins while I was busy doing my catching up  :S
The pic is all I have got. *argh*.

The next time I am there, will deviate my "usual" and try something "unusual' : )

Oh, I do have ONE gripe.. Having asked to refill my water for more than 3 times and no one did, their service do need some ameliorating. But guess I was in good company today, that slipup was soon forgotten.

MANPUKU JAPANESE GOURMET TOWN @ tampines 1

I deem this as a Japanese foodcourt, though the tagline is Japanese Gourmet Town. Didn't have many pics coz everyone ordered and ate before I was back to get trigger happy : S
I ONLY manage to snap my sashimi + the fruit tart.

Fruit Paradise Tart Shop

This looks so good yet so intimidating to cut. The tart is assembled with a biscuity tart base holding, a layer of sponge cake, custard cream, cheese cream, fresh cream and heaps (really heaps) of strawberries. Just looking at the list of cream in the ingredients, one might think anything more than 2 scoops of this tart will result in revulsion. I am not exactly creamy-cake incline, and hesitated when I was offered a slice. Everyone had 1, I can't say no, eh?

I was.... pleasantly surprised, and I had a second slice for brekkie the next day.

We ordered the whole tart, had the guy at the counter cut it up for us and he actually served us each wedge on a porcelain plate (not plastic or paper) decorated with choc/strawberry syrup swirls.
ps: Its no big hoo-ha, but I was surprise at the service rendered from a "foodcourt" but then again, this was a $80 tart, so I guess they better leave a good impression :P

This was the sashimi I had, which made me wait a good 20mins. It was nice, but nothing that wows me though.