Tokyo Part 4, Hirugao Ramen + Salon Du Chocolat

Lunch at Hirugao. Popular ramen place serving famous for its shio ramen.

Aburi Chashu Shio Ramen 950 yen+ extra order of aji tama

Salon du chocolat Tokyo

 

Tokyo Part 3, Tempura Kondo

Early morning breakfast at Sushi Zanmai, i think it was alright..no pictures thou..

Then headed to Tempura Kondo ( てんぷら　近藤) 2 michelin stars for lunch.. had the Sumire option ( around 6k + yen) with an additional satsuma imo( sweet potato) order. Some pics here but not mine..

Very good tempura, Tenshin( Regent Hotel ) does the same style of tempura as them.. but they lose on the ingredients part.  The prawn heads were very nice and cruncy, a very nice start, then i had around 2 prawns , 3 fishes, 4 vegetables. The vegetables are superb.. the thing about these kinda places is that they source their vegetables from some very good farmers in other parts of japan.. I also noticed that my onion was sliced into 2, instead of the usual sticking toothpicks into it.  Tempura was prepared by one of the younger chefs instead of Chef Kondo himself..

Then i had the satsuma imo, the last pic on the right. A portion is like 2 or 3 of those on the pic. So u can imagine big it was. Be warned, try to share this with a at least 1 more person. I couldnt finish it all by myself..  The sweet potatoes are of course very good, super sweet. I was too stuffed to have the rice after that. Had a miso soup, and some fruits to finish.

They have an english menu as well, and the waitress (a madam) was very polite, even asking me if everything was alright when i got out of the restaurant. The place seems to be fully occupied, and i can see people waiting outside when i left.  I just made a reservation  few days before my visit here.
Had some cakes from Hidemi Sugino again.

 

Hidemi Sugino, Toraya , Mizutani , Continued Part 2

Then headed to Hidemi Sugino for cakes. Again, u could go all the way there in the early morning to queue to get ur fix, but i went in the afternoon like 2 plus or 3, and they were still replenishing cakes. I saw the famed ambrosie that day but didnt get that coz im not a really big fan of chocolate, so i got this since im a sucker for strawberries, and framboise based patisserie..600+ yen for each cake.

Mervee

Upon tasting, u are transported to an astral plane, his cakes are something that you have never tasted before..They are not like the usual french gateaux or cakes which are mostly flour based, instead Hidemi Sugino cakes are mousse based and they are god damn light mousses with very sublime yet intense strawberry flavour(if i nv remember wrongly, this is a strawberry based mousse cake, with framboises and blueberries on top)! I suspect there might be a huge amount of gelatin in his mousses since they seemed to wobble and had a light bouncy effect, i may be wrong thou.. his cakes do stay in shape despite of the wobby and light structure..

Photography is also not allowed in there, so i secretly took pictures and thats how u get his cakes pictures floating around the net..

http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1302/A130202/13002285/

Also had some seasonal namagashi and matcha at Toraya that day.. Around 1000 yen for the set.

霜紅梅, made with 求肥, 白飴(dont know what is it), some kind of pasty sweet filling inside.. very nice, the namagashi is also made perfectly.. u cant compare this with minamoto kitchoan( takashimya branch, some chains in other parts of the world). As the name suggests, this namagashi is molded in the likeness of snow falling on a japanese red apricot(紅梅).  Japanese sweets are much more sweeter than your usual ang ku kueh and chinese snacks which kinda dispels the fact(at least for me) that wagashi are usually very bland in tasting..

Dinner was Sushi Mizutani.. service was stern,  thou i did not really enjoy the whole dining environment( might be because of the beer and the very stress sort of feeling, since i was alone) . But that aside, i felt it was the technically the best sushi one could have..

His rice is something very different, u can feel each grain of rice in ur mouth with his sushi, he sort of also specialises in shellfishes( alot of shellfish sushi), but im not a shellfish expert to remember what each one tastes like, might be due to the beer or unwellness on my part..

His tamagoyaki is also the best, very moist, something between a custard and a cake( the exterior is very much like the exterior of a kueh lapis).. The fish are also very good, no hint of sinews in his ootoro, his uni very firm and buttery(best among all i had in my life) his anago tasting very much different from others(had a hint of unagi like taste and absolutely boneless), his prawn very sweet, thou i will add they are not Extremly extremly better or different from those u have from those top end sushi restaurants in singapore(nogawa, shiraishi, tatsuya etc)(maybe my tongue is not that subtle)  ..

i would say the top end singapore sushi shops might be 3 – 4 notches down.. they lose out on the rice( singapore sushi rice is too loose and not firm),  anago has soft bones in it, the white fishes(esp the sayori), the shellfishes maybe, the tuna may not be as good as those in japan( but i think this takes a real expert to tell),  and the tamagoyaki being the atsuyaki tamagoyaki type.. and the kuruma ebi( i dont think anyone in singapore is serving this, but im not really a big fan of prawn)

Damage 18k yen for dinner.. if i were to return i will go at lunch, maybe my tongue is better in picking up more subtle flavours at that time and i can have an excuse to skip the beer at lunch time, since Mizutani does not compromise on his quality of his fishes whether its lunch or dinner..

 

How to eat the best in tokyo part 2

This italian place La Bettola da Ochiai is super popular in tokyo. I think the chef always goes on tv and i can see from their restaurant blog that he is also a friend of iron chef french & chinese Hiroyuki Sakai & Chen Kenichi.  Getting a dinner reservation should be very hard given the cult status, also heard there is a 2 month waiting list.. thou i do not really know.

Lunch spot might be relatively easier to get, since they do not allow bookings, you have to go down to the restaurant to secure a spot. They start their lunch reservation at 1030am, so if your are damn kiasu and want to get a lunch time at ur desired timing, go at that timing. The 2 times i went was at around 12pm, and had to wait for an hour later time slot at around 1pm. The crowd also seem to lessen after 2pm…

So i had the Pranzo Set C ( 2940 yen , 1 appetizer , 1 pasta , 1 main )

The Caprese was very good, firm and very sweet tomatoes with the boccocini(might be buffalo mozz)

The STAR is of course the Spaghetti Al Riccio(Uni Spaghetti) , da no 1 dish at this place!  Is just damn good, it is not cloying at all, so i think there may be no cream maybe just eggs(my guess based on the colour of the sauce, hehe).  The pasta is also 100% al dente, absolutely very consistent with their pasta cooking!  Although this dish is quite simple, it had more satisfaction than the famous Cabonara from La Strada (shaw orchard)… This might be my favourite pasta dish in my life, unless gunther manage to kill me off with his caviar pasta dish…

Then the Cotoletta(Veal Milanese), first time having this, coz i nv ordered this in singapore italian restaurants.. Hmm, i guess this was properly made, but it feels like hainanese pork cutlets..haha

This place feels sort of like a bistro, not very much on the decor and stuff.. Locating it may also be quite hard for some of you guys, be sure to print out the map before u go! Nearest station is Shintomitcho,Takaracho & Ginza Itchome Station, thou walkable from Ginza.. around 15mins.  Fell in love with the very friendly waitress which reminds me of someone!!

Bought this while waiting for my reservation at La bettola..The sake manju from toraya, a really tough bun, is this how it is suppose to taste like??

To be Continued( Hidemi Sugino & reports for sushi mizutani)!!

 

Aroma Fresca continued Part 1

Located at azabu juban, walkable distance from the station. Minimum 2 people. I ate with someone, relatively cheap by japanese standards.. 12k yen for menu aroma fresca and 18k yen for menu stagionale. both must have the same course on a table. 3 months reservation in advance. English is ok, recommended maybe for couples, nice garden in the restaurant. details of restaurant – http://r.tabelog.com/tokyo/A1307/A130702/13004586/

The wines here are very decently priced, alot of italian wines, around 1.5k yen to 2k yen per glass. Everything is just bite size, which is good, cause it doesnt make u feel like giving up. the bread and olives here are also excellent! All the dishes are ok, but no one particulary memorable. Below is the writeup from Asomaniac.

I had dinner with a fellow chowhounder at Aroma Fresca last night. The food and wine were both very good, but I continue to be absolutely mystified by the incredible popularity of the restaurant amongst Japanese people. The food is certainly good, but we both agreed that it was not memorable. I would not be able to write a detailed review if I hadn’t taken some notes last night – some dishes would already have escaped my memory. Perhaps the place is so popular with locals because it makes very heavy use of very Japanese ingredients (kani miso, seaweed, abalone etc).

The all-Italian wine list is very good. Not quite as good as Angolo’s, but it does have a good range of wines from many of Italy’s 20 wine regions, and the pricing is extremely reasonable for a Michelin-starred restaurant in Tokyo. There are many fairly decent wines for around 5,000 Yen, and the mark-up is quite humane. By way of example, a Were Dreams Chardonnay by Jerman costs around 7,500 Yen in shops, and at Aroma Fresca you pay 13,000. In contrast, many other Michelin-starred restaurants charge three times the shop price, or more. The by-the-glass selection was very good as well

The food

There are two set menus of ten courses plus dessert plus tea/coffee for 12,000 and 15,000 Yen (no a la carte options). The 12,000 Yen meny, “Menu Aromafresca”, is a seafood menu with six seafood dishes, one meat dish and three vegetarian dishes. That is the menu we had. The 15,000 Yen menu, “Menu Stagionale”, was more mixed, featuring four seafood dishes and three meat dishes (horse meat carpaccio, roast rabbit with liver paste sauce and “cowtail” stew, presumably oxtail) as well as three vegetarian courses. Here is an overview of the individual dishes:

1. Smoked eel on caviar

The eel had a wonderfully full flavour, it was soft but firmly textured, a sliver of crispy eel skin with coarsely ground salt provided an effective textural contrast. The caviar got a little lost, the salt of the skin somewhat overpowered it. It did not add as much as it could have done. Overall a very good start though.

2. King crab salad with grapefruit

The king crab was prepared in a more Japanese rather than Italian manner: while one side was lighlty grilled, providing a note of charcoal that contrasted well with the delicate flavour of the crab meat, half of the piece of crab was semi-raw. The crab was succulent and juicy. The grapefruit and vegetable salad was extremely boring. While it is fine to add subtle flavours to the delicious crab so that the crab can dominate and does not get overshadowed by other ingredients of the dish, surely the chef could have come up with something slightly less dull.

3. Steamed sea eel with fresh tomato sauce

This dish was a real highlight. The eel was steamed to perfection and a hint of dill wedged between thin layers of eel provided a fresh, herby contrast to the full flavour of the eel and its fat content. A small amount of fresh chopped chives on the top of the eel fulfilled a similar purpose. The amount of herbs was just right to provide a contrast without in any way overshadowing the flavour of the eel. The tomato sauce largely consisted of cold finely chopped fresh tomatoes with a very small amount of herbs and olive oil. The tomatoes reminded me of how good raw vegetables at their best can taste – the flavour was very intense, sweet and fruity and greatly enhanced the dish. It paired wonderfully with the eel and, again, added freshness and contrast without taking away form the eel. I can’t remember buying tomatoes in a shop – even some of the crazily expensive Japanese ones – the flavour of which even began to approach last night’s offering.

4. Seaweed and warm soup with abalone

The name of this dish is misleading, because it contained a lot of broccoli which was very much the dominant flavour. The seaweed had almost no perceptible flavour of its own. The abalone was very thinly sliced and had a pleasant texture, but almost no flvour to speak of (the strenghth of the broccoli ensured that even if it did, it would be difficult to perceive). For good measure, the chef added some okura, which did not add any flavour, but enhanced the slightly slimy ‘neba-neba’ texture of the soup. Overall a very mild and not unpleasant dish, but a little pointless

5. Blue crab spaghetti

This was an excellent spaghetti dish. Wonderfully al dente spaghetti with a lot of bite: a substantial amount of garlic, herbs, olive oil and butter, with a strong aftertaste of chilli. The flavours were strong, but none dominated. The individual flavours came into their own and the dish was very balanced. The crab had a very light, fluffy texture with more than a hint of kani miso. Kani miso can be quite dominant in a way that is not always pleasant, but in this case it was just about right, and worked very well with the garlic.

6. Ravioli pasta (potato) with basilico sauce

The sauce had a very concentrated, dense basil flavour. The ravioli was filled with a puree of potato, cheese and butter. The textural contrasts were good – the ravioli was al dente – and the buttery flavour of the filling went well with the basil sauce. Overall it was a little blunt though, even something as simple and obvious as a very small amount of freshly ground black pepper would have added a dimension this dish was lacking.

7. Blanquillo with clam and winter turnip

The fish was prepared to perfection: succulent, juicy and firm flesh, crunchy, crispy scales with a chargrilled flavour. The clam was tough and could have done with extended steaming in sake (I have previously had a similar type of clam steamed in sake for hours, and it was divine; it would have worked here flavour-wise as well as the sauce contained sake). The turnip tasted oven-baked and worked very well with the fish and the clam. The sauce was a buttery turnip sauce with sake and chives – excellent flavour that did not in any way overshadow the flavours of the other ingredients. With the exception of the clam, a very well executed dish.

8. Sherbet of citrus fruits

This palate cleanser contained various citrus fruit and passion fruit. It was unusually tart, quite sour.. A bit too much for me, but it certainly did its palate cleansing job.

9. Beef steak Aromafresca style

The steak was salt and pepper encrusted on one side, otherwise rare. The waiter explained to me that it was a very specific cut, but I am afraid that I did not understand what cut exactly. The marbelling was what you would expect from a medium amount of marbelling on a wagyu sirloin steak (a little vague, I know – I should have written down what he said!). It was qualitatively one of the better steaks I have had at high end restaurants in Japan, though not quite at the same level of the offerings at steak restaurants like Dons de la Nature. The steak came with three pastes: a garlic paste, a horseradish paste and an unusual, but very tasty mustard, potato and citrus fruit paste. The garlic paste was composed of wonderfully roasted garlic. The pastes were all excellent, but their flavours were quite strong, so I enjoyed them separately from the steak. The salt and pepper crust gave it enough additional flavour, and I did dip a few pieces into a small amount of Maldon salt that came with the dish.

The steak came with a simple, but excellent salad of rocket, whole coriander seeds and a lemon-based dressing. The tartness of the dressing cut through the fat of the steak, and the coriander seeds added some wonderful spice to the dish.

10. Cauliflower in cocotte

This was served at the same time as the steak. Essentially, this was cauliflower dipped in butter and baked. Tasty but wholly uneventful.

Dessert

There was a choice of five desserts, and I selected the strawberry soup. It was a very enjoyable and refreshing dessert, if nothing spectacular. The chopped strawberries were very fresh and flavoursome. The liquid consisted of strawberry puree and soda. Adding the soda was a simple but inspired idea; the gentle carbonation added to the freshness of the strawberry puree. Finally, there was some milk ice cream in the soup. That conbination worked well, as you would expect, though there was nothing unusual or memorable about it (with the exception of the soda).

The wine

We limited ourselves to by-the-glass wines. I started off with a Franciacorta Blanc de Blancs by Cavalleri. This was disappointing. Aggressive, large bubbles and pretty uneventful flavour; most Champagne or even Burgundy cremant blanc de blancs offered at restaurants of comparable standard tend to provide a more satisfying experience. 8,500 yen per bottle, 1,600 yen per glass.

I then moved on to a 2006 Capitel Croce by Anselmi. That is essentially a Soave (the producer has left the appellation in protest against the low standard of many Soave producers, so the wine cannot be called Soave DOC anymore, but that is what it is – a Veneto white made of 100% Garganega grape). Soave very often is dull, cheap, boring wine with very little quality, but some producers do produce top wines, and Anselmi is one of them. The wine is gently oaked (increasinly seen in Soave, but still not common) and has honey and lemon flavours, with some very gentle vanilla toast and herbacious undertones. Good value at 7,000 a bottle (glass: 1,400).

Next up was a Chardonnay from the mountainous region of Alto-Adige, a 2006 Cornell “Formigar” by Colterenzio. An excellent winemaker, and this wine was no exception. Contrary its sunny, fullbodied cousins from the south and centre of Italy, this was a fairly restrained, relatively crisp, medium bodied wine with gentle oak and the usual tropical fruit notes you’d expect from a Chardonnay. Unlike Sicily’s overoaked offerings, this was an excellent food wine that paired exceptionally well with the seafood dishes. Priced at 9,800 per bottle (1,600 per glass).

The last white was a 2007 Gewurztraminer by Terlano, also from Alto-Adige. This was excellent, up there with Alsatian Gewurztraminers of the same (or higher) price range. Wonderful note of exotic spices and pineapple. Very fresh, very young, and very dry, with none of the residual sugar you find in some Gewurztraminers. A really excellent example of the grape variety. 5,800 per bottle – an excellent price – and 1,200 by the glass.

The first red was a 2005 Nebbiolo d’Alba “Ca Veja” by Paitin. A very decent example of its kind, good fruit, a bit more body than many Nebbiolo d’Albas, and already fairly drinkable, despite its youth. Obviously don’t expect it to match good Barolos or Barbarescos – same grape variety, different worlds. But at 6,800 it is very decently priced (1,400 per glass), and much, much cheaper than a decent Barolo or Barbaresco (and given how many bad producers there are in Barolo and Barbaresco, it is much safer to go for this Nebbiolo than try your luck with cheap Barolos / Barbarescos, where the rule often seems to be that if it is affordable, it is not worth drinking).

The second and last red was a 2003 Salae Domini by Antonio Caggiano. Made from the Aglianico grape, the pride of the Campania region in southern Italy this wine originates from, it it full of dark fruit, cherries and a hint of baked plum. Spices in the nose. May need some more time, but is already very palateable.

Moving on to the dessert wines: we had a Vin Santo del Chianti 2001 by Altesino from the Montalcino area. Notes of coffee, caramel, sherry, plum, chocolate. Excellent. I didn’t write down what it cost.

The final dessert wine was another Anselmi, the I Capitelli 2005. As in the case of the dry white described earlier, this one is also 100% Garganega. An excellent wine – caramel, raisins, dried apricots, a very full-bodied wine with good balance. It seems that the Garganega grape, certainly in the hands of a good producer, is very well suited to producing excellent dessert wines. The Garganega dessert wine by Pieropan, possibly the best Soave producer, was one of the best dessert wines I have ever had. This one does not quite reach such heights, but it is really excellent. I did not note what that one cost, either.

Overall, the wine list shows that whoever is in charge of wine at Aroma Fresca knows exactly what they are doing. The only downside is the way the wine list is organised. It is purely organised by vintage, so wines from different producers, grape varieties and regions are all lumped together. It is a very odd and inconvenient way to organise the wine list, and does not make much sense.

Overall, a very good dinner, as I said – but not really that memorable. Aroma Fresca deserves a Michelin star, but not more. To me, Ristorante Aso still reigns supreme (though the wine list is better at Aroma Fresca as Aso focuses on French wines; the Aso French wines are top, but an Italian restaurant should have a wine list dominated by Italian wines), although the style of the food is very different and I can fully understand that other people might view the relative merits of these two restaurants differently.

 

How to eat the best in tokyo part 1

what did i eat during my solo trip to tokyo?? what are the things that one should prepare?? how much to spend and what to eat there.. this is most probably the writeup that covers mostly everything about food in tokyo.

alright, the first dinner i had was at　尾花（obana) at minami senju, walkable distance from minami senju station inside a small alley.  This was the only place that i had eat seated on the floor and i did get abit clumsy..also this place requires u to leave ur shoes outside.

So for a start i will start on the etiqutte. I guess there is much etiquette in japanese dining culture which for some i still do not quite fully grasp, but i will point out what i know.. When going to ur seat, i guess it is probably correct to enter from the right side of the table if u are going to seat on the inner side, i entered from the left side, so i might have looked silly..also i guess there is sort of a certain way of bending down and getting to ur seat, i guess as usual, the left knee has to be down first before the right,  the japanese way( adapted from etiquette in japanese martial arts).

there will be oshinbori(hand towel) and packed paper towels on the table. The oshinbori is to clean ur hands before eating, do not use it on other parts of ur body. The packed paper towels are to be used while eating, i am still not very sure about this one(this is wad saito san told me), but  not for cleaning up after u eat, just to be safe do not use it on other parts of your body other than your hands.  Place both ur hands above the table when u eat, just to be safe, adpated from the european dining manners.  I know some of you including myself have this habit to place our hands on our laps while we eat…there will be no spoons in japanese restaurants  so please adapt yourself to it..

Ok ordered the unaju(うな重）(the smallest one), and an appetizer Umaki(うまき）, they do have shiroyaki as well but i didnt ordered that, maybe if you would like to try some unagi that is just plainly grilled without sauce u can try it.

Umaki & Unajyuu

The service is very friendly thou, but i guess no english is spoken here..the umaki is sort of a minced unagi with sauce  rolled into dashimaki or atsuyaki tamagoyaki…the unajyuu is well unagi on rice in a lacquer box.  Comes with some pickles(very nice pickles i think cabbage and takuan). Total bill was around 4000~ yen. Pay ur bill outside of the dining area. Apparently those very traditional japanese places pay their bill on their way out.  Will i recommend anyone to make a special trip down to minami senju to try their unagi, maybe not. I think it is decent unagi, but i guess u can have it at any decent japanese restaurants.

What i had for lunch the day after. Framboise cake from jean paul hevin at his counter upstairs at the salon du chocolat event. Not a die hard fan of chocolate, so this is just basically a chocolate cake with some framboise sauce on top. Shld have gotten their degustation .. 3 types of cake.. sigh.. This is around 600+ yen?

Basically amazed at the supermarket in isetan. The mind boogling supermarket ranging from japanese food stuff(miso, condiments, dried food stuff) wagashi to jamon iberico hams to artisanal cheese to bread to french patisseries to whatever u can name it there! so i spent a whole afternoon there..

Ended up at toraya for my tea time?  this branch do not have the full list of items, so be forewarned.  Had the 葛切り（kuzu kiri) with 煎茶sencha,(around 1000 or so yen) basically kuzu noodles, with some type of sugar syrup or honey.. again some silly stuff happened due to my inadequate understing of japanese.. did not really figure out how to fix the tea(sencha).. so the waitress came over and helped me with it..

the texture of the cut kuzu is very smooth and bouncy.. very nice,  basically i just pick the “noodles” and dip it into the honey and eat it.. i guess u couldnt possibly pour the honey into ur bowl of “noodles” right. On the tea, basically pour the hot water(from the black pot) into the white pot(has tea leaves inside), and pour ur tea into ur cup..so simple yet so dumb of me… Pay the bill as u exit. They have some other very nice wagashi, so please try them..Recommended, u can only get excellent wagashi in japan, i had other wagashi in other famous shops and i can tell u it makes minamoto kitchaon(in takashimaya) wagashi look like crap.. Maybe head down to the tokyo midtown branch, cause u can sample other goodies there like sadaharu aoki, toshi yoroizuka and napule pizza..

Also had a matcha eclair from sada and some random sakura mochi( didnt like that, i think it had umeboshi in it..i dont like preserved sour stuffs..)

Next entry will be the first michelin dinner, Aroma Fresca(italian) 1 star..

 

MO: UNIQLO Online Store

To those who are interested in UT tees or uniqlo clothes, I will be conducting an order for Uniqlo jp clothes from 04  JAN 08 to 18 Jan 09.

http://store.uniqlo.com/jp/

Rules of the Mass Order

1. Mass Order is open from 27/12/08 to 04/01/09.
2. All items on the online store are available for preorder.
3. Items are subject to availability at time of order.
4. HALF deposit required before I can ship your orders over from Japan.
5 Items will take approximately 2 weeks from time of order to reach Singapore.
6. On arrival, collection will be arranged on the convenience of both parties
7. I will be ordering from the online store so availability of sizes/colours is as stated on the webstore.

To order, simply email me at mrcaramelcorn@gmail.com or call me at 84501170 with the following details.

Name:
Email:
Contact No.:
URL of Item(s):

Mens Section

Graphic Tees

Flannel Shirts

Basics Short sleeve

Basics Long Sleeve

Jeans

Knit Wear( Cardigan etc)

Women’s Section

Graphic Tees

One Piece Dresses

Jeans

Knit Wear( Cardigan etc)

Fleece ,  Basic Fleece

If there is any link not stated above, but on the uniqlo store website, please send me an email on the link and i can get it for you.

Pricing Information (Per Piece) WITH SHIPPING CHARGES EVERYTHING INCLUDED!

1,000 yen: $30
1,500 yen: $40
1,990 yen: $60
2,990 yen: $80

REACH ME @  mrcaramelcorn@gmail.com or  84501170

 

Hup Kee Fried Oyster Omelette Newton Circus

Some artery clogging session, Or Jian + Or Ng . They have another stall at Gluttons Bay. I prefer the Or Jian, crispier since it has potato flour.

 

Ramen Santouka & Laurent Bernard

Using my friend’s nokia 8800 arte carbon to take pics, the pics are crappy..

らーめん山頭火

Kara Miso Toroniku Ramen (Small ) $18++

The taste is very rich for a tonkotsu broth, but with the spicy taste of miso. I think normal miso would be a better match. Comes with toroniku(pork cheeks), menma(bamboo shoots) , dried chilli?, some cabbage? The toroniku is very soft and the taste is just right. But not a life changing bowl of ramen for me.

Tsukemen

The noodles are slightly more thicker and chewier than the noodles than the toroniku ramen. Dipping sauce comes with aji tama(boiled egg), kakuni?, menma.. etc.. the aji tama is done nicely, with the egg yolk being still molten and soft.

The kakuni in the dipping sauce is a tad tough, not your melt in your mouth kakuni. I guess there arent much fats in the kakuni.

Pleasure at Laurent Bernard $9.80++

Mr Bernard was not there at night, which explains why i could take this picture..A tad expensive for a dessert, but nonetheless quite good.

RATING FOR RAMEN SANTOUKA

6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-76 The Central

RATING FOR LAURENT BERNARD

80 Mohamed Sultan Road
#01-11 The Pier @ Robertson

 

Geylang Lor 29, Swee Guan HKM & Kwong’s Satay

After reading Ieat’s blog, decided to try these 2 hawker stalls in Geylang Lor 29..

Presenting Swee Guan Fried Hokkien Mee ..

$6 hokkien mee to share, not bad, but no crispy pork lards.. big prawns, nice squid , slightly eggy sauce.. sambal is just normal

Kwong Satay ( Pork, Chicken, Pork Belly)

Satay is not bad, but i wouldnt say it is a must try, the satay sauce is abit bland.. not enough punch…

RATING FOR HOKKIEN MEE

RATING FOR SATAY

Geylang Lor 29
Singapore