Town

Chewy strands of udon dipped in cold dipping sauce, slices of fresh sashimi in the kaisen don and lightly battered tempura pieces with the vegetables flew in specially from Japan. Not pictured are the salad, appetiser, chawanmushi, pickles, miso soup and dessert that comes with the set as well. Great for big eaters and priced at $35 only! Hahahaha I apologise for the photos 😂

10 pieces of premium sushi, appetiser, salad, miso soup, chawanmushi and dessert. All for $38. I think Ginza Kuroson's Lunch Menu is just filled with items that offer you not only great value but taste as well. I requested for some pieces of aburi sushi in my order, letting the chef decide which pieces of sushi would taste better torched. As you can see, Ginza Kuroson is rather generous with the amount of fish they use atop each serving of sushi rice. What sets Ginza Kuroson apart from most other Japanese restaurants that I have tried is their Tamago. The Tamago at Ginza Kuroson is a Negi Tamago, infusing the natural sweetness of the Negi into the Tamago. I thought it was a great balance between sweet and savoury. There was a slight hint of vinegar in the sushi rice that I found rather pleasing to my palate. While one of the rectangles of sushi rice broke apart when I grabbed the sushi lightly with my chopsticks, I wouldn't consider it a deal breaker for me, especially given the price that I'm paying for the meal. It might just have been carelessness on the part of the chef as the remaining 9 pieces of sushi were well made. For those of you who are wondering, this is my second visit to Ginza Kuroson in a week and I foresee more visits in the near future.

I think Ginza Kuroson @ Takashimaya will become my new favourite go-to place to satisfy my Japanese cravings during the lunch hour. They serve up incredibly satisfying food at an affordable price point. What you see in the picture is almost similar to a Chirashi Don. However, the sashimi that you get is not fixed and is really dependent on what the chef feels is the freshest for that day. Generous, fresh and delicious, most of Ginza Kuroson's lunch sets are priced in the 20s range. They all come with an appetiser, miso soup, salad, dessert and pickles. This outlet is located in Takashimaya, on the newly revamped third level, right next to Kiton. Oh yes, this particular set lunch that I ordered is priced at $22. Like wow??

The recently popular truffle yakiniku don from Tanuki Raw. Definitely one of the dishes to try when you're over here. $14.80 during lunch, you get pan seared tender Black Angus short ribs and an onsen tamago on a bed of sushi rice, seasoned with truffle soy sauce. One of the most affordable ways to pamper your tummy.

One of my favourite dishes from the eatup that night. The Crab Meat Capellini is a dish from the old menu and I am glad it has still found a spot on Oriole's revamped menu. Chunks of fresh crab meat mixed with capellini cooked in a way that resembles aglio olio, albeit with a stronger taste of the peppers that have been cooked together with it. Note: Salad and fries come separately

Spending my days cramming for the final examinations and right now, I'm really craving this affogato from Oriole Coffee + Bar badly. A shot of espresso, vanilla ice cream and cookie crumble. Perfect for any occasion! I wish study snacks came in the form of this.

Imagine the texture you get from the waffles purchased at your neighbourhood bakery, soft and chewy. Improve the batter, make it crispy on the outside, top it off with vanilla ice cream, drizzle with caramel and add a dish of candy at the side for dipping. These are the components of the delightful Waffle Mi'So. Located at 313 Somerset, Oriole Coffee + Bar is easily accessible and for those looking to satisfy your coffee and waffle cravings, this is the place to be. On top of their old menu, the newly revamped Oriole Coffee + Bar now has an all day breakfast menu as well. Check it out if you are in the area!

Priced at $14.90++, Sprigs offers one of the best and most affordable lunch sets that I have come across near my school. Each set comes with a soup of the day and a glass of gourmet iced tea. My Surf & Turf consisted of a pan fried boneless chicken thigh, wagyu beef steak and a garlic buttered prawn. All of them were pleasing to the palate, special mention goes to the steak cause who doesn't love wagyu? The Duo Salmon Spaghettini on the other hand, done al dente and the salmon wasn't overdone. The creamy tomato sauce complemented the salmon and pasta really well, both aesthetically and in terms of taste. Sprigs also changes their lunch set menu on a fortnightly basis, so regulars do not have to worry about eating the same old dishes over and over again. Check out their menu on their website at http://www.sprigs-sg.com and note that Ala Carte dishes are not available during lunch. Let's see if my hectic school schedule allows me to become a regular here.

nua nam tok - grilled robbins island wagyu beef rump salad, thai parsley, mint, spring onions. THIS WAS AMAZING. As a lover of spicy and sour food, this hit all the right spots for me. Generous servings of tender wagyu beef rump with a special fiery and sour Thai salad dressing, I might even head back down tomorrow for a second serving. Created as part of a menu featuring the special Robbins Island Wagyu, this dish and several others are only available till 31st Oct 2014. Do head on down to try these dishes before they disappear from the menu! In the meanwhile, I will be trying to convince them to keep this as a permanent item on the menu. Wish me luck!

Not your typical BBQ pork ribs, Oriole dishes out tender, fall-off-the-bone, asian inspired pork ribs. Rubbed with their special blend of kicap-manis chilli marinade and accompanied by sambal matah, this version of ribs gives you a mix of sweet, tangy and spicy! Sweet potato fries are also served instead of the usual, adding a further touch of uniqueness to your experience here at Oriole. One of my favourite things about Oriole is that they are one of the participating Merchants in The Entertainer, which means 1-for-1 Main Courses ^^ and the St Louis' Pork Ribs is one of the main courses up for offer ( ˘ڡ˘ ). P.S Get a pint of draft Kronenburg Blanc (1-for-1 everyday from 3pm-9pm) to go with your ribs to make your dining experience an even better one.

Thin crusted pizzas are de rigueur these days, which can get a little boring. It also means that having so many other shops to compete and be compared with, the pizza better be average at the very least. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of thin crusted pizzas because if I'm going to be eating something sinful, it might as well be chunky. It's not like "skinny" or "thin" pizza is gonna make me slim down. Anyway, my expectations for thin crusted pizzas are as follows: I expect a moderately thin crust, allowing a slightly crisp and chewy texture with each bite.The mozzarella cheese must be warm and full of stringy, gooey goodness. The toppings must be generous, but still well balanced out with the crust and the cheese, it must not steal the spotlight entirely. As such, the Prosciutto Di Parma from Supply & Demand would only rank as average on my pizza list. It was served slightly warm, with a slightly thicker than usual cut of Parma ham on each slice of pizza. The rocket salad that came with the pizza was rather fresh and not overly bitter. Generous shavings of Parmesan cheese were scattered all over the pizza and went well with the slight bitterness of Rucola. The tomato sauce was average at best. The crust wasn't a good balance of chewiness and crisp, also lacking the slightly charred, more traditional flavours of a wood fired pizza. It also tasted like the dough lacked fermentation, affecting the flavour of the dough. Perhaps I am a sucker for the traditional methods of baking pizza. Supply & Demand definitely doesn't have one of the best grub around but it serves decent food in a nice setting at a very convenient location. The hunt for my ideal pizza continues.

Street/hawker food found on a restaurant's menu has always had an appeal to me. If under less comfortable conditions, the hawkers and street vendors can already come up with such marvellous tasting dishes, what could the chefs in a restaurant, with their advanced equipment and huge kitchens, whip up? When the satay was served, it certainly looked promising: served on a steel mesh placed atop a candle with vegetables and peanut sauce on the side. After quickly snapping a picture of the dish, I placed a skewer into my mouth slowly, eagerly anticipating a hot-off-the-grill, smoky, charred chunk of chicken meat. This was not to be. While the meat was tender, I felt that the skewers here lacked the smoky, slightly charred qualities of street stalls. Also, the meat was at room temperature, which probably meant this was prepared in advance and left at a side till an order came in. I then decided to try another skewer after leaving it on the mesh for a while, with hope that the tiny flame from the candle placed below would be of help and eventually came to a conclusion that the candle was placed there purely for decorative purposes. It probably would help a little if they heated their spicy peanut sauce up to compensate for the skewers which were at room temperature or provided a sizeable flame/ charcoal below the steel mesh. What a waste to pair a flavourful peanut sauce with chicken prepared like that. Well, if they're supplying this, I don't think I'll be demanding it.