Land Of The Rising Sun

The Kai Ramen's soup base is made using 2 types of clam: asari and hamaguri. Other ingredients used to enhance the taste of the soup include chicken bones, Japanese snapper bones and vegetables.

The soup is paired with specially customised jade green noodles - and this is the first time green ramen noodles are offered in a Japanese restaurant in Singapore. The ramen is then garnished with wakame seaweed and yuzu peel, which accentuate the soup's seafood flavour.

I enjoyed the clams as they were rather fresh, but I found the soup to be a tad light in flavour for me, I prefer a saltier soup base. However, I found the inclusion of yuzu peel in the soup to be refreshing.

One of 3 new ramen dishes launched by Tomo Izakaya, this bowl is my favourite out of the 3.

Following a recipe that has been passed down for 2 generations by Chef Murata's master, the Tokyo Ramen features a special shoyu blended soup base.

This ramen evokes nostalgic feelings, and whisked me away to old time Japan. The soup is made with a medley of ingredients such as pork bone marrows, chicken bones, niboshi (Japanese dried infant sardines), vegetables, Japanese dried scallop and prawns.

The premium ingredients give the soup a robust and piquant flavour. Swimming in it are classic egg noodles, which are than topped with Kurobuta pork char siu.

Priced at only $9.50 NETT during lunchtime, this seals the deal overall.

Only found out about this place after the video went viral on Facebook and we eent the next day to try it at Fortune Center.

The portion of the salmon mentai don is not big at all, but the taste of the dish is impeccable. Absolutely love the richness of the mentai and the aburi salmon slices embedded beneath the mentai.

Will come back to try the other dishes such as the Smoked Duck Ramen and Salmon Don.

The dish was so nicely presented to begin with: 12 thick and juicy glazed beef slices atop fragrant sesame rice, sprinkled with truffle bits and topped off with a lovely Onsen tamago egg just made me fish out my chopsticks all that much faster. The beef slices glowed a healthy pink, its barbecued aroma wafting through the air. The truffle fragrance was definitely prevalent here without being overwhelming. Putting the beef in my mouth, I was bowled over, and that is an understatement to say the least. The beef was so tender, brimming with its oils and melted so deliciously without needing to chew much.

The truffle kicked up the flavour by a notch and this beef has to be the next best thing I have tasted behind Wagyu beef. It is good to note that the beef used here is prime Angus beef, and I cannot believe this bowl of heavenly goodness costed only $14.90 during lunchtime. I burst the Onsen tamago whose yolk oozed thickly and lusciously and I spread the yolk all over the beef slices. I am currently drooling while writing this.

Came on a Thursday and enjoyed the salmon sashimi promo.

It goes for 5 slices for $3 and I must say you really get a bang for your buck. Ordered 40 slices for my friend and myself and the Gohan set which consists of a miso soup, hot tea and a bowl of piping hot rice.

Salmon sashimi was no doubt fresh, so sinful and silky. Bonus points for being thickly cut but not too thick such that it is a mouthful.

Highly recommended but do take note that only the Queen Street outlet has the lunch and dinner time promo while the other 2 has the dinner time one.

You will be glad to know that there is an affordable Japanese place in Boat Quay, nestled amid the many restaurants in the CBD area. $12 nett gets you a main, salad and miso soup.

1) Fried Oyster Don
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5 plump juicy oysters fried to perfection in a crispy batter. Freshness is key here and the oysters nailed that. Simplicity at its best.

2) Unatama Don
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Used to adore unagi (freshwater eel) as a kid but grew out of the taste. Eating this bowl here brings fond memories of this delightful fish. The eel here is fresh, thick and juicy. Enough said. I will only eat unagi from this place. Period.

Will definitely return. $12 nett for set lunch is a steal.

This is the best bowl of salmon don I have ever tried. No joke.

The salmon belly slices were charred perfectly, softly melting in your mouth with a slight charred aftertaste that was oh so divine. Not to mention the ikura which was bursting full of umami flavour.

If there is one salmon don you need to try, this must be in your list.

This wonderful bowl of goodness hit all the right notes for me. Truffle Gyuniku Donburi boasts Truffle Hon Shimeji Mushrooms, Tare Marinated Skirt Steak and their signature 72 Degree Onsen Tamago sprinkled with spring onions.

Just the thought of truffled mushrooms and tender beef slices renders me weak in the knees, I mean stomach. I love how strong the aroma of truffle is in the bowl, such that every piece of mushroom I ate was so infused with it that it made the whole bowl so fragrant. The tender beef slices were amped up a level with the sweet fragrant sauce. That beautiful and round onsen egg broke sinfully and flooded the bowl with its liquid gold.

The only downside is its portion which was a tad small for a big eater like me.

Rollie Olie is a new eatery specialising in, yes you guessed it right, maki rolls!! Very Instagram worthy and delicious maki rolls that are freshly made to order.

Star Vista is THE place to have lunch these days, with many solid restaurants and cafes popping up on every level. I ordered the caterpillar just because I am in love with avocados and crabmeat, which are the stars of the dish.

8 pieces costed me $12. Which is rather reasonable for me I guess, considering it filled me up just nice such that I was satiated but not bloated. The avocado wrapping each roll was so creamy, and the fresh crabmeat within burst with sweetness. I left the place a very happy boy that day. Will definitely return to try the other variants of rolls.

Sanshoku - 3 types of sashimi atop a bed of fragrant rice. The fishes included here were salmon, tuna and swordfish.

Very fresh and thick slices of sashimi, absolutely loved the texture and chewiness of the swordfish. Very worth the $17++ in my opinion.

This dish is part of the 2 new items that Ten-Ichi has launched, the other being Mentaiko Udon which I also tried. But this was the one that blew me away.

Topped with an onsen tamago, cooked sous vide and at a perfect temperature of 63 degrees, I burst the egg and watched the yolk cascade onto the smoked duck slices and mixing with the black sesame sauce/broth.

The black sesame sauce was fragrant and pungent with the aroma of black sesame and a little black bean sauce. The udon was cooked al dente, springy and flavourful. The duck slices were the star of the dish, all 6 slices were rather thickly cut and peppered nicely with black pepper on the skin. They also contained a nice layer of fat beneath the skin, making each bite a treat. Absolutely will return for more and hopefully this item will stay for good.

Sanpoutei still has the best ramen I have ever tasted thus far.

The broth is thick, rich, full of flavour and teases the tastebuds with fully accented miso essence. The aburi pork, charred to perfection has a good fat to meat ratio that has seemingly absorbed all the goodness from the broth, melting in my mouth with a simmery barbequed aftertaste.

The onsen egg, needless to say, is almost perfect. Half runny and melt in the mouth, the yolk was viscuous and still managed to cascade into the broth.

I am still waiting for another ramen place to blow me to great proportions like Sanpoutei did.