Full Stomach Full Wallet

The Cold Soup Chopitos is a trio of shooters comprising the "Andalusian gazpacho" (classic tomato taste), the white "ajo blanco" which is made with almonds (my fave of the bunch it as it tasted a lot like liquid garlic aioli to me) and the "melon gazpacho" (I found this to be the weakest of the three).

Immanuel French Kitchen aims to bring affordable French fare to the masses from their humble stall in Salut Coffeeshop. Tuck into their signature Kakuni Style Pork Belly ($16.90), boasting incredible flavour and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, and served with duxelle mushroom, onsen egg and potato foam. For something more classic, opt for the crispy Duck Leg Confit ($15.90) sitting on silky mash, braised savoy cabbage and jus. If you're sharing, complete your French experience with some escargot and foie gras coated with black miso! Don't expect to have the best French meal of your life, but this certainly hits the spot when cravings set in.

Located in Beauty World Food Centre is Hambaobao, a burger stall keeping things simple with only 5 items on their menu: Classic Beef, Broiled Dory Fish, Spiced Pulled Pork, Crispy Pork Belly and Ayam Buah Keluak. For wasabi lovers, go for the pork belly burger ($4.50), which is broiled without any oil, leaving the skin crispy and the meat tender, and completed with a good hit of wasabi mayo. For something extremely unique, opt for the Ayam Buah Keluak ($5) — a good play on classic Peranakan flavours. With burgers ranging from only $4.50-5 and only an additional $1 for a side of handcut fries, don't hesitate to support these passionate young hawkers!

Closed since November last year due to renovation works at Amoy Street Food Centre, A Noodle Story has opened its shutters once again, churning out what has become a hawker favourite in the CBD — Singapore-style ramen. It features springy wanton noodles coated in a garlic-ginger-onion infused oil, wantons, irresistibly oozy onsen egg, slices of tender melt-in-your-mouth chashu, and shrimp wrapped in crispy potato. Phew. At half the price of normal ramen ($5 for small, $6 for medium), it certainly doesn't compromise on flavour or satisfaction!

Haven't had this for so long, at $4.90, ok la. Angel hair pasta nicely al dante and quite tasty with little Sakura ebi and minced meat.

Shocking but true--don't fall off your chair--the price of this lunch set has remained almost the same (increased only by 50 cents) since the owner introduced it more than 10 years ago! What an incredible feat given how everything has become so expensive these days.
Why do I think it's such good value? Well, for $13.50++, you get five sticks of grilled deliciousness in the form of bacon-wrapped asparagus (my favourite), meatballs, chicken with leek, a kind of a marinated rolled pork (I think) and quail's eggs. The amount of rice may not be much but it's topped with seaweed, stewed shiitake mushrooms plus some minced pork with gravy. Damn "oishi!" You also get a few raw vegetable sticks served with a fermented bean paste dip, Japanese pickles and a bowl of miso soup. That's not all. When you're almost done hoovering up the yummy contents of your bento box, a small bowl of chilled azuki red bean paste with a single mochi ball appears in front of you. The perfect sweet touch to round off a most satisfying meal.

Whenever I visit Itacho in the middle of the day, the Roasted Sushi Lunch Set tends to be what I have. By partially flash-cooking the different types of sushi seafood (fatty salmon, mackerel, fish dorsal, smoked salmon, scallop), they become transformed into luscious, slightly oily-in-a-good-way bites. There's also an accompanying light smokiness which enhances the overall taste.
I am not really into the crab sauce topping chawanmushi that comes with the set (it's too thickly goopy for my taste), so I usually scoop it away before digging into the silky steamed egg.

I came across this casual restaurant one evening recently after finishing dinner in the Joo Chiat area. Braseiro, which was launched in mid-March 2015, serves Brazilian-style grilled meats with--and here is the clincher--UNLIMITED homemade french fries and mixed salad! As explained by the young and earnest French owner Alex who was seated outside, whatever my choice of their flame-licked protein, be it a steak, beef on skewers, roasted half chicken or this week's special of salmon, I'm entitled to have as much of their homemade fries and salad as I like. All for just $19.90+! This was too enticing an offer to miss, so back I went the very next night.
For my meat, I opted for the steak, a ribeye of about 200gms to be specific. Although it was a bit more cooked than the medium-rare asked for, it was still tender, juicy and flavourfully seasoned. If you love potatoes, you'll enjoy their homemade fries because firstly, there's plenty! Secondly, this was the real deal being made fresh with the skin left on (which gives the fries extra crispiness and more flavour). The salad was a very lightly dressed pile of butter lettuce and a few tomato slices - it did the job of refreshing my palate. On the table were three bottles of sauces imported all the way from Columbia: Hot & Sweet Mango, Habanero Mustard and BBQ. The first two were really yummy and I couldn't stop dipping my steak and fries in them.
To be absolutely frank, you should not come to Braseiro expecting humongous meats of the best quality (even the piece of roast chicken I stole from someone else's plate was quite dry) but let's be realistic. For the price and quantity, this qualifies as a pretty good value meal. Especially for those with a big appetite who can polish off mountains of fries.

Filled with cheddar cheese, grilled wild mushrooms and avocado, for $4, the sandwich was reasonably priced albeit a little too dry for my liking. There are two other options with smoked salmon and another with turkey ham, but I preferred a vegetarian option. As for the lattes, they had two different beans to choose from! Both coffee blends are beans roasted from Papa Palheta. The first is Nuts & Bolts with nutty and grapefruit tasting notes, and the second is Koke (Ethiopian beans) with strawberry and apricot tasting notes. The food and portions were okay, but come for the coffee instead.