Japanese Cravings

Came by as I had a Chope 1-for-1 voucher. I chose the Uni & Chashu Tsukemen ($22) while my partner had the Lobster Dry Ramen ($20).

The tsukemen came with a healthy amount of thick and chewy noodles, with a slab of chashu and two sticks of bamboo shoots. The noodles were cooked perfectly and went great with the thick and flavourful dipping sauce. Although, I could not taste the brineyness of uni in the sauce at all, this was still pretty enjoyable as it is. Just that the chashu was practically 1/2 fats.

As for the lobster dry ramen, while there was a strong whiff of shellfish from the dish when it arrived, the lack of any real lobster meat was to be expected to say the least. The noodles here were more of the thin and springy kind, which I thought was better suited for dry ramen as compared to the thicker ones. Taste-wise, this was average at best.

Overall, our experience here was average at best - from the flavours of the food to the responsiveness of the service staff (I stood at the counter for a good minute waiting for someone to attend to me). The only good point of the meal was that we could help ourselves to complimentary lettuce and hardboiled eggs. Otherwise, would not return.

Had the Pork Katsuni Teishoku ($11.50) and the Loin Katsu Teishoku ($7.90 for 80g). Quality was so-so, but I appreciated the full range of condiments provided that helped to elevate the flavour. Katsu sauce, apricot sauce, salad dressing, shichimi, and even mustard. Good for a value for money and casual meal.

More of a takeaway kiosk but with a small seating area. We were attracted by the set lunch deal which has an onigiri (from selected flavours) + side + drink for $10.90. The onigiri sandwiches were unassumingly filling, stacked with cucumber slices, luncheon meat, egg, as well as your protein of choice. We chose the otak and the chicken cutlet. While the chicken was really tasty, thought it could be more crisp, but was still very satisfying. We preferred the otak more though - it was so good I tried to ask the chef where they got it from! They declined to share, sadly. The tater tots and curly fries we got were also great, hot and crisp and addictive. The iced/hot lemon tea leaned more towards the homemade tart taste, and washed down the meal nicely. Overall, this was a value-for-money yet satisfying meal. Would definitely return to try the others.

Had the Chicken Katsu Kuro Kare ($17) and the Classic Rosu Cheesy Katsu ($18). Each set came with free flow white rice, cabbage, pickles, and miso soup. The charcoal black curry was surprisingly god, full of umami and flavour. Though it could use a little bit more spice, this was easily solved by the shichimi provided at each table which you could use to provide even more oomph! The chicken katsu came in three huge pieces, but I preferred the Rosu pork katsu instead. The pork loin was juicy and meaty, and paired perfectly with the crisp and light batter - not once did I taste any greasiness! However, I did not really take to the melted cheese and would have preferred the katsu without. Overall, a really delicious and (very) filling meal at just $42.

Oyako Don ($12.90) was pretty meh for a signature dish, tasteless chicken in the standard eggs and dashi stock. Leaned more towards the watery side which I did not enjoy. We also got their Karaage Set ($16.90), but for something that supposedly won a grand prize, it was lacking in flavour, juiciness, and crispiness. Overall, we were very much dissatisfied with this experience and would likely not return.

Returned again with my family. The Spicy Carbonara ($19) really impressed my father; I thought that the carbonara-ness was slightly lacking and the dish was more like stir-fried udon in cream sauce. However, the slab of black pork was what our chopsticks reached out for. Although it could have used a bit more char and glaze, it was still really delicious - meaty and fatty in the best ways. Simply wow!

The Yakiniku Sukiyaki ($17) was pretty decent with tons of beef strips in a really flavourful beef broth. Simple but executed well. Also ordered the Mini Saba Misoni Don ($8) and it was alright. The Saba was limp and cold but it was saved by the sweet-savoury miso glaze. Pros of ordering this would be the rice to mop up the carbonara sauce haha.

We also ordered the $10 cocktails - the Ginger Highball which was decently alcoholic but the Cloudy Apple Vodka was all syrup and barely any taste of vodka at all.

Seating area was pretty cramp with tables close to one another - not a place to chat the entire night away. We had the Spicy Prawn Hibachi ($19) which had thin udon in a rich crustacean broth with notes of umami-sweetness. Loved the broth, as well as the generous sprinkles of sakura-ebi and pork mince; they gave every spoonful a nice bite. However, the three 'prawns' they gave were definitely not Seared Tiger Prawns as stated in the menu - from the texture and taste they were more akin to the supermarket frozen shrimps. Disappointing!

Next was the Taru-Taru Chicken Nanban ($14) which had Sweet & Spicy Battered Chicken drizzled with Cream Tartar atop a mound of chewy Sanuki udon. I opted for the cold version, so this came with chilled Katsuo shoyu together with handfuls of bonito flakes, spring + raw onions, seaweed, tempura flakes, and fried shallots. Mixing everything together gives you a noodle base with a smorgasbord of flavours and textures. Thumbs up. But strangely enough, after some bites i started to think this tasted more and more like takoyaki. Moving on to the chicken, i wished it could have been fried crispier as it arrived with the exterior already soggy.

Think they just recently introduced their Weekend Lunch Sets ($23.80) which includes their Shiro Maguro Fish & Chips, Sparkling Lemonade / Housemade Iced tea, and Creamy Miso Clam Soup / Mixed Salad. We were told that their miso soup was sold out when ordering so we chose the mixed salad instead, together with the Nori fish and Peach Ume iced tea. Added on the Sakura G&T ($12) and the Pita Bread ($4).

While the nori added little, the fish itself was so moist and flakey and wildly different from the usual fish & chips you get at western stores. Guaranteed to make your eyes open wide and a 'Wow' to escape your lips on the first bite. The batter itself didn't detract from the fish too, being just the right amount of thickness and crispness. Paired with the tartar sauce, this was a match made in heaven. And you get three big pieces of fish too! Fries were thick and crisp too, while the slaw lent a tart crunch between the fish.

We saw on the menu (both physical and digital) that the Pita Bread was "served with crunchy fries, kani salad, tartar sauce" so we decided to add it on. Turns out it was a printing mistake and it was just the pita bread, but the boss was kind enough to give a complimentary salad.

Overall, a damn good rendition of fish & chips with both components being of excellent quality. You won't regret going!

Pretty quiet during a Monday lunch period. Always love their ever-changing seasonal promotional items, and this time round it was crab season. Had the Snow Crab Meat w/ Crab Miso Gunkan ($2.50), Sow Crab Leg Handroll ($7.80), and Snow Crab w/ Vegetables Hotpot ($19.80). The sushi were pretty delicious with the star being the sweet crab meat. Definitely a must get. But it was pretty disappointing that the hotpot didn't come with any rice or noodles, and the soup can get pretty surfeiting after a few mouthfuls. Other items we got were the Roasted Salmon w/ Tenkasu Roll ($13, can never go wrong with this) the Sakura Don ($11, quite substantial portion at this price), and the Miso Beef Tendon Stew w/ Rice ($8.80, only get this if you like beef tendon).

Celebrated my dad's birthday just the other day, and since he likes oysters the first place that came to mind for a meal was of course, The Oyster Bank!

Started off with the Baked Lemon Garlic Butter Scallops ($15.90 for 3 pcs) which were fresh, large, and drenched in a delicious lemon butter sauce. Ordered two cocktails (which were frankly pretty overpriced) just so we could enjoy the $2 oysters promo - you can get up to 6 oysters at $2 for every alcoholic drink purchased, and this stacks with the happy hour! Oysters were clean and briney, but the sizes were inconsistent with some large and some distinctively smaller.

On to the mains, we got the Wagyu Beef Karubi Don ($24.90) and the Bara Chirashi Don ($17.90). Beef don was actually really delicious, with the flavours of the wagyu beef strips, shoyu shiitake, fried garlic, and onsen egg melding together perfectly to create a flavourful mess. On the other hand, the chiraishi don was pretty boring with just cubes of salmon, tuna, shrimp, and egg. However, come for the daily lunch special which gives complimentary miso soup and a glass of iced/hot houjicha or americano.

The staff also surprised us at the end of our meal with a birthday celebratory sake shots - very cute and much appreciated! Thumbs up for the lovely service.

Heard good things about this Japanese Curry purveyor at SMU so decided to pop by to try. Navigated the labyrinth that was the SMU underground and found ourselves as the only customers in the cosy eatery at close to 7.30pm.

The things that stood out the most were the wide variety of different toppings on their curries as well as the affordable prices - their most expensive beef option was only at $16.90!

We chose the Fried Chicken ($11.90) and the Croquette ($6.90) options. The curry that accompanied each bowl was truly something unique and remarkable; every bite was full of bold and earthy flavours, a blend of richness, spice, and tinges of sweetness and tanginess. You'll forget about using those Golden Curry premix after trying Kuro Kare's rendition. Add in a few drops of their chilli blends for a burst of tangy spiciness to kick things up a notch (but beware, they're REALLY spicy!). When the heat becomes too much, don't forget their cold and refreshing barley tea as well as their tangy and crunchy pickles - both were complimentary and free-flow!

On to the toppings, we really enjoyed the Chicken Katsu which was juicy and so crisply battered. While we felt the croquette was was slightly lacking in potato, the mentaiko sauce drizzled on it was surprisingly delicious and paired well with the curry. It was so good I had to try their Waffle with Mentaiko ($3) which was a combi I've not seen before. While they were nice, I thought that the waffle could be crispier for that crunchy exterior-soft interior and the mentaiko could be torched for depth of flavour. But for $3, the portion and taste was not bad!

Udon in bonito dashi soup, topped with seaweed, tempura flakes, and spring onion. There's also a poached egg as well as slices of sweet fried tofu. A decent bowl of Udon and the portions aren't skimpy either. A little too expensive in my opinion though.