Royal Host, Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City

Been curious about Royal Host since they opened at Jewel. These guys are retro styled Japanese western food...not unlike Ma Maison. This branch in town (#B2-25/26 Takashimaya Shopping Centre, 391 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6908 1339) was a lot more accessible.

Royal paradise tropical iced tea - tasted a little herbal. 

Lobster bisque's decent. Portion was pretty small.

This was an odd one; albeit an odd one which we enjoyed. A Genovese styled kale pesto spaghetti that's sprinkled with candied pecans and bits of biscuit which tasted like Marie biscuits. 😯 So amidst that pesto and creamy cheese, there's sweetness from those. I'd come back for this.

Sparkling water is available free flow for two bucks.

Their hamburg seemed to be a signature dish so we got one with brown butter sauce. Said sauce didn't exactly taste buttery - pretty sure there was beef stock with tomato and/or vinegar in it. Not bad tasting but we prefer the hambagu sans sauce because the meat tasted beefy. No fillers. Not bad. I like it more than the A5 omigyu one at Steak Sukadu.

Hot fudge sundae was pretty awesome. Never had something like this since I was a kid at Swenson's. Style's pretty nostalgic. Though it even had the same candied pecan and bits of Marie biscuit like the kale pesto spaghetti. 😬

Re-visiting Jeong's Jjajang

There were a couple of things we wanted to come back to Jeong's Jjajang for. The first was to try their jjampong and the other was to get their delicious mandus again. And then we also found something else this time. 

I love the smoky aroma infused in their jjampong's broth. It's exactly the same soup as what they gave us on the side the last time we were here. It's so good. Will try the stir fried one next.

There's kalguksu which I hadn't noticed on their menu the last time. The in house made soya bean broth was deliciously bean-y. 

Possibly the best mandus we've had to date. Not that we've had that much but the quality is obvious and the stuffings, generous.

ABC Multi Cuisine Restaurant, Havelock Road

ABC Multi Cuisine Restaurant (715 Havelock Road) opened up at the unit left behind by Kheng Nam Lee Teochew Porridge. I wonder if they're related to the old ABC Food Corner at the other end of this row or any of the other ABC named mamaks around the island before they shuttered.

Tried a couple of stuff like bee hoon goreng putih chicken hariyali tikka and a nasi goreng putih chicken tikka. Food's decent tasting if not exceptional. Also a little oily. Currently, I think better of Umar Ali Cafe nearby compared to these guys but we'll see.

Revisiting Ikkousha @ Chijmes

Back at Ikkousha. Here's the bonito tonkotsu bowl I mentioned previously.

Their Gold Fried Rice didn't look particularly golden. 😂 It's not bad tasting though. With some pepper and spicy takana/pickled mustard greens (which you can help yourself to), it noticeably improved in my opinion.

Sushi Zushi, Funan

Been wanting to come down to try Sushi Zushi (#02-01 Funan, 107 North Bridge Road) for a while. They're a casual sushi-ya and from what we've heard, decent quality made to order sushi and affordable prices. Which in retrospect is true. But truth like a gem has facets.

Tried a few temaki. A little disappointed that the one with aburi-ed engawa didn't have enough engawa flavour in spite of the melting fat because there wasn't enough engawa. The one with uni was not bad and I kinda also liked their tuna and cream cheese roll. The latter was rich with fatty tuna, cream cheese and avocado.

All in all, pretty happy with their sushi. The aburi-ed ones were delicious. Special mention goes to the engawa nigiri which was smoky and oily.

The reason why their prices are more affordable are partially because of the portion. In a "nice" sushi restaurant, the toppings are definitely more generous. Quality of the ingredients in those places will also be held to higher standards.

But this was much more affordable and less stuffy. Like I've said earlier, pretty happy with what we've had.

Will not mind coming back.

Back at Ming Kee Chicken Rice (明记鸡饭)

Been a long time since I last had chicken rice at Ming Kee (Kim San Leng Coffee Shop, #01-522, 511 Bishan Steet 13). Taste was like I remembered it. Great flavouring in the rice, tender chilled chicken, a nice burn from their chilli and fragrant dark soy sauce. But otherwise I'm getting the distinct impression that the single serving portion was noticeably smaller than in the past. Pretty sure of it. Seems like they've also done away with the plastic utensils.