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.

Torasho Ramen & Charcoal Bar, Tras Street

We've been wanting to try Torasho Ramen & Charcoal Bar (32 Tras Street, tel : +65 6970 5055) for quite a while.

Finally got to do so recently. Food can be pretty pricey. Decent tasting but I wouldn't say it's great value for money.

These were their uni pillow. Sea urchin on seaweed topped with shiso flower. Each piece is...a little smaller than a one biter. Maybe 66-75% of a bite for me. Decent quality but wayyyy too small for $18 a pop.

Mapo ramen spiciness level 3. Heat packed much more punch than I imagined and I was glad we didn't shoot for a higher level. This was presumably the Japanese Chinese mapo gravy and didn't have much of the fermented bean flavour compared to the Chinese renditions. Not bad tasting as a whole but I'm not big on the texture of the noodles.

Tried their cold stupid ramen. In retrospect, I felt stupid paying $69 paying for this bowl which has a pretty predictable flavour profile of truffle oil and ikura that's kinda pervasive these days. Was the quality of this bowl exceptional? I did not think so. Seafood quality's decent and that's about all the good I could think of from it. Will never happen again.

The Teochew Kitchenette, Keong Saik Road

Came across this branch of The Teochew Kitchenette (26 Keong Saik Road, tel  : +65 8338 7106) by chance.

Okay-ish claypot fish maw soup. The broth was a base from bak kut teh so it was slightly herbal and garlicky. Despite that base, I'm pretty sure this wasn't meant to represent the classic bak kut teh which is generally more intense and peppery.

Not bad tasting red grouper white bee hoon. Don't mind coming back for this.

Love their hae cho (deep fried prawn rolls)...these deliciously savoury weren't oily at all and had a good amount minced prawn inside the golden brown exterior that was dry and crisp. Will definitely get these again if we come back.

GO Unique (有间不一样), Raffles City

GO Unique (有间不一样) is by GO Noodle House (有间面馆). They're at the basement of Raffles City (#B1-12 Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 6935 8323). What's different between them and the noodle house is that rice dishes and sandwiches can be found here. 

Pretty happy with their soup noodles with Shaoxing wine. Tasted just like the ones from their noodle house. Got mine with batang and sliced beef and today.

One of the rice dishes they had came with something called Baba Sauce pork belly. I'm not sure what that sauce was made with; there was a caramel sweetness and it packed serious heat. 🔥 I'm gonna come back again for this because I liked the burn and I think I need to understand it better. 😂

Re-visiting Cheng Ji (成记)

Back at Cheng Ji. Been a while since the last time.

Their steamed fish head in fermented bean sauce is their mainstay dish. I used to think that it was a lot of fish body for steamed fish head. It seems like we're getting even more body these days. Not complaining.

Their prawn paste mid wings appeared a little shrunken. Flavour from the prawn paste was also a little weak -  while they weren't bad tasting mid wings, these also weren't in the same leagues as the ones from Sin Hoi Sai as prawn paste chicken went.

We discovered this stir fried prawn and brinjal the last time. The sauce is oil rich, robust with prawn paste and the toasty umami of dried sole. I think those were it. Great flavouring that's a rice thief.

First time trying their hong shao dou fu (红烧豆腐). Not bad tasting. There're thick strips of roasted pork belly in it.

Sambal from their cuttlefish kang kong was delicious. Will come back for this again.

Our SG60 lunch at Wolfgang's Steakhouse

This happened on National Day......SG60 is a good reason as any to celebrate with a nice lunch at Wolfgang's Steakhouse.

Got ourselves shrimp cocktail again. Big assed and meaty.

The Taste of New York set for lunch included their dry aged sirloin with creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and cheesecake. Meat's not bad. Mashed potatoes were addictive and that creamed spinach was another kind of delicious. Loads of actual spinach flavour in all that butter (or cream?). I liked that their cheesecake was frills free and unloaded with all the extras that many cafes/restaurants tend to include to make up for their inadequacy.

Highlight of the lunch was Wolfgang's beef kut teh. Made for SG60 obviously, this was a rendition of bak kut teh that was made with USDA Prime Black Angus short rib. Only for August they said. Broth was beefy, garlicky and a little herbal. Not a bad remake of the original if I might say so. That 500g short rib was tender, meaty and substantial. The kitchen even offered chilli padi as option with the dark soya sauce. 

Too bad about the coconut ice cream. Did not like it.

Alice Boulangerie & Restaurant, Raffles City

Came across Alice Boulangerie & Restaurant (#1-22A Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 8083 5315) by chance and we were ushered in by an subtle yet not fully understood force while looking at the menu. They're French-y, not French with pretty attractive looking pastries/confectionary/breads, some food and drinks.

Grabbed a few items from the bakery...like the banana tart, a pistachio cream bun with a light and pistachio-y cream and a not too sweet nama matcha chocolate bun. All pretty good tasting.

That chocolate banana tart had layered sliced bananas, banana cream and chocolate ganache within the buttery pastry.

Pretty impressed with their lychee macchiato. Loved how the lychee paired with their espresso. Menu mentioned lychee jam.

Not bad tasting beer battered haddock. Tartare sauce is house made, could taste perhaps a hint of horseradish and capers in it. Mushy peas were bright tasting, redolent of green pea flavour.

Fish was pretty thick.

Didn't think much of their maple cinnamon latte though - latte's a little thin. Tasted like something I could make at home.

Putien Mama, Tiong Bahru Plaza

Putien has opened their Mama branded eatery at Tiong Bahru Plaza (#02-114 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road) in the unit that might have been previously Xing Xing Mala & Chicken Pot. This looked to be a more "express" version compared to their regular restaurant.

They have a litre sized iced lemon tea which looked like a response to the giant lemon tea from Xiang Xiang Hunan Cuisine.

Found their sweet & sour pork to be dangerously addictive.

Putien's signature Heng Hwa bee hoon is available here in single serving portion. Kinda small portion methinks. It looked somewhat pre-made and put together than cooked together if you catch my drift. But it's all good with their lime-y chilli sauce.

Not bad tasting scrambled eggs with prawns. A number of their dishes looked like they came in claypots and we were initially wondering at the huge portions. Today, we found out that the claypots were pretty shallow and those portions weren't as large as we thought them to be.