Niigata Food Fair stuff and the old black truffle fried rice from Tampopo @ Ngee Ann City

Haven't eaten at this branch of Tampopo for a really long time. The last time we were here might have been that one where we had their gyukotsu ramen. We were reeled in today by a couple of items that were featured in their Niigata Food Fair menu.

One of which was their amaebi rice flour tagliatelle. Couldn't tell if the tagliatelle was made with rice flour through the gravy/broth which had an intense umami sweet crustacean flavour. Think prawn bisque. Those amaebi also had a gentle but discernible sweetness to them. Nicely done this one. 👍🏼

Presentation has kinda...changed for their black truffle fried rice compared to how they used to plate it. Thankfully, it's still pleasantly greasy and sufficiently salty to be moreish.

The other Niigata Food Fair thing we tried was their matcha parfait. Notice a sprig of thyme. No cornflakes in this one. Plenty of intense matcha sauce. Nice.

Aburi chirashi and pitan tofu from Chirashizushi Shou

Been a while since we were last here. Seems that quite a bit of the stuff we've had in the past aren't on the menu anymore. Were the removed items open admission to failures that weren't good enough to stay on? I know I wouldn't remove stuff I knew they were making money......🤔

Pitan tofu to start.

Tried their aburi chirashi. Should have double yolked this. A bit more torching for the char would have definitely improved the seafood topping.

Tempura-EN, Great World

Tempura Makino rebranded into Tempura-EN (B1-112/113 Great World, 1 Kim Seng Promenade, tel : +65 6257 8733). The a la carte tempura menu appeared to be mostly similar but some of the stuff they used to have previously are no longer available.

Garlic shoyu butter corn - the butter and the fried garlic made it nice. Corn's...corn. Nothing particularly outstanding about their tempura. The rebranding did not seem to have improved the quality of their specialty.

We came here for their kaisen hitsumabushi. Not their tempura. 😬 Since it was a hitsumabushi, it came with instructions on how to eat as well. You know, the one that suggests that you should taste it first as is and then perhaps add a little something as you go along.

The last part is typically where you finish the remaining portion with their broth. Personally, I think you should just eat it the way you want to. The bowl came with cubed seafood including some scallops and a large prawn. 

The broth was tai dashi. It's deliciously umami. Having it over the seafood and rice feels like the Japanese version of Teochew styled fish porridge. It's also great drinking on its own.

Revisiting Royal Host @ Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City

Have been meaning to come back to Royal Host.

Got their Royal Hamburg Curry Rice which came with some floral iced tea...

...and a soup. This was the clam chowder. Tasted better than what the Campbell-esque appearance might suggest. There's quite a few tender chewy clams in it.

Royal Hamburg Curry Rice featured their delicious hambagu with curry on the side. 

Not bad tasting curry which was spicy sweet but not annoyingly so.

Also nicely done mentaiko seafood pasta with small squids and scallops spiked with pretty potent shiso. 👍🏼

Black Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen Premium Special from Keisuke's Tonkotsu King

I didn't realize that Keisuke's Tonkotsu King has a Tonkotsu Ramen Premium Special which was an upgrade from their regular "special" bowl with a pork rib. This bowl's nicely done, much like a tonkotsu-ized bak kut teh with tender meat on said rib that easily slid off the bone. I like this better than their attempt at bak kut teh ramen but I don't think I'll get it again. 

That wasabi ginger ale doesn't have any wasabi flavour at all. I'd take the spicy ginger ale from Marks & Spencers over this any day.

Revisiting Pizza Studio Tamaki

Been meaning to come back to PST for a while.

Today's soup is mushroom. They're also not chilled like the previous time. Flavour's pretty intense. 👍🏼

Menu mentioned spinach with marinade anchovies, red chicory and pine nuts. I was imagining baby spinach and slivers of anchovies but it's stir fried Chinese spinach I think and the anchovies have kinda melted into it. Pretty umami. Also, the salad's chilled. Actually kinda nice for the weather.

Ended up with a couple of their monthly special pizzas.

This, their Tokyo Odyssey: Singapore Edition, is I quote "Crafted exclusively for our first international home, this pizza blends the spirit of Tokyo with flavors made to celebrate Singapore’s vibrant food culture." It's nice but I couldn't reconcile the name, the theme and the flavour. If you asked me, this tasted much like tom kha gai. I like it but I don't feel the Singapore in it. 😂

One has got to love kani miso to enjoy their zuwaigani miso pizza. While the crab miso bechamel was understandably not as intense as regular kani miso, it's definitely there. Pretty good tasting also with a squeeze of lemon.

Their house made tiramisu's nice and well soaked inside.

Katsuya, Tanjong Katong Road

This (258 Tanjong Katong Road, tel : +65 9656 8183) was the same Katsuya as Kodawari Katsuya which was previously located at East Coast Road. The primary appeal of Katsuya, at least for me, is their lamb katsu. Don't think it's available anywhere else on this island.

Like a bunch of other stuff that they do, that lamb katsu is not part of their regular menu. 

One can make reservations for those via Whatsapp.

Seating is limited in this new space. Lesser than their older spot at East Coast Road if my memory serves.

Rare salmon katsu's nice. It's not on the regular menu.

The one with wasabi was great with just salt.

Hotate katsu's also delicious. Not on the regular menu as well. One can taste the natural flavour of those scallops under the crusty panko.

Today's lamb was pretty fatty. Salt and mustard or just salt rocks.

Haji Lane Food Corner, Haji Lane X North Bridge Road

Came across Haji Lane Food Corner (674 North Bridge Road) recently.

There's an outpost of Haig Road Putu Piring here. There seem to be more flavours these days. We got ourselves an order of the one with gula melaka for nostalgia; that and because it's probably the best tasting flavour anyway.

There's a Bon Bon Matcha with something called iced coconut matcha cold foam. Refreshing. So good that we got seconds. Also because the cup was kinda small.

Bakuton ramen and a couple of other stuff from Ippudo

Ippudo has a limited time Bakuton ramen which was a Jiro styled bowl. I was skeptical but I decided to try it anyway.

Looked pretty but there was far too much fat in that thick slice of chashu. Even after soaking in the broth, the fat wasn't melty. Far from it. For many, this doneness and texture would fall within the "gag zone". Think the base broth had the flavour of soy or dashi. This has nothing on Keisuke's Jiro bowl and Brothers Ramen's Megamen (regular or dry).

I'm leaving this at their chahan was uninspiringly mundane. Wasn't a bad fried rice. Just...ordinary. 

The tastiest thing we had were crispy fried button mushrooms with truffle mayo cheese/sauce thingy which had an infusion of truffle flavouring that wasn't overpowering.