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. 

Tsujiri Premium Tanjong Pagar, Tanjong Pagar Road

Ducked into Tsujiri Premium Tanjong Pagar (94 Tanjong Pagar Road) to escape the heat. This space was a lot more zen-esque and pretty than the old spot at Great World. The world 'sanctuary' might be appropriate here.

Some matcha beverages.

Matcha Yakult latte - nice. Tasted much like the name described. A pretty gao matcha with Yakult.

Their strawberry matcha milk cap was pretty good too. The pic above was before the extra shot of matcha. Better with the extra shot methinks because of the stronger green tea intensity. 

Some stuff from Hoshino Pancake

Stopped by Hoshino Coffee at ION (#B3-22 ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, tel : +65 6509 8638). Mango pancake's nice. Odd thing was, it was the smell that caught my attention. It smelled like bananas.

There's a "Paris Brest" on menu. Did not taste anything like one. There's barely any hazelnut flavour. Instead of praline, there's just real nuts stuck on top of the pastry. This was merely a cream puff that may or may not have looked like a Paris Brest.

Takumi Sakaba, Holland Village Shopping Centre

Ended up here (#03-28 Holland Village Shopping Centre, 211 Holland Avenue, tel : +65 8843 6765) because I didn't feel like queueing at Tsujiki Kaisendon below. Looks like they're trying to be an izakaya.

Pitan tofu was nice, creamy and chilled. Could have been dessert. 

There's a motsu nikomi which featured tendon, tripe, shin and maybeeee....brisket. Not sure about the last one. But this was pretty delicious.

I've been avoiding shellfish for sushi/sashimi. This might be the first time I'm having hokkigai and akagai in a while. Not as rubbery as I imagined but I it did remind me why I don't order them. Not much flavour going on and quite chewy. The best things in this Nanairo don was the salmon, ikura and ankimo.

Okay-ish hamachi kamayaki. Kinda small methinks.

Maybe I'll just join the queue in Tsujiki Kaisendon and see if I like them better.