Katanashi, Boat Quay

Asahi on half and half - Super Dry and Kuronama

This was a lively little izakaya (77 Boat Quay, tel : +65 6533 0490) that serves up some fun food. Nothing too sophisticated that was prepared entirely from scratch, no grills on sticks, no exotic sounding seafood to be found but there were loads of friendly staff providing relatively quick service and top of the lung greetings. There were definitely some items on the menu that scored better than the others. Like the torched shime saba which was delicious, an udon that came with rather generous portions of mentaiko that paired off with tangy spicy kimchi and the hanpen stuffed with cheddar that came with a mentaiko mayo dip. Tasty explosions of flavor there.

I noticed that they had a daily specials menu which we didn't get any of this time round. Perhaps, the next time.

shime saba, aburi-ed

mentaiko kimchi udon

cream cheese, honey, toast

tar tar - maguro and avocado

Hanpen cheese

takoyaki in tomato and cheese

I forgot what this is called, but it's bean sprouts, meat sauce and spring onions.

Katanashi Fried Chicken

warabi mochi, chestnut ice cream

an unexpected visitor

Urap

That's referring to the pile of vegetables on the left corner which a co-worker informed is called urap, a salad of sorts of Javanese origins. I haven't seen or heard of these before until recent months. Boy have I been missing out.

Basically, it consisted of lightly cooked long beans, kang kong and bean sprouts that's done up with the slightly sweet brown shredded coconut (kinda like those that are served in lontong) and bits of finely sliced chilli padi. This packed in a light sweetness along with a deep savoury base that's accentuated with heat from the chillis. Along with that, lots of crunch and texture from the mixed vegetables. Good stuff.

Ramen Bari-Uma at United Square

A couple of things registered about Ramen Bari-Uma. First of which was the tonkotsu shoyu broth which I didn't dislike but couldn't quite form an opinion on. The second was their flame scorched charshu which I remember enjoying. We came by their second outlet (#B1-08 United Square, 101 Thomson Road, tel : +65 6354 3711) at United Square for a quick dinner.

Their Charshu-Uma bowl featured pork that was both tender and crumbly with lattices of soft fat that barely held the slices together. It didn't look as impressive as the picture on the menu (I know...) nor taste as good as the first time round.

What also got my attention this time round were the noodles. It's a little softer than I like. I'm still searching for that properly done harigane texture.

The Artichoke Fried Chicken

That's the fried chicken from Artichoke which was basically their take on a Southern fried chicken plate with a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern twist. It featured chicken that's been brined overnight and then massaged with a shish taouk marinated before being fried and getting a veneer of honey lemon glaze. The slaw on the side is flavoured with tahini, there's paprika fries and Lebanese pickles, a toum on the side and chutney like thingy...yada. 

One must surely be wondering about the verdict. The savoury flavoured batter was crisp and the meat was juicy. It was also more salty than I had expected. But that worked since the sodium element was really low for everything else on the plate. There was a wing, a drumstick and a thigh and the portions were pretty generous. The only thing that I couldn't quite reconcile was the tahini slaw. The flavour profile doesn't quite scream tahini. Would have been great if there were more of that fragrant sesame.

Miso hire katsu from Tonkichi

Wow, this was actually quite impressive. Today's hire katsu featured a very robust crisp sans excessive oil and the tender fillet was juicy. There is definitely differences in the quality between this shop at Ngee Ann City versus the one at Shaw House. We also got to try their kaki katsu which I recall being recommended from some time back (yes, it sure took a long time to happen). Those were fat and creamy specimens that were served. That simply means another option for fried oyster fixes.

Hot Reuben now with Asahi Kuronama beer bread at Nassim Hill Bakery

I was really looking forward to revisiting their Grimbergen Ambrée beer bread that impressed me previously when I noticed that it's now Asahi Kuronama beer bread as stated in the menu instead. Seems like I'm running into a bit of the Asahi Black lately. What got my attention too was that that the Grimbergen Ambrée is off the tap as well. Are they rotating or did that last brew not work out for the bakery? While I enjoyed this particular bread as well (it's still a nice tasting bread) and probably can't tell what were the subtle differences, I do feel that the older beer bread left a deeper impression.