Choo Choo Chicken, Bali Lane

This shop (33 Bali Lane) was one of numerous Korean fried chicken joints that have been popping up like fungi in recent years. Their fried chicken was fine - nothing I could tell that really defined them from the rest of the other shops. What I particularly enjoyed was their kimchi spam rice burger that was offered with their lunch sets and the shredded cabbage salad that had a tasty sesame dressing. Those fried chicken they have on paper cones has a honey garlic option. That honey garlic sauce actually tasted like it had honey rather than just being plain sweet.

For a moment there......

......the thought of jams made with meat crossed my mind.

More beefiness from Sandaime Bunji

We didn't get any tongue this time round at Sandaime Bunji. Haha!

There was though a US ribeye steak teishoku set in their lunch menu. That 300g of cow was nicely grilled but a little more cooked than the medium rare that we had asked for. Wasn't really an issue though.

The kickass item from their lunch menu was their wagyu round roast beef set. From what we were told, there's a limited quantity prepared daily. The bowl had 250g of shaven roasted beef on rice with barley. If the picture didn't already convey how good it was, I would like to add the adjectives tender and flavourful. Am pretty damn sure I would come back for this again. 

For dessert, we tried their chamame ice cream. An actual vegetable ice cream if you would. Chamame apparently is a variety of edamame. We were expecting a nuttier flavour but it tasted like sweet corn ice cream. 

Keria Japanese Restaurant, Cuppage Plaza

This was a small shop (#B1-28 Cuppage Plaza, 5 Koek Rd, tel : +65 6733 0654) nestled in the basement of Cuppage Plaza. You know - the homely izakaya kind of place? We've been to Cuppage Plaza countless times and never knew they existed until recently.

We had uni temaki. Tasty hand rolls with filled with sea urchin on shiso and rice.

That's cabbage stir fried with mentaiko. I found this very addictive. These would be just perfect with a bowl of steamed white rice.

We had momotaro tomatoes. Man these were sweet and juicy. Not to mention expensive as well.

We munched through a couple of chutoro maki too. Tasty and also rather dearly priced.

Their beef curry was one of the more memorable ones I've had in a while. The flavours were rich and packed a nice warmth from the heat along with very tender pieces of meat and tendon. This was a half portion with miso soup which was an option on menu.

Some meaty gyozas were also in the cards.

And something the menu described as 'pork steak wasabi soya sause'. Through the erroneous spelling and wrongly sequenced gramma, we found out that it was some kind of wasabi butter on pork loin. The butter made the pork very tasty though the meat was much tougher than what we had expected out of a slab of rosu.

Today was a first time for us with grilled soramame (broad beans). These were like a larger and more flavourful version of edamame. I like these.

Because ayu was in season, we just had to have them. The bitter sweetness from the head and belly from the grilled fish was amazing. The meat was tender with a light texture and there was also that flavourful skin. This was superior to the last ones we had from Kanda Wadatsumi.

Super Red Burger from McD

So that's the current gimmick from the golden arches, a red bunned chicken burger that's as red as the angry bird. With lettuce, a slice of tomato, a fried egg and pepper mayo on a fried chicken thigh. Crispy batter and real chicken meat. There was a bit of heat but it wasn't anywhere close to the previous Fiery Mala burger. In fact, this doesn't even get on par with the regularly available McSpicy. Something about it was smoky though. If you're wondering if it's any good, it's as good as it can reasonably be for something that you can get from McD. Now that my curiosity's satiated, I don't think I'll be having it again.

Revisiting PerBacco

So it's back to our rather recently discovered Italian restaurant. Honestly, the crowd here looked a little worrying on a Friday evening when you couldn't even get a table without reservations at neighbouring joints like Pasta Brava. While we appreciated the peace of a quiet spot (an experience uncommon these days) for dinner, it also means that business might not be good enough to sustain rental and profits. That being said, I hope these guys stay around for much longer.

By the way, the menu has changed a little since the last time. The green pea mint risotto is no longer on the menu; amongst others which we wanted to try. Prices seem to have increased a little and black summer truffle season is here. 

Frittelle Soffici e Involtini al Prosciutto e Scamorza

Started off with some prosciutto wrapped Scamorza cheese and fritters of some sort. The cheese and prosciutto were good, nothing unexpected yet the essence of an attractive enduring flavour. Assuming you like ham and cheese that is. Those fritters tasted like beignets. Almost like choux pastry with a crisp shell while the insides were soft with a core that was almost like custard. Savoury of course.

Linguine alla Carbonara di Astice

As the name described, this was lobster carbonara. Did it taste anything like regular carbonara? No it didn't. It was less cheesy and didn't have the aroma of black pepper or pancetta/guanciale/bacon. But the lobster flavour in the sauce reduced us to silence and slurps. This was pretty damn good.

Wagyu ribeye of, by my guess, middling marbling with some nutty sauce and shaven black truffle. This was rich, flavourful and satisfying. Even those fried potatoes on the side were awesome.

Tagliata di Agnello con Cipollotti Stufati e Salsa al Marsala

We had lamb too. With a Marsala jus and sweet braised shallots. Delicious little loins just like the last time.