Sushiro, Tiong Bahru Plaza

Not to be confused with Sushiro. Sushiro (#02-118 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road, tel : +65 6970 2293) is a chain from Japan, largest or so they say, for conveyer belt sushi. Conveyer belt sushi is what it is. I haven't felt any need to visit one in ages but I was intrigued.

Here's some of the stuff we had.

It's less than $5 here so you get the uni that you pay for. I wouldn't recommend it. It would be a bad experience if it was your first time. Pay top dollar for good quality uni if you want to experience it as it should be experienced.

Mentaiko and mayo instead of the cheap mentai-mayo stuff that one generally finds. I actually liked this. Had seconds.

Broiled fatty salmon. Needs more broiling or torching methinks.

Negitoro not bad.

Chutoro not bad but the cut is small and a little thin which throws the balance of fish (meaning also flavour) to rice off the usual balance. It is cheap and for what one is paying here and hence pretty good value. I noticed that cuts are of differing levels of marbling so if you're lucky, you could find some chutoro that have almost otoro grade marbling.

Otoro - fattier, hence more flavourful than the chutoro. Again, it's not a very big piece. A proper sushi restaurant would charge probably more than three times more for something probably double the size.

I think these might be botan ebi. Large, meaty and sweet. We had seconds.

Little shrimps with mayo. Not bad.

Tai, not bad.

Hamachi. Pretty good actually.

Spicy marinated herring roe. Not really spicy. Not bad tasting too. 

Scallops with lemon and basil. Tastes...Italian. They have a bunch of other lemon and basil stuff which I assume would taste similar.

Kani miso is kani miso. And kani miso is nice.

These were the large scallops. One serving per plate instead of two for the regular sized ones. Sweet. Had seconds.

Aburi toro. Similar comments as the otoro. Aburi ups the flavour game.

Chilli pan mee from Nam Kee Pau

We were looking for breakfast at Plaza Singapura and I thought the chilli ban mee from Nam Kee (#B2-25, 68 Orchard Road) was worth a try. In retrospect, it was the chilli that saved it. A chilli that was flavoured with ikan bilis which reminded me of the sambal that some prata stalls still provide. As a bowl, it wasn't as enjoyable as the one from Grandma Ban Mee though I've to admit that I like this egg much better as something to enrich the chilli. 

Those vegetables in the bowl were too fibrous and shouldn't have been served. But seeing how Nam Kee as been expanding pretty successfully as a chain, I'm not surprised they don't give a damn at their lack of quality control.

Doubling up at O Banh Mi

O Banh Mi has 'double up' options for some of their rice plates now. I'm not sure when did this start but I'm glad that they actually did since the regular portions were a little puny. Nothing fancy here - just the simplicity of a hearty grilled pork chop or chicken (yes I've been back a couple of times) covered in their nice char and semi sweet marinade with rice and egg.

Re-visiting Kko Kko Nara

The last time we were at Kko Kko Nara (68 Tanjong Pagar Road, tel : +65 6225 9282), they were located at Tras Street. That's nine years ago and they've relocated to the main Tanjong Pagar Road with a bigger and brighter space. In those nine years since, many other Korean eateries have sprung up all around the vicinity.

Banchan wasn't plentiful but they were kinda nice. I liked those pickled radish which helped cut through grease from the food.

We ordered their fried chicken. It looked and even tasted different from how we remembered it. The batter seemed thicker. I guess with the prerequisite crunch and moist meat without being excessively greasy, it ticked the right boxes and there were no complains. 

What we thought was disappointing was their dogani tang. It was bland. Even after we asked for some saeujeot, I thought it needed a bit more salt. The tendons in the soup were unevenly cooked. Some were soft and chewy like beefy mochi while others were harder like cartilage. 

Squid pancake was nice even though it didn't look as pretty as the picture on the menu. Was savoury with a lot of textures from the leeks and squid.

Tsingtao Stout

I may have gotten this from Meidi Ya. I'm not sure. But I got it because I never knew that Tsing Tao had stouts and I was curious. It's not bad though. A little yeasty, not very bitter and pretty smooth going down.

Curious Palette, Prinsep Street

Got curious about Curious Palette (64 Prinsep Street, tel : +65 6238 1068) because their food appeared to be a little more interesting than the 99% run of the mill cafes that's proliferated our sunny island.

Nursed some salty chocolate while waiting for the food.

The first item we had was a little disappointing. Kaya toast with coffee butter, eggs and espresso shoyu sounded good. The kaya was the Hainanese variety so the flavour was predominantly coconut. Didn't think much of the coffee butter which had a weak coffee flavour and didn't taste like any butter. Espresso shoyu? I thought it was just soya sauce. 

The confit tomatoes and lardo got us sold on this one. I think it was pretty good. Loved that those tomatoes were sweet and juicy.

One of the things we were curious about was their sugarloaf cabbage with seaweed butter. The flavour was outstanding. A creamy umami richness from the seaweed butter and egg that was paired with a caramelized sweetness from the burnt cabbage and a fragrant nuttiness from toasted pine nuts and peanuts. Not forgetting aroma from the curry leaves as well. This was savoury, complex and delicious.