Tonkatsu by Ma Maison, Chijmes

Years ago, this spot (#01-09 Chijme, 30 Victoria Street, tel : +65 6338 5907) used to be Tonkatsu & Sake Bar Tonzaemon, also by Ma Maison. I remember them because they used to have fancy tonkatsu on the menu - like hire katsu stuffed with foie gras and rosu katsu in squid ink panko. I guess that concept didn't work out for long before it got converted to their Tonkatsu shop which I'm gathering has been pretty well received over the years.

We came here for their autumn-y shio konbu mushroom kurobuta rosu katu and chestnut mille feuille. Whaaaatt?!

Rosu's topped with mushrooms - possibly prepared with salted kelp (hence shio konbu) and layered over grated daikon that's on top of the fried pork. That chestnut mille feuille was stuffed with a chestnut. Not so much flavour coming from the chestnut which I had expected to be more fragrant or perhaps sweet. Still pretty good katsu though. 

I can't help but wonder if their multi grained rice is in truly better than the regular white rice in any way.

Heng Heng Boneless Duck Rice (興興起骨鴨飯), West Coast Food Centre

I was pointed out to this stall (#01-171 West Coast Market Square, 726 Clementi West Street 2) and for some reasons decided to give them a try even though I'm usually not a fan of these type of local duck rice. And because I wasn't a fan, I haven't had them for quite a long while.

It was actually not a bad plate and I liked it better than I thought I would. The rice had a nice flavour which was further enhanced by their tangy chilli sauce and the fragrant chilli paste. This plate had added on livers and egg. Liked that the sauce they ladled over was also flavourful and savoury sweet. That sweetness was not annoyingly so. 

Curry Boy, B.E.D @ Tai Seng

B.E.D (Level 1 J'Forté Building, 26 Tai Seng Street) looked like a food court where all the stalls sold Japanese food. Or at least local interpretations of it. This panko chicken (torikatsu) curry rice from the Curry Boy stall for example definitely didn't use Japanese styled curry. In fact, it tasted kinda like Nonya chicken curry and I liked it. The fried chicken was fine and portions were pretty generous. I wished they were more generous with the curry though. Maybe I'll ask for more if I ever come back.

Mala mee pok from Gimee Face

Just the mee pok version of the mala noodles I had here previously. Portions felt kinda small and their mee pok tasted generic. Factory made kind of generic that is. I guess what made this bowl was mostly the sauce.

Omoté, Thomson Plaza

Some years ago, Omoté (#03-24A, 301 Upper Thomson Road, +65 9450 1020) used to be known as Sushiro (not to be mistaken for the kaitenzushi Sushiro). They've gotten pretty successful and grown from the little stall they were into a pretty spacious restaurant with another branch in City Hall these days. Menu has expanded by a lot. Reservations appear to be a must to secure a seat over the weekends.

Tried their sabayaki which was pretty decent. Crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. Didn't take to what they described as a cherry shrimp (sakura ebi if you're wondering) sauce. Must be the ginger in it.

Landed myself something I thought I normally wouldn't - their Wasabi Power chirashi. 

It was one of their chirashi under the 'iconic classics' section of their menu. Not in a position to determine if it was iconic or classic here but this was their "signature" chirashi bowl layered with a couple of different wasabi sauces and a dollop of the paste stuff on the side. 

Creamy, sweetish and pungent. I think I kinda hit my limit without even using the paste. While it lived up to its name, the amount of wasabi flavour also kinda overwhelmed most of the flavour from the chunky cubes of fish toppings. Speaking of fish, I discerned salmon, tuna, swordfish and octopus. Pretty decent quality ones at that.

The Blue Ginger, Great World

Blue Ginger has a branch at Great World (#01-106, 1 Kim Seng Promenade). We've been wanting to try the food here for a while but have always gotten distracted. Until this time. 😬

Munched on ngoh hiong while waiting for our food. The skins looked less brown than the ones we've at previously at Tanjong Pagar.

Not bad buah keluak fried rice they did. It was thick with buah keluak paste which imparted a lot of its flavour into the rice.

Their dry kerabu laksa was filled with flavour from dried shrimp in the creamy sauce that coated the noodles. I thought it would have been a bit better if there was just that bit more salt. Still enjoyable.

Chendol was a little disappointing. Not getting the basic fragrance from their gula melaka. Both Nonya Chendol at Whampoa Market Food Centre and Redhill Food Centre were superior renditions to this. Note to self : no more getting chendol from here.