Torasho Ramen & Charcoal Bar, Tras Street

We've been wanting to try Torasho Ramen & Charcoal Bar (32 Tras Street, tel : +65 6970 5055) for quite a while.

Finally got to do so recently. Food can be pretty pricey. Decent tasting but I wouldn't say it's great value for money.

These were their uni pillow. Sea urchin on seaweed topped with shiso flower. Each piece is...a little smaller than a one biter. Maybe 66-75% of a bite for me. Decent quality but wayyyy too small for $18 a pop.

Mapo ramen spiciness level 3. Heat packed much more punch than I imagined and I was glad we didn't shoot for a higher level. This was presumably the Japanese Chinese mapo gravy and didn't have much of the fermented bean flavour compared to the Chinese renditions. Not bad tasting as a whole but I'm not big on the texture of the noodles.

Tried their cold stupid ramen. In retrospect, I felt stupid paying $69 paying for this bowl which has a pretty predictable flavour profile of truffle oil and ikura that's kinda pervasive these days. Was the quality of this bowl exceptional? I did not think so. Seafood quality's decent and that's about all the good I could think of from it. Will never happen again.

The Teochew Kitchenette, Keong Saik Road

Came across this branch of The Teochew Kitchenette (26 Keong Saik Road, tel  : +65 8338 7106) by chance.

Okay-ish claypot fish maw soup. The broth was a base from bak kut teh so it was slightly herbal and garlicky. Despite that base, I'm pretty sure this wasn't meant to represent the classic bak kut teh which is generally more intense and peppery.

Not bad tasting red grouper white bee hoon. Don't mind coming back for this.

Love their hae cho (deep fried prawn rolls)...these deliciously savoury weren't oily at all and had a good amount minced prawn inside the golden brown exterior that was dry and crisp. Will definitely get these again if we come back.

Bangalore Cafe, Syed Alwi Road

We've only noticed Bangalore Cafe (80 Syed Alwi Road, tel : +65 9011 6000) in the recent couple of months on our way to Murugan Idli Veg. Restaurant. Pretty sure they're quite new to the area. Decided to come try their food because I spied rava idli on their menu - something that Murugan Idli doesn't even do.

They've pretty competent freshly fried vada/vadai which has a peppery fragrance from the peppercorns inside. No qualms coming back for these again. Their sambar is oddly a little sweet. Coconut chutney is slightly gingery.

This was a risk I felt like I needed/wanted to take - a coriander filled rava idli. 🤘🏼 Remember me just mentioning that I spied it on their menu? 

This was the third place we've had rava idli; the first was MTR at Serangoon Road and the other was MTR at Brickfields at Kuala Lumpur. And happily like both previous locations, the bits of coriander has had most of their flavour steamed out to the point that I could enjoy the rice cakes; rice cakes that were infused with ghee. 😬

Mangalore buns - just like those we had from Kalam Restaurant and MTR 1924. I noticed cumin in these.

One week later.......

Came back the following week and had their cheese masala dosa. It appeared to be a little greasy but still pretty good tasting with the cheese adding their salty sharpness to the curried potato fillings in the ghee laced pancake. Nice. 

Masala chai was good the first time we were here. Not overly milky and a great balance of creaminess, sweet and flavour from the tea. On our second visit, the tea was quite different. Too much milk and a little weak with the tea flavour. So I'm guessing they aren't consistent

GO Unique (有间不一样), Raffles City

GO Unique (有间不一样) is by GO Noodle House (有间面馆). They're at the basement of Raffles City (#B1-12 Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 6935 8323). What's different between them and the noodle house is that rice dishes and sandwiches can be found here. 

Pretty happy with their soup noodles with Shaoxing wine. Tasted just like the ones from their noodle house. Got mine with batang and sliced beef and today.

One of the rice dishes they had came with something called Baba Sauce pork belly. I'm not sure what that sauce was made with; there was a caramel sweetness and it packed serious heat. 🔥 I'm gonna come back again for this because I liked the burn and I think I need to understand it better. 😂

Some SG60 mazesobas from Menya Kokoro @ 100AM

Been a while since we ate at Menya Kokoro (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九. 十, 十一, 十二). We came over to check out a couple of their mazesoba they whipped up for SG60.

Was pleasantly surprised by their mapo tofu mazesoba. The umami gravy packed a bit of heat - more than what I imagined though not nearly the level 3 at Torasho Ramen & Charcoal Bar. I'd eat this again.

Unexpectedly, the bak kut teh mazesoba tasted like bak chor mee. Kinda. I've mixed feelings over this one. 

The ingredients that "made" this a bak kut teh mazesoba fell short. Pork rib was dry-ish and not exactly flavourful (the dark soy sauce helped). You tiao was dry and hard. Soup on the side was savoury and garlicky but not exactly bak kut teh. 

On the bright side, the noodles did not taste bad at all. Together with the minced meat sauce, mashed garlic, spring onion, nori and egg - it was actually pretty good. But that's just mazesoba. Much like what they normally do. Nothing bak kut teh about it.

The Food Place by Food Republic, Raffles City

The Food Place (#03-15/16/17 Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road) is another swanky food court venture by Food Republic. They've gotten a few brand names, both local and foreign, to set up a collection of eateries.

Tried the Indonesian nasi padang. Think their name is Padang Padang. Not bad tasting dishes here but kinda pricey at $15.60 for this plate. Got some sambal mussels, scrambled eggs, an arguably tender beef rendang and sayur lodeh. I don't mind coming back to this one for their variety.

This plate from Kam's Roast Express costed even more at $17.10. Char siew, siu yok and goose liver sausage. The latter was delicious with flavour from both the liver and what might be shao xing. But those few bite sized slices of goose liver sausage costed $4+. 😓 The roast meants here were decent but also do not taste similar in flavour or quantity compared to Kam's we previously ate in Wan Chai, Hong Kong.