Nana's Green Tea Weekday Lunch Set

Nana's Green Tea Weekday Lunch Set is really value for money. For $13.90 you get a main course plus a matcha drink of your choice (up to $8.00). It seemed too good to be true, the main course items itself cost about $15! And you get a $8.00 drink on top of that WHAT.

I couldn't believe it, I even checked with the staff to make sure I didn't somehow misread the promo (lol @ me).

My fave, the very expensive unagi ^_^

Our drinks, topped with whipped cream and kuromitsu. ~heaven~

Nana's Green Tea's specialty is of course their matcha drinks and desserts. The main courses kinda pale in comparison, but for $13.90 per set, I'm not complaining!

*puts on Arnold voice* I'll be back.

Poulét @ Chinatown Point

 

 

Went over after work on Friday to try Poulét's 'amazing French roast chicken' (as proclaimed on their website).

We had their signature dish - Poulét Roti: Brined in the house’ secret recipe, the chicken infused with layers of rich flavours is serve in creamy home-made Fresh Button Mushroom Chardonnay sauté, creating a perfect symphony to the signature dish.

I had no idea that roti was a French word. I always thought it was an Indian word lol, but apparently it translate to 'roast' in French.

Since there were 3 of us we ordered 1 whole ($28.80) and 1 half chicken ($15.80). It was more than enough. I think 3 people could share one whole chicken, leaving some room for dessert. I hear they serve a good tiramisu :)

The chicken did not disappoint, it was as amazing as they claim it to be. The juicy, tender chicken went perfectly with the wine flavored cream sauce. It was so good that when the staff asked if I wanted to sign up to be a member to enjoy 10% rebates, I didn't hesitate to say 'yes'.

Ladurée opening soon in Singapore!!

Come April, the famed Parisian luxury patisserie chain, Ladurée, will open its first store in Singapore in Takashimaya. Saw the under construction store while I was in Taka recently... oh who am I kidding, I went down to hunt down the store when I learned that they were opening on the second floor of the shopping centre. Turns out they will be taking over the shop space previously taken up by Marc by Marc Jacobs. The shop space looked kind of small though, upon further reading I realized they were not opening a cafe here, just retail shop. I would have thought they would open a cafe, seeing as Paul is doing so well.

Anyways, can't wait for the opening!!

Dulcet & Studio (Liang Court)

I'm a big fan of Western food with a Japanese twist, so naturally I had to come to this restaurant from Tampopo group.

Set of the day:

Tomato Sauce Slipper Lobster with Fettuccine ($16)

Came with:
 

and...

 

...dessert!

The milk tea pudding was surprisingly good. I thought it would be only average, the typical dessert you get in a set meal that you don't really care for, but just there to let you end your meal with something sweet. But this was really good, I liked that they had the milk in a separate little container, rather than just making the whole already mixed milk tea into a pudding.

Although the Tomato Sauce Slipper Lobster with Fettuccine wasn't particularly memorable, I thought $16 was quite worth it for the set meal.

 

The Black Pig Bolognese Fettuccine came with a mini chopped salad (they are not kidding about the 'mini' part). One thing about the pasta here is they import it fresh from Hokkaido. It has a much chewier texture compared to the Italian pasta and it is amazing. Bolognese pasta is such a basic dish but with the black pig in the sauce and the chewy, flavorful Hokkaido pasta, this dish became really outstanding.

St Marc Cafe @ Vivo City

Menu:

Value Meal!

 

Interior:

 

Our order:

 

 

 

Passed by this cafe while having the dinner at Vivo City the other day. I was first drawn to the place by the wonderful smell of the delicious pastries. Upon closer investigation, I realized the cafe was actually a branch of the same cafe I visited when I was in Tokyo! I was ecstatic but I couldn't try it as I was too full from dinner.

 

Finally got time to come by this week and to my joy, I found that the Choco Cro that they are famous for tasted just as divine as the one in Tokyo! I requested for my Choco Cro to be heated up and let me tell you, the taste of the piping hot, slightly melted chocolate (sweet with just a tinge of bitterness) oozing out of the soft, buttery flaky croissant is just heavenly, I would eat this everyday if I could.

 

The Royal Milk Tea (S - $5, M - $6, L - $7) was also pretty good, I liked the well-balanced fusion of the tea leaves and rich, velvety steamed milk. Not the typical milk tea that is not much different from the ones served in bubble tea shops that some places have.

 

Since the lunch set (11am to 3pm) seemed pretty value for money, we decided to get the savory items as well. They were pretty ok, but I wouldn't be shelling out money just to buy it if it wasn't part of the set.

 

Highly recommend this place, I can't wait to go back!

Makisan @ The Cathay

Menu / Order Form:

Mega San with white rice.

Little San with Brown Rice

This place is a nightmare for indecisive people like me tbh, there's just so many choices!! You have to choose everything from the wrap to the type of rice to the sauce and the sprinkle... But I thought it was a pretty novel idea, letting people customize their sushi.

Luckily they have forms for you to take so you can take your time deciding what combination you want for your sushi and then hand it in to the staff who will then make the sushi for you. I was afraid that it would be like Subway, where you stand in line and tell the person what you want in your sandwich, that would take forever lol.

The box the sushi came in was so pretty! I almost couldn't bear to throw it away, seems like such a waste. The ingredients used also seemed to be of pretty good quality so I thought it was worth the price.

Wish they will open more outlets soon, since I rarely go to The Cathay.

Sarang @ Orchard Central

Got a sudden craving for some Korean food after watching a lot of Running Man over the past few days so decided to try out Sarang.

Kiwi Soju ($10)

Bacon Pajeon ($10.80)

Korean Army Stew ($18.90 + $1.00 for cheese)

Kiwi Soju was awesome, kiwis were sweet and blended well with the soju. Got a nice little buzz after. The bacon pajeon was also delicious. Loved the combination of bacon, scallions, chili and pancake.

I felt the Korean Army Stew was seriously overpriced. It's basically ramen, spam, some pork and kimchi and it cost about $20?! At first I thought maybe it's because it's a really big stew, meant for sharing. But looking at the portion served, 1 person could finish it comfortably.

Only ordered these 3 items and the bill came up to about $50.

I would return to try other items but would definitely NEVER order the Army Stew again.

Tatsuya (Goodwood Park Hotel) Lunch Set

 

Sushi Bento ($30.90)

Sashimi Bento ($28.90)

 
Exams are finally over for me, what better way to celebrate than with lunch at Tatsuya. This is the second time I've been here, but the first time, I was turned away as I didn't have a reservation; This place seems to always be fully booked. But I've read many good reviews and I've been on a Japanese food kick lately so decided to come back again.

We had the lunch sets since they were the most value for money items in a otherwise pretty expensive restaurant. It's stated on their menu that they import their fish from Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market and you can tell the fish used in the sushi is really fresh. The food took a while to arrive since they make it to order, so we distracted ourselves watching the chefs making the sushi since we had the counter seats. After the sushi is set on the bento, they take it to the back kitchen to add the tempura so it was piping hot when it arrived. Every single thing in the set, down to the fruits, was absolutely delicious.

After service charge and GST, the bill comes up to about $35 dollars each. More than what I would usually spend for lunch but most definitely worth the splurge once in a while. Would definitely return!

Tonkotsu King @ Orchid Hotel

Have been on a Japanese food kick lately and was browsing around the internet when I came across Time Out's 2012 Singapore's Best Ramen Bowl article. Tonkotsu King was number one on the list. After reading their description, looking at the price and checking that the location wasn't too far from my house, I immediately decided to check the place out.

There was a small line waiting to go into the tiny restaurant at about 2.30 pm on a weekday.

They had a order form for you to fill in while waiting. You can customize the ramen to your liking. I'm glad they had the 'No Spring Onion' option there, I hate spring onion but somehow always forget to specify that I don't want it.

They had a small bowl of hard boiled eggs on the table for you to add into the ramen, or snack on if you're hungry while waiting like my mum was lol.

The ramen arrived at our table about 5 minutes after we were seated, excellent service on their part. I had the Black Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen Special (All Toppings) since the menu said it was their signature dish. I guess all toppings means seaweed, flavored egg and black fungus. The Black Spicy broth has black pepper, it wasn't too spicy. Rich broth, creamy-yolked egg, generous serving of meat and noodles with a good texture - everything you would want in a ramen bowl, this one has it. The egg they served in the ramen was different from the ones they had on the table; it was really good, well worth the money.

This is a really authentic Japanese ramen place. I highly recommend it, but I think most people know about it already. Would definitely return to try some of their other offerings.

FYI they don't do takeaways.

TOM N TOMS COFFEE

Sudden craving for the thick toast and sweet potato latte that I had when I was in Korea so went down to the only Tom N Toms Coffee left in Singapore at Icon Village. Unforch, there was no sweet potato latte to be found. They should bring in the seasonal items if they want to up their sales tbh. Anyways, the chairs in the place also looked a little worse for wear. 

Choco Butter Thick Toast

Apple Cinnamon filled pretzel

Iced Americano

Loved the toast, but you can't really screw up a toast can you, not hard to make a good one.  The pretzel, which came in a set with the iced Americano, was kinda tasteless in comparison. Not much of a cinnamon flavor to be found. But it was filling, could make a satisfactory lunch.

Shokudo - Japanese Coffee House @ Bugis Junction

1) Teriyaki Chicken Don Hot Stone Set - $16 iirc

Pretty generous serving of chicken and it tasted pretty good, too! Also, the pan seared scallops were awesome.

2) Pasta in a cream sauce served with Tsukune skewers - $13

Loved the sauce, it was just right, not too heavy. And I like that it was served with tsukune, nicely drizzled over with a teriyaki sauce. It's official, I'm in love with Japanese style western cuisine.

3) Azuki Cheesecake served witch Matcha ice cream - $8

This was actually one of the recommended items on the menu so we decided to give it a try despite being tempted by the chocolate banana waffles. The first few bites, I was deeply disappointed, it seemed that the red bean totally overwhelmed the flavor of the cheese. But after a while, the flavor of the cheese did come through and the cake went pretty well with the ice cream. It was all right, but I will try something else next time.

Twelve Cupcakes

Saw the Twelve Cupcakes store on my way home from Bugis and decided to try it out. They're $3 each and the boxes cost me another $0.50 which I wish they told me about before I went to make my payment at the cashier.

But they were pretty damn good! Kinda small for $3 but definitely worth indulging in once in a while :)

Aloha Ma Maison

Serving food from this little place called Hawaii, don't know if you heard of it... In case you didn't know, here's some info for you to read while waiting.

Ordered the loco moco set lunch ($15) to try. Loco moco is a native Hawaiian dish, I've never tried it but have seen the pictures on the internet, it looks like a Hawaiian version of nasi lemak or something. The dish is typically rice served with sunny side up egg and a hamburger patty, drenched in a brown sauce. The restaurant offers some variations of it as well, like salmon and I forget what else since I was mainly trying to decide between the salmon and the beef lol.

It was nice that they offered the option of either having white rice or multi-grain rice. But otherwise the dish was nothing special. Sauce didn't really have much flavour to it and the hamburger patty was also kinda bland. Don't really recommend this item.

We also tried the escargot with coconut garlic butter ($10) cos it sounded interesting. It was well... interesting. I'm not in love with it but it was worth a try, had a pretty strong coconut taste, kinda drowned out the garlic.

Toppings: maple syrup, coconut and guava.

And finally, for dessert, we had the pancakes with whipped cream and banana ($14). It was the whole reason why I wanted to give this place a try and it did not disappoint. When I saw the picture in the menu, it reminded me of the pancakes that I tried back at Eggs N Things (also a Hawaiian eatery) in Japan.

For comparison:

Well, obviously the one served at Aloha Ma Maison had less whipped cream, when it came over to our table, it was already on the verge of falling over. But no matter, cos you don't really need that much anyway. It's just more aesthetically pleasing.

It had five small-ish pancakes, topped with whipped cream, bananas and powdered sugar. They had 3 different syrups for you to choose from and the coconut one was the best imo. Drenched each one with the syrup and a dollop of the fluffy whipped cream, YUM! Instant bliss, almost went into a diabetic coma.

Would definitely return for the pancakes.

Also, I would like to congratulate Bugis+, formally known as Iluma, for it's super successful makeover. The place was packed when I went over, a complete 180 from what it used to be. Shows you how important it is to get the right anchor tenants.