Gan Yakitori

My dining companion and I were at The Star Vista on a weekday and it was time for dinner. Having tried Bornga and Wrap & Roll, we settled on Gan Yakitori – an izakaya that uses bincho charcoal that supposedly produces a full flavour in the grilled food without destroying its proteins. Located on the 2nd floor, it is one of the many Japanese restaurants in this shopping mall that has seen many shops come and go since it opened a few years ago. Could neither rave about the grilled scallop and cold soba nor fault its fishcakes from the oden menu. All the yakitori items we ordered were well-seasoned and grilled nicely such as the hard-to-go-wrong tomato or asparagus bacon maki and mid-joint wing, which was crisp on the outside and moist inside. For some of the items like chicken with leek and quail egg, you can choose whether to have them with sauce or salt. Oh, and its extensive offerings extends beyond food to include a wide variety of alcoholic drinks too. Kanpai! Itadakimasu. 

Imakatsu

One of us was tasked with the "job" of finding a good place for lunch and the place of choice was Imakatsu. The Japanese restaurant, which specialises in tonkatsu, has been around for 80 years in Japan with its flagship at Roppongi and presence also at Ginza. It was a weekday when my dining companions and I visited the branch at Boat Quay, its 2nd in Singapore after The Star Vista. While none of us have tried the place before, we were looking forward to a meal there due to the rave reviews online. However, reservations were not allowed so we decided to try our luck. As there were no available seats indoor, we settled for a table outside. No air-conditioner, just the fan and thankful for no haze.

Ordered Bite Size Pork Fillet and Chicken Fillet Cutlet Set from the lunch menu – comes with miso soup and pickled vegetables, unlimited rice and fresh cabbage. The katsu items had tender and juicy insides with a thin, crisp and evenly-coated layer of batter that was not too oily. Loved the sweet potato and preferred the pork to chicken fillet. Raw crunchy cabbage was perfect with sesame dressing especially when interspersed with deep-fried food. I could not complain about the soft-boiled egg I added, just like the lovely rice and pickled vegetables. Non-deep-fried food items on the menu include Oyako Don, Pork Don with Oroshi/Ginger Sauce and Cold or Hot Udon.

Cocoa Colony

I first saw Cocoa Colony at Shaw Centre but forgot to drop by for drinks and/or desserts after dinner. That is, until I saw it again at B1 of Great World City. Within That CD Shop, this is a chocolate (move over, coffee and tea) café inspired by the cocoa beans and chocolate cafés found in the Republic of Ecuador. Conceptualised by Singaporeans, the café chain started in Shanghai and opened its first local branch in December last year. It has since expanded its presence in Singapore from Shaw Centre to another 6 locations including 313@somerset, Suntec City and The Star Vista. According to the website, it offers avant-garde cocoa beverages, crafted chocolate bars and lava flowing hot chocolate sauce made from premium chocolate. Ordered one of the signature items from its menu – Cocoa Blanc Deluxe, a zesty white cocoa drink with a shot of espresso but found it too acidic and flat for my liking. Could neither smell and taste the espresso, nor enjoy the chocolate too.

Update: The branch at Great World City has closed.

Itacho Sushi

I like Itacho Sushi for its quality and mostly well-executed sushi. Although a tad expensive, and almost always having to wait for seats (no different from Sushi Tei, another Japanese restaurant I frequent for its variety and consistent standard). We visited the one at B3 of Ion Orchard, located between Nara Thai Cuisine and Wrap & Roll, for dinner on a weekend. Other branches can be found at Bedok Mall, Bugis Junction, Changi Airport, JCube, Plaza Singapura and The Star Vista. My dining companion ordered the roasted duck breast sushi and pork sushi not commonly found elsewhere as well as prawn sushi and mango roll. Having tried the whole sea eel sushi before and not particularly impressed with it, I went for a seasonal fish sushi, the scallop with roasted duck breast sushi and a sashimi platter. Also shared sautéed scallops with mushrooms and strips of cabbage, capsicum and carrots in black pepper sauce on hotplate. None of these fresh and succulent dishes disappoint.

Wrap & Roll

I first saw Wrap & Roll in The Star Vista and thought it only sells Vietnamese rice paper rolls. That is, until my dining companions and I saw it over the weekend in Ion Orchard. We were looking for a place to lunch before our Christmas shopping and decided to eat at the contemporary casual dining restaurant from Ho Chi Minh, after trying a sample of its Grilled Pork Steamed Rice Crepe Rolls – tender pork full of flavour from the marinade with a nice charred aroma. The award-winning chain was established in 2006 and currently has more than 10 branches in Australia, Singapore and Vietnam. According to the website, it is the first Vietnamese restaurant on our sunny shores to serve freshly made steamed rice paper rolls. Every dish is delicately handmade with more than 50% of the ingredients imported from Vietnam to maintain its authenticity. For quality control, the chefs are trained in Vietnam for a month while chefs from Vietnam will train the staff here every 6 months.

Menya Musashi

My dining companions and I were looking for a place to lunch at Westgate yesterday when we chanced upon Menya Musashi's lunch sets at $13.90 for a ramen and a side dish. Since Ippudo has yet to open and Paul is better known for its pastries and sweets, we decided to try this Japanese ramen chain located on the 2nd floor. Established since 1996 in Japan, it was named after legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi famous for his double sword style. Other branches in Singapore include Bedok Mall, Ion Orchard, Raffles City Shopping Centre, The Star Vista, Thomson Plaza and VivoCity. There are three versions of soup base for its ramen – white or original, red (spicy) and black with garlic. The tonkotsu broth is supposedly boiled with a substantial amount of pork bones for more than 9 hours with a chef stirring it every half an hour to prevent the bottom from being burned. According to the website, it is creamier than most other places.

Central Hong Kong Café

 

Central means being centre of, and is commonly referred to as the heart of town. But there is also The Central above Clarke Quay MRT Station and Central Hong Kong Café in Singapore. The latter was established in 2004 and has branches in Jurong Point, The Star Vista and VivoCity. White marble tables and black or brown wooden chairs blended in with the black and white mosaic floor, which together with posters of Hong Kong stars, gave the place a nostalgic charm. Hanging lights were interestingly encased in bird cages, with ceiling fans and a white old-school grill that served as a divider. In addition to a menu typical of a cha chaan teng in Hong Kong, there is also a take-away counter selling Hong Kong street food. Having tried many curry fishballs in Hong Kong and Singapore, I realised the versions here are more bouncy than chewy. This was no different, and tasted salty with notes of spiciness from both the chilli and curry, the curry powder balanced by a distinct sweetness.

Bornga

The brainchild of renowned Korean Celebrity Chef Jong Won Paik, Bornga is Korea's leading chain of barbeque restaurants with almost 50 branches worldwide since it was established in 2002. 33 of these are in Korea with the rest in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States. Following the successful debut of its 1st foray here (last November at The Star Vista), a 2nd has opened on the 2nd floor of VivoCity in May this year. My dining companions and I waited for more than half an hour on a weekend evening before we were seated near the back with a view of Sentosa and its fireworks. Dimly-lit and spacious but a tad smoky despite extendable black exhaust tubes hanging from the ceiling, which could be pulled down to just an inch above the grill. With the exception of kimchi as well as broccoli and cauliflower with accompanying sauce, complimentary free-flow banchan were mostly salty and nothing to rave about or fault.

Brotzeit German Bier Bar and Restaurant

My dining companions and I were deciding between French, German and Japanese cuisine when one of them commented that he had not tried German food before. With that, we decided on Brotzeit – literally translated in German as "bread time", a typical Bavarian expression referring to a cosy meal complemented by fresh beer. According to its website, the German Bier Bar and Restaurant opened in 2006 and offers authentic Bavarian dishes with a wide selection of world-famous German beers all day long. In fact, all its beers are made using pure spring water according to time-honoured German beer-making traditions which respect the Purity Law of 1516. As I have been to both branches at Raffles City Shopping Centre and VivoCity (that leaves The Star Vista as the only I have not been to after this), I suggested visiting the one along Discovery Walk at 313@somerset beside JiBiru Japanese Craft Beer Bar and opposite Oriole Café and Bar at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites.

BeansTalk and BlackBall

As I read The Sunday Times review on BeansTalk, I thought $2 for Taiwanese beancurd with 6 toppings was a good deal. No harm trying if I happened to be in Toa Payoh and have stomach space for it but alas, months have since passed me by. So when I saw another branch at Jurong East Temporary Interchange, decided to try it. Known as BeansTalk Signature, it was topped with grass jelly, pinto beans, red and green beans, roasted peanuts and taro balls. Silky beancurd was mediocre and left a strange taste on my tongue. Atop was grass jelly, beans and nuts I could neither rave about nor fault. Preferred BlackBall's grass jelly made with Mesona grass from Guan Xi, Taiwan – smooth and slippery enough to glide down my throat, not too sweet though some might find it a tad bitter. BeansTalk's colourful taro balls were chewy, just like that from BlackBall which also came with sweet potato balls. Though they were good, better ones could be found at Malaysia's Snowflakes.

Update: BeansTalk has been rebranded as Nine Fresh Desserts Taiwan.

New Kid on the Block – Owl Café

Owl coffee is a familiar brand I grew up with and it was with anticipation befitting of its more than 50 years of coffee roasting and blending experience that I made a trip to Super Group's first foray into a physical store. Coming via the sheltered walkway from Buona Vista MRT Station and up the escalator that leads to The Star Vista, the café is on the left with outdoor seating to its right. Against industrial concrete floor, metal chairs and minimalist naked bulbs hanging from the ceiling were lots of wood and nice lamp shades. An extension of the blue in its logo could be seen in patterns on the wall. Interestingly, packets of different coffee (instead of magazines) were displayed at racks around a pillar column. Items on the menu include Straits Asian-inspired drinks and food, ranging from snacks and toast to main course and desserts.