Maccha House (Orchard Central)

Went to Maccha House with gf since we both love matcha. Maccha House offers bitter matcha like the ones in Kyoto. They not only sell match related items but also the usual Japanese food affair like oyako don (chicken and egg with rice).

Taken from their FB page

Order any 2 main courses + 2 drinks + 1 dessert and get $10 off your total bill. We thought it was a good deal so we ordered 2 main, 2 drink and a dessert.

Matcha Float Latte ($5.40)- Cold bitter matcha with sweet soft serve ice cream. I like the soft serve with the matcha cause it made the matcha less bitter since I don't like bitter matcha.

Matcha Ice Cream Latte ($5.40)- Cold bitter matcha with sweet matcha ice cream. I love the matcha ice cream, it's the perfect sweetness.

Chicken Oyako Plate ($11.90)- Cute flower-shaped(?) rice with egg, chicken and onion. The egg and chicken were not overcooked and tasted average. The miso soup was flavourful. The salad was good with my favourite sesame dressing and they even have a small cup of dessert- 2 chewy mochi ball, topped with slight sweet red bean, finely crushed peanuts and a sweet dark sugar sauce. I love the sides provided a lot more than the main dish.

Teriyaki Chicken Plate ($11.90). Well cooked chicken with sweet teriyaki sauce and a beautifully poached egg with the same sides. The chicken was tasty with the crispy skin and I like it as much as the sides.

Banana Dorayaki ($7.40). Dorayaki is a Japanese pancake usually filled with red bean. Here we have dorayaki with sliced bananas, whipped cream, nuts, caramel sauce and a side of soft serve matcha ice cream. The sauce helped brings out the bland pancake and banana while the nuts gave it some crunch. I didn't really like the pancke but the soft serve was really good.

Here's a short video of our mains.

We were full after our mains and wanted to cancel our dessert but the service staff said the dessert was already being prepared. So we said okay. The plus point was that our overall bill was cheaper because of the dessert since we got a $10 discount. I think the place sells food that are not bad and it's worth looking at their fb page to see their monthly specials.

Rate:
Matcha Float Latte: 7/10 ☺
Matcha Ice Cream Latte: 7/10 ☺
Chicken Oyako Plate: 7/10 ☺
Teriyaki Chicken Plate: 7.5/10 ☺
Banana Dorayaki: 5.5/10 ☺

Tang Tea House (Simpang Bedok)

Went to Tang Tea House for dim dum with kart and zq. It is a place where you can have halal tze char and dim sum.

Shanghai Steamed Chicken Dumpling ($4.40)- The skin was slightly thicker then the usual xiao long bao. There's soup inside so be careful when you eat it. Compared to a non-halal xiao long bao, this one which uses chicken meat here is not as juicy and tender. The skin was also a quite sticky.

Golden Sand Buns ($4.50)- My favourite look out when I'm in a dim sum shop. The salted egg custard was good, it oozes out as you bite into the bao. Salty, sweet and slightly creamy filling with the soft fluffy warm buns. The perfect combination.

Salted Egg Crystal Dumplings ($4.20)- Shrimp, chives and egg yolk. Taste quite similar to har gow. Didn't really like the cooked egg yolk which made you feel dry.

Har Kow ($4.20)- Shrimps in a slightly chewy and sticky skin. Taste almost the same as the non halal one.

Rate:
Shanghai Steamed Chicken Dumpling: 5.5/10 ☺
Golden Sand Buns: 9/10 ☺
Salted Egg Crystal Dumplings: 5/10 ☺
Har Kow: 6/10 ☺

La Taperia

Went to La Taperia with gf and dj for their set lunch which is $35++ per person- Appetizer, Main and a Dessert.

Appetizers

Fried eggs with braised snails in Pedro Ximénez wine and chorizo sausage. The snails was quite similar to a mushroom in terms of taste and texture. Eggs were normal. Feels a little like breakfast.

Octopus and mussels in tomato vinaigrette with green olive and garden salad. Seen in the top left hand of the picture. I like the salad with the acidic balsamic dressing. The octopus and mussels were well cooked. There were times where I ate a flake of sea salt which made it freally salty but I still like the salad.

Red leg prawn cooked with garlic, cayenne dried chilli in Arbequina extra virgin olive oil (additional $6). It was still bubbling when they served it us. The oil had the taste of the garlic which was nice. The prawn were flavorful, sweet and juicy.

Main

Squid ink noodles paella, caramelised apple, prawn and crispy baby squid (additional $10). Angel hair noodles that had the texture similar to bee hoon. The caramelised apple were sweet and added a different feel to the savoury dish. The baby squid was really crispy, however the actual squid was like smaller then half the size of the batter. Prawn was the same. Overall it was quite nice, I like the taste of squid ink but the portion was quite small.

Grilled black angus striploin (200G) with garden salad and patatas bravas (additional $10). Steak was medium rare and well season. Salad was normal. Patatas bravas is something simliar to wedges. Served drizzled with chili sauce and something else.

Dessert

Churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce. The churros were good, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Chocolate was dark and bitter.

Crispy apple pie with almond dragée and caramel coulis (additional $2). It is super worth the additiaonal $2. Apple pie was crispy with thin crust.  The almond dragee provided a nice extra sweet crunch and the caramel coulis was good too. It all complemented each other well.

Side Order

We also ordered some extra orders. Croquetas de Jamón($15- 4 pieces)-  Croquette of suckling pig bechamel and jamón ibérico. Jamón refers to ham in spanish. The croquette was crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside like mashed potatoes. The croquette had a strong smoked taste due to the ham.

Croquetas de Pescado($15- 4 pieces)- Croquette of seafood bechamel with shrimp and scallop. Exactly the same as the previous croquette except that instead of a smooth paste inside it had chunks of seafood. Taste very similar to a sweet potato croquette.

Rollito de Jamón Relleno de Calamar ($16)- Squid wrapped with jamón ibérico a la plancha, served with fresh lime. It had a strong smoky taste with a mild chared flavor. It was a little to salty and strong for my liking. However gf liked it.

Rate:
Fried eggs with braised snails : 6/10 ☺
Octopus and mussels and garden salad: 7.5/10 ☺
Red leg prawn: 7/10 ☺
Squid ink noodles paella: 7/10 ☺
Grilled black angus striploin: 7/10 ☺
Churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce: 6/10 ☺
Crispy apple pie with almond dragée and caramel coulis: 9/10 ☺
Croquetas de Jamón: 5.5/10 ☺
Croquetas de Pescado: 6/10 ☺
Rollito de Jamón Relleno de Calamar: 5/10 ☺

Supply & Demand (Esplanade)

Supply & Demand is a slightly modern Italian restaurant with their main focus on pizzas.

Went to Supply & Demand rooftop bar with my group of friends for ky's birthday celebration.

Calamari Fritto ($14)- Crunchy Squid Bites Swerved With Pizzaiolo Sauce. The squid was cruncy and went well with the sweet and tangy tomato sauce. Eat it while its hot if not it will turn soggy.

Fries with a Side of Guilt ($14)- Perennial Sinful Favourite Chunky Cut Fries Drizzled With Aged Cheddar Sauce, Shave Parmesan, Jalapeno Peppers Served With BBQ Sauce. Chunky potato-y fat fries that almost resembles wedges with a not so overpowering cheese sauce. I don't think there's any guilt eating it.

La Mattina Dopo/ The Morning After (9 inch-$20, 13 inch-$24)- Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Bacon And Mushroom, With A Soft Egg Set In The Center. Thin curst pizza with crispy crust but slightly soft in the middle where the tomato sauce was spread on to. Prominent taste of bacon and mushroom. A favourite among my friends.

Tartufo e Uovo/ Truffle and Egg (9 inch-$20, 13 inch-$24)- Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Black Truffle Paste, Rucola Leaves and A Soft Egg Set In The Center. I love the taste of truffle so when I saw this on the menu I knew I had to order it. Pizza was slightly more crispy then the previous pizza. Truffle taste was present but I wished they placed more truffle paste. The slightly bitter rucola leaves and milky and salty parmesan was a nice addition to the pizza.

Salmone Affumicate/ Smoked Salmon (9 inch-$20, 13 inch-$24)- Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Mixed Salad, Topped With Smoked Salmon And Sahved Parmesan Cheese Drizzled With Olive Oil. The smoked salmon was not as salty as the ones you usually buy from outside which was really good. The mixed salad added a refreshing touch to the pizza which I liked. My Favourite pizza for the night.

Overall we enjoyed ourself with the good food. However, there were times when we could not get the service staff attention. Maybe they were busy.

Rate:
Calamari Fritto: 6/10 ☺
Fries with a Side of Guilt: 6.5/10 ☺
La Mattina Dopo/ The Morning After: 7/10 ☺
Tartufo e Uovo/ Truffle and Egg: 7.5/10 ☺
Salmone Affumicate/ Smoked Salmon: 8/10 ☺

Kokomama

Went to Kokomama for some more bingsu adventure. At there they sells a variety of cuisines: French- pastries like croissant, Japanese- rice bowls, local- eg kopi and waffle, Asian fusion- eg Tom yum pasta and also Korean- bingsu.

We ordered two bingsu in total. Mango Bingsu ($12.90)- Fine, shaved, slightly milky ice with sweet mango cubes, flavored mochi and a scoop of creamy and sweet mango ice cream. Nice and refreshing. 

Matcha Bingsu ($12.90)- Fine, shaved, slightly milky ice with bitter matcha powder, mochi, nuts, sweet red bean paste and a scoop of matcha ice cream that tasted really really weird. Quite bitter for my taste buds but if you like bitter matcha then it's perfect for you.

Rate:
Mango Bingsu: 6.5/10 ☺
Matcha Bingsu: 5/10 ☺

Babette

Went to Babette with Ed for dinner.

Babette is a gastro-bar opened by radio DJ Darren Wee. Here they serve a fusion of French traditional cooking and Japanese ingredients.

Roasted Avocado with aburi salmon and diced tomatoes ($12). Really good. Creamy avocado paste with half cooked salmon, crunchy carrot cubes and refreshing cherry tomatoes topped with seaweed strips.

Tokyo Miso Pasta ($18). Drenched in a wholesome homemade broth and topped with tofu, corn, carrots, potato, and salmon. Perfect for weight-watchers. Ed ordered. Noodles were slightly harder then desired.

Babette Chirashi Donburi ($19). Marinated assortment of fresh sashimi, tamago, and tobiko on warm rice. I ordered the chirashi donburi. Cubes of tuna, salmon, scallop, pickled carrots, pickled cucumber and tamago on a bed of plain rice topped with small bits of tobiko and sprinkled with seaweed strips. Personally I think the pickled vegetables were nice as they provided a crunchy texture but after a while the acidity was a bit too much. Overall didn't really like it because the rice was plain and there were too much pickled vegetables. This was also served with miso soup which was the plainest miso soup I have ever tasted.

Matcha Lava Cake ($12). Green tea infused white chocolate fondant served with homemade azuki red bean ice-cream. It is made a la minute so there's a 20 minutes waiting time but if you love matcha, it's worth a try. Cut into the matcha lava cake and a matcha oasis awaits you. It was quite sweet but very matcha-y. The cool vanilla ice cream went well with the cake.

Rate:
Roasted Avocado: 8/10 ☺
Tokyo Miso Pasta: 6/10 ☺
Babette Chirashi Donburi: 6/10 ☺
Matcha Lava Cake: 6.5/10 ☺

O'ma Spoon Korean Dessert Cafe (313@somerset)

After having my first bingsu at Bing Go Jung, I want to try more of this yummy dessert. Went to O'ma Spoon with zq, sy and jy.

Injeolmi and Green Tea Petit Bingsu ($4.80 each). The milk shaved ice was melt-in-your-mouth fine and plain. You could see they did some layering of ice and toppings so that it won't be bland as you dig deeper. The bingsu was not bad but since it is in a small cup they don't provide condensed milk.

Rate:
Injeolmi Petit Bingsu: 6.5/10 ☺
Green Tea Petit Bingsu: 6/10 ☺