FAIL Eats - Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve had several good eats in the past weeks, will tell you more about them later. But first! I must warn you about this horrible meal I had last week!! See Mr. NoTasteMemory decided he wanted ramen or something soupy so we were going to meet at City Hall and walk over to Liang Court to have some good Tampopo ramen (remind me to post about our Tam Po Po fiasco as well later). Only it was pouring at city hall and while I had an umbrella, we decided it was not worth trying to walk over there in the dreadful rain. This was mistake number 1.

Then since he was craving ramen, I was like, let’s go try out that new Japanese version of Marche, Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar. Similar to Marche, diners take a card at the entrance and go to the various stalls within the restaurant area to order their food, get the card scanned and pay at the cashier later. This was mistake number 2. The queue at this place on a weekday was insane! There were at least 3 big groups of [unfashionably dressed] people ahead of us at 7ish pm and the place already looked fully booked. When dining out, I usually plan ahead and make reservations to avoid the queue. This is because I refuse to wait more than 10 minutes to get into an eatery when hungry. Even when I’m not hungry, unless I can go somewhere else and have them call me, I’ll usually go somewhere else to eat. I won’t die if I don’t eat there today.

Sigh, the bunch of weirdly dressed people outside the restaurant should have clued me in to the quality of food to be expected here, but I guess I was too blinded by their clothes to make the connection. They were dressed in a typical ugly fashion, and the typical ugly fashioned Singaporean usually has bad taste buds. GAH. This was mistake number 3

Thankfully, the host noticed that behind the 3 groups of [unfashionably dressed] people, there was this normal looking couple and got us some seats within 7 minutes of us joining the queue. Yes, I timed.

So, off Mr. NoTasteMemory went to feed his ramen craving, only after he took his first sip of the soup, he made a face. That’s when I knew we had made the biggest mistake.

That was when I knew it was very bad ramen. See, he doesn’t have a golden mouth like me, and can usually accept lower standards of cooking so when he says it’s bad. It is really really bad. As it is, I am trying to block the memory of that foul tasting soup from my mind. It had no flavour, no smell and could have possibly been taken from a ditch or drain. IT WAS THAT BAD. Unfortunately, we had already ordered some tempura and some seasoned jelly fish which was alright. Their tempura was also quite expensive, slightly over $10 for 2 prawns, 3 veg and 1 fish combi. And instead of a light, white fluffy texture from the batter, it was yellow and hard. Jelly fish was normal. The ramen was slightly under $10, but it could have been free and it still wouldn’t have been worth putting in anybody’s mouth.

Unsatisfied from that god awful meal (I didn’t even bother getting a main, I just forced myself to finish some of his ramen and called it a day), Mr NoTasteMemory decided he wanted waffles, but I convinced him to try the crepe with banana and chocolate and that turned out quite alright. That was initially $4.80 but he added a scoop of ice cream (white sesame, which was alright) and that made it $7.80. Yes, they charge $3 for ONE scoop of ice cream.

Total damage for two pax was $35ish with taxes. NEVER AGAIN.  YUCK. 

Shokudo Japanese Food Bazaar
Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-44E Singapore 179103
(65) 6837 3793

what the wafu is wafu

So, about 2 weeks ago, Ms P was craving for pasta after dance class (yes, yet again! we pig out after our attempt to exercise) and so we headed to Pasta de Waraku today.  I must admit, I really had reservations about going there.  I really don't like fusion food, or rather, so far the dishes placed in front of me claiming to be fusion have been utter disaters.  I mean come on, green tea pasta done char kway teow style?  Massive FAIL.  So yes, despite reassurance from P that it was a good restaurant, I was like, ORLY?

I ordered the sukiyaki pasta, partly cause I really really like sukiyaki, and also because I figured I might as well go all the way and really try this Japanese pasta than order something safer like carbonara.  Ms P, despite craving pasta, ordered the hamburg steak set [rolls eyes].  I was actually afraid that the sauce would be too salty and thick for pasta. I mean it's one thing to have a cream based pasta, but a sukiyaki sauce on pasta sounds like LOR MEE gone wrong. Thankfully, the sauce was a lighter version of the usual sukiyaki broth, more diluted than the actual thing but perfect with the pasta.

At first glance, the dish looks like fried prawn noodles, with bits of beef instead of prawns. Then you notice the tofu cubes and golden mushrooms hiding in the pasta. The beef was tender with slithers of fat here and there, to give it that slightly meaty and oily texture. The broth was sweet but not overpowering, and because it is more watery then the regular sukiyaki sauce, it gently coated the pasta noodles without the starchy, viscous goo you get when you pick up Lor Mee. Because the taste of the sauce was very light, you can actually finish the entire dish without getting tired of it.

I must say the serving size is definitely on the small side, I wasn't particularly hungry but I finished this plate with ease. I also think they could have added more golden mushrooms into this dish, I swear they only gave me 10 strands of mushroom. The mushroom provide that crunchy texture in a dish that is relatively mushy (tofu, pasta noodle) and chewy (beef). And because they were camouflaging themselves between the noodles, they kinda surprise you with that popping thing that happens when you chew golden mushroom (I really don't know how to describe it in any other way than popping okay?!)

P's steak set with tomato sauce as also good, and we now have a clearer idea of what they mean by Jap burgers. See we tried cooking something similar some time back, only we fried the burgers instead of sautéing them, so they ended up hard and oily. This one was soft and had a almost melt in our mouth texture. The sauce was very tomatoey and a hint of sourness but again not overpowering.

Overall, this place was alright but a bit overpriced considering the small portions (the pasta was about $14 - $18). I could easily go have regular pasta or regular jap food at more affordable prices. Or at least with bigger portions for the amount I pay. The fact that it took me more than 2 weeks to write this review also shows how unimpressed I am by this restaurant.

Edited to Add
A weird thing they had on their menu was this thing called Wafu sauce. According to the waitress, I think she said it was a "japanese sauce" or "japanese styled sauce" which left us with larger question marks over our head. Anyway, after surfing the web, it turns out that it really means japanese style, but at the same time could be any japanese style. So what the wafu is wafu?

Pasta De Waraku has several outlets island wide. I went to
6 Raffles Boulevard
#03-257 Marina Square
Singapore 039594
Tel: 6333-3433


Opened Daily
11:30am - 11pm (Last order 10:30pm) - Good for late night dinners..

Rocky Mountain Charlie Rocky Mountain! otherwise known as Dining in the Sunset part 2

no no no, I'm not referring to the CANDY MOUNTAIN CHARLIE CANDY MOUNTAIN video. I'm talking about Rocky's.  This pizza place has a bit more history than the other new establishments.  See, they used to have an outlet here, at the arcade where the daily scoop is and now they've come full circle, shifting back here from the rail mall.

What's good here? Rocky's Mountain, it's their signature pizza with pepperoni, ham, sausage, egg, chicken, olive, onion, tomato, mushroom, green pepper on it, that's basically everything you can possibly put.  I'm really a big fan of pizza's with egg on it, it's like the egg gives it that extra fluffiness to the overall taste.  

At Rocky's, the pizzas come in either 12inch or 16 inches.  So far every time we've ordered their pizza's we always end up with leftovers.  But don't worry!  You can ask them to pack it up for you and it still tastes great when you reheat it.  I guess a 12 inch one would feed 3 comfortably and a 16 inch feeds about 5 (if you haven't figured it out, I shared the smaller one with another friend and the larger one with 3 others and ended up with left overs on both occasions).

What I really like about Rocky's is the level of service they give you, it's really like a mom and pop pizza place with lots of aunties thrown in for good measure. They will hoover around, take your order, advise you if you are ordering too little (or too much for greedy pigs like us!), top up your water etc and they're generally happy to serve you. The pizzas are decent and give you the feeling that whoever prepared it took pride in preparing them. I don't really know how to describe it but its like a home cooked meal I guess. It's not exactly an epicurean or gastronomical experience, but (and this is why it's here on my blog) you go there and the food comforts you, like a nice soft sofa you sink into at the end of a work day, enveloping your entire body in its warmness. You just relax and forget your troubles for a while and when you leave, that warmness follows you.


Rocky's Pizza + Pasta
Block 106 Clementi Street 12
#01-60 Singapore 120106
Tel: 6468 9188 / 6344 6868

Akashabu shabu

So, this new outlet called Akashabu just opened at Kallang Leisure Park and it's a shabu shabu place opened by the same people that brought you Akashi.  A friend of mine who is also a big Akashi fan was meeting me for lunch the other day and we decided to give it a go.  The thing with my friend (despite being Cantonese and all) doesn't like soup (I can hear at least one person in Tampines who is weeping over this non-soup loving Cantonese); and I have never had shabu shabu seeing as I don't like steamboat.  Eek.  So, this was a fairly interesting experience for both of us anyway.  My only regret is that I did not read up on how to go about enjoying shabu shabu which I think would have added to the experience.  

I must also explain that this friend of mine apparently dines often enough at the various Akashi outlets that the waitress knew him on a first name basis.  Anyway, since we weren't that familiar with how to order (okay I was not, and I suspect my friend was just being lazy about it), we got the waitress to suggest what to order and serving size.  So all I can tell you is that we had two type of mushrooms, Enoki (golden) and Bunashimeji (I think), pork and beef strips.  We also had the three types of sashimi they had (yes they only had 3, salmon, some clam thing and I can't remember the last).  And we began cooking the meat and the mushrooms.  

What surprised me was that they used plain water for the shabu shabu.  This is where I really regret not reading up, apparently shabu shabu means cooking in plain water.  So I was like.. hmm, wouldn't the soup just taste of meat and mushrooms?  And it did.  Yes, after cooking half the meal, we tried the soup and were not very impressed with it.  I was like, HUH? so what's so great about this shabu shabu thing that have people going all crazy about.  What I liked about this meal was the sesame dipping sauce that accompanied the meal.  It was really flavourful and had a nutty taste to it.  We thought it was a soya bean/miso paste sauce.  It really added the that oomph factor to the meat (seeing as it was cooked in plain water and really just tasted of meat).  It's also great with just rice.  The ingredients were fresh, the meat came thinly sliced with a slither of fat on the edge.  My friend, being the  health freak started to remove the bits, and me, feeling guilty, followed suit.  

The limited sashimi variety lived up to the Akashi standard of being extremely fresh too.   What surprised me was that this outlet did not serve green tea.  Can someone tell me if this is also part of the shabu shabu experience?

The soup at the end tasted better, and I only found out that that's how it's consumed.  After the meal. Total damage was about $50 for 2 paxor $25 each.  I think it's okay. But it's really not something I'll try again. Give me my regular Akashi outlet any day.


Akashabu
5 Stadium Walk
#01-12 Kallang Leisure Park
Tel: 6346 3868

Opening hours
Lunch: 12noon - 3pm
Dinner: 6pm - 10pm

Snacking in the Sunset..

Since recovering from flu virus, I've been trying to catch up with my eating escapades and also satisfying the cravings I had when I was sick. I've also restarting my exercise regime again in the attempt to keep the weight lost during the last couple weeks off. I made plans with P to go for a swim yesterday only to have her bail on me but I decided to go solo anyway. After doing 11 laps in the pool, I got tired and hungry and called it a day.  Still it progress from the previous 6 to 8 laps I've been doing in the pool.  

The bf met me after my swim and was also tired and hungry after his day at work.  Seeing at it was still 5ish and too early for dinner, I convinced him to have a snack from Balmoral Bakery.  Since he has a sweet tooth, I recommended the custard puff to him.  I don't really like custard puffs (or eclairs for that matter) due to the texture of the pastry.  I like my pastry crispy and flaky.  Puffs like that have this soft pastry which makes me feel like I'm eating a soggy puff.  But, the custard puffs from this bakery have the thumbs up from  me (the bf's description was "it's okay", which is why I never bother asking him anything anymore, its usually, "Just eat it, it's good"). The pastry is, again, the soft type but this puff is filled to the brim with custard and even as you use the tongs to pick it up on the tray, it tends to start oozing out and getting everywhere (the bf was not pleased with this and blamed my clumsiness but actually, it was really just brimming with custard, and I wasn't that clumsy). The custard has a nice eggy taste and not too sweet that its overkill and just simply delightful to bite in only to have it ooze all over your mouth and slither down your throat and before you know it, its all gone!

I decided that I was hungry enough for two items, seeing as how I had just exercise (I know I know, the point is to lose weight and stay fit, but I was hungry and not thinking and had also been craving this for weeks, and you do not get between a woman and her cravings...). So I got for myself a samosa and a beef curry puff. MMMmmm... I used to snack on these when I was younger and they've become my comfort food. I have to say, the size and fillings of these pastries have definitely shrank over the years. I mean the samosas used to contain more than a slither of meat and their beef curry puffs used to have less curry paste and more beef. Still, eating them was like a trip down memory lane for me and I savoured every moment, even hesitating to give the bf the bites he wanted (he has a big mouth and his one bite usually equals to several of mine..). The taste was still spot on, despite the decrease in filling, size and meat. The paste for the samosa is not too spicy and the pastry is crispy such that every bite gave you that KRACK KRACK sound like you were eating potato chips. Despite the lack of meat, one thing about the paste is that it reminds you that meat was used to make it. I don't really know how to describe it, but its like it has this meaty salty taste that combines with the vegetables used to make this pulp which you can't really tell what is what individually, but you know it has carrots potatoes onions and meat when it is made. As long as you don't keep this samosa bundled in the plastic bag after buying is so that water can condense and make it soggy, you will be pleasantly surprised with it. Oh and of course, eat this first lah! eat the rest later...

After giving the bf my last bite of samosa, I continued chomping on the beef curry pie. This pie is not too oily that you will feel ill eating this and something else. It is also small and light. Making a great but terribly unhealthy snack. In other words, PERFECT. The curry paste again, is not spicy, just a tinge for flavour and because its also not too spicy, the filling is also not too oily. Not like other curry puffs where you eat half of it and its oozing oil and you start feeling guilty and gross. No, ladies and gents, this pie is small enough for you to finish it fast enough so that no oil shows up and also you don't feel gross after that. Pastry is the layered, flaky sort and the crusty ends are not too thick that you'll feel disappointed or sad when you come to the end of the pie and realise there is not more filling to go with it.

Seriously, this has been one of my favourite bakeries growing up, its really old school in its layout, smells, design. Nothing much has changed in this stall for the last 20 yrs. Even their boxes are still the same cupboard type with a weird castle print on top. They've not changed any of their pastries and not hopped on to any weird fad, except for the pricing, all there rest remains the same. They also do the traditional cakes with retro designs, not cause retro is in the in thing now, but cause they've been doing it for years! I have not had their cake for the longest time, but judging from the many orders they still get, I'm willing to bet that its still as good.

Anyway, if you're in the area and waiting to get a table at the restaurants near by just go by before they close (8pm daily) and treat yourself to some old school pie. You will not regret it.


Balmoral Bakery
105 Clementi St 12
#01-06 Singapore 120105
Tel: 67792064