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