Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ - Set for 2 @ Bugis Junction [Singapore]

Restaurants with numerous branches all over Singapore can put me in a dilemma as I always feel that quality should be consistent across all stores and it doesn't make sense for me to blog about the food that came from the same restaurant; just a different branch.

However, it's a different story if the item I ordered was never shared in this blog. I know I am cutting it a bit too short here but a set for four is absolutely not the same as a set for two at Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ!

Anyway, this branch is conveniently located in Singapore's downtown (i.e. Bugis) and I thought it would be worth a mention here. p.s. didn't want to waste the photos that I took and my original post on Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ; it's the branch at ORTO which was located in a town with much negative publicity.

Given that the bugis junction outlet is housed within the shopping mall, charcoal fire would not be allowed for safety reason and the skillet, in this case, would be gas-powered instead. Would there be any difference? We would find out soon.

Before then, let's have a cup of ice cold lemongrass! It's a Thai cuisine day for me as I had Ah Loy Thai just a few hours before Mookata Traditional Thai BBQ. Compared to the lemongrass drink at Ah Loy Thai, this was less sweet yet better tasting; so much so that I requested for another cup in the middle of my meal.

Our set for two which was honestly more than sufficient for both Alex and me.

Meat wise - you can find "marinated chicken thigh, pork collar, prawns, squids, sukiyaki, bacon, pork belly, fishballs, meatballs, crabsticks and otah fishcakes".

Others included "chinese cabbage, kangkong, corn, enoki mushrooms, egg, glass noodles and tofu". A relatively healthy combination although the meat lover in me would have loved to replace all non-meat items. 

Grease the skillet with the fatty meat! I was looking around for pork lard and thought this was more pork belly, albeit with a lot more fats. Whatever, it did a beautiful job in oiling the surface for my upcoming BBQ materials. 

Meat was marinated so well and tasted delish even though there was a noticeable lack of that char-grill aroma that came from charcoal fire! 

Dip the meat into the restaurant's signature chili; it was spicier, less sweet and more watery than my favourite Kimball Thai chilli sauce. Shiok to have but my tongue suffers from the constant spiciness; lemongrass drink to the rescue!

Alex had more than his usual and I cannot imagine I actually ingested the majority of the ingredients swimming in the boiling, flavourful broth. Mix in a bit of the chili for that extra oomph! 

Saving that last piece for my personal indulgence. 

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Location

200 Victoria Street,

#02-53, Bugis Junction,

Singapore 188021

Nearest MRT Station

Bugis (Exit C)

Website

http://www.mookata.com/

Pricing

Lemongrass Drink - S$3.50

Set for 2 - S$34.90

(Subject to GST and Service Charge)

Ah Loy Thai Restaurant - Reasonably Priced & Delicious Thai Cuisine near Bugis Junction @ Singapore

It was a hot and sunny afternoon - this sounds like an essay opening for a composition in primary school but nothing else describes the weather better when i walked out the exit of Bugis (downtown line) MRT station!

It didn't help that i would be having Thai cuisine which can be spicy and would likely result in me sweating buckets even in an air-conditioned environment. Whatever the case, Ah Loy Thai was suggested by Joyce, the birthday girl, and I shall not make any further complaint.

From outside, it looked like a meal at the restaurant (previously housed at Shaw Towers) would not come cheap although the situation indoor was a bit of a confusion; on one hand, there were the hanging chandeliers with portraits of a Thai king, Thai paintings and on the other hand, placed on the tiled floor were kopitiam standard furniture like wooden tables and chairs (without backrest).

The menu didn't include the price for each dish and before you start assuming it's a restaurant that would scam diners; please refer to the order sheet (to be attached nearing the end of this post) where the pricing was clearly indicated.

You don't pay service charge at Ah Loy Thai as you have to submit your order sheet to the cashier counter and make payment (only in cash) before the kitchen will even prepare your food!

The self service continues as you are also required to take your own plates, bowls, cutlery, serviettes and chillies from the common trolley. Personally, i think we patrons should do our part in view of the manpower shortage in the retail and dining industry and especially so when service charge isn't imposed.

Thai Lemongrass Drink - the cooling drink to have on a hot day although it was a tad too sweet for us. Oh well, i am already satisfied with the fact that there were loads of ice!

Pineapple Fried Rice - moist and utterly delicious; key was the many raisins that added an addictive saccharine bite to the wok-hei infused rice! And it didn't dawn on me that it's a pineapple fried rice until i bit into a piece of pineapple! As a pineapple fried rice, i thought that's quite a failure.

Mango Salad - sour and spicy, i am never a big fan of Thai salad and would rather stay with my conventional butter-head lettuce with tons of Kewpie roasted sesame dressing.

Pad Thai - this was nice although definitely not the best i had in my 37 years of life. Flavour was also on the bland side and i didn't even taste the sourness from the segment of lime that i happily squeezed the life out of.

Tom Yum Seafood - what makes a good tom yum soup? Some will tell you it must be both sourish and spicy; others will say there's more than that. I am a passive eater and my taste buds always prefer a milkier texture. This wasn't as milky and it didn't help that i was nursing a painful ulcer on my upper lip!

Thai Garlic Pork - now, i can taste the porky taste when my teeth sank in to the meat. In usual circumstance, i would have banished it to the end of table but there's something strange this time; the meat had a soft, tenderized touch and it actually tasted pretty good.

Thai Lemon Grass Steamed Fish - as my sister did the ordering, i assumed this was just as it appeared to be; a normal steamed fish in a fish-shaped bowl.

There was more; a pot appeared shortly after to drench the fish with its contents; lemon grass soup! I may not be a food connoisseur; however, wouldn't it be better to steam the fish together with the soup?

Anyway, it felt more like a steamed fish in tom yum and as with any steamed fish, freshness is of utmost importance and this didn't disappoint. I couldn't quite taste the lemongrass unless i took a spoonful of the soup and even then, the lemony taste was hardly noticeable.

Fried Omelette with Minced Pork - I don't remember chewing into any minced pork!!! Nevertheless, this was one oily yet fluffy omelette with crispy edges that i absolutely love! It felt like i was back to pier 21 food court at terminal 21 in Bangkok for my favourite omelette with rice!

Fried Butter Calamari - after so many rounds of butter calamari, this was the best; the squid wasn't rubbery, the batter wasn't excessively thick and you can totally taste the rich buttery sweetness!

Save the sauce and mix it with plain rich for that extra yummy, though sinful, ommph!

Romitt - said to be a traditional Thai style cendol, it was seriously nowhere like our local dessert even though it was sufficiently refreshing; the ice could be finer. Would go for the mango sticky rice the next time i visit!

The concluding end.

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Location

9 Tan Quee Lan Street,

#01-04, Singapore 188098

Map

As above. Near Bugis MRT Station (Exit D)

Opening Hours

Mondays to Sundays / PH - 12.00 pm to 3.00 pm

Mondays to Thursdays - 4.15 pm to 8.30 pm (last order)

Fridays to Sundays / PH - 4.15 pm to 9.00 pm (last order)

*PH - Public Holiday

Reservation

Call +65-8488-6528 / +65-9329-7599

Order Sheet

As above.

Pricing

Thai Lemongrass Drink - S$2.80

Pineapple Fried Rice - S$7.90

Mango Salad - S$7.40

Pad Thai - S$7.90

Tom Yum Seafood - S$8.90

Thai Garlic Pork - S$9.40

Thai Lemon Grass Steamed Fish - S$16.50

Fried Omelette with Minced Pork - S$8.50

Fried Butter Calamari - S$9.40

Romitt - S$4.90

(No GST, No Service Charge)

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar @ Wisma Atria [Orchard Road, Singapore]

To cater for the two younglings in my family, we often had no choice but to patronize the food courts given the wider variety and it was on one of those no-choice situations that we chanced upon Koh Grill and Sushi Bar.

Well, it will be very hard to miss it since it had the longest queue on the fourth level of Wisma Atria shopping center and the entire floor was, in essence, a food area that also included the Japan Food Town.

We decided to check out the place on a weekday instead and were lucky to have arrived slightly earlier as the queue was 38-person long when we were ushered in! Do keep in mind that everyone must be present before your group can be allowed in.

No picture of the interior and I could only muster a photo of the sushi bar counter. Nevertheless, it was rather cramped and I guess purposely designed this way to make you chop-chop finish your food so that other patrons could take over your table.

There were a few key recommendations and we thought we might as well order the grilled meat on skewers as well since there was an entire menu dedicated to them!

Grilled items that we had - shishamo, fresh oyster bacon roll, chicken skin, pork cheek, asparagus pork belly roll, golden mushroom pork belly roll and mini tomato pork belly roll.

Generally speaking, they were not too bad with the exception of the chicken skin which was too salty for our liking. The mini tomato pork belly roll burst with flavor as I didn't know what it was and happily detonated it! To be totally frank, I would still prefer the grilled meat skewers from Tori Q.

Salmon Sashimi - all sashimi sold in Singapore should be at least of this thickness for basic satisfaction! I was happy with what I had even though I couldn't help reminiscing the ones at Bangkok's Tohkai Sushi.

Sake Belly Soup - Sake is Japanese for Salmon by the way; just in case you think it's the Japanese rice wine. Anyway, this was ordered for mom and after taking a few sips, I concluded it was rather bland despite the fact that the pieces of salmon belly were fresh and tender.

Pitan Tofu - I am not much a tofu lover even though the sauce that covered it often increased its palatability a few folds! This was nice with a taste of something that I really love; century eggs!

Asparagus Buta Special - there's nothing special about asparagus wrapped with pork belly but this one was amazing due to the excessive fried garlic that accompanied the rolls! They were super addictive and I believe they would go well with simple, plain rice.

Yaki Udon - I had never been a big fan of udon and associated them with a similar local version known as bee tai mak which I don't quite like also. Hence, this fried udon with chicken, egg and vegetable would not have made it to the list if I am eating alone.

Verdict - what had I been missing all this while as it was super good with a lot of egg and it's like eating a noodle-based okonomiyaki! The thickness of the udon actually helped in two things; the sparing absorption of the sauce and slurping shiokness as you suck in each strand! 

Shiok Maki - using the word shiok in Singapore is like daring the locals to give it a try; we did, not least also due to the fact that it has a thumbs-up sign on the menu and according to many online reviews, the shiok maki is a die die must try! 

This is the first generation shiok maki - unagi wrapped in lightly roasted salmon that had this melty mayonnaise poured on it and topped with a generous heap of fish roes. 

It was superb and a big part had to be the special mayonnaise and fish roes that enhanced the roasted flavor of the salmon; to the extent of intensifying it to the point that I couldn't even taste the rice! As the name suggests, so shiok! 

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Location

435, Orchard Road,

#04-02/14, Wisma Atria,

Singapore 238877

(Next to Orchard MRT Station)

Reservation

6836-0609

Pricing

Shishamo - S$2.00

Fresh Oyster Bacon Roll - S$4.00

Chicken Skin - S$2.00

Pork Cheek - S$4.00

Asparagus Pork Belly Roll - S$3.00

Golden Mushroom Pork Belly Roll  - S$3.00

Mini Tomato Pork Belly Roll - S$3.00

Salmon Sashimi - S$8.00

Sake Belly Soup - S$12.00

Pitan Tofu - S$4.00

Asparagus Buta Special - S$10.00

Yaki Udon - S$10.00

Shiok Maki - S$16.80

(Subject to GST)