Men-ichi Kyoto Ramen @ Northpoint, Yishun

Since my last "sampling" at Ippudo Ramen, my mouth has been itching for another ramen meal. When Cavin has a constant craving, Cavin will do something about it!

*Take note of that Jeffrey!*

I remembered seeing a queue whenever i passed by this newly opened ramen stall in Northpoint! And that's where i am going to satisfy my craving!

Ramen

The most important item for this meal with a very high expectation!

It could have been a matter of choosing a wrong ramen. I ordered Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen. The soup was palatable at first but eventually, the only taste i had was spiciness. I should be more impressed if the dob of chilli wasn't there.

On the other hand, my sister's teriyaki chicken ramen had a thicker, more delicious broth. After pondering on how to describe the taste, it was with realisation that it tasted just like teriyaki sauce!

This in my opinion, was not difficult to make at all!!

Unlike Ippudo, the noodles tasted more like instant noodles although they were apparently handmade. No, i am not complaining because i do enjoy having instant noodles!

The Chashu left a deeper imprint, soaking in the essence of all the goodness of the broth (and only a bit of the spiciness). Though the ramen at Men-ichi was cheaper than Ippudo, the pieces of Chashu were numerically pathetic when compared to Ippudo!

Buta Kakuni

Delish! Part of the ramen set, I would have loved to slowly bite those fats from the pork belly but i didn't for the following reasons.

1) I am too fat and that's fats.

2) It looked plasticky!

Gyoza

Part of the ramen set, these plate of freshly made gyozas were crispy on one side, oily smooth on the other with a juiccccy yet steaming hot meaty filling.

Bigger than the tiny gyozas in Ippudo, these were nice but i would not be able to differentiate them from the many types of gyoza (whether it is from China or Japan) we have in Singapore.

Sushi

A higher regard has always been reserved for sushi from Ichiban Boshi (owed by the same company managing Men-ichi) but the ones in Men-ichi were a few notches down the ladder.

On one hand, the california roll was okay, not bad.

THIS, on the other hand, looked beautiful yet tasted stale. *ugh*

Sashimi

The freshness, thickness and the cut of each piece of sashimi are the main components to a memorable plate of raw fish.

I prefer mine to be thicker and freshness to me, is the most important component. Cut? Nah, noob me doesn't know how to differentiate anyway.

Though it's not my first time having sashimi at Ichiban, this plate of salmon sashimi fell short of expectations. Warm and not fresh. :(

another disappointment.

The swordfish (kajiki) sashimi was way better with its more solid, crunchy texture. And of course, fresher! :)

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Please remember i am using Ippudo Ramen as the base guide when i ate at Men-ichi. Comparatively, i prefer Ippudo but that does not mean Men-ichi is bad, because it really isn't.

Due to its close proximity to my house, i am more than keen to try the other ramen they have.  

Location

Northpoint (Opposite Yishun MRT Station)

#01-22/23

Price

Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen - S$15.90 (set)

Chicken Teriyaki Ramen -S$15.90 (set)

Sashimi - S$15.90 (each plate)

Sushi - from S$2.10 - S$3.90 (each plate)

Of course, it's necessary to include 10% service charge and 7% GST.

Additional Information

The ramen set came with a side dish (the gyozas, Buta Kakuni etc) and either hot or cold tea.

As with Ichiban Boshi, they have the rewards card that you can use for Ichiban Sushi, Ichiban Boshi, Czzar, Takiyaki Bo and of course, Men-ichi Ramen.

They have freshly made Gyoza for takeaways!

The perfect snack for the freaky rainy weather we have nowadays!

Chwee Kueh (水粿) @ Chong Pang Food Centre

Too much, too much rich food recently and it's time to have some common food in this blog!

Someone (whose name i cannot remember) once told me that while chwee kueh may cost around a dollar for 4 pieces, the ingredients are marginally cheaper.

Hence, the profit margins can be quite startling. Provided you sell a lot of them; economies of scales (luckily i still remember this! phew).

For the uninitiated, chwee kueh means water snack (translated literally from the Hokkien dialect) and is a type of steamed rice cake topped with fried preserved radish (chai poh)!

Sounds easy but in order to get a chwee kueh with that perfect, consistent texture takes years of experience to control the right timing (for steaming) and the optimal mixture of rice flour and water.

The fried radish plays the most important role for my "kind" of chwee kueh. It must be fragrant, oily and bitey with that explosion of savourish sweetness and saltiness.

Not healthy but it's definitely not a rich meal either!

*my favourite chwee kueh comes from the super unfriendly Bedok Chwee Kueh stall from Chong Pang Food Centre* 

Name Painting @ Genting Highlands

It was just a leisurely walk amidst the touristy stalls in Genting Highlands when we chanced upon this unique calligraphy.

Thinking it will be freaky expensive for tourists like me, we were just about to walk away when the corner of my eye caught the word "Offer".

Cavin loves offer(s)!

But Cavin is not gullible either. So he persuaded Alex to make one first, using reasons like "so unique, it's so cheap, bloody worth it, so nice etc etc"!

It didn't take me long.

Bloody stall owner should give me some commission!! 

The painter can draw your name in any language so you can feel free to use your Icelandic or Swahili name! An incorporation of animals or scenary in this drawing is necessary for good luck (*ahem, gambling *)!

At RM15.00 with no frame, the painter will first let you choose the border you desire and start using the tiny brush and his small bottles of paint to draw out your name.

At times while painting, he will relate to you the symbolic purpose for each animal/scenary.

Alex was impressed no doubt. And i took this chance to coax him to share the costs for having my parents' names drawn!!

Success was again guaranteed!

Guess what's my father's name.

Hint: An actor has the same name.

Ippudo Ramen (一风堂日本拉面) @ Mandarin Gallery

*Cavin pushes away Ajisen Ramen*

No more no more no more!!

For Japanese ramen, it must be Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery (Orchard Road)!

Thanks to outstanding foodies (again), Mr Kon and Ms SaNeVa, we finally had a chance to dine at this supposedly world renowned ramen restaurant, in operation here in Singapore since December 2009.

The three unforgettable things about their ramen

1) Soup

The end result of over 20 hours of cooking pork bones, the broth had a rich, creamy texture with an aroma that was both light and delicious at the same time.

2) Noodles

Kaoz, the only ramen restaurant in Singapore with its own factory for producing noodles leh!! Though the noodles differ according to the ramen you order, the one i had (for Akamaru Modern) was very 'unique'. The thin noodles (machiam like mee-kia) were very Q and gelled perfectly with the delectable soup!

3) Meat, namely Chashu (Pork Loin) and Buta Bara (Pork Belly)

It's been a long time since i had such tender meat! The pork was "smoked" until the taste had reached its optimal level. I would have been more than happy to consume my mom's share if not for my....... cholesterol. *sad face*

A look at the ramen we had.

Shiromaru Classic with Chashu

The original recipe with a very light soup that should be acceptable for the older generation.

Akamaru Modern with Chashu

With a specially blended miso paste, it was stronger in flavour compared to the Shiromaru Classic.

Miso Tonkontsu

One weird thing about this ramen. The soup tasted as if a suckling pig was boiled in it! Extremely delicious!

A few side dishes were ordered too!

Pork Buns

Like the "kong ba pau", this dish used steamed until soft buns, braised pork and some mayo like sauce!

I was wondering how good can it be, compared to my favourite at "West Lake"! And not very big also.......

Long accustomed to the "West Lake" version, i was surprised that Ippudo's one was an edge better! True, the sauce was not as generous but then the winner had to be the pork, which was again, braised to perfection!

Gyoza

Yummy but petite to the extent i can hold all six pieces in my mouth. Don't believe? Let's have a bet!!

Rare Cheesecake

Assumption of rarity for cheesecakes might bring into picture some pungent cheese that hovered around a combination of vomit and shit. Fortunately, this assumption was wrong here.

The cheesecake had a jelly like texture with no biscuit base and was more sourish compared to others. Truly authentic for a CHEESEcake but i could not help comparing it to almond jelly.

I prefer almond jelly.

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Price

Shiromaru Classic with Chashu - $18.00

Akamaru Modern with Chashu - $18.00

Miso Tonkontsu  - $17.00

Pork Bun - $3.00 for one (we had 3)

Gyoza - $6.00 a plate

Rare Cheesecake - $7.00 a piece

Please add 10% service charge and 7% GST.

Plain water was available for free.

Location

Mandarin Gallery

333A Orchard Road

#04-02/03/04

Singapore 238867

Additional Information

Expect a queue during peak hours (lunch and dinner) as it can get pretty crowded and the restaurant was not very big. We went at around 3-4pm and were seated immediately.

You can see a lot of Japanese dining at Ippudo! As the saying goes (by who, i dunno), a restaurant is truly authentic if the natives dine there too!

La Petite Cuisine (Once Again) @ Serene Centre

My first post was HERE!

Thanks to Alex, i am back at La Petite!!!

This time, with an empty stomach!

Typical of French culture (or is it European?), alfresco dining is available if you don't mind the smog coming in from the main road. It can get pretty romantic when night falls with the addition of tea lights.

For me, i prefer to see what i am eating.

Potato soup! According to Alex, the more he drank it, the more he liked it!

A piece of breadroll (with butter) FOC for every main course. It's so blissful when you spread the butter on the bread and dipped it in the creamilicious soup!

I am usually not very adventurous unless there's a dare or it's a new place i am dining. Hence, Confit de Canard with Gratin AGAIN!!

Portion was smaller than the last one i had. Unexpectedly, it tasted better even though it's a Chinese lady chef (not the funny French chef). Weird right??

The skin was crispy without ozzing too much oil when you bit it and the meat actually tasted delicious this time without being overly gamey.

As usual, the gratin was fabulous! Besides butter, it's highly probable that minced meat was used to make us love it so much!

This concluded the short food trip.

Work is so tight, i seldom have the brain cells to blog!

The worst thing? It's gonna get worse!!

*sobzz*

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For the address of La Petite, please refer to my first posting HERE.

Hakka Restaurant (客家饭店) @ Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Conveniently located opposite the Pavilion shopping complex, this place took a very special place in Mr Kon's heart. He can still remember how good the food tasted, although it was more than 10 years since his last visit.

 

Staring at the almost empty restaurant with plastic chairs on a super hot day can be so so so so unnerving. Thoughts running my mind include :"so little people, food not good ah?" and "bloody weather is killing me, i don't want to get heatstroke!!".

Restaurants with no aircon should be outlawed!!! Excusable only if their prices are super duper cheap!

 

Our worries were unfounded as an aircon section (half filled) was available for people like me. And chairs that looked worthy to be in a restaurant setting!

 

Only captions are available for the pictures! That's the problem when i blogged about a place so long after the visit.

My human 'memory card' has limited space leh.
*30 liao lor*

 

The Good

This ice cold sago dessert was refreshing for the mouth, the throat and the body when the weather was hellish hot!!

The Okay

This stir fried pork with eggs, mushroom and strands of bird nest looked good but tasted okay only nia... You have to wrap it with the lettuce provided but the combination was not that great. Ju Shin Jung was way way way better!

By itself, this simple tofu dish was pretty unique (another nice way of saying it tasted weird). It would however go well with plain rice.

Like what i have always emphasized, prawns can NEVER EVER taste as good as prawns that are shelled. Prawns cooked with oats will be the only exception.

It's just fresh, greenie vegetables with ikan bilis! What would you expect from me? "So fresh until i can feel the dew drops"? Hahaha.

I have tasted much better chicken than this in Malaysia and Singapore.

With such a thick layer of fat, it was initially quite savoury but the salt content of the "mei cai" was a bit too high. Points deducted! The best "mei cai kou rou" i had was from this lunch in Yunnan, near to the world famous Stone Forest.

Sighz.... these contained mostly pork meat and i seriously didn't remember any crab flavour. Well, overall still okay lah. Should be delicious if i wasn't so full.

Some fried noodles. I could easily buy this from any nasi lemak stall in Singapore. Taste wise, marginally (very very slightly) better than those nasi lemak stalls.

The Bad

Visually, this Sea Coconut dessert was appealing but it's the first time i had sea coconut so hard and munchy!! Are they really sea coconut? The sweetness and sourness (from the lemon) of the soup didn't gel up to a distinctive taste as well. 

Although i am a late bloomer for Yong Tau Foo, i can said with full confidence that the hakka style yong tau foo in Hakka Restaurant sucked big time!! The gravy was okay but the tau kee (i think that's the name) and meat balls were too hard.

 

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Quite a disappointment even though Hakka Restaurant was quite renowned in KL. My preference whenever i am in KL will indisputably be Restoran Overseas.

Price

We paid RM 240.46! Sorry hor, cannot remember the price for each dish.

By the way, the above includes 5% service charge and 5% government tax.

 

Location