Gochi-So Shokudo at Westgate

Taken over Coco Ichiban at Westgate, Gochi-so Shokudo has opened their 2nd outlet on 13th Oct earlier this month. Gochi-so serves affordable Iberico pork all the way from Spain. 

Ordering is self service at the counter and customers will only be given their table no upon ordering complete. Food will be served thereafter. The service crew were friendly. 

Besides pork, Gochi-so also serves chicken katsus and other various sides. We ordered 2 mains as follow: 

1. Pork jowl don ($13.80) - beautifully charcoal grilled pork cheek slices on rice with onsen egg. We added $4 more for set which comes with salad and miso soup. The pork cheek is so well done and it simply melts in your mouth. No porky smell at all and can go with the many condiment sauces on the table. Awesome! Rating: 4.2/5

2. Chicken curry katsu ($14.80) - the katsu is breaded freshly on the spot and deep fried to the right temperature and juiciness. The chicken was tender on the inside and crispy on the outside. The curry sauce is indeed delicious as well. Rating: 4/5

The only negative point is that we had to wait 25mins for the dons. Hopefully the waiting time can be reduced when we visit it again. Other than this, the food here deserves thumbs up. 

A summary of what we had:

Pork jowl don

Chicken curry katsu

My overall ratings:
Food: 4.1/5

Price: 4/5

Service: 3.8/5

Ambience: 4/5

You can locate them here:

Gochi-So Shokudo 

3 Gateway Drive,#01-02, Westgate, Singapore 608532

Restaurant - Japanese

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Sumiyaki by Nihon Mura at The Cathay

Sumiyaki is a new yakitori concept restaurant by Nihon Mura whereby a wide range of affordable yakitori sticks are available for choice. Besides yakitori, Sumiyaki offers other sides and staples like noodles and dons. 

The restaurant is very quiet on a Sat evening. We were the 2nd couple in the restaurant at 6pm. Located at the basement of The Cathay, the restaurant can be easily located beside Nihon Mura Sushi. Ordering is done via hard copy. 

1. Char siew ramen ($8.80) - delicious springy ramen cooked in think pork broth. The noodles come in 2 sizes, mini or regular. We opted for the regular. There are 2 large slices of char siew with egg, seaweed and spring onions. The noodles are cooked to the right texture. Rating: 3.8/5

2. Teriyaki chicken don ($7.80) - only 1 size don. Charcoal grilled chicken thigh on fragrant jap rice drizzled with teriayaki sauce and onsen egg. Each don comes with miso soup. The charcoal grilled meat goes so well with the thai chilli sauce as condiments. Rating: 3.8/5

3. Assorted yakitori ($1.50 to $2.30) - the mentai chicken yakitori is highly recommended. Tenderly grilled chicken topped with torched mentaiko sauce. Really deserve the 2 thumbs up. Would definitely come back for it. Next will be the chicken with leek. Rating: 4/5

We will definitely be back for their affordable and delicious yakitori. We would probably just stick to 1 rice don and order more of their yakitori sticks. 

A summary of what we had:

Char siew ramen

Teriyaki chicken don

Assorted yakitori

My overall ratings:

Food: 3.9/5

Price: 4/5

Service: 3.8/5

Ambience: 4/5

You can locate them here:

Sumiyaki by Nihon Mura

#B1-01/02/03, The Cathay, 2 Handy Road, Singapore 229233

Restaurant - Japanese

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Fatpapas - The Burger Bar at Bali Lane

Fatpapas at Bali Lane was its flagship outlet opened by Haikel. His love for Fatboy burgers led him to open this Halal certified burger outlet. 

At the Bali Lane outlet, we were welcomed by friendly and chirpy servers. There aren't many seats on the 1st floor and we were showed to their 2nd level. Being Halal certified, the restaurant attracted many Malay customers. We had 2 mains: 

1. Wimpy burger with chilli beef fries ($17) - original burger was $15 but we opted to top up $2 to their speciality fries. The beef patty with the burger was sinfully juicy and every bite could taste its juiciness and sauce accompanying it was awesome! We love the chilli beef fries that tasted like curry and tomato sauce. Rating: 4/5

2. HM chicken kebab with salted egg fries ($18.50) - similarly, we topped up $2 for the salted egg fries. The salted egg sauce was creamy and tasty and goes well witb the crunchy fries. The pcs of chicken fillet were tenderly grilled with peppercorns and onions. It would be better if the kebab is drizzled with bbq sauce instead of condensed milk. Rating: 3.8/5

Prices are subjected to 10% service charge and 7% gst. Portion was huge and we recommend sharing of main course if not big eater. Well done Fatpapas for introducing such delicious burgers at well affordable price. 

A summary of what we had:

Wimpy burger with chilli beef fries

HM chicken kebab with salted egg fries

My overall ratings:

Food: 3.9/5

Price: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Ambience: 3.5/5

You can locate them here:

Fatpapas

17 Bali Lane, Singapore 189853

Restaurant - Western

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Usman at Farrer Park

This is our very first time trying out authentic Indian food at Farrer Park. We finished with our shopping at Mustafa with our lovely buddy and out we are having dinner at Usman as highly recommended by our buddies.

The open-air restaurant was spacious and looks clean. Place was crowded with many tourists trying out their authentic dishes as well. We left the ordering to our frenz since they are regular customers of the restaurant.

1. Butter and plain naan ($2/$1.30) - the naans are very well baked. Not too floury in taste and goes very well with the curries. Rating: 4/5

2. Butter chicken ($5.50) - yew!! Not recommended at all as it tasted real weird with a burnt taste. Rating: 2/5

3. Chicken karahi ($26) - we ordered the full version. Its pcs of chicken fried with sauce and spices. Did not like the chicken as it had a strong chicken taste. But the sauce was good. Rating: 3.5/5

4. Daal ($1.60) - very delicious curry lentil dish. Recommended to order. Rating: 4/5

5. Chilli fish ($11.90) - freshly fried fish with hot sauces with lots of onions and bell peppers. A little salty but goes well with naan. Rating: 3.8/5

6. Mutton bryani ($6.90) - delicious curry mutton with bryani rice. Surprisingly it has no strong mutton taste. Rating: 3.8/5

7. Bhindi ($2.70) - curry ladyfingers. Not too bad. Just like the standard curry. Rating: 3.8/5

8. Mixed vegetables ($2.70) - eggplants with potato in curry sauce. Not bad as well. Rating: 3.5/5

I am not an Indian food lover but Usman does serve quite good Indian food, especially the naan. Price is reasonable and staff is friendly as well. So give it a try when you are at Farrer Park.

A summary of what we had:
Butter and plain naan
Butter chicken
Chicken karahi
Daal
Chilli fish
Mutton bryani
Bhindi
Mixed vegetables

My overall ratings:

Food: 3.5/5

Price: 3.8/5

Ambience: 3/5

Service: 3.8/5

You can locate them here:

Usman

238 Serangoon Rd, Singapore 218085

Restaurant - Indian

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Jia Yuen Eating House at Crane Road

We finally went to Payar Lebar to try the all famous creamy salted egg chicken rice at Jia Yuen Eating House given the so many wonderful reviews online. The place is little hard to access to as it is hidden at the junction among the private houses. Takes about 20mins walk from Payar Lebar MRT station. 

There weren't many customers around and the cooks were busy preparing for catering. They had a huge order from NUS. We were rather limited in ordering as was told to keep to their all popular creamy salted egg to cut down the waiting time. Each plate of rice isn't cheap as it is priced from $8 per plate.

There aren't much many other dishes to choose from. Only some vegetable dishes priced minimumly at $10. 

We waited for 10mins before food was served. Frankly, I was a little disappointed with my plate. There wasn't much salted egg taste and it was too creamy to my liking. Pure milky and the chunks of chicken were like fried skins than chicken. Kevin's plate was slightly better. It had more salted egg taste and less creamy. The sunny side-up was overcooked as well with the egg yolk hard. The xiao bai cai has a homecooked taste but not very worth it for its price. 

Guess the standard of their dish isn't very uniformed as it was done by 2 different cooks. Maybe we should drop by another time when they have less order to see if their salted egg dish was really that good. 

A summary of what we had:
Creamy Salted Egg Chicken
Stir Fried Xiao Bai Cai

My overall ratings:

Food: 3.5/5

Price: 3/5

Service: 3/5

Ambience: 3/5

You can locate them here:

Jia Yuen Eating House

13 Crane Rd, Singapore 429359

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