Maru is a trendy Japanese restaurant located at Icon Village in Tanjong Pagar. This cosy restaurant serves delicious dons or rice bowls at very affordable price. All dons comes with free flow of salad and dessert.
The salad selection isn't a lot, with just the usual lettuce, tomato, seaweed salad, etc etc. There is also free flow of miso soup as well. The salad dishes are very fresh. Dessert selection isn't a lot. Only fruits and some chocolate pudding.
We went for their salmon mentaiko cheese and volcano chicken karaage. Both bowls are $18 each.
Food was promptly served within 10mins upon ordering. 3 substantial slices of salmon torched with mentaiko cheese sauce on Japanese rice. So delicious in taste and totally satisfied my mentaiko craving. Love it! There are 3 spicy level to choose from for the volcano chicken karaage.
We went for their basic and was already spicy enough. The karaage was crispy and delicious and the don can be drizzled with nacho cheese. A fusion taste of Japanese and Korean. Would recommend this for karaage and spicy lovers.
We would definitely be back to try their other dons and Maru is a nice place to chill out with frenz after work for a drink and great food.
A summary of what we had:
Salmon mentaiko cheese
Volcano chicken karaage
My overall ratings:
Food: 4/5
Price: 3.8/5
Service: 3.8/5
Ambience: 4/5
You can locate them here:
Maru Japanese Restaurant
Icon Village, 12 Gopeng St, #01-05 to 11, Singapore 078877
Top Seafood was first opened at Bt Timah Sixth Avenue. This tze char restaurant is popular with their prawn dishes. Their 2nd branch was opened in Bedok and now 3rd one in Clementi.
Located in 442 BGain Eating House coffee shop, the tze char stall was tended by a very friendly and cheery boss. His hospitality attracted many to try their dishes. Pre ordering can also be done via phone call.
Though they are good for their prawn dishes, we opted for 3 of the more common tze char dishes first to try since Kevin can't eat too much prawn.
1. Yangzhou fried rice ($4) - generous portion of fragrant fried rice with lots of ingredients. Loved the slightly charred taste and it's so far the best fried rice I have eaten among the tze char stalls in Clementi central. Rating: 4.2/5
2. Salted egg chicken ($12) - the salted egg sauce was excellent. Just a pity that the fried chicken cubes were a little tough and more flour than meat. Should have gone for their pork ribs instead. Rating: 3.8/5
3. Baby kailan with garlic ($8) - very fragrantly fried as well but a little salty and oily. Goes well with plain rice but can be a little too tasty to eat on it's own. Rating: 3.6/5
We still enjoyed the dishes overall and service was prompt. We would definitely be back to try the rest of their dishes, especially the prawn ones so do stay tune on my blog!
A summary of what we had:
Yangzhou fried rice
Salted egg chicken
Baby kailan with garlic
My overall ratings:
Food: 3.8/5
Price: 3.8/5
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3.2/5
You can locate them here:
Top Seafood
442 Clementi Avenue 3, # 01-121, Singapore 120442
Pow Sing Restaurant was 1st opened in 1983 and has been famous for their delicious and fragrant Hainanese chicken rice.
We have always been patronising their one and only Serangoon branch but recently with the opening of Jewel on 17th April'19, Pow Sing Restaurant has joined alongside with the rest of the popular restaurants like Shake Shack and many others.
Located at B2 of the complex just opposite A&W, this cosy family restaurant offers very much similar dishes like their Serangoon branch but at a slightly difference in price. Maybe due to the higher rent, the dishes are more expensive. We ordered 3 dishes.
1. Half chicken ($19) - delicious white tender chicken on top of cucumber slices. Even the breast area is also so tender. Rating: 4/5
2. Trio egg spinach ($12) - we ordered the small portion and indeed was rather small. Not much vegetables but was nicely done in the trio egg gravy. The gravy was thicker as compared to other restaurants. Rating: 3.8/5
3. Chai po omelette ($10) - fragrantly fried omelette with minced chai po. Not a lot of chai po and not the best but still acceptable. Rating: 3.5/5
Service was definitely prompt and good. Had to queue about 20mins during dinner time but food was served 5 mins upon ordering. Pow Sing serves not a bad choice to dine if one does not want to join in the super long queue for restaurants like Shake Shack.
A summary of what we had:
Half steam chicken
Trio egg spinach
Chai po omelette
Ar Char
My overall ratings:
Food: 3.7/5
Price: 3.2/5
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3.8/5
You can locate them here:
Pow Sing Restaurant
65 Airport Boulevard, Jewel Changi Airport, #B2-201-202, Singapore 819663
Located along the popular food alley in Toa Payoh Central where Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh is, Hanuman Thai Cuisine is another Thai stall newly opened, second to The Talad Drink and Thai Kitchen which is a few stalls away.
Hanuman Thai Cuisine is currently offering their popular steam seabass with chilli and lime for $9.90 which definitely deserves the try. The fish was very fresh and indeed tasted very refreshing with the spicy and sour taste.
The garlic and lime made the base a little green. For this price, it is definitely worth it and deserves all credit. Would give it a 4.1/5.
As for the Thai style kangkong ($7.90) and pineapple fried rice with chicken floss ($7.90), would rate them at 3/5 and 3.5/5 respectively.
The kangkong dish was pathetic and lack the taste and fragrance.
The pineapple rice was slightly above the average but nothing really to shout at.
Prices are nett and there is no GST and service charge. Hopefully Hanuman will be able to sustain the stiff competition along this food street and last for a while.
A summary of what we had:
Steam seabass with chilli and lime
Pineapple fried rice with chicken floss
Thai style kangkong
My overall ratings:
Food: 3.5/5
Price: 3.8/5
Service: 3.8/5
Ambience: 3/5
You can locate them here:
Hanuman Thai Cuisine
190 Lor 6 Toa Payoh, #01-530 Food Alley, Singapore 310190
Deli's Kitchen at Sunshine Plaza Bencoolen Street may not be new to us. The dishes at Deli's Kitchen are based on traditional dishes from all over Japan, from Osaka to Sendai, including black curry to ox tongue steak don.
Biseryu is a franchise opened by a very friendly couple, Alvin and Jessie at Far East Plaza. Located at a quiet corner of the shopping mall on the 2nd floor, it is just located opposite the yonex badminton shop. Promotion via Eatigo offers 50% off all ala-carte main dishes except for ox tongue dishes, sides and drinks.
The couple was happily mingling with the customers, recommending some of their popular dishes and constantly getting feedback to improve on their dishes. Very similar concept like Deli's Kitchen, the dishes are from all over Japan.
We went for the roast beef don @ $15 for 100g of thinly sliced roast beef drizzled with sweet sauce and topped with onsen egg.
The dons come in different sizes, from 100g to 250g of beef. Would rate this don 4.3/5 for its tenderness and taste. It was a very balance meal with lots of fresh lettuce. Next was the Kagoshima aged pork loin katsu don @ $20.
Crispily fried on the outside with crumbs with the meat coated with a very thin layer of fats. The loin was extremely tender and juicy.
It has a generous portion of salad as sides topped with Japanese sesame sauce. It tasted better or at least as good as some of the other katsu restaurants. Would rate it at 4.2/5.
The highly recommended one would be their fried octopus with Habanero flavour @ $10. Though portion is small, this fried octopus tentacle dish deserves the thumbs up for its tenderness and spicy kick. Goes so well with a glass of cold beer. NO SAUCE NEEDED! Rating: 4.5/5
Would highly recommend this cosy restaurant for all meat lovers. We would definitely be back with our the other foodies to try the rest of the dishes.
A summary of what we had:
Roast beef don
Kagoshima aged pork loin katsu don
Fried octopus
My overall ratings:
Food: 4.4/5
Price: 4/5
Service: 4.2/5
Ambience: 4/5
You can locate them here:
Biseryu by Deli's Kitchen
14 Scotts Rd #02-59 Far East Plaza, Singapore 228213
One of China's popular Lanzhou Lamian has opened its first outlet here in Singapore at Tiong Bahru Plaza in the food street on the 2nd floor. Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles are popular with for their delicious soup broth and self-made noodles in different sizes and textures.
There are 6 different flavour of noodles to choose from and one can opt for different noodle texture and size. We are simply spoilt for choices as we have 8 different noodle types to choose from. We opted for 2 of their most popular type: the normal and small flat noodles.
Kevin chose signature beef noodle with small flat noodles. You can choose to add chili, coriander and leek. I opted for their dry chicken noodle with normal noodles. We fell in love with the sweet soup broth which was light yet flavorful. The texture of the small flat noodle was Q and perfect. The normal noodles are awesome as well.
Highly recommend the dry noodles with their special vinegar and dried chili. Both noodles are priced at $8.90 for small bowl and $11.90/$10.90 for large bowl.
We topped up both noodles to set at $4 each which come with 1 braised egg, 1 side dish and 1 drink.
The sides include black fungus, braised nuts etc. Drinks are free to choose from the fridge as well. Food is self service and prompt. Portion of food is generous as well.
We enjoyed the delicious noodles and will definitely be back for more.
A summary of what we had:
Sigature Beef Noodle
Dry Chicken Noodle
Braised Egg
My overall ratings:
Food: 4.2/5
Price: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 3.8/5
You can locate them here:
Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles 舌尖尖兰州牛肉面 (Tiong Bahru Plaza)
Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Rd, #02-107/187
Opening Hours: 11am - 10pm (Mon - Sun)
Located along Cuppage Terrace, Tamaya Dining is an authentic Japanese restaurant that serves some of the best Japanese cuisine suitable for family and frenz. It has a wide range of Japanese Izakaya menu from charcoal grilled dishes to ironpot rice.
Via Eatigo on a weekday, the restaurant is offering 50% discount on all ala carte menu excluding dons and sets. We opted for their outdoor dining as we enjoyed the night scene. The servers are mainly very pretty Japanese ladies all dressed in black. Food was served quite promptly upon ordering. We ordered 4 dishes in all.
1. Salmon mentai mayo don ($11) - delicious aburi salmon don flamed with mentai mayo. The salmon portion was generous and rice was warmed. Not the best mentai mayo don as rice tasted plain but still value for money. Rating: 3.5/5
2. Negima tare ($5) - 2 sticks of charcoal grilled chicken yakitori with onion. The chicken pcs were succulent and we could taste the flamed charcoal taste. Yummy! Rating: 4.1/5
3. Tonpei yaki ($12) - soft scrambled omelette served with finely shredded cabbage and sliced pork and topped with mayo and brown sauce. Deliciously sinful. Rating: 4/5
4. Chicken nanban ($13) - deep fried crispy chicken cutlet with sour tartar sauce on top of shredded cabbage. I love this dish best as they were very generous with their nanban tartare sauce. Rating: 4.2/5
Tamaya Dining is indeed a great place for gathering and we love the food served. With Eatigo discount, its definitely worth coming to this restaurant for a great Japanese meal.
A summary of what we had:
Salmon mentai mayo don
Negima tare
Tonpei yaki
Chicken nanban
My overall ratings:
Food: 4/5
Price: 3.9/5
Service: 3.9/5
Ambience: 4/5
You can locate them here:
Tamaya Dining
45 Cuppage Rd, Singapore 229464
Knowing that Queensway shopping centre is about to close down soon, we made our way there for lunch this afternoon to try out the popular Taiwanese rice bento on the 2nd floor of the building. There aren't many seats at the stall so would be good to be there early to avoid the working lunch crowd.
Hei Lun Shi Tang offers different types of Taiwanese rice bento and noodles. Unfortunately there was no more noodles today and all of us had to opt for their rice set. We ordered their braised chicken rice ($5), braised pork rice ($5), braised meat rice ($6) and braised meat and curry chicken rice ($7).
Each bento comes with braised mushrooms and carrots, pickled vegetables, braised cabbage and half braised egg. Among the 4 types, the braised meat combination was the best. The typical 卤肉饭 (Lǔ ròu fàn) deserves the thumbs up at 4.2/5. The rest of the pork and chicken dishes are on the average. Price seems a little high for the size but would consider it to be quite a balance meal.
Ordering is self-service and food will be served upon ordering. We would be back for their rice bento if we miss Taiwan 卤肉饭 (Lǔ ròu fàn) again. Do give this stall a try while the shopping centre is still around.
A summary of what we had:
Braised chicken rice
Braised pork rice
Braised meat rice
Braised meat and curry chicken rice
My overall ratings:
Food: 4/5
Price: 3.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Ambience: 3.2/5
You can locate them here:
Hei Lun Shi Tang (黑伦食堂)
1 Queensway, Queensway Shopping Center, #02-47, Singapore 149053
