Tian Tian Chicken Rice has got to be one of the better chicken rice stalls in Singapore. The chilli is just great, although a tad spicy for me(I wish I knew the recipe for it). The chicken itself is rather normal, but the rice is fragrant and tasty without being too oily. $3 gets you a huge plate of rice with about 10 sizeable slices of chicken. Talk about cheap and good! There's a very long queue to boot as well so if you are not the kind to wait 30 mins or more for your food, you might just want to visit during the off peak hours like 4-5pm.
Journeyed to Big Splash for lunch one afternoon and chanced upon a newly opened Sushi Tei outlet without the usual crowds that throng its other outlets. Decided to give it a try since the last time I ate at Sushi Tei was probably about 4 years ago at the outlet near my place. As Sushi Tei is relatively well known, I shall just do a quick writeup on it.
Located just opposite The Seafood International Market & Restaurant, Sushi Tei offers a view of the carpark driveway and a glimpse of East Coast Park through its floor to ceiling windows. And the problem with huge glass windows in the afternoon is the heat that penetrates through, which fortunately, was minimal during my visit.
Jo Una Ju - This was essentially unagi with rice. I didn't get to try it but I understand that it was quite salty from the excessive sauce and I guess the substantial leftovers supported that point.
Oyako Don - A staple dish in most Japanese restaurants, the oyako don didn't really impress much with its less than flavourful egg and chicken cubes. But served steaming hot, it was actually still quite palatable especially with its soft sticky rice. And for $8 a serving, it sure beats what sakae sushi's offering hands down.
Golden Roll - Its actually the first time I'm trying something like this and honestly, I liked it quite a fair bit. Prawn pieces sandwiched between rice, just like sushi and layered with mango strips. Sweetness from the prawn and the mango - a very complementing taste. But its $13 for 6 rolls, which is really quite expensive.
Overall an average meal for a not so average pricing, standing at about $44. But having said that, I would definitely prefer dining at Sushi Tei as opposed to Sakae Sushi, which IMHO serves unpalatable food. Service could be friendlier but I like the place for being crowd free - something that would probably change soon given the brand's popularity.
With it being the oh-so-wonderful study season for us students, I recently chanced upon this relatively new TCC oulet at the airport! The day I sat in this place, I told myself I am going to frequent here from now on!
For starters, I really love the interior design of this place. It is pretty spacious and just looks really comfortable! As it's mostly real quiet and peaceful at T3, you can expect to get a comfortable couch seat (even if you're alone) which accommodates four people most of the time! I really like how they play with the colours of the furniture and wall, flooring and lightings as it makes it all very comfortable to be in.
Service wise, I find the waiters there very pleasant and polite. They seem to be very happy being where they are, thus making the place feel less "dead". Lively is good! But either that they are having too much fun among themselves or that the place is really too big, sometimes it does take awhile to catch the eye of one of them to make your orders.
Finally, TCC is not called the coffee connoisseur for no reason. From being a non-coffee person to a Starbucks/ Coffee Bean person (because they have less strong or bitter coffee - yes I don't quite know how to appreciate the coffee taste!) and now, I'm really into TCC! Even though I'm not a coffee connoisseur, I must say that the coffee beans/ powder (whichever) they use is of better quality than famous Coffee Bean/ Starbucks. It is more aromatic and the taste is definitely stronger and more whole.
Kudos to TCC for their large variety of coffee and creativity! You can get anything from the more traditional kind of, say, Blue Mountain Coffee to ice-blended stuff and even Coffee with liqour! (The last one leaves me wondering, though, whether this drink should be keeping me awake or knocking me out.) For non-coffee people, don't worry! TCC has an equally wide variety of drinks like tea, shakes and fruit juices to cater to your likes. If you're out for a little "adventure", so to speak, you can also find something exotic/ interesting from here.
Some drinks I've tried:
Kaffee-tini, $11 : vodka-spiked espresso with a tinge of mint (supposedly). I didn't quite taste the mint though.
Mint Choc Frappe, $7.50: Superb! I thought the whipped cream was wonderful with the chocolate and mint syrup drizzled on it.
Oreo-mocha Frappe, $7.50: I didn't quite like the what-seemed-like-Oreo-dust in the drink. It spoilt the texture of the drink, making it feel very "dirty" to drink =x Apart from the oreo, this drink is actually pretty much the same as all the other frappes.
Iced Minty Mocha: The triple-layered drink served in a tall glass looks too beautiful to drink. But, as though it was quite a bad mix of flavours, the drink turns out to taste a little salty or something. Somehow, as weird as it may seem, I actually feel that the drink tastes abit like some home-made clear soup.
(Guess what, the pictures of the drinks you see in their menu is exactly what they serve you! I'm rather impressed actually!)
This place is basically a coffee place, there are main courses but don't expect much from the menu. It's pretty limited and rather expensive. I had Macaroni Gratin at $10.80. Was a really small serving but tasted pretty good with mini macaroni, tasty mushroom slices and chicken bits, topped with a layer of mozzeralla cheese. Their cakes are not bad, with my personal favourite being the Marble Cheesecake ($5.50) (:
In addition, you could check out their monthly special concoction. They would have a different drink off the menu available each month, at a slightly lower-than-usual price. In the month of June, it's Strawberry Soy-tisfying. Basically strawberry flavoured soya bean. To me, it tastes a little weird actually.
I pretty much like the place, though a pity that TCC is rather over-priced =x It's like paying for the "brand". Nonetheless, it's a great place to chill and hang around with friends, or just to have a moment to yourself (: I give it 4 stars, because it's too expensive to frequent!
Oh and if you're looking for this exact oulet, it's the arrival hall, near Mac's, not the one upstairs! (Yes there's 2 at T3!)
It is mentioned somewhere that CHEF Eric Guilbert made all his male cooks shave bald the minute they showed up for work. Guests can easily check out the cooks’ botak heads by peering through the 'open concept' kitchen, although all of them still have their hats on - hee hee.
There’s a touch of perfectionist in the fare, but it seems more western/continental den your average standard French dish.
The dishes are classy but yet non fussy, and quite approachable - such as a duet of pan-seared scallops.
The presentation of the grilled beef tenderloin was mesmerising - a very tender, juicy thick steak, smack by a moat of creamy celery puree - DIVINE!
Some of the chef’s signature dishes, includes a seven-hour slowcooked leg of lamb served with a truffle potato puree. Entrees are roughly $30 and $40, and main courses are between $40 and $60.
In terms of decor, Cassis is loud with a touch of eclecticism: ’sunken’ outdoor seating surrounded by shimmering ‘pools’; a glass-covered patio with creepers trailing up on curved ladders; and a swanky indoor double-storey dining area complete with ornate modern chandeliers. This is surely one of those places to bring a girl if you wish to impress her.
This is probably the most famous club in Singapore and I would dare to say all clubbers have entered this place at least once. It is also this place where a certain famous "Mambo Jumbo" dance culture is popularise (Every Wed Night) - so much so that this culture is exported to many parts of the world where there is a Singaporean presence.
Not only would you get to experience synchronised dancing using mostly the upper torso of your body, one would probably bump in many NS boys and teens during one of these Mambo Nights.
The thing I love most in Zouk is their drinks - Vodka Ribena and Long Island Tea. Try it and you will know the difference.
Oh 1st 300 Citybank members get to enter for free!
This is my faithful partner I bring along whenever I am in the toilet - My life will never be the same without it. All my daily dosage of information from around the world comes from here.
Sections of it that I particularly look forward to are:
Life Section - Here is where I get all the juicy gossip news of celebrities, and all the relevant cinema timings.
Sports - EPL, Champions League, NBA, F1, S-League (ok not exactly in the same class, but you get my drift)
Money - Investment tips, oil prices, market and stocks movement
Urban - Latest fashion tips on what's hot and what's not. Sometimes you get good tips on what to get for your female species.
Job Classified (Saturdays especially) - Looking for a job? Nothing beats this edition where you find out which industry is actively looking for people.
To end it off, nothing beats a copy of Straits Time on board the plane every time I travel back from overseas. AHhh... the familiarity of having the world under my feet.
Nestled inside a shop called Eclectic Attic, that sells all things vintage sorts of collectibles, antiques and clothes and accessories to furniture and knick-knacks, you will find Tea Cosy. At first glance, one may miss Tea Cosy as the whole shop décor here is intentionally messy, making the place feel like an attic. A little crammed and cluttered, the cafe area is barely noticeable amidst all the objects in the place. But when one takes the trouble to peer inside, you will realise that they had place settings at the tables. You will be astound to realise that everything in the cafe is for sale besides the food you dine – from the decorations on the table, including the bell to ring for service (and it doesn’t come cheap mind you), to the wooden chairs that we were sitting on – talk about experiential home furnish shopping!
Starter was the Home-made Creamy Mushroom Soup. Every spoonful comes with generous bits of mushrooms although I rather prefer them in thick and big slices – quality for quantity. Soup was also slightly on the salty side. Surprisingly what I felt was better was the piece of toast that went along with it. It was toasted with Mayonnaise that gave it a sweet creamy taste, something different from the normal toast that comes with soup.
The Decadent Salad consists of Foie Gras, Prawns and Eggs. One of Tea Cosy’s reputed dishes – my expectation of it was heightened – although it didn’t wow me, expectations of a salad was met. The vegetables were fresh and the dressing was a good compliment to it, but the prawns could have been juicier and foie gras bigger.
Not sinfully satisfied, I opted for the Signatured Pan-fried Foie Gras as the main. Topped with pineapples and aragula leaves and with what tasted like orange marmalade on the side, the foie gras goes well with the juices from the pineapple and aragula to create a bittersweet combination, but on its own, the oily aftertaste wasn’t exactly pleasant. This is not the best rendition I have tasted but Tea Cosy is the cheaper option if one does not have a big pocket to burn but still crave for some sinful delight.
Not filling enough, we ordered an extra serving of Laksa Pesto to share that comes with quite a few prawns, and is said to be of reminiscent to Wild Rockets rendition – amidst more watery. Coming to the end of the dish however, one will probably find the gravy extremely salty due to the residues of the dried shrimps used for it. To be honest I wasn’t impressed with this dish.
We wrapped up the night with some desserts that I felt the portion was more suitable for their High Tea – petite. They were nothing extraordinary, and probably the only thing that impresses me was the name used for the chocolate brownie with ice-cream combi – Ebony and Ivory.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
I went to Pasta de Waraku with some colleagues some months back. It was my first time there as I generally prefer Italian pasta though.
Apparently, every order of a pasta dish here entitles you to a small bowl of salad. It was tossed in a Wafu dressing, which was very all right.
I order a Wafu Scallop & Asparagus Spaghetti (S$12.80). It was not too bad. Although the spaghetti was not al dente enough, this was nonetheless not too bad for a Japanese pasta dish.
This is worth a visit if one just wish to try out a Japanese interpretation of an Italian staple, but otherwise I would prefer to stick to the italians.
The distinguishing feature of Din Tai Fung's dumplings is that the chefs would make 18 folds to seal the dumplings.
A cautionary note about eating Xiao Long Bao is that the soup is usually so hot that an unsuspecting consumer might scald the tongue and throat if he/she popped the entire dumpling into the mouth without first allowing it to cool down a little.
The Xiao Long Bao at Din Tai Fung were tasty and didn't have a strong porky odour (unlike the ones that I had at another popular establishment). In short, it met my expectations since my last visit to one of their outlets. I think its likely that the flagship at Paragon branch churns out better dumplings than the branches at Wisma Atria and Raffles City.
Surprisingly, the Fried Rice with Pork Chop is just as good - try it and you will be convince!
The extended wing of Centrepoint Shopping Centre has a basement lined with food stalls and restaurants. But it's like a maze quietly tucked away in the madness of Orchard Road. And out of this maze, I discovered Sumi Yakitori by pure luck.
The light dinner started off with a plate of raw veggies ($1/person including towels). I eat salad but shudder at the raw thick cabbage leaf. The dipping sauce, in which the waitress instructed us to squeeze the lemon into, was like a dark miso-shoyu paste- salty and savoury.
The Tonkutsu Ramen ($8) unfortunately brought a very comforting feel. It was so familiar - Uncannily like Chu Qian Yi Ding instant noodles with the aromatic sesame oil. But I would have preferred a richer broth and the ramen itself was too cooked for my liking.
Sumi seems more like a Japanese grill kind of place instead of ramen house. So we decided to order a few grilled items to see what it offers.
The Fresh Tiger Prawn ($3.50) had blackened legs but fortunately the flesh was protected by its shell. The flesh was sweet and firm but a tad too dry.
The saving grace was the Sweet Corn ($2.50)! Each kernel was plump and burst with sweet juices upon nibbling. The nice smokey aroma by the grilling was evident and complemented the natural sweetness of the corn well.
In a nutshell, don't expect ultra fine Japanese food here. It's more like a budget ramen place with a few stars from the yakitori menu. To put things in perspective, it almost felt like paying food court prices at a restaurant for the ramen.
1=SGD 0.0587
Tian Tian Chicken Rice has got to be one of the better chicken rice stalls in Singapore. The chilli is just great, although a tad spicy for me(I wish I knew the recipe for it). The chicken itself is rather normal, but the rice is fragrant and tasty without being too oily. $3 gets you a huge plate of rice with about 10 sizeable slices of chicken. Talk about cheap and good! There's a very long queue to boot as well so if you are not the kind to wait 30 mins or more for your food, you might just want to visit during the off peak hours like 4-5pm.
Rating given:
Journeyed to Big Splash for lunch one afternoon and chanced upon a newly opened Sushi Tei outlet without the usual crowds that throng its other outlets. Decided to give it a try since the last time I ate at Sushi Tei was probably about 4 years ago at the outlet near my place. As Sushi Tei is relatively well known, I shall just do a quick writeup on it.
Located just opposite The Seafood International Market & Restaurant, Sushi Tei offers a view of the carpark driveway and a glimpse of East Coast Park through its floor to ceiling windows. And the problem with huge glass windows in the afternoon is the heat that penetrates through, which fortunately, was minimal during my visit.
Jo Una Ju - This was essentially unagi with rice. I didn't get to try it but I understand that it was quite salty from the excessive sauce and I guess the substantial leftovers supported that point.
Oyako Don - A staple dish in most Japanese restaurants, the oyako don didn't really impress much with its less than flavourful egg and chicken cubes. But served steaming hot, it was actually still quite palatable especially with its soft sticky rice. And for $8 a serving, it sure beats what sakae sushi's offering hands down.
Golden Roll - Its actually the first time I'm trying something like this and honestly, I liked it quite a fair bit. Prawn pieces sandwiched between rice, just like sushi and layered with mango strips. Sweetness from the prawn and the mango - a very complementing taste. But its $13 for 6 rolls, which is really quite expensive.
Overall an average meal for a not so average pricing, standing at about $44. But having said that, I would definitely prefer dining at Sushi Tei as opposed to Sakae Sushi, which IMHO serves unpalatable food. Service could be friendlier but I like the place for being crowd free - something that would probably change soon given the brand's popularity.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
(editted: 4th June 08)
With it being the oh-so-wonderful study season for us students, I recently chanced upon this relatively new TCC oulet at the airport! The day I sat in this place, I told myself I am going to frequent here from now on!
For starters, I really love the interior design of this place. It is pretty spacious and just looks really comfortable! As it's mostly real quiet and peaceful at T3, you can expect to get a comfortable couch seat (even if you're alone) which accommodates four people most of the time! I really like how they play with the colours of the furniture and wall, flooring and lightings as it makes it all very comfortable to be in.
Service wise, I find the waiters there very pleasant and polite. They seem to be very happy being where they are, thus making the place feel less "dead". Lively is good! But either that they are having too much fun among themselves or that the place is really too big, sometimes it does take awhile to catch the eye of one of them to make your orders.
Finally, TCC is not called the coffee connoisseur for no reason. From being a non-coffee person to a Starbucks/ Coffee Bean person (because they have less strong or bitter coffee - yes I don't quite know how to appreciate the coffee taste!) and now, I'm really into TCC! Even though I'm not a coffee connoisseur, I must say that the coffee beans/ powder (whichever) they use is of better quality than famous Coffee Bean/ Starbucks. It is more aromatic and the taste is definitely stronger and more whole.
Kudos to TCC for their large variety of coffee and creativity! You can get anything from the more traditional kind of, say, Blue Mountain Coffee to ice-blended stuff and even Coffee with liqour! (The last one leaves me wondering, though, whether this drink should be keeping me awake or knocking me out.) For non-coffee people, don't worry! TCC has an equally wide variety of drinks like tea, shakes and fruit juices to cater to your likes. If you're out for a little "adventure", so to speak, you can also find something exotic/ interesting from here.
Some drinks I've tried:
Kaffee-tini, $11 : vodka-spiked espresso with a tinge of mint (supposedly). I didn't quite taste the mint though.
Mint Choc Frappe, $7.50: Superb! I thought the whipped cream was wonderful with the chocolate and mint syrup drizzled on it.
Oreo-mocha Frappe, $7.50: I didn't quite like the what-seemed-like-Oreo-dust in the drink. It spoilt the texture of the drink, making it feel very "dirty" to drink =x Apart from the oreo, this drink is actually pretty much the same as all the other frappes.
Iced Minty Mocha: The triple-layered drink served in a tall glass looks too beautiful to drink. But, as though it was quite a bad mix of flavours, the drink turns out to taste a little salty or something. Somehow, as weird as it may seem, I actually feel that the drink tastes abit like some home-made clear soup.
(Guess what, the pictures of the drinks you see in their menu is exactly what they serve you! I'm rather impressed actually!)
This place is basically a coffee place, there are main courses but don't expect much from the menu. It's pretty limited and rather expensive. I had Macaroni Gratin at $10.80. Was a really small serving but tasted pretty good with mini macaroni, tasty mushroom slices and chicken bits, topped with a layer of mozzeralla cheese. Their cakes are not bad, with my personal favourite being the Marble Cheesecake ($5.50) (:
In addition, you could check out their monthly special concoction. They would have a different drink off the menu available each month, at a slightly lower-than-usual price. In the month of June, it's Strawberry Soy-tisfying. Basically strawberry flavoured soya bean. To me, it tastes a little weird actually.
I pretty much like the place, though a pity that TCC is rather over-priced =x It's like paying for the "brand". Nonetheless, it's a great place to chill and hang around with friends, or just to have a moment to yourself (: I give it 4 stars, because it's too expensive to frequent!
Oh and if you're looking for this exact oulet, it's the arrival hall, near Mac's, not the one upstairs! (Yes there's 2 at T3!)
Rating given:
It is mentioned somewhere that CHEF Eric Guilbert made all his male cooks shave bald the minute they showed up for work. Guests can easily check out the cooks’ botak heads by peering through the 'open concept' kitchen, although all of them still have their hats on - hee hee.
There’s a touch of perfectionist in the fare, but it seems more western/continental den your average standard French dish.
The dishes are classy but yet non fussy, and quite approachable - such as a duet of pan-seared scallops.
The presentation of the grilled beef tenderloin was mesmerising - a very tender, juicy thick steak, smack by a moat of creamy celery puree - DIVINE!
Some of the chef’s signature dishes, includes a seven-hour slowcooked leg of lamb served with a truffle potato puree. Entrees are roughly $30 and $40, and main courses are between $40 and $60.
In terms of decor, Cassis is loud with a touch of eclecticism: ’sunken’ outdoor seating surrounded by shimmering ‘pools’; a glass-covered patio with creepers trailing up on curved ladders; and a swanky indoor double-storey dining area complete with ornate modern chandeliers. This is surely one of those places to bring a girl if you wish to impress her.
Rating given:
This is probably the most famous club in Singapore and I would dare to say all clubbers have entered this place at least once. It is also this place where a certain famous "Mambo Jumbo" dance culture is popularise (Every Wed Night) - so much so that this culture is exported to many parts of the world where there is a Singaporean presence.
Not only would you get to experience synchronised dancing using mostly the upper torso of your body, one would probably bump in many NS boys and teens during one of these Mambo Nights.
The thing I love most in Zouk is their drinks - Vodka Ribena and Long Island Tea. Try it and you will know the difference.
Oh 1st 300 Citybank members get to enter for free!
Rating given:
This is my faithful partner I bring along whenever I am in the toilet - My life will never be the same without it. All my daily dosage of information from around the world comes from here.
Sections of it that I particularly look forward to are:
Life Section - Here is where I get all the juicy gossip news of celebrities, and all the relevant cinema timings.
Sports - EPL, Champions League, NBA, F1, S-League (ok not exactly in the same class, but you get my drift)
Money - Investment tips, oil prices, market and stocks movement
Urban - Latest fashion tips on what's hot and what's not. Sometimes you get good tips on what to get for your female species.
Job Classified (Saturdays especially) - Looking for a job? Nothing beats this edition where you find out which industry is actively looking for people.
To end it off, nothing beats a copy of Straits Time on board the plane every time I travel back from overseas. AHhh... the familiarity of having the world under my feet.
Rating given:
Nestled inside a shop called Eclectic Attic, that sells all things vintage sorts of collectibles, antiques and clothes and accessories to furniture and knick-knacks, you will find Tea Cosy. At first glance, one may miss Tea Cosy as the whole shop décor here is intentionally messy, making the place feel like an attic. A little crammed and cluttered, the cafe area is barely noticeable amidst all the objects in the place. But when one takes the trouble to peer inside, you will realise that they had place settings at the tables. You will be astound to realise that everything in the cafe is for sale besides the food you dine – from the decorations on the table, including the bell to ring for service (and it doesn’t come cheap mind you), to the wooden chairs that we were sitting on – talk about experiential home furnish shopping!
Starter was the Home-made Creamy Mushroom Soup. Every spoonful comes with generous bits of mushrooms although I rather prefer them in thick and big slices – quality for quantity. Soup was also slightly on the salty side. Surprisingly what I felt was better was the piece of toast that went along with it. It was toasted with Mayonnaise that gave it a sweet creamy taste, something different from the normal toast that comes with soup.
The Decadent Salad consists of Foie Gras, Prawns and Eggs. One of Tea Cosy’s reputed dishes – my expectation of it was heightened – although it didn’t wow me, expectations of a salad was met. The vegetables were fresh and the dressing was a good compliment to it, but the prawns could have been juicier and foie gras bigger.
Not sinfully satisfied, I opted for the Signatured Pan-fried Foie Gras as the main. Topped with pineapples and aragula leaves and with what tasted like orange marmalade on the side, the foie gras goes well with the juices from the pineapple and aragula to create a bittersweet combination, but on its own, the oily aftertaste wasn’t exactly pleasant. This is not the best rendition I have tasted but Tea Cosy is the cheaper option if one does not have a big pocket to burn but still crave for some sinful delight.
Not filling enough, we ordered an extra serving of Laksa Pesto to share that comes with quite a few prawns, and is said to be of reminiscent to Wild Rockets rendition – amidst more watery. Coming to the end of the dish however, one will probably find the gravy extremely salty due to the residues of the dried shrimps used for it. To be honest I wasn’t impressed with this dish.
We wrapped up the night with some desserts that I felt the portion was more suitable for their High Tea – petite. They were nothing extraordinary, and probably the only thing that impresses me was the name used for the chocolate brownie with ice-cream combi – Ebony and Ivory.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
I went to Pasta de Waraku with some colleagues some months back. It was my first time there as I generally prefer Italian pasta though.
Apparently, every order of a pasta dish here entitles you to a small bowl of salad. It was tossed in a Wafu dressing, which was very all right.
I order a Wafu Scallop & Asparagus Spaghetti (S$12.80). It was not too bad. Although the spaghetti was not al dente enough, this was nonetheless not too bad for a Japanese pasta dish.
This is worth a visit if one just wish to try out a Japanese interpretation of an Italian staple, but otherwise I would prefer to stick to the italians.
Rating given:
The distinguishing feature of Din Tai Fung's dumplings is that the chefs would make 18 folds to seal the dumplings.
A cautionary note about eating Xiao Long Bao is that the soup is usually so hot that an unsuspecting consumer might scald the tongue and throat if he/she popped the entire dumpling into the mouth without first allowing it to cool down a little.
The Xiao Long Bao at Din Tai Fung were tasty and didn't have a strong porky odour (unlike the ones that I had at another popular establishment). In short, it met my expectations since my last visit to one of their outlets. I think its likely that the flagship at Paragon branch churns out better dumplings than the branches at Wisma Atria and Raffles City.
Surprisingly, the Fried Rice with Pork Chop is just as good - try it and you will be convince!
Rating given:
The extended wing of Centrepoint Shopping Centre has a basement lined with food stalls and restaurants. But it's like a maze quietly tucked away in the madness of Orchard Road. And out of this maze, I discovered Sumi Yakitori by pure luck.
The light dinner started off with a plate of raw veggies ($1/person including towels). I eat salad but shudder at the raw thick cabbage leaf. The dipping sauce, in which the waitress instructed us to squeeze the lemon into, was like a dark miso-shoyu paste- salty and savoury.
The Tonkutsu Ramen ($8) unfortunately brought a very comforting feel. It was so familiar - Uncannily like Chu Qian Yi Ding instant noodles with the aromatic sesame oil. But I would have preferred a richer broth and the ramen itself was too cooked for my liking.
Sumi seems more like a Japanese grill kind of place instead of ramen house. So we decided to order a few grilled items to see what it offers.
The Fresh Tiger Prawn ($3.50) had blackened legs but fortunately the flesh was protected by its shell. The flesh was sweet and firm but a tad too dry.
The saving grace was the Sweet Corn ($2.50)! Each kernel was plump and burst with sweet juices upon nibbling. The nice smokey aroma by the grilling was evident and complemented the natural sweetness of the corn well.
In a nutshell, don't expect ultra fine Japanese food here. It's more like a budget ramen place with a few stars from the yakitori menu. To put things in perspective, it almost felt like paying food court prices at a restaurant for the ramen.
Rating given: