Tonkatsu/Tonkotsu Ramen at Watami (Raffles City)

The last time I dined at Watami I enjoyed the special Kaisen Tori Kamameshi which I suggest you must try it. This time I am writing about different special dish. It's the special tonkatsu ramen.

Tonkatsu Ramen

Served in a quite big bowl and special pork broth, the ramen becomes one of all time favourites. If you go to other restaurant to find tonkatsu ramen like this one, you'll usually get ramen with fried tonkatsu. Watami serves differently. It serve ramen two slices of tonkatsu, boiled in the same special pork-bone (tonkotsu) broth producing very smooth contour and super tender, completed with boiled egg.

Tonkatsu Ramen

I find that the ramen served in Watami has slightly different contour. It's a little bit thicker than ramen usually served in other restaurants, but it's not too thick to make your stomach bloated eating it. As you can see in the picture left.

Completing the dining experience is Pasionfruit Mango Tea. As usual, it is served in a tall glass container (about 20cm), it will satisfy your thirst.

Pasionfruit Mango Tea

Kaisen Mori & Chirashi Gozen at Ichiban Boshi (Great World City)

Ichiban Boshi, a Japanese restaurant that offers Japanese dining experience with nuance of simplicity yet modern. Located next to the downward escalator to Basement 1 Great World City, you won't miss it as it is usually packed with people queuing during dinner time.

Kaisen Mori & Chirashi Gozen

The photo above was Kaisen Mori & Chirashi Gozen, the special dish they had when we visited last Thursday evening. It comes in a large tray packed with various yummy dishes. Let's start with the upper right bowl.

Zoomed up in the picture below is salmon and tuna with rice bowl. The rice bowl should actually have three type of fish, salmon, tuna and swordfish. Unfortunately we were told that they had runout of the swordfish and thus replaced by more salmon and tuna. Never mind, it's still as good as it gets. The rice is like the rice quite soft, like the one used to serve sushi. The salmon and tuna are chopped into small pieces so that it's easily mixed with the rice.

Salmon and Tuna Rice Bowl

The next at the white rectangular plate contains tiger prawn, salmon, codfish and scallop. The three tiger prawns are deep fried until the shell become crispy. Both fish, the salmon and codfish, are pan-fried. The salmon is perfectly fried and its skin become crispy.

Fried Prawn, Pan-fried Salmon and Codfish, and Baked Scallop

Unfortunately the codfish is a little bit too oily, though its skin is also crispy. Both are served with pink coloured house-special sauce. The left most on the plate are two pieces of scallop, baked with cheese on the top.

Completing the set are udon with fried bean curd, chawanmushi, an appetiser and two slices of watermelon.

With the set containing variety of dishes, it's definitely worth for the money spent. If you think you can't finish them all alone, you can share with your spouse or your girl/boyfriend as it is big enough to serve 2 persons.

Tempura Ice Cream

Completing the dining experience, I ordered tempura ice cream. It's ice cream covered with tempura skin and deep fried in the boiling oil. Once the oil is strained, it's topped with strawberry paste. You still can feel the warmth of the fried tempura, yet you'll feel the freshness of an ice cream inside.

Yayoiken (Liang Court)

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant, that's the complete name of the restaurant. Indeed, it is truly a Japanese restaurant, complete with the Japanese custom to bow 90 degree when greeting guests. Located at Liang Court's basement right in front of the downward travelator, you can't miss it.

If you're planning to have dinner here, I'd advise you to come around 6.30pm or you'll have to wait for long queue before they can get you a table.

There are a few signature dishes that this restaurant offers, all looks great on the picture, looks yummy and tasty.

Shima Hokke Set

One of the signature dishes from this restaurant is Shima Hokke Set.

Shima Hokke Fish

Shima Hokke fish is a grilled Japanese Hokke fish with silver lining on the skin. Served with the fish body sliced open and the skin facing downwards, it shows the golden color of the fully grilled fish. Sized around 25cm long and 15cm wide, it's really worth every cents you spent on this dish. What I particularly loved about this fish is the tenderness and softness. It's so soft that you'll feel it's melted in your mouth. However, do be careful with the little tiny but long fish bone when eating the fin. This is a must try if you consider to have lunch or dinner here.

Another dish that we order was the Tonkatsu set. It looks promising and yummy on the menu. Unfortunately my wife wasn't really satisfied with it. The tonkatsu contains about 20-25% of fat. So for you who love to have lots of pork fat, this will satisfy you. The rest of the set are rice, tofu, salad and the soup.

Tonkatsu

As I have mentioned, this is a truly authentic Japanese restaurant, hence be prepared to experience a truly Japanese culture here, like 90 degree bow when they greet guests. Another interesting one is that they do not provide spoon and fork. They only provide chop stick. So how to eat the soup? Well apparently they don't eat soup, they DRINK it. So yes, you bring the soup bowl up to you mouth and drink directly. Really an amazing experience.

With the authenticity and wide variety of food, they are priced quite reasonable. The sets are priced around S$12.90 each. I think it is considered cheap compared to other Japanese restaurant available.

Tonkatsu Ramen (Tampopo)

After tasting Black Pig Shabu Ramen last month, yesterday I tried another dish from Tampopo, the Tonkatsu Ramen. The pork cutlet (tonkatsu) is deep fried as you can see in the picture and I find the tonkatsu is crunchy and yummy. It is tender and cooked just right for the tonkatsu lover. So if you are a tonkatsu lover, this is definitely a must have.

Tonkatsu Ramen

The soup for tonkatsu ramen is a little bit spicier than the previous ramen I tried. This can be seen on the colour of the soup which is slightly reddish.

Kaisen Tori Kamameshi at Watami (Raffles City)

Kaisen Tori Kamameshi, that's what is said in the menu at Watami, which is translated as seafood and chicken pot rice. The waitress said that they need 20 minutes to prepare the food. I guess that's pretty long. It shows up within 5 minutes, but not fully cooked yet. So while it is said 20 minutes to prepare, means 5 minutes to really prepare the foods in the pot then let the customer wait the food right in front of your eyes as you can see in the picture below.

Kaisen Tori Kamameshi, being cooked right in front of your eyes

The pot rice is served while being cooked by a small candle wax placed under the pot. The wax is also an indicator whether the food is ready. They have calculated precisely that when the it is off, the food will be ready.

Kaisen Tori Kamameshi, well cooked and ready

Once the wax is off, open the wood cover and you'll see above, the food is well cooked. You just need to add the salmon egg and stirred the rice well. It's kind of mixed seafood and chicken rice, but served in a pot. It contains chicken, salmon, salmon egg, mushroom, fine sliced carrot, and scallop. It's a must try in Watami.

To complete the dining experience, I ordered Iced Lychee Tea. They serve jumbo size drinks like the picture above. A really dining experience.

In the next visit, I'll try another special dish from this restaurant.

Black Pig Shabu Ramen and Chicken Fillet at Tampopo (Takashimaya)

People would say the best ramen is there in Japan, but I've never visited Japan so I can't comment on that. But what about the best ramen in Singapore? I would definitely say Black Pig Shabu Ramen at Tampopo Restaurant.

Deluxe Tampopo Black Pig Shabu Ramen

The noodle size is not too thick and is quite soft, served with half boiled egg, sliced pork meat and vegetables. The soup is always the best to enjoy while it's hot. It is said that the soup is flown directly from Japan and it takes 2 whole day to cook it.

Chicken Fillet Set

Apart from ramen, Tampopo serves a great variety of menu. One of them is Chicken Fillet Set, a set of breaded with almost no fat under the skin, shredded vegetables, a bowl of rice, soup and a small plate of watermelon makes it the preferred choice for the health conscious. Topped with Tonkatsu sauce, the chicken is tender inside but quite crispy on the outside.