First Love with Lee Min Ho in Singapore

I was swooned off my feet at Lee Min Ho’s First Asian Fan Meeting on 21 December 2009, Monday 8PM held at MAX Pavilion. Literally, by the 1.86m tall suave 22 years old actor!

The doe-eyed boyish actor who won the hearts of many from his role as the F4 leader, Gu Jun Pyo in the Korean blockbuster “Boys over Flowers” was in town for his first Asian Fan meeting with Singapore, as one of its leg. Die hard fans definitely would not miss out the opportunity to see the prince charming in person despite the hefty ticket prices of $98, $148 and $188. Definitely not me .. Continue at Star-Waltz blog
 
[Extracted from Star-Waltz blog. More photos and details there]

Ginza Bairin Tonkatsu

Ginza Bairin Tonkatsu (since 1927) restaurant is located at the recently opened ION Orchard Singapore Shopping Mall, Basement 4 beside the Food Court.

Understand the head chef and founder hails from Japan and was in Singapore when the restaurant opened then. This place offers a selection of good quality Japanese tonkatsu (pork cutlet), torikatsu (chicken cutlet) and their famous katsu-curry dishes. The cashier counter had plastic replicas of the food offerings and we could easily pick what we want to eat. Being new to the restaurant, we tried the usual beginners course - tonkatsu and katsu-curry set at about $13 each.

After trying the food, I found the tonkatsu here pales in comparison to some of the Japanese restaurants we tried, in terms of its crispiness. I think it might be worthwhile to try the hire-katsu fillets next time as fillets are generally more juicy and tender though smaller piece in sizes. The salad dressing was a little too vinegary sour for my liking. We thought the katsu-curry was better.  The katsu-curry sauce was very tasy and delicious and goes very well with the katsu.  We would give this a thumbs up! The food also came served with an icy cold green tea which was very refreshing indeed. One thing to note is that this is probably one of the rare places in Singapore to offer those little boxed katsu-sandwiches at the cashier counter - just like those you always find in Japan for take-away.

I would say this place is worth a try if you are nearby the place. Ginza Bairin Tonkatsu is at 2 Orchard Turn, Basement 4-39/40/41/42, ION Orchard, Singapore 238801 Tel: 65-6509 8101.

Lee Min Ho First Fan Meeting - First Love... with Singapore

I am so excited!! My favourite Korean Kimchii star, Lee Min Ho famous for his role as the F4 leader of the Boys Over Flowers drama serial -  is coming to Singapore again.. for his first fan meeting on 21 Dec 2009! The event is part of Lee's first ever Asian Fan Meeting tour, which includes stops in Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Tickets are on sale from $98 at SISTIC outlets. More details can be found in Star-Waltz blog.
[ Credits to Star-Waltz ]

Paddy's from Australia

After some whirlwind Korean excitement of seeing Korean star, Lee Min Ho over the last week of October 2009 while he was in Singapore (see previous posts on Korean star Lee Min Ho), my stomach is hungry for some nice fresh delicacies again! Not yet ready to try out any Korean delicacies yet after my starry encounters, I caught a nice find at the Tanglin Mall Basement Food Mall though. Fresh seafood and fishes - like that straight from Australia! Paddy's from Australia at Tanglin Mall Basement Food Mall. Located prominently just at the front corner of the Basement Food Mall, you wont miss it. Plenty of good seafood variety for you to choose from (barramundi, sole, ling, salmon), both crumbed and battered, with accompanying thick cut potato wedges (more like roasted potatoes).

And no surprises for guessing what we ordered. Yes, it is the Fish and Chips! Very fresh and price is reasonable too. At S$5.50. The meal served was simply great! The potato wedges were big, fat and crunchy. Fresh and delicious served with tartar sauce. No need to say more.

Go try Paddy's from Australia at 163 Tanglin Road, Tanglin Mall Basement 1 Food Mall, Singapore.

Lee Min Ho in Singapore 24 Oct 09

Lee Min Ho is here in Singapore finally! Actor of the crazy hit Boys Over Flowers Drama Serial - F4 Leader, Gu Ju-Pyo. The dashing actor spent about an intimate hour from 530pm-630pm this evening at Movida, St James Power Station for a Private Party with about a hundred fifty of his fans chatting, signing autographs and taking photos. As usual, he looks real cool and good despite his busy tight schedule. He had touched down at Singapore Changi Airport in the afternoon from Taipei, Taiwan and had attended a press conference in the afternoon at 230pm at Raffles Hotel (East India Room). He was mobbed by fans at all the places he went in Singapore. The earlier event (4pm) at Plaza Singapura had to be cancelled as there was too big a crowd causing security problems. He revealed he has good impression of Singapore and of the fans here and hopes he come back to see us again! Lets hope he does come back to Singapore again real soon! Glimpses of him below at Movida, St James Power Station, Singapore.

Check out more news, photos and videoclips of Lee Min Ho's arrival to Singapore Changi Airport and his crazy Singapore visit at http://www.xin.sg/article.php?article=32872

Just to share with you:

F4 Boys Over Flowers Craze

If you are following the hit Korean drama serial "Boys Over Flowers" which is being now shown on Singapore Channel U every Saturday from 930pm-11pm, you will probably end up being the fan of hearthrob Lee Min-Ho (playing the role of the rich flamboyant F4 "Gu Jun Pyo" from Shinhwa High School) !

Just for fans out there, as I have also been converted to one - he will be visiting Singapore on 24 October 2009. Details can be found at Etude House, Ion Singapore and Plaza Singapura. You can make some $15 purchase and get a chance to join Lee Min-Ho at a House Party at St James Power Station. Plus you get a free pink file folder of him with every purchase, while stocks last! Lucky me have just gotten one ticket for the House Party!! I think I will be having a change and getting a taste of tempting Korean food soon for my tastebuds ...

Mister Donut Japan

You cant miss this when you are in Japan! I fell in love with these lovely and cute donuts from Mister Donut during my recent trip to Tokyo! And they are cheap too, costing about 100-300 yen (SGD$1.50-$4.50) per piece. For your information, getting a meal cheaper than 300 yen in Japan is rare so getting these munchy great tasty donuts at such prices in Tokyo is a real great deal indeed! Besides, the donuts are not only nice to look at, they are really good to eat too!!

I especially like the chocolatey ones! Look at them. My photo may not be so well taken but they are really lovely and great to munch. Tastes fantastically chocolate, crunchy, soft and sugar sweet. Crispy crunchy on the outside and inside, its soft and chewy. My goodness, I thought its heavenly and probably the best I've tasted so far... Most people order at least 2 donuts as they are of quite a mini size. I managed to pop 2 in too!

Mister Donut is everywhere in Japan. It is a global franchise chain that is extremely popular in Japan and probably has more than a thousand outlets all over Japan. It has outlets at Shinjuku, Akihabara, Shimo-Kitazawa etc. The one we visited was at Ueno, Tokyo.

Negishi Shinjuku Tokyo

Away for a quick short getaway in Tokyo for a week from 9 Sep-14 Sep. Boy, what a great break we had! Took a fantastic hotel + airfare package and off we went. Ted and me. We were lured by the real great deal package! Imagine flying by All Nippon Airways (ANA) and we were also wonderfully accomodated at the luxury 5-star Keio Plaza Intercontinental Hotel at busy Shinjuku! All at a reasonable price below S$1,000 per pax with all taxes included! It was an unbelievable package that we had no reason to resist ...

Japan, Tokyo is a place that you will never get tired off. There will always be interesting things, events or people that will amaze you there. And we were right. Right till the very last minute of our trip back to Singapore, we were consistently delighted by the thoughtful, polite and impeccable services of the people there. From the gift packaging of the souvenirs that you bring home to the food you eat, people you meet, things that you see, everything is a fresh and interesting experience!

I have to share a wonderful meal I had after taking an approx 7 hour flight from Singapore to Tokyo and with a terrible stomach/gastric again! The great experience was found at this little restaurant we happened to stumble upon while hunting for dinner at busy Shinjuku. At the back of those little quaint street, we found this sign that read some great Yakitori and Japanese food served at the restaurant on the Second Floor so up we went! Yakitori we did not find there on the Second Floor but we found a little restaurant called Negishi filled with Japanese natives and businessmen after work chatting and having dinner there. We asked and realised they serve pork and beef teishoku (set meals). Prices seem reasonable so we stepped in.

It was a casual ambience with the people chatting away. Thankfully there was an English menu for us and we read that the meals there were cooked with health in mind. I terribly needed it for my painful gastric problem. We both ordered the Grilled Pork Set which came served with barley rice, a plate of well-grilled tanned Pork slices (tan-toro), some specially made vegetable appetisers, a bowl of wonderfully grated yam and a bowl of Ox-Tail soup. All for 880 yen per set. Ice green tea was free flow.

The meal was a great cure for my gastric for it went away straight after! The barley rice was soft and well-cooked. We could get free refills and according to the menu, this bowl of rice is especially effective in curing fatigue and stomach problems. The tasty pork slices were nicely marinated and well-grilled. The specially made vegetable appetisers were designed to tempt your tastebuds and to supplement your daily dosage of foliage. The best part was the grated yam specialty which was sticky and slimy. It was to be eaten quickly with the barley rice which I understood if consumed together will nicely blend for a great cure for fatigue and for your stomach! I simply love it! The taste of this grated yam was not too sweet, not sour and it just nicely glued itself to the rice or pork so well that it softens the food so much so that it melts away in your mouth. Wonderful. I havent tried anything like that before and definitely crave for it now that I am thinking about it.

Please visit this restaurant to try this special set meal when you happen to be in Tokyo, Japan. Negishi has many branches over Tokyo. The one that we visited was at Kikumizu Building 2F, 1-16-5 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan (東京都新宿区西新宿1-16-5　菊水ビル2F).

Tea Lounge Regent Hotel

End July 09, Ted and me got a weekend getaway package at Regent Singapore. Badly affected by the H1N1 flu virus worldwide, we thought we will stay inbound in our country least we catch the bug while travelling overseas. And so we did catch ... the travel bug, that is!

Regent Singapore is a pleasant place to be. Like a piece of art everywhere around the hotel. You will know what I mean from the photos I captured below.


I also like the Tea Lounge High Tea Buffet @ S$45 per pax where cute little delicacies, freshly baked pastries, scones, finger sandwiches, elegant tea and sweet desserts await. But do not hold too high expectation! I was not exceptionally amused by the food served there, though the presentation of the food spread does delight. If you like a lovely getaway or a cosy place to chat and spend your weekend with some elegant tea delights, you can try this place.

Tea Lounge is at Regent Singapore, 1 Cuscaden Road, Singapore 249715 Tel: 65 6725 3245 / 65 6725 3245.

Apologies from Strawberry Moments

Due to an unexpected error, we were unable to post photos and blog online on Blogger for the last 2 months. We wish to extend our apologies to everyone. But we are back now! We cant wait to share with you our adventures over the last months that we missed posting ...

Pu Tien

If you are looking for wonderful, unparalleled quality Heng Hwa food at a most unexpected place at Kitchener Road, look no further than Pu Tien Restaurant!

We had a most wonderful meal at the restaurant. They offer impeccable service and even offer free valet parking at the busy Kitchener Road, which I believe most customers will appreciate that due to the fact that the restaurant is located among the crowded streets.

We did not think much of the food there initially but we were proven wrong at the end of our dinner. All the dishes have their own flavour and each is a special delight. And best of all, prices are not that all expensive. So there you have it! Great food at a location where you would least thought of!

We took the set menu for 6 person at S$128++ as we could not decide what to order and the set looks like a good deal. Each dish that came did not disappoint! Though simple but each is special in the way its cook and its flavour is unique too! The set included dishes like:

- Braised Bean Curd with Chinese Cabbage (tenderly cooked vegetables. great!)

- Claypot Sea Cucumber with Chestnut (a pot of wonderful cooked sea cucumbers!)

- Deep Fried Salty Fried Prawn (which we changed to the Specialty Duck Dish)

- Steamed Seabass (a dish of simply fresh seafood goodness!)

- Stir-fried mixed vegetables

- Main course of selection from choice of: Pu Tien Lor-Mee or Hing Wa Bee Hoon or Fried Mee Sua or Fried Rice Cake or Seafood Fried Rice etc

- Complimentary Dessert : red bean paste with lotus nuts

Look at some of the delights we had! We strongly recommend going back due to its great taste and freshness. You have to try it for yourself.

Pu Tien (Main Branch) is located at 127 Kitchener Road, Singapore. There are also another 3 outlets in Singapore at Marina Square, Tampines Mall and Vivo City.

Whampoa Food Street Keng Fish Head Steamboat Restaurant

Found this restaurant that serves fresh and delicious fishhead steamboat by chance! Located just around the corner of Rangoon Road, we happened to sight this little restaurant one evening while zipping past the area and thought we will try. We knew later that this was a branch of the main restaurant at Balestier Road.

When we stepped into the air-conditioned restaurant, we could see many accolades and pictures of personalities that had visited the place on their walls. This place was also recognised as one of the 4 heavenly kings of Fish Head Steamboat and voted as Food Fest Top 10 Favourite Restaurants too. We really had to try to find out for ourselves.

We went for the famous fish head steamboat - ordering the Red Garoupa fish steamboat (@ S$30) for 2 person and we were not disappointed. They have choices of fish like pomfret or garoupa. Its all your choice. If you are there in bigger groups, you can also order tzechar or other dishes from the menu. But for the 2 of us that evening, the steamboat would be enough! (Refer to picture above) The fish slices were very fresh and there were lots of fresh ingredients in the steamboat too including green vegetables, cabbages, seaweed and fried yam slices. My favourite was the fried yam slices which were crunchy on the outside yet soft inside. Really well done! The soup base is another worth commenting - if you love great tasty soup, this one is it! And I believe there must be some chinese herbs used in the preparation of this delicious soup which gives its great flavour! After tasting the soup, we now know why its known as the 4 heavenly king for fish head steamboat. We just had to have an extra refill. It was a great meal for 2 person and the best part is to have the steamboat in an air-conditioned environment where you dont have to sweat. Really no sweat!

Real freshness and goodness recommended for the fish head steamboat found at Whampoa Keng's! They are located at 116/118 Rangoon Road or if you prefer, there is another more convenient outlet at No 556 Balestier Road, Singapore 329872.

Raffles Hotel Bar and Billiard Room

Happy Birthday to me! Lovely Ted brought me to Bar & Billiard Room for a feast to celebrate my birthday. Raffles Hotel has a really nice ambience. Beautiful and tranquil. A symbol of the strength of Singapore.

We were attracted to the Bar & Billiard Room’s international lunch buffet from 1130am – 2pm @ S$58++ per pax. So in we went.

We were met with a fantastic buffet spread! Our eyes feasted on the beautiful presentation of the food and cutleries, of course. Seated within the classic, elegant restaurant of grandeur, two of us started to pig out. The natural start was to have our appetisers and cold dishes. The bar offered very fresh oysters, flower crabs, mud crabs, prawns and also deliciously cooked clams.

There was of course the enticing salads and greens with its various salad dressings & creams, which we took heaps and heaps of it!

The mains were cheesy gratins, wild rice, vegetables, pommes, scallops, chicken cooked in tomato, seabass and others. They were a lovely sight and delicious to feast on. We were spoilt for choice. In addition, there were lamb shanks, beef stranogise, ratatouille, pastas and such. I could not cope with so much delicious offerings that I had to forgo trying some of the wonderful delights as I had to keep my stomach for the sweet desserts (my favourite yum!)

I was so happy to find my favourite Crème Brulee!! And it was really great and well done! Soft and sweet. I can still remember its flavour now. The chef has done this dessert very well. Does not look ugly and dark – which means it is not over baked and the top layer still retains its sweet crisp with its softness at the bottom of the layer. There were other heavenly desserts on the dessert bar like tarts, kueh-lapis, chocolate-strawberry mousse cake and many chocolate delights. Even ice-creams!

We ended the meal with aromatic coffee and tea each. The beverage came with cute, square little cubes of brown or white cane sugar (brand known as “La Perruche” – an exceptional sugar brand synonymous with authentic pure cane sugar, mostly served at elegant restaurants and used by top chefs around the world) which I love it so.

It was a lovely birthday treat and we had a great time together! It was a simple treat but time well spent at a great place with wonderful food and ambience. Thank you Ted and Happy Birthday to me again!

Raffles Hotel Bar and Billiard Room is at 328 North Bridge Road Singapore 189719 Tel: 6337 1886.

Akanoya Robatayaki

Behind its closed Japanese wooden doors, inside this restaurant is an experience truly one of a kind! It boasts of a true Japanese dinner theatre experience where skilled Japanese chefs kneel on an elevated platform to grill or barbeque your choice of food chosen among an array of freshest Japanese seafood, vegetables and meat display at the counter in front of you. The most interesting part is that the Japanese chefs cook and serve the food right in front of you too!! This concept, reputed to be the first in town, brings together the finest food, sake, service and atmosphere for a truly memorable dining experience.

This is the most interesting find that Ted and me have to date! We happened to stumble upon it while we were at Orchard Parade Hotel area and I highly recommend this place for a truly one of a kind experience! From the namecard we were given, this place appears to be one of the restaurants affiliated to the Akashi Japanese restaurant located just beside it. Incidentally all these restaurants are synonymous with great Japanese dining cuisines.

Don’t be taken aback by the closed Japanese doors, once you step inside, a truly different experience awaits you! All of a sudden when you step in, everyone in the restaurant greets you in a loud unanimous Japanese greeting. Unfortunately, as I could not really understand Japanese well enough, I am unable to make out what was being said to me. But I do know that its a very warm greeting from all the staff!

The air-conditioned restaurant has 3 grill areas, with 2 chefs each sitting on an elevated platform in front of a counter filled with various seafood, meat and vegetables. A crowd of about 12-15 or so people sits in front the chef who cooks in front of them for each grill area. Despite the grill/barbeque being carried out, the place is not smoky at all as the smoke is cleverly absorbed through a vent just above the grill area. As we were shown inside to 2 seats at the corner, we could hear loud Japanese greetings and voices inside the restaurant. The place seems to be bustling with constant activity and excitement with all the staff including waiters, waitresses and chefs all shouting to each other on the food orders and delivery reports. Really interesting indeed!!

As a start, we ordered the green tea. We were given a cold hand towel to wipe and start our dinner. We were first served a starter which was a delicate tofu with fish roe served with corns (Otoshi @ S$6 each). Delicious. Next we went to order our grill food items, the waiter show us to the front of the counter to choose our food. We were greeted with a huge selection. This includes: really fresh and great big Alaskan crabs, huge tiger prawns, oysters, big fresh fishes, black pork sticks, chicken sticks, asparagus, Japanese green onions, vegetables, various types of mushrooms, potatoes and many many others. We were spoilt for choice! We noticed most diners there ordered the fresh fishes or the Alaskan crabs as barbeque food. Finally making our difficult order among the many choices we were given, we also ordered the Chef’s Recommendation of Asari Misoshiru (soya bean paste baby clam soup @S$10) from the Kitchen’s menu. Their additional menu also includes other items like chawan mushi, soft shell crab, prawns,fish.. and rice/noodles with price ranging from $10-$40-seasonal prices. The soup was tasty and very delicious in my opinion. The clams were also very fresh.

I especially liked the black pork sticks (Tontoro Kushi @ S$7 per stick) which were very tender. So were the grilled chicken sticks (Yaki Tori @ S$5 per stick).

The big tiger prawns (Kuruma Ebi @ S$15 each) were nicely grilled and very fresh too!

The fresh mushrooms (Shimeji @ S$8 and Maitake @ S$12) were mixed and grilled after being wrapped in a silver foil. The vegetables like the asparagus (Asupara @S$6) and Japanese green onions (Senju Negi @S$7) were also very fresh and delicious. Whilst dining in the midst, at about 830pm, suddenly we were informed all the customers in the restaurant had to partake in a clapping ceremony, which we understand from the waiter later that it was a process meant to thank all the guests for patronising them that evening. Everyone in the restaurant had to clap their hands altogether real loud in between shouts of Japanese led by the chefs. It was really interesting!

Finally, we were served our fruit desserts which were very sweet and fresh mangoes and honeydews (@ S$6 per pax). In total, we spent about S$70++ per person. We really enjoyed ourselves a great deal, having thoroughly soaked into the boisterous Japanese dining experience there. We are sure we would be back there for a great lovely treat again! It’s a truly rare and uniquely Japanese experience which is quite difficult to find in Singapore. Strongly recommended for those special occasions where you are prepared to fork out for great food and experience!

Akanoya Robatakayi is located at 1 Tanglin Road, #01-01, Orchard Parade Hotel, Singapore 247905. Opening hours from 630pm to 130am. Tel: 6732 1866. Best to call to reserve a place as seats are limited.

Sushi-Tei

Shopping at Raffles City, Ted and me visited the Sushi-Tei located on the third floor just beside the new revamped Food Court. This restaurant appears well hidden in a corner. Stepping into the restaurant, one is transported to a calm and lovely warm modern ambience. We were shown to the tables beside the sushi belt. The season of the month is spring (March-May 09) and the restaurant has welcomed spring with a menu offering a flavour of sakura and healthy, nutritious food.

As recommended, we ordered the special Collagen Salmon Belly and Hotate (Scallops) Nabe (hotpot) @ S$18. We went for the shoyu-flavour among the choice of soup base of miso, shoyu or spicy. It was simply delicious. However, I found the salmon belly a little too fatty for my taste. I would have preferred the other Collagen Ama-ebi (Prawn) and Akai (Clamps) Nabe which is also at the same cost, if not for Ted who does not like ama-ebi.

We also had the (half boiled) Aburi Salmon Roll at S$12 (for 8 pieces) and also the fresh mix Sushi Salad at $6. Both of which were great meal of freshness and nutrition! I strongly recommend for all to try. The collagen special soup menu is only for this season so do try it once before its gone! Accordingly collagen aids in beauty and youthfulness, it is nutritious and full of natural protein. It also relieves symptoms of arthritis, transmit tension in tendon and does various wonders to skin and bones. Of course, it improves skin elasticity, firmness and complexion, smooth wrinkles and fine lines - making a great beauty booster. Comparing to the Sakae Sushi outlets, I find the sushi and sashimi here much more fresh and of more variety!

Sushi-Tei has many outlets all over Singapore. The one we visited is at 252 North Bridge Road #03-13/14 Raffles City Shopping Centre Singapore 179103 Tel: 6334 7887.

Spring Court Restaurant

How did you spend Mother’s Day? Where did you bring mom to?

Spring Court Restaurant is established since 1929. A place renowned for its Cantonese cuisine and fresh seafood, it was originally located at Great World then shifted to Chinatown but they later moved to East Coast before finally relocating back to Chinatown.

To celebrate Mother’s Day, we thought this restaurant would an appropriate wonderful place to gather and have some good food together. We were early that Sunday morning so there was not much crowd when we arrived. We had no time to plan in advance, so we were expecting to fall prey to the commercialised efforts of the restaurants in the name of celebrating Mother’s Day. Surprisingly, when we visited the Spring Court Restaurant at Chinatown, it was not what we expected.

Selected dim-sum was available on the menu and price was quite reasonable, ranging from $3.80 to about $5. The usual menu was slightly changed to include some specialties just for mother’s day. Of course, some of the more common cuisines were also excluded.

We started the meal with many dim-sums which were pretty good in my opinion. In particular, I especially liked the crispy Fried Mango Prawn Roll (@ S$3.80) which was served with fruit mayonnaise. The Deep Fried Beancurd Skin Roll (@ S$3.80) was also very crispy. The Beijing-style Dumplings (@ S$3.80) were very delicately made – about 4 pieces of tiny dumplings dipped in vinegar sauce and we were sure pleased to have ordered it. Steamed soft and wonderfully done.

We also had the Roasted Chicken (@ S$28) which was crispy golden yellow and crunchy delicious. The Bamboo Consumme Assorted Vegetarian dish (@ S$28) was Ted’s favourite. It consists of spinach cooked with mushrooms, black moss, bamboo consumme and many other vegetarian ingredients. It was a heavenly mix! To our surprise, we were also treated to a special promotion of a serving of the Beijing Roast Duck @ S$0.80 !! (This is a special promotion due to their 80th anniversary) The duck was real crispy and delicious.

As a finale, we tried the Panfried Hor-fun (@S$22). This one is definitely highly recommended in my opinion. The hor-fun is soft and is covered nicely with the egg and other ingredients such as prawn, vegetables over it. See above snapshots for what we had!

Spring Court Restaurant is at 52-56 Upper Cross Street, Singapore 058348 Tel: 6449 5030.

Fragrance Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodles

This is another fantastic place to go if you are craving for soya sauce chicken! One of my favourite. The stall owner is a Hongkonger couple who had been living in Singapore for many years now. Of course, needless to say, they are the chef too. The husband who is the chef prepares their specialty soya sauce chicken using the soya sauce to marinate the chicken. Delicious.

Few years back, this stall was discovered by a Channel 8 Chinese TV-Entertainment Program known as "Chen Ren Zha Zhi" (translated from chinese as "Adult Magazine") where their delicious soya sauce chicken was recommended by the comperes. Back then they were located inside the Bugis Food Centre and I had been a follower of theirs since then. Due to the changes at the Bugis Food Centre, the stall moved to this coffeeshop "Hong Joo Food Centre". Despite hidden within this coffeeshop, the delicious stall still holds their niche well and fans still flock the place in search of their soya sauce chicken. The only thing that might have not been so favourable for them after their relocation is the fact that they are nestled among the so many vegetarian stalls (because of the nearby famous tourist attraction "Kwanying Goddess Temple") and some people may tend to shun them at this buddhist-vegetarian-influenced place.

In any case, i still had to go for my favourite soya sauce chicken rice despite the vegetarian-buddhist environment! One of the thing that I like about this stall is the well boiled Cantonese soup that comes together with the chicken rice. They sometimes serve groundnut boiled in papaya soup or blacknut soup. All of them are nutritious soup and the best part is that they are serve together as part of the meal. The couple also used to offer a very big serving of rice so that customers dont need to fork out more money to order more plates of rice. Very thoughtful! However, over time especially due to the hike of rice price then, this practice seems slowly fading. For a 2-person meal, it only costs S$8 in total.

All in all, the chicken they serve here is soft, tender and delicious. Very well done, well marinated in the genuine black soya sauce. Their soya sauce is specially brewed and they are poured over the meat of the chicken for it to fully absorb the sauce thus, gaining the goodness and taste of it. All the chicken served are boneless as they will de-bone it for you. The soya sauce tastes great and the chilli is good too. Not only does the presentation look good, the food tastes just as great (just like its chinese name) Rice is also very fragrant, need I say more? I need 2 or 3 plates of rice every time I go there. I dont know about you ...

Fragrance Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodles is at Hong Joo Food Centre, Rowell Centre, Singapore.

Manpuku Japanese Gourmet Town

Found this interesting Japanese Gourmet Town, Manpuku on Level 3 of the new Tampines 1 Mall while trying to join the excitement of the opening of this new mall and to visit the new Japanese clothing store, UNIQLO located at Tampines 1 Mall too. Its a lovely find! Look at the many cute and interesting food representations of the Japanese cuisines they have inside.

The concept is similar to The Marche @ Hereen/Vivocity or Shokudo @ basement of Raffles City, that is to say, they gather a few food stalls/restaurants and have all housed within a concept food mart where one can walk around and purchase food at the same food mart. They make use of a food stored value card to accumulate your purchases and then bill you at the exit.

Stored value food cards and Reservation Signs to reserve your table

For Manpuku, the concept is a really strong Japanese flavour with the place like a Japanese town decorated with sakuras, Japanese sake barrels, wooden Japanese signboards and such. The stalls feature affordable food from 10 restaurants, some of which are famous brands which began in Japan since 1920s -1930s.


Ted ordered the Shio Cha-shu Ramen @ $10.80 from Aoba Hokkaido Ramen which is famous in Hokkaido and has over 60 years of history. The soul of the ramen is the soup stock. Its really fanastic and does not contain any MSG as I did not feel thirsty after that. The Shio Ramen broth is painstakingly boiled from pork and chicken. The average-quality of the noodles is greatly enhanced by the delicious salt broth. The pork slice is thick and goes very well with the noodles.


Craving for rice sets, I ordered the Oyako Don @ $6.80 and potato croquette @ $4.80 for two pieces from Asakusa Tei (whose specialty are the fried items like agemono, tonkatsu and tempura) located just beside the Toku Toku handmade Udon Noodles. Unable to resist the tempting food next door, I also ordered the Tem-musubi (tempura sushi) from Toku Toku, which is an interesting tempura wrapped in a seaweed sushi for $2.50. I will have to get my hands on the handmade udon claypot sets from Toku Toku the next time I visit this place again as they also look really delicious!

To complete my Japanese meal, I also went for some fresh salmon sashimi (@ $8) offered from Umi, the sashimi stall just directly opposite Asakusa Tei. To my delight, the sashimi were really fresh and soft! And at such a great reasonable price! Understand the sashimi are also all airflown fresh from Japan. No wonder its great taste!

View of Azabu Sabo Dessert

Ted and me had a wonderful meal. Seated just in front of the Japanese dessert stall Kyoto Sabo, we fell prey to it when the waitress came by our table and told us to place our last orders before 9pm. So finally we ended our lovely evening with a Macha Parfait (red bean and green tea ice-cream fruit parfait $5.80) which was really sweet and icy cold. This one is a special recommendation from me to all those who have a sweet tooth like me!

There are still a few other stalls but pity we had too little time that evening to try all. Believe all Japanese food lovers will enjoy the food there as much as we did, given the many choices and good quality food offerings.

Manpuku is at 10 Tampines Central 1 #03-16/17/18 Tampines 1, Singapore 529536. Tampines 1 Mall is located just at the exit of Tampines MRT Station.