Sun Japanese Dining @ CHIJMES

I was sick for a few days and finally able to get out of the house yesterday to meet a friend for dinner. Even though I still had not much of an appetite, still I managed to eat a good dinner, at this chic place at CHIJMES. When I stepped in, the restaurant gave me a zen-like feel, dimly lit and tatami as walls. The interior decoration on the walls consist of long brush strokes of calligraphy - really nice!

When I first stepped into the restaurant, I was thinking to myself that the name is really appropriate. Japan is the land of the rising sun after all, and during the anti-Qing revolution, the great Sun Yat-Sen escaped to Japan for a while to teach and preach his anti-Qing sentiments. Thus the name "Sun" for a Japanese restaurant is just perfect!

The food is a bit expensive though, although not too bad. I had rice with chicken and vegetables, with soup. It comes in a set, but I cannot remember the actual Japanese name for it, while my friend had beef ramen. We ordered salmon sashimi as well, and the salmon pieces are cool and fresh.

All in all, it was a filling dinner. For someone who barely managed to get the appetite back, I must say it had been a good dinner, after the few days of porridge - plain, fish, congee. At least I can finally eat solid food again without any discomfort whatsoever! This is one of the few good Japanese restaurants around, so I would recommend it, especially for those who love Japanese food!

Cuisine : Japanese
Food : 4 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Price : 2.5 out of 5

The Wine Company @ Evans

A friend and I went to The Wine Company @ Evans for dinner last night. That place used to be a hostel, then converted to lecturers' offices and quarters, serving the old University of Singapore, and now, several restaurants and eating places have taken over the premises.

We sat in a corner next to the wine cellar. Living up to its name, the place stores a variety of wine from Spain, France, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, red wine, white wine, champagne. We were both drooling at the large variety of wine on display and sale, but a pity we were not able to drink, as my friend was driving, and I did not wish to collapse in the middle of a restaurant.

The food is good though. We started off with cheese platter, with five types of cheese. Main course for me was penne with bacon, and he had salmon fetuccine. Delicious and filling! After the big feast on Friday and last night, I really have to fast the rest of the week, otherwise all my efforts at slimming will be wasted!

Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Yakinuki Daidomon Japanese BBQ Restaurant @ Keypoint

We had a big Japanese feast last night at Yakiniku Daidomon Japanese BBQ Restaurant. The place serves a la carte barbecue buffet, as well as set. Each dish is just enough for two or three people, so we ordered a lot of food.

We can order as much as we desire from the barbecue buffet menu. All the food (except for salad, sushi, sashimi and vegetables) will be cooked on a small round hot pot in the middle of the table. So we ordered beef bellies, ribeye, sirloin, salmon sashimi, California Maki sushi, fried chicken pieces, prawns, squid, buttered oyster, beef sashimi, salad, lettuce, and fruit.

That is a lot of food, considering we ordered two servings of every dish! So we cooked, laughed, joked, conversed, and ate to our heart's content. My friend's husband is a good cook indeed! His beef steaks turn out just perfect, not too hard, not too soft. Just rightly done, medium.

By the time we ate everything on the table, I was too stuffed to go anywhere. I was so full that I could hardly eat breakfast this morning! This is a good place to go for a full meal. The buffet is more worth it than the set, because we can order a lot more food at about the same price as the set, and the set is hardly enough for two people even!

Cuisine : Japanese
Food : 4 out of 5
Ambience : 3 out of 5
Price : 4 out of 5

PS Cafe @ Paragon

I was at PS Cafe in Paragon for lunch yesterday. After hearing not-so-positive reviews of the outlet at Dempsey, I thought to try the other one at Paragon. Initially I was not able to find the place, then I saw the sign "ProjectShop Cafe" and guessed that was the one. The menu has a certain laksa pento, which is spaghetti with laksa gravy and long beans, which my friend referred to as the "western-style laksa".

I find it rather intriguing, so I decided to try it. It tastes nice, really like laksa, but not as spicy. Imagine the kinds of food people can come up with. Maybe I have really lost touch with life, but it is the first time I am tasting spaghetti made to taste like laksa. Being able to cook is really good, one can experiment with all kinds of things.

But nothing beats the original Katong laksa, with the thick gravy and sambal! The stretch of laksa stalls, plus chicken rice, noodles, peranakan cuisines. And I am so happy that I am staying somewhere near there, to where all the nice food places are!

Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 2 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5