Nara Thai - famed in Thailand for been consistently featured on Thailand's Tatler Best Restaurant list, has finally opened it's first overseas outlet in Ion Orchard. Founded in 2006 by Yuki Srikarnchana, the restaurant strive to bring authentic Thai street food to its customers in an air-conditioned and relaxed setting. The recently awarded Best Restaurant in Thailand promised the use of the freshest ingredients and a high standard of service.

DID YOU KNOW? that Nara Thai cuisine is largely influenced from the central regions of Thailand, where the Thai royalty resided, and as sweetness was the predominant flavour of choice for the royalties, those who are more accustomed to the spicy and sour flavour might find some of their their dishes too sweet.The Massaman Curry came in a small bowl enough to share for 2 to 3 person. The chicken is tender and moist and the potato is cooked to perfectness - maintaining its fluffiness when you bite into it. DID YOU KNOW? that the word Tom Yam are derived from two Tai words: "tom" and "yam". "Tom" refers to boiling process, while "yam" refers to a kind of Lao and Thai spicy and sour salad.

This is one of the must-try from their menu! The river prawns are fresh as promised and the meat can easily be peeled from their shell. The soup base is sour and spicy, but not spicy enough to those who can't take the heat. Seasonal vegetables stir-fried in oyster sauce to almost perfection. The greens are crunchy, coupled with the sweet and savoury oyster sauce, make this dish a winner.DID YOU KNOW? that the green curry gets its colour from fresh basil leaves and green chillis?

Like the Massaman curry, the chicken is tender. The curry is flavourful but not overpowering and when added to rice, is a taste to behold.

All in, Nara Thai looks like a plush restaurant that serves pretty standard Thai food. Their promise of high quality ingredients was kept, in general as all the dishes felt and taste fresh. The service crew were clad in smart suits and uniforms. However, service can be a tad tardy during peak hours. Waiting time for order taking and food to arrive can be agonizingly long. If you have only 1 hour to spare for lunch during work days, then you might have to look for other options.

Kazokutei prides itself in the delicious and high quality handmade udon, and the healthy cooking methods used by its chefs to bring out the natural taste of the noodle. Promotions and set lunches are common here, catering to the lunch crowd of office workers in the vicinity.

This set lunch ($14.90) consist of 3 variations of cold udon, served together with mixed tempura and assorted sushi.The prawn tempura is pretty fresh, and the sweet potato tempura is very tasty. The assorted sushi is pretty average. The cold udon basically all taste the same except that it is served in small little bowls with different sides. After trying the cold udon, hot udon in soup is still the way to go. Kazokutei do have some really tasty udon, and is really a decent place to come to get your udon craving fixed.

Fermented Beancurd or Smelly Tofu as it is more popularly called, is like Durian - you either like it or you hate it. Mini Star has been making Fermented beancurd in the Geylang vicinity for the longest time. Unlike in Hong Kong or Taiwan, you can't really located the shop by following the stench - it seems like the Authorities made them installed state-of-the-art ventilation system to get rid of them.

The fermented beancurd ($4 per piece) was deep-fried to a light crisp on the outside while it’s moist and soft inside. Served with sweet sauce and chili sauce with slivers of cucumber, it really isn't smelly at all.For those of you who chose to skip the fermented beancurd. Do try the duck meat pancake ($7), duck meat stuffed into chinese styled pancake and fried to ultimate crispiness.If you are an adventurous foodie, try the fermented beancurd at Mini Star. The smell might be a little overwhelming at first, but once you tried it, you will just keep coming back for more!

Who would have thought of finding a $5 chicken pie in a hotel restaurant? Check out White Rose Cafe located in York Hotel, in the heart of Orchard Road.

The chicken pies are freshly made each day in limited numbers. It comes in 2 sizes - Small ($3.50) and Large ($5.00). If you plan to order more, make sure you call in to make an order 3 days in advance.

If you are having it at the restaurant, the chicken pie comes serve on a plate with salad. Iced water is on the house too!The fillings of the pie is creamy and the chicken chunks are quite big. It taste really good when eaten together with the puff. The only downside is that it isn't heated up hot enough.Overall, if you are looking for something new for lunch in Orchard Road, do try out the chicken pie in White Rose Cafe. Just remember to ask them to heat the pie up a little longer.

King's Roasts is started by Chef Kingsley Tan, with the intention of bringing restaurant style cooking to traditional roasted meat. He uses a combi oven to roasts his meat instead of the traditional charcoal oven. Situated at Balestier Food Centre, the choices of food there is pretty limited( there are only less than 5 stalls opened) due to new owner and a recent makeover.

The Roasted Duck Rice ($4.00) looks appetizing enough. With large slices on the plate instead of the smaller ones you see served by many other stalls. The skin is crispy enough, the meat is juicy and not dry, but the flavour is a little lacking. The Thai Styled Tofu ($4.00) is a definite must-try. The skin is fried to perfection and the tofu is silky and smooth.The Dumpling Soup ($3.00) is pretty average. However, one can taste the freshness of the ingredients in each dumping.Overall, The food is pretty all-right and relatively cheap. At an average price of $4 for most dishes, it is definitely a good place to go to for your lunch or dinner. The Duck meat could have been more flavourful.