Meeting up with a friend who doesn't have a huge appetite, so I picked this Izakaya style Jap eatery as our casual dinner place. This is the 3rd and newest outlet by the Akashi Group. The restaurant was almost empty at 7pm on a weekday.We browsed the online menu on the ordering tablet and picked 4 kinds of their specialty gyoza dishes for sharing, and a couple of sides and carbo dishes to add variety.

To start things off, some refreshing drinks, Kuri Lemonade $4.80++ a nice soda with shredded cucumbers, and Earl Grey Ice Lemon Tea $4.80++ which tasted like regular Ice Tea.Food came pretty quickly from the kitchen after order was sent. The gyoza dishes we had were the original Yaki Pork Gyoza $4.80++, Yaki Mentaiko Gyoza $7.80++, Yaki Ebi Tamago Gyoza $6.80++ and Sui Pork Gyoza $4.80++. Each dish has 5pcs gyoza, great for sharing among friends.The best gyoza dish in my opinion is still the original pan fried pork gyoza. The crispy base was perfectly executed and pork fillings were moist and flavorful...nice! The mentaiko ones were pretty good too coz I'm a fan of anything topped with mentaiko. The boiled pork gyoza and shrimp gyoza were more light in flavors but still quite decent in terms of taste.We also tried the popular Jya Jya Men $6.50++, a handmade noodle dish that can be eaten two ways. It was first served dry with minced pork and a special black miso sauce with shredded veggies. We were advised to add some white vinegar and chilli oil and mixed well before consumption.The dry version tasted good, noodles were al dente and sauce was delicious. Then we saved a small portion for part 2 (as per instructions). Requested the waiting staffs for an egg and boiling noodle water to make it into a soupy dish.The soup version didn't make an impression though, but it was definitely an interesting dish to try.

Our second carbo dish, Ninniku Yaki Meshi (Garlic Fried Rice) $5.80++, unexpectedly blew us away with its fragrant wok hei and good chewy bite. Love this dish!Some sides we had were Aburi Burokkori $4.80++, torched broccoli with interesting crisp and smokey aroma, Morokyu $3.80++ crunchy cucumbers with savory miso paste, and Asari Sakamushi $6.80++ steam fresh clams in sake broth. All were rather decent.Overall, we really enjoyed our dinner at Gyoza-ya. Food quality was very good and prices are pocket friendly. Service was prompt and friendly. I would gladly return again to try other dishes.

Full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2016/02/dinner-at-gyoza-ya-paragon.html

We had a birthday celebration with our evil sista at this medieval themed restaurant. This place is located at level 3 of Vivocity (opposite Daiso). It has both indoor and outdoor entrance, the outdoor facade is much grander with two armored knights guarding the 'castle' doors.The diner was dressed in Halloween theme during the month of October. The interior of the restaurant is furnished with custom made tables, chairs and benches, and more armored knights with swords and shields. The restaurant also boast a scenic harbor view for diners sitting by the full length glass windows.Simple table settings and the menu.Some of us ordered drinks first while we take our time to explore the extensive menu. Most of us had the Bottomless drink $7++ (free flow Coke, Sprite, Fanta grape, Root beer & Ice lemon tea).Bottomless Fanta grape $7++ & Tropic zest $7++Apple juice $5++

We ordered a few sharing platters of Starters Combo sets and one main course each. The food serving were rather huge, we indeed feasted like Kings and Queens for this birthday lunch!Platter C $24.90++Platter A $21.90++Platter D $26.90++Caesar salad $13.50++

The starters were good, I especially liked the Banana bacon bites and the Prawn twisters. The Mussels and Scallops in Platter D were also super fresh. I didn't touch the Caesar salad though as it was covered with loads of cheese.

For main course, I had the Pan Fried fillet of Snapper $23.90++. The chunky snapper fillet was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, very tasty! The roasted potatoes were a nice change from the fried version on the other dishes.Other main courses ordered were Beer Battered Fish & Chips $21.90++, Roast beef & BBQ ribs $35.90++, Dragon tail Aglio Olio $19.90++ and Seafood Marinara $25.90++.All the main courses were huge, even the caesar salad was served in a gigantic bowl. Some of us didn't managed to wolf down everything on the plates. Food was generally yummy, ingredients were fresh and well prepared. I find the menu a little too meaty with very few selection of non meat dishes. Service was good as the diner was quite empty during lunch hours. Overall, it was a nice dining experience.

Full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/11/lunch-at-king-louis-grill-bar.html

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/09/dinner-at-crystal-jade-steamboat.html

I recently attended a food tasting session, organized by Pinstripes and Crystal Jade, with my friend Wendy. Crystal Jade has recently revamped their menu from casual Cantonese dining to a new hybrid concept that includes a All-You-Can-Eat Steamboat Buffet plus Ala Carte Cantonese delights. We will be sampling steamboat buffet with two recommended soup base and selected all time favorites from the Ala Carte menu.The customized Steamboat table that has a built-in induction cooker. The digital temperature control is located by the side of the table, that means no more having to adjust temperature with greasy buttons...cool!The brand new Ala Carte menu still contains quite a bit of offering from the former Crystal Jade Kitchen's extensive menu. Popular Cantonese Roast Meats and Dim Sum items are retained, along with a range of popular HK style dishes.A glimpse of the price points of their affordable Steamboat buffet that includes a wholesome spread of more than 35 ingredients, free flow beverages and soft-serve ice cream.We did a quick recce around the buffet counters and found a good spread of ingredients including fresh mussels, mushrooms and assorted vegetables. A few kinds of carbos like instant noodles, beehoon, steam rice and porridge.Fresh meats includes thinly sliced shabu pork, chicken and beef and two kinds of marinated minced meat paste (chicken & pork) for making meatballs in the soup. The meat slices are stored in the fridge where patrons can make unlimited orders thru the waiting staffs.The condiments station, has a myriad of more than 10 types of sauces including Crystal Jade's Homemade special sauce, Sambal belachan, Sesame sauce etc. and fresh scallions and coriander to add flavor to the sauces.Crystal Jade's QQ rice that is a blend of quality Thai jasmine rice and glutinous rice with a springy texture. A special Scallion oil is available for pairing with the QQ rice.Drinks and Dessert stations, with assortment of soft drinks, coffee & tea and soft-serve ice cream (3 flavors) with two choice of toppings. We were served with two kinds of soup base, the most popular Japanese style Pork Bone soup and the new HK style Curry soup. Four other soup choices available are Tomato soup, Miso soup, Superior soup, and Spicy Mala soup. Patrons can select two kinds of soup bases per pot. We munched on some snacks available at the buffet counter while we waited for the soup to heat up. Crispy Fish Skin, Fried Chicken Skin and Fried Mushroom Stems, they were pretty addictive to eat.Apart from Steamboat, we were also served a Roasted Combination Platter $25.80++ and a couple of Dim Sum items for sampling. We had Roast Duck, Honey BBQ Pork (Char Siew) and Roast Pork Belly, served with Plum sauce and Mustard sauce. Needless to say, the roasted items were prepared with quality ingredients and high standard execution. The roast duck meat was plump, tender and moist with a slightly crispy skin, the roast pork belly has nice crackling skin and the char siew was sweet and juicy. Recommended.

Shrimp Dumpling $4.60++, has chunky fresh prawns wrapped in translucent skin. Prawns were crunchy and succulent, delish.Siew Mai $4.20++, with well marinated minced pork and topped with a whole prawn and a dollop of crab roe. Another nicely done dim sum item.Deep fried Yam Puff w/ Minced Meat $4.00++, light and crispy birdnest-like crust with smooth fragrant yam paste beneath and savory minced pork filling. Very tasty albeit a little messy to eat though.Pan-fried Fish Cake w/ Radish $4.00++, an old-school dim sum in HK that is now difficult to find. Fresh fish paste with shredded radish sandwiched between crispy fried wanton skin. It'll be perfect if served with some creamy mayo dip.Our soup is finally coming to a boil, we quickly added in the raw ingredients to cook. I had a taste of the lighter pork bone soup first, and found it to be sweet and flavorful, with or without the ingredients. It was really good and I had 3 servings of it before moving on to the curry soup.The curry soup has a heavier taste and was a tad greasy, I felt a bit jerlak after having only 2 small servings. I personally prefer the pork bone soup to this one.At the end of dinner, I was feeling rather full but still gotten myself one serving of the soft-serve ice cream to complete the meal. Soft-serve is a type of ice cream that is softer than regular ice cream, as a result of air being introduced during the freezing process. It was light, velvety smooth and not too sweet...yummy.We had a great time sampling the new menu items from Crystal Jade. The Steamboat Buffet is good value for money, with unlimited serving of shabu meat, beverages and dessert. We would've prefer them to include fresh prawns to the spread though, but for the price they are charging, one wouldn't feel short changed. I would recommend it to my family and friends.

Lola's cafe, a hidden gem nestled in the heartland of Kovan area, has been making its way onto foodie's good books serving delicious food at pocket friendly prices. I've finally found an opportunity to check it out.I arrived at the entrance of this cafe at around 5.30pm on a Friday evening, it was already 80% full. The friendly staffs quickly ushered me to an available table. This tiny eatery is decorated with mixture of nostalgic and modern furniture and accessories. Several tables here are made with retro sewing machines.There is an iPad queuing system near the entrance. If the cafe is full, patrons can enter their contact details and get a call when a table is available, no need to physically queue up here.Our tiny table and the food & drinks menu. Everything here are priced below 20 bucks and there is no GST and Service charges...cool!Hubby and I ordered a drink and a main course each, and one side dish for sharing. My Mocha $5.50, comes with a lovely coffee art, the coffee was smooth and robust...pretty good!We had one of the cafe's most popular sides, Honey Paprika Crispy Wings $10. The spices and honey sauce was really delish, chicken meat was tender and juicy too.My Chicken Burger $14, toasted sesame buns with marinated chicken leg served with spicy aioli sauce and potato fries. The chunky chicken leg was very tender and tasted good with the spicy aioli. I loved the crispy fries that comes with the burger!Hubby's Coastal Seafood Spaghetti $14, served with prawns, mussels, squid in white wine tomato sauce. The seafood was fresh and the pasta well executed, and the sauce was pretty awesome too. At only 14 bucks, its a steal!We had a wonderful meal at the Lola's cafe, food is of good quality and prices are very affordable. Best part is they have 5 serving staffs providing prompt and friendly service and it didn't cost us 10% extra to enjoy that! This is one place worthy of multiple visits.

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/06/dinner-at-lolas-cafe.html

The Ajisen Gourmet Town at level 3 has recently gone through a facelift and re-opened with the popular franchise brand Osaka Ohsho 大阪王将, the Gyoza King from Osaka. Other than gyoza, this place also serves up Jap style Chinese cuisine.Value for money set meals and new enticing food replicas on display.I arrived before 6.30pm on a Friday evening and managed to beat the queue and get seated in less than 5mins.They are now using the iPad electronic ordering system. Just tab on whatever you wanna order and click 'Send Order', and the food will be served in a couple of mins.Hubby's Mapo Tofu & Double Cooked Pork set $14.90++. The Mapo Tofu is not spicy at all, such a big difference from the yummy Mapo Tofu we had in Osaka! The Double cooked pork 回鍋肉 was just so so only, nothing to rave about. Hubby also didn't find the gyoza special.My Chicken Tenshin Han set $13.90++, is a fancier variant of the Signature Fuwatoro 天津飯 set $12.90++. It was a thick omelette egg wrapped fried rice with roast chicken cubes.This dish was indeed rather yummy. The thick omelette was light and fluffy with a texture of smooth steamed egg. The fried Koshihikari rice with roast chicken meat was flavorful and tasted good with the thickened clear gravy. I enjoyed this dish as there is no comparison with anything I've eaten in Osaka.
The gyoza was good but not great, however at the price of $3.90++ for 6pcs and $7.80++ for a dozen I don't mind eating this again. The skin was quite well made with good resiliency but I would've prefer the pork filling to be more moist and juicy. Overall, it was a decent dish.

The egg and carrot soup that comes with every set meal was forgettable.Overall, I'm not too impressed with the food served here at Osaka Ohsho. I would save the 10% service charge for something else and just buy takeaways from now on.

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/03/dinner-at-osaka-ohsho-nex-ajisen.html