I first came to know the existence of this stall after reading 8 days New + Noted! They only sell one dish, which is the Claypot Bee Tai Mak and they describe it as a "KL-style Hokkien mee with an egg". I knew I had to try it soon! The stall is very conveniently located near Lavender MRT station. Exit B, walk along Horne Road and make a left turn into French Road and look for Tai Sun Eating House. Pot Shop Boys is one of the stalls inside the sheltered hawker. There is also a carpark just opposite the hawker for those who drive. I ordered 2 bowls and was served around 5 minutes later, very efficient! I quickly snap a mandatory shot of it and tucked right into savouring the delicious looking bowl of bee tai mak! True enough, it was so yummy!! I literally felt like I can have another bowl! Besides the bee tai mak, the other ingredients included an egg, meatball, prawns, mushrooms and cabbages. I really love the blend of those ingredients and bee tai mak mixed together with their specialty sauce. I will most definitely come back here again!

Please visit http://www.makeyourcaloriescount.com/2013/09/sg-ramen-bar-suzuki-search-for-best.html for full review.

Having returned to Singapore, I learnt from my colleagues that we have a similar ramen craze like that in Hong Kong. With my last bowl of calories worthy ramen from Ichiran, I had since been struggling to find the next best challenger.

Receiving strong recommendations from several colleagues, we thought that Ramen Bar Suzuki would be a close contender. Can they survive the ramen test?

Let us find out!Arriving just after 12pm, a queue was already in sight. It seemed like the customers who obediently formed the queue are regular patrons since they were busy scribbling their choice of ramen and toppings on the order chit located at the front of the restaurant.Unlike Ichiran which only served one type of Tonkotsu ramen with choice over the types of toppings, the menu here had a wider range of offerings. There was the Pure White Tonkotsu Ramen (S$12.90/-), Jet Black Pig Bone Ramen (S$13.90/-), Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen (S$15.90/-) and various others.

The choice of toppings were similar ranging from flavoured boiled egg (S$1.50/-), black fungus (S$1/-), Yaki Nori Seaweed (S$1/-) to having extra protein with pork belly char siew (S$3/-).We took our seats at the counter as they conveniently became available when our turn was up.By 12.30pm, the eatery was packed busy and full of customers with the main bulk of its clientèle from the offices around the Raffles Place area.

After seeking permission from the serving staff, I got myself shutter busy, oblivious of the ongoing buzz within the restaurant.Many argue that it is hard to find value for money yet calories worthy food around the Raffles Place area. With free flow of sides such as bean sprouts, sliced lettuce, hard boiled eggs and even white rice, could this just be it?It was rather disappointing though that despite waiting for some 10-15 minutes, the empty jar of bean sprouts remained the state it was. I was half expecting it to be filled having heard about how crunchy and addictive it can be.

On a fairer note, I succumbed to picking up the few miserable strands left in the glass jar. Given that it was free and offered free-flow, I should not be asking for more, but on this occasion, I actually wanted to ask for more, literally. It was crunchy and fresh, despite being soaked in a sesame based gravy.For that extra kick of fragrance, you could get it from the range of little plastic containers readily available on the tables, which even have garlic flakes for that added oomph! Just mind the burp, excuse me. Do not forget your free flow of iced tea to soothe that heat.

There is a mantra here at Ramen Bar Suzuki that details how best to enjoy your bowl of ramen.

1) Taste one spoon of the soup.
2) Eat the noodles fast before it becomes soggy.
3) Grind the sesame into the ramen for extra fragrance.
4) Want intensity and added richness? Sprinkle some garlic chips into the broth.
5) Toss in some petite pieces of fried pork if you ain't a weight watcher.
6) If the noodles ain't enough, get an extra serving! (traditionally known as kaedama)

Pure White Tonkotsu Ramen (S$12.90/++)I usually like my noodles a little on the hard side for that al dente touch and texture and this was served just to my liking. The char siew was tender and uniformly sliced to a fine thickness. Serving size was decent even for a guy and the takeaway was that beautiful broth. It was rich and certainly brought out the essence out of that pork bone. While it might not be the easiest task to draw comparison when it comes to broths, I found the one at Ichiran just a notch superior in terms of depth of flavours.

Do not be mistaken. The broth was brilliant but having tried one of the best ramens in Hong Kong and arguably Japan since it was a franchise from Japan, my benchmark of a good rendition is certainly at a high level. This somewhat lacked just that extra bit of oomph to make me swoon all over.

Pure White Tonkotsu Ramen with additional egg and seaweed (S$15.40/++)My dining companion had about the same with the additional toppings. I was disappointed with the egg which was supposed to at least have a semi-runny egg yolk but it seemed not too different from the hard-boiled eggs.

The sliced lettuce and remnants of beansprouts actually complemented the ramen beautifully adding an extra layer of crunchy texture to it. Oh well, do I hear five-a-day?Apparently a few of my colleagues are regular patrons and provided an interesting feedback which I would love to put to a test one day. The noodles provided during lunch time is typically less than that served for dinner for they believe that one should consume less in the day and a relatively larger serving in the evening. This might somewhat make carb sense because they do not serve the free flow rice during dinners.

For those working around the area, you would be familiar with the queue at Ramen Bar Suzuki by now, so if you fancy your bowl of ramen, do try to head there by 12pm to beat the queue and the overbearing afternoon Sun of course.

Quite frankly, I do not think there is much ambiance to speak of. Expect to share tables with strangers (or at least sit awfully close) if you are dining solo or as a couple and I would not really desire to stay long after my meal (at least in the afternoon).

On the service, I thought that the waiting staffs were polite and attentive. Please note that they only accept CASH, so remember to head down to the nearest ATM machine before joining the queue for your bowl of Tonkotsu ramen! Also, the standard practice is to submit your order chit to the receptionist, make your payment then get your table and last your ramen, in that order too.

Personally, I consider the price affordable and matched by a quality broth and ramen. I have my reserves on the toppings and free sides but that was partly due to the fact that they were either not quite up to standard or were not available. Having learnt that titbit on the varied portion size for dinners, I am now quite tempted to bring my lady next to give it a round two test.

Have we found the best ramen in town? Hmm..let us come back to this after trying a few other top picks! Stay tuned for our reviews!

Only recently uncovered, Cakes Literally is yet another addition to the already booming site in Farrer Park, no less an of-standard one. I’m not complaining, because food enthusiasts like myself just can’t get enough of cafes, can we.The high contrast of colors exudes a simple yet sophisticated ambience. The pristine white urges you to sit down, unwind and have a cup of coffee and cake. Though they don’t house the most comfortable pieces of furniture, their warm hospitality and slow-dancing tunes make it all up. Run by a close-knit family, you can expect a fuss-free, rules-free kind of cafe-experience, while letting your hair down to sounds from artists like James Morrison and Colbie Caillat from their iPod (that was before a huge crowd of family, including children, came in and stole the mood away).A few words can sum up what Cakes Literally offers – Coffee, Tea, Cakes. Not the most extensive, but hey, simplicity is the way to go now in this fast-paced society, isn’t it.Latte ($4.50) :: When it’s coffee from Papa Palheta, you know it wouldn’t go wrong. Arguably the best coffee I’ve ever had, we further had another cup of Mocha ($4.80) just to fully satisfy our caffeine cravings since the brunch place we were at failed miserably. The Mocha was especially intriguing, as shaved Belgian Belcolade Dark Chocolate makes up the chocolate in the mocha. It was like in coffee heaven; high in acidity, aroma so sublime, and an overall impression that lasts.Valrhona Flourless Cake ($7.50) :: Not only is it flourless, it is also gluten-free, and 100% self-baked. + Mousse + chocolate shards + cocoa + venchi chocolate caviar in belcolade shell. I love the semi-cake semi-mousse overall texture of it, where you can still get a good bite but a soft and smooth one. For the more intense chocolate lovers, go ahead and sprinkle the cup of venchi chocolate caviar over your slice of cake. But to be honest, maybe I have a high tolerance but it wasn’t unbearable at all.Orange Almond Cake ($5.50) :: This, on the other hand, has a different texture all together. Surprisingly, I love the combination. It wasn’t as tangy as I had expected, which is good. Crushed almond is mixed in the cake itself, which I suspect gives the rough and grainy surface of the cake. While the flavor was satisfying, the texture did not quite float my boat.

I have no qualms that they will, like most small family-business, have consistent impeccable service. They’re constantly cheerful and approachable. If I am in the area, I wouldn’t think twice going through the glass door again.

Note #1: Only cash accepted.

Note #2: Prices stated are nett. No GST and service charge.

Note #3: They also sell whole-cakes.

We were extremely disappointed with our visit to The Dunearn, both in terms of the food quality and especially so for their unacceptable service level.

Upon entering, we were quickly ushered to our seats by a grumpy looking waitress who was rather impatient with us when we queried on some of the food items. Her answers were mostly a repetition of the information shown on the menu and provided little or no value-addedness to us.

The starters were served pretty shortly but where's the bread?! This is one item which should have been served almost immediately upon seated at any reputable fine dining restaurant. We found this rather strange and requested if we could have some bread to go along with the soup we ordered. And guess what, to our horror, the waitress actually replied, "NO BREAD" when we saw her serving a basket of bread to a Caucasian couple just moments ago. This is simply atrocious and we demanded to see the manager regarding this. The manager took some time to attend to us (with a cold basket of bread in hand) and came up with some lame excuse that the bread was not ready previously to pacify us, like seriously?!

Here's a snap shot of our orders that day. Don't be fooled by the visually appealing presentation as we found the quality to be befitting of the ambience and price we're paying for. Looks can be deceiving.

Iberico Ham, Cantaloupe Jello and Petite Salad
One of the better dishes served that meal. I found the salad and fruits jello to be pretty refreshing and complemented the ham well.

Chicken Gumbo
A disaster. The soup was quite salty with tiny bits of chicken skin (where's the meat this time round?!) floating in it. We were expecting something more hearty and were quite disappointed with what was served.

Baked Spatchcock with Red Wine Jus
A decent dish but nothing impressive about it. It somehow seemed slightly overcooked as the meat was tougher than usual.

Mullet Confit with Light Lemongrass Emulsion
The fish was well cooked but I could hardly taste any hint of lemongrass (one of my personal favourite scents) at all! This dish should have been more aptly named "Mullet Confit with Cream Sauce"...

Mango Mille Crepe with Chocolate Sorbet
Another disaster, period. The Mille Crepe was frozen and had this weird refrigerator taste which was a major turn off. The Sorbet was no much better as it was totally icy and hard. In retrospect, this dessert might just jolly well have been in cold storage for as long as we could image!

Overall, this will be our first and very last visit. Disappointing food plus frustrating service – couldn't image what more could go wrong!

In celebration of my colleague's birthday, we have reserved the indoor seating for 4 pax. Greeted with a warm welcome by the staff as we walked up to Brotzeit. Reservation was make easy with their professionalism given a choice of outdoor/indoor seating. They have also make two calls (a one day before and few hours) before the reservation to confirmed our attendance. Service was prompt and above average.

Aranciata, S$4.50. Sparkling Orange drink poured from a can.Apfelschorle (Sparkling Apple Juice), S$8.50. Imported from Germany, a refreshing cup of apple juice mixed with sparkling mineral water.Hurray! Here's the feast for tonight! Tuck in!Camembert (Breaded Camembert with Cranberry Sauce), S$12.50. Fried to golden perfection with cheese filled up, the cranberry yogurt like sauce makes a perfect pairing.
Wurstelplatte (Sausage Platter for 2), S$32.50. Comes with assorted flavours of authentic sausages: spicy chicken sausages, Nurnberger sausages, pork cheese sausages, Weisswurst and garlic pork sausage and my favourite sauerkraut. Dab the sausages with some mustard sauce and some sauerkraut and it goes perfectly.Schweinshaxn (Pork Knuckle), S$36.00 are one of the top selling item from a german cuisine menu. This cripsy hind shank of grain fed pork were thick at the exterior especially on its skin is served with potato salad, sauerkraut and the delicious homemade sauce.Spargel mit Lungenbraten (White Asparagus with Grilled Beef Tenderloin), S$46.50. This is only available with a limit period (promotional item) base on the white asparagus feast.Kaspressknodelsuppe (onion soup), S$9.50. Quite translucent bowl of bland tasting onion soup, however the one that steal the show is its yammy cheesy dumping that had dived underneath the bowl of cut onion stripes. Kaiserschmarren (Emperor's Cake), S$12.50. A great choice for after meal desserts! Shredded fluffy pancakes with rum and raisins paired with plum sauce. Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel), S$12.50 is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Even though our stomachs have been filled with the scrumptious meal earlier on, we could not resists these alluring sweet treats coming our way. This non sweet version of strudel tastes great.. The icing sugar drizzled over it is sweet but not cloying.The total damage for the night from 4 dinners. Recommendation / Tips
It would be a great dinning experience to enjoy the German draft beers at their outdoor seating.