Maccha House is a Japanese cafe chain that specialises in green tea beverages and desserts, with several one dish meals offered for customers who want something more substantial. Hot beverages are priced from $3.40 while iced beverages, which has an upsized/large option, are priced from $3.90. Prices are lower than its competitors like Tsijuri and NaNa's.

Tsijuri operates takeaway kiosk that uses disposable cups but Maccha House has seats and proper tableware for their drinks and desserts. The vibe here is casual but we prefer the Orchard Central outlet which has nicer ambience and more spacious seating capacity.

We ordered the traditional matcha ($3.90) and the signature matcha parfait ($10.90). The former was great value. A bowl with a generous amount of good quality Kyoto green tea powder is served with a small pot of hot water for you to prepare your own beverage, and a bamboo bristle stirrer is provided for you to whisk the powdered matcha till it is well blended and dissolved. Full bodied matcha flavour with the sheerest hint of bitter ~ an acquired taste that needs getting used to. The beverage was accompanied by a saucer holding some two baby mochi floating in maple syrup, to lift the bitter edge of the matcha. The concentrated green tea was so good that we ordered a second serving after we had finished our parfait.

The signature green tea parfait was topped by a generous twirl of matcha gelato and two pieces of velvety matcha flavour nama chocolate. It was divine; we should have skipped dinner so that we could each have a glass of this delightful parfait to ourselves. My colleague and I prefer the matcha parfait here to the version served at Nana's Green Tea Cafe. The latter's version of matcha parfait is over the top, so heavy that it leads to sugar overload and a 'jelak' feeling (Malay for overloaded). Nana's version which costs $13.90 has two tiny scoops of ice cream, three pieces of nama chocolate and lots of whipped cream and green syrup. Maccha House's version is less fattening, but without giving any less pleasure, as the dessert artisan here had a very light hand with the cream and syrup.

Service was prompt. It is a pleasant place to relax and chat, without free wifi to draw you to away from your companions to your mobile devices.

YAYOI can always be relied upon to serve up hearty, wholesome Japanese set meals or teishoku. In Singapore where a pseudo Japanese meal from self serviced food  courts can cost $7 or $8 without drinks, it is a joy to have food and free warm or iced water served to us at the table, with teishoku priced from $9.90++ for main courses like mackerel/saba, sauteed pork or beef. With free flow of hot green tea at only $1++, there are plenty of choices on the menu to choose from, making it possible for diners on a budget to pay no more than $20.00 nett per head for a satisfying and tasty meal. Those who crave carbs can help themselves to additional portions of piping hot rice at no extra charge. The restaurant does brisk business at dinner time even with the plethora of dining options at The Star Vista which is a good walk from the residential areas in the Buona Vista/Dover/Ghim Moh area. The interactive tablet screen at every table makes ordering a breeze, and our drinks were brought to us almost as soon as we had submitted our orders. If you need a tea refill, just tap on the [call staff] button at the base of the tablet. A large jar of pickled cabbage sits next to the condiments and cutlery tray at every table.

The chicken teishoku at $13.90++ was great value with a huge, juicy chicken patty seared to a delectable golden brown. It was served with a bowl of house salad, a cube of chilled tofu, a bowl of miso soup with wakame and diners can help themselves to the pickled cabbage. However, the mixed toji teishoku, also priced at $13.90++, did not come with any salad. The mixed toji is good for meat lovers as it contains half a slab or breaded pork cutlet (rather fatty according to my dining companion), a piece of ebi fry and a decent portion of sautéed sliced beef or pork served on a sizzling plate and bathed in a savoury scrambled egg and onion gravy that is great with rice. Yayoi serves Meiji ice cream at $3.50++, in flavours such as goma (black sesame) and matcha (green tea) but we were satiated enough to pass the dessert. 

Yayoi is a good place to refuel after a workout. Easy on the pocket too so it's also recommended for those who prefer eating out to cooking at home.

MFM has a new set lunch menu (see photo) priced from $13.95++. The disadvantage of the new menu is that the main course is fixed every day and the price of your meal depends on the what is served on the day of your visit. However diners continue to have a choice of buttered rice or French fries for their carbs. What is nice about the menu is the choice of beverages, starters and desserts (see photo). Previously diners who opted for the set lunch which was then priced at $9.95++ could only choose between soup of the day or a small cup of green salad. Along with the higher set meal prices now, you can opt for any two side items to complete your meal. However the portion is fine for people with small appetites but certainly will not satiate a sportsperson after a full workout. I opted for fries instead of rice to go with the day's entree of cherry snapper. Three small and thin fillets, each no more than 8cm long, less than 4cm wide and thinly sliced like fishcake less than 1cm thick. Thus I was not at all surprised that the fish was a little overlooked coz it was sliced too thinly. The fillets tasted rather bland but the chilli dip solved the problem. Next time, it would be better to opt for rice as the chips seemed to have been fried ahead and kept on the warmer. Then again, I may find the fries subpar coz I am benchmarking them to McDonald's standard. Water is charged at $0.50++ per glass. Ok for a light lunch, but MFM in Singapore is no longer the great value casual dining restaurant it used to be.

We wanted to try the udon but the tables were fully occupied when we arrived shortly after 1pm. Having tried Umi's don and sushi on previous occasions we decided to pick one of their many colourful salad bowls for a light meal instead.

Lunch companion and I bought the salmon salad $4.00 and lobster (surimi) salad $4.80 for a takeaway. The salmon salad had wakame and pickled ginger to tickle the palate. The surimi lobster salad had a hint of wasabe but on the whole was rather bland. What was disappointing was  the plain soya sauce provided instead of salad dressing. The soya sauce did not enhance the taste of the bland iceberg lettuce leaves which made up 70% of the bowl's content.

Umi Sushi's salads are best eaten as side dish or snack. Less than two hours after lunch break, we were freeling peckish and groping for snacks from our office drawers.

QQ rice wrap is a good grab-and-go meal option. It is fuss-free and filling so if one wishes to lunch at the office desk, it is nice to have a freshly prepared oblong rice parcel customised to individual tastes and preferences. QQ rice parcels are priced from $4.50 each with a choice of rice type and any five toppings from a wide variety of vegetables and meat. Beverages are priced from $1 with any rice purchase. This makes QQ a pricier meal than a regular burger meal which costs from $4 to $5 at BK and McDonalds respectively. But healthier food usually costs more. There are three HPB-recommended 'healthier choice' vegetarian rice balls that cost $4.80 each but customers can't choose their rice and fillings. I picked this as there was an on-going 10% off promotion on these three items at $4.30 nett for each. Here is a cross section photo of the vegetarian rice parcel I bought. The fixed fillings in my rice parcel were broccoli florets, straggly stems of green veg (without any leaves), stewed peanuts that tasted like canned food, vegetarian meat floss and a miserly pinch of mock meat (瓜仔肉). The staff who assembled my rice ball was probably a newcomer as she dared not put more than a teaspoonful of each topping on the rice; it was also not compact with the rice grains and fillings dropping out when I bit into it,  something that does not happen often. The rice ball was warm and moist but it was bland and tasteless. Next time I shall stick to the regular DIY rice balls so that I can pick my favourite grains and fillings.