Our pal had decided to treat the rest of us a Zhi Char Dinner to celebrate his next milestone in life (Just Married) and Sin Hoi Sai Eating House was voted for its well known reputation . Although it was not the peak hours for a proper dinner, we were informed that no internal seating were available for the 9 + 1 (9 Adults + 1 Toddler) of us. There goes our opportunity to dine in a cooler environment after a hot day of work and welcome the Alfresco Dining! Enjoy the enchanting lights as we walked down the sides of Sin Hoi Sai Eating House's building, especially with the welcoming decorations of Singapore Flags to commemorate our upcoming National Day 2013.Welcomed by 2 kinds of appetizers (Spicy Ah Cha & Braised Peanuts) while waiting for everyone to settle down. We are the minority to order its Barley drink while most of them were the usual Coca Cola Supporters. Our first dish was served, Kangkong Belacan and it comes without any serving of rice initially. Look at the stir fried Chinese spinach, they are mixed together with fermented shrimp paste and dried shrimp. You cant miss out it's crunchiness! This dish is not that spicy too!I was kind of surprised by how they served this dish. Hotplate with tofu was served covered initially and was opened when it reached our table. The simple looking plain dish was given a "great pour" full with minced meat gravy and followed by the sizzling sound of the hotplate. The gravy especially with minced meat, makes a perfect match with our bowls of plain rice. Pipping hot Har Cheong Kai (Prawn Paste Chicken) was fried to golden brown perfection with each piece filled with the awesome flavours and richness of the prawns! Yum Yum!Seafood Goodies filled the Yi Pin Guo (Royal Pot)! Prawns, abalone, fish maw, scallop, broccoli and mushroom. All of us dine like Kings and Queens! Cereal Prawns , the deep fried prawns in better, is one of the famous dish in most Ci Zhar restaurant . Prawns are fresh and mixed with aplenty of richly textured crunchy oat flakes. Some like to eat with the shell while some chose to remove them before consumption. Enjoy these hot stuff without the use of utensils, they are absolutely finger licking good!Heh Chor (Prawn Roll) were equally good - Impressive and not too oily. It wont go wrong with them dipped into the sweet sauce that come along with the plate!Service rendered was great and attentive. One of our chopsticks dropped onto the floor, the next moment a chopstick came as a replacement! . When the bills are cleared, the staff will actually place a sign on the table to thank their customer for the patronage. Total Damage for 9 Pax: S$233.35

Highlights
(1) Take a chance to visit their toilet, you may find their toilet sink rather interesting.
(2) Parking maybe an issue as the lots are limited, be early.
(3) For those who are dinning in big groups, do remember to make reservations if you want to enjoy the air-conditioned dining environment.

Formosa Delights is located at the Basement 1 of West Coast Plaza Tuck at one corner near to the entrance of the mall, serving Taiwanese delights and known for its fresh and affordable home made noodles in the area. The furnishing and theme of the restaurant are more towards white color based with interesting orange lights shone down by the beautiful caged lamps, creating a cosy environment for diners.Look over at the cashier counter, are 2 fatty chefs figures had caught my attention as they were so cute with Formosa's name on it in Chinese characters.Since, its famous for the handmade noodles, we should have a try!Organic Wheat Grass & Soya Bean - Wheat Grass Tastes abit unusual with bitterness, perhaps its organic and not much sugar content in it.
Cost: S$2.00 & S$1.50 RespectivelyFormosa Xiao Long Buns (6 pcs) - Named after the shop, we thought we should try them! Well, nothing to rave about as the look from the Dim Sum Tray had betrayed them. . Dry, unattractive looking exterior with mushy minced meat.
Cost: S$6.00Hot & Sour Noodle - If you cant take that level of spiciness, pour some spoonful of vinegar into your dish before digging in it will actually help! Sour with tangy tasting soup, the dish is rather appetizing.
Cost: S$5.50KonJak HandMade noodle, flavourful soup with notable big chunks of minced meat and egg. These hand-pulled noodles are delicate and tastes as good as those freshly hand-pulled noodles. However the meat chunks are not in my flavour as they are rather mushy, similar to the Xiao Longs.
Cost: S$5.50Slice Beef Noodle - The main attraction of the dish is its sliced noodle matched in the aroma of fermented soybean flavour, evenly shaved and prepared to a uniform noodle
thickness, skillful chef indeed.
Cost: S$6.00Our Total Spending for 5 pax together with 2 other bowls of noodles (take away for colleagues). Overall its reasonably priced factoring that the portion is big and in an Aircon environment. Recommendations:
(1) The restaurant is split into 2 sections, the lower level and the higher level. Dine in raised area to have a further view of the exterior.
(2) Parking maybe an issue over in the mall especially during Lunch Time. Alternative parking lots are available at the neighbourhood carpark beside the mall and within walking distance.

The word "Kazan" is known as volcano in Japanese. The numerous newpaper printouts had actually caught my attention as I walked past Tonkotsu Kazan Ramen. Initially I thought that Kazan is actually referring to its level of spiciness - as hot as volcano but as when I took a close look, I realised the "fun" in the meal and decided to give it a try.

"Irrashaimase" - a very loud and warm welcome greeted us upon stepping into the restaurant and gave a very good first impression. Secondly, the server came welcoming us with its menu. Tonkotsu Kazan Ramen was well decorated with the classic feel of a Japanese Ramen Stall similar to what I had visited in Japan. Not only was the utensils and cookery stuffs placed neatly, the ambience was well lited and rather quiet which served as a perfect place to dine over the weekends to keep away from the bustle of the city. Do help yourself with the freeflow of seasonings on the table ranging from vinegar to shoyu and they even provide garlic with the garlic press for their customers to enhance the taste of their dish.Proper instructions were pasted on the table to guide and share with customers how to cook a delicious kazan ramen. It had also advised customers customer to stay away from the hot stone bowl.We ordered the classic Shoyu Ramen to have a taste of its original Tonkotsu broth as it was mentioned on the menu that the broth was enhanced with a special blended soy sauce paste. Each strand of smooth and springy ramen is delectably coated with a flavourful broth. This aromatic broth somehow reminds me of a famous Ramen Stall located in Tanjong Pagar area! Yums!
Cost: S$12.00I had ordered one of its signature dish, Curry Kazan and the long awaited volcanic eruption performance is about to commenced. The dish was initially served in a hot stone pot and the server had pour half a pot of curry into it, covered it up with the hood and about one minute later, he poured the remaining curry into the stone pot again. Timing was all measured by the little hour glass device on the table as seen in the picture).
Cost: S$18.00The hood was then remove and "ta-da", take a look the end product and enjoy the sizzling sound in the video.


Not only we have to be caution on the pipping hot stone pot, we have to be additional careful and keep a distance from the curry as they may follow the "sizzling" sound and stain our clothing. Do also note that my meal comes with additional bowl of rice to goes along with the remaining curry as the portion is enormous for me, I suggest that the meal can be shared by 2 instead!
Last but not least, if you are thinking of having green tea in this Japanese restaurant, you can find alternatives as green tea is not available in its menu. The total bill for the night including 10% of Service Charge and 7% GST is well spent for the night as I really enjoyed every bit of the meal.

Fridays are made miserable especially when you are dining in the newly open shopping Mall, JEM. Queues for every restaurants are snaky long enough to hold you up to almost half an hour of wait. But don't judge too early, some food are simply worth the wait. Let's check it out:

While waiting for our orders, we were served with a small dish of fresh crunchy vegetables (cut cucumber, carrots and cabbages) as appetizer with lemon and sweet tangy sauce. Buta Platter - A Selection of pork skewers, Chizu maki, enaki maki, buta bara, buta kimuchi maki and tomato maki. These charcoal grilled flavoured skewers can be seen freshly grilled through the glass panels of the restaurants.
Cost: S$14.40Kinoko Tofu - One of the recommendations on the menu. This silken tofu comes with a few types of mushroom in a savoury sauce.
Cost: S$8.20Mentaiko Pasta - Pasta tossed with codfish roe, seaweed and bacon. Tastes very unique with every coarse bite from the roes and carries slight dryness in the spaghetti.
Cost: S$16.60

Ika Kumuchi - Highly recommended by the server. This grilled Squid that is filled with Kimchi, sour and spicy. If you like kimchi, do try it!
Cost: S$16.80Ton Katsu Curry Don - Breaded fried piece of pork that looks pretty normal. The unattractive fading brown has somehow "spoilt" the dish. Curry gravy is solely curry without potatoes and other ingredients.
Cost: S$16.80Iced Lychee Tea - Simple drink decorated with one sweetened lychee by the side of the glass.
Cost: S$4.80Cloudy Apple Yakult - As a Yakult lover, I could not resist this new flavour drink listed out in the menu! The chilled apple juiced yakult mixture is tangy and comes with some "popping" yogurt balls.
Cost: S$6.20This is the total damage for the night for 3 pax including 10% of Service Charge and 7% of GST. Do also bear in mind that the napkins are chargeable.Recommendations:
(1) Think twice before driving to JEM over Friday and the weekends. My friend waited almost 1.5 hours in the carpark and we were about to complete our dinner.
(2) They gave us a name card. As suggested by the staff, it will be better to do a reservation.
(3) When we got our tables, it was almost 8pm (with almost 45 minutes of wait), do fill your stomach with something first before having dinner in Shin Kushiya.

I came to know of Nana's Green Tea through their outlet in JCube. However everything was so fast that it had closed down before I can even pay them a 2nd visit. And luckily there is another outlet opened in Plaza Singapura located in its atrium extension!

As it was nearing the end business day, most of the things we wanted to order was sold out. Therefore we have to make do with the available items on the menu. Once order is confirmed, an order slip was printed out and handed over to us.Love the Steamed Chicken Salad - $6.80 lots! Generous portion of shredded steam chicken was decorated on top of a wholesome crunchy vegetables which includes shredded lettuce, cucumbers and cherry tomato with sesame salad dressing and sprinkles of vinegar.
Meat is indeed very tender coated with generous spread of yakitori sauce and decorated with leeks by the side. If one didnt tell me that I'm having Yakitori - $5.80, I would thought that I was actually having frog's legs.
Bet that after a cup of Nana's Green Tea - $9, you will forget all the over sweetened Green Tea lattes available from Starbucks and Coffee Bean. Their green tea are imported from Kyoto and tastes fresh especially when it carries a bit of bitterness with right amounts of sweetness. Paired with 2 white little rice balls and a ball of Azuki (Red Bean) Paste with whipped cream by the side. This sums up my unforgettable green tea experience. Cool and I will be back for more!
Quite a number of restaurants has adopted the wireless technology technique by placing a device on the table allowing customer to indicate the type of service "Press for Service / Bill". With such implementation, it eliminate the hassle between customers and the helpers, thus increase the job efficiency. This is the total expenses for the night!Recommendations:
(1) If you are a CAPITASTAR member and has spend more than $20, do remember to scan your receipt and accumulate points.
(2) Be careful of the step when you entered the restaurant.