Unfortunately, my dad has already dug in to his meal and this was what was left of his Yoshinoya dinner. This was something like chicken rice but served with brown rice and some pieces of braised silken tofu. I wouldn't be surprised if the tofu was the prepacked kind as Yoshinoya is a fast-food chain after all. The chicken was surprisingly soft and rather flavourful. Everyone knows that brown rice is the healthier alternative to white rice so I was also pleasantly surprised when a fast-food chain offered it. Not a bad choice if you don't know what else to eat when you're at a food court.

My first time trying out Snackz It. I've passed by this little stall many times on my way home and know that it sells Taiwan-style chicken cutlets, which is renowned and very popular among Singaporean youths these days. I ordered the Chicken Bento Box ($5.50) as takeout for dinner. It came with rice, a chicken cutlet, one braised egg and some cabbage that served as salad. Their chicken is fried upon your order so it was fresh and hot upon serving. You can see the pepper flakes on the chicken skin and know that it was well-marinated. Chicken skin was crispy and the meat was tender. The serving of rice was so huge that it can easily feed 2 people!

I've always like MOF for it's good food, wide range of choices and fast service. Today's visit was no different but I was not impressed with the service standard from one of the girl servers. Being a member at MOF is quite good as it entitles you to a big pot of green tea with free refills throughout your dining experience. Members also get 10% off total bill and there is a monthly member set meal which is a set meal at a discounted price. Other than that, the restaurant also gives out free tea/ coffee coupons that you can redeem whenever you like. You can even go in just for that cup of free drink with no other food orders! All these just for a nominal fee of about $20 (if I'm not wrong). Membership lasts for a year or so? However, the staff is not too picky about the expiration date. Many Japanese restaurants serve green tea that are is bland but the green tea that MOF serves is rich and flavourful. When you are about the finish the pot of green tea, the tea that is poured is of a dark green consistency. We only ordered a bowl of teriyaki chicken ramen this time as we were all not too hungry. It was ok relative to other dishes that I've tried here. I particularly loved the egg though that had a slightly runny yolk and silky egg white.

Moving on to the service staff. Our orders were taken by a particular server. She seemed experienced but was not in uniform. She appeared to be very impatient while taking our orders, frequently looking up and did not really bother to acknowledge our presence. We were very disappointed with her treatment.

Sakae Sushi used to be one of my family's favourite hangout when we were staying in Bukit Batok. Sadly, its standard has dropped for a certain period of time but once in a while we still visit it for some Japanese food. This is the Stir-fried Konnyaku Noodles (beef) for $9.99. The price was reasonable for the portion. The noodles were some sort of glass noodles that was springy and slightly crunchy. Beef was soft and tender and there were mushrooms and sliced carrots as garnishing. Surprisingly, there was quite a lot of beef cubes and I think it might be able to feed 2 small-eaters.

I'm not sure if the staff has undergone hygiene trainings before but when I requested for one of them to refill the ginger slices, she simply left the mini tong on the table. I was rather disgusted by that action and didn't touch the ginger slices subsequently. Maybe it's time to step up on hygiene classes for Sakae Sushi staff.

When one craves for good commercial Japanese food, Ichiban Sushi always comes to mind. Famed for its bento sets which offer a wide variety of food choices for the consumer who wants a bit of everything, there is always a queue for their awesome Japanese food, especially during dinner hours. This is a complimentary gyoza dish (redeemable by a loyalty card system that Ichiban has, will elaborate on this below). This dish is not fantastic and tastes like your ordinary gyoza. However, it comes with a special sauce that is slightly spicy which adds an unexpected kick to the gyoza. Stuffed mostly with vegetables, the pork filling is made up mostly of fats (the health-conscious might not like it). This Hotate Wazen is from the restaurant's Festive Delights Menu ($21.90). It comes with scallop with mushroom and tofu in house special sauce, grilled cuttlefish ball with spicy mentai sauce & cheese, salmon sashimi, chawanmushi, rice, miso soup and fruit. The scallop comes raw so you have to cook it for about 15-20 mins and make sure that is fully cooked before consumption. We did not know this and the server didn't inform us as well. We had to ask if the scallop was cooked and only then did one of the waiters tell us that we had to cook them. I thought that this was very careless and dismissive of the servers as it would be a torture to your tummy if you ate raw seafood that was meant to be cooked before consumption. But overall, this dish was nice and satisfying. Cheese fanatics would love this as the cuttlefish balls are drizzled with grilled cheese and the special sauce that the scallops come in also has cheese in it. The Tartar Tori Wazen Set ($19.90) comes with a crispy chicken with Japanese tartar sauce & cheese squid with ginger sauce, salmon sashimi, chawanmushi, rice, miso soup and fruit. The chicken cutlet was as fried chicken should be, fluffy and tender at the right parts. The tartar sauce can be a little overpowering and by the time I was about halfway through the chicken, I was rather sick of the taste. Combining squid with cheese and ginger sauce seems odd but surprisingly my taste buds did not protest at this combination. These are parts of the Spicy Gyu Imo Wazen ($21.90). It comes with beef with potato in spicy garlic miso sauce, crab stick and cream cheese wrap, salmon sashimi with spicy sauce & mayonnaise, chawanmushi, rice, miso soup and fruit. I liked the beef as it was soft and juicy and the sauce goes really well with plain rice. Not a huge fan of the sashimi with mayonnaise as I thought that there was too much mayo around. The crab stick with cream cheese wrap was innovative but did not leave much of an impression.This is a complimentary green tea ice cream with red bean and glutinous rice balls. Normal green tea ice cream that you can get anywhere else. Not fantastic.

The service at IMM is not great. We were a party of 6 and had to wait up to half an hour for a table (8-8.30pm). The staff's allocation of customers to their seats were not the most efficient and we saw that many tables that can seat 2 were left unoccupied. By the time we got our food and started dining, it was almost 9. There was a trainee staff who was rather unfriendly and did not attempt a smile throughout her service. Someone should teach her how to achieve a nice smoky-eyed makeup effect. Since she did not have a smile on her face at all, she looked like she had been punched. A scheme to keep the customers coming back is the loyalty card system which allows you to redeem free food/vouchers during some of your visits. Just visit more to get more stamps and you can enjoy some free dishes (like the gyoza dish). You can also get a free spin on the wheel of fortune when your card is filled up (kids find this really fun). Prizes include $20-$80 cash vouchers. You get a chance to participate in a lucky draw where you stand a chance to win a trip to Tokyo! I would visit Ichiban for their food but would go earlier next time to secure a table at a more appropriate timing. I would also recommend that 2 people share one set (especially if you're a small-eater) as there is just too much food in one set.