Hana Japanese Restaurant is located on the ground floor of Forum, The Shopping Mall. They have gone through a revamp just two week ago and are now ready to serve customers Japanese food, with a modern and local twist. The owner Deborah, shared about passion she has for Japanese food in a comfortable and cosy setting where young families and couples could grab a bite and enjoy the taste and look of the food. Having said that, their desserts are also spectacular, especially since Hana and Benjamin Browns are owned by the same people, famous for their over the top milkshake, do give Hana's dessert selection a try! 1. Sushi Box 3×3 Grid $28++
Instead of ordering all your sushi via ala carte mode, try ordering the grid boxes. This way you get to try a bit of 9 varied items. From cooked food, like fried tempura, octopus to sashimi to truffle chawanmushi was by the way is probably the best chawanmushi I've ever had. It melts in your mouth and the truffle flavour is distinctive yet not overpowering.2. Sushi Taco
I've never had sushi in a taco before and this was an ingenious idea! With a crispy taco shell, you can choose between lobster, japanese egg mayo, prawn, and soft shell crab, all topped generously with tobiko.Lobster $15++ *highly recommend*
On one side of the taco shell you will spot a golden slice of cheese, melted to the taco. At the bottom of the taco, you have some leafy greens, and sushi rice. The main star here is the lobster salad. What I adore the most, was how fresh the lobster was along with the crunchy tobiko. This was most probably the most guily-free taco I've ever eaten! The colour of the tobiko, lobster salad and greens added an appealing visual and pleasant satisfying crunch! For $15++, you will get TWO of these. It's a great deal to be honest, for the quality of food you're getting here. I would be heading there for lunch daily, if I worked in the Orchard region.
Soft Shell Crab $15++
Another Taco that I tried was the soft shell crab, the soft shell crab had a nice meaty flavour. It was slightly crisp golden brown on the exterior and lying beneath this golden layer is fresh crab meat. Flavour wise, the soft shell crab went well with the slice of torched cheese, sushi rice and tobiko. Definitely give this a try if you're a soft shell crab fan!3. Pitan Maki $18++ *Highly Recommended*
When Deborah pointed behind me to tell me they were serving us pitan (century egg) maki, I was like, "Get outta here!". Mother of all Fusion Foods! This was it. This was the clear winner of the night for me. The century egg puree has a tinge of sweetness along with it's characteristic century egg flavour. It was flavourful and yet refreshing at the same time. I definitely appreciated the effort taken to plate this dish.4. Soft Shell Crab Maki $16++
Another very interesting fusion sushi is this soft shell crab sushi served with a chili crab dip. You can see chunks of crab meat in the bright red sauce that brought about a sweet aroma. The chili crab sauce wasn't too spicy and I was say, it's kid friendly! The maki itself tasted great and tasted even better the chilli crab sauce.5. Flying Truffle Somen $20++ *Highly Recommended*
Flying Noodles! This is the first time I've seen it in a restaurant in Singapore, so kudos to Hana for executing this menu item. The Somen is suspended in the air, looking like it's levitating by some divine intervention. But in actual fact, those noodles are really, al dente somen noodles garnished with little shrimps that provides the noodles a salty flavour, along with ikura. The dipping sauce provided is so addictive. I would double dip my noodles into the bowl of sauce! It had a tinge of sweetness and also a savoury aftertaste. This was my personal favourite amongst all the 3 flying noodle dishes.6. Flying Salted Egg Udon $18++
Flying udon, this time served with salted egg sauce. The salted egg sauce was smooth with a shiok and fiery factor of salted egg along with some chili slices that was not too overwhelming.7. Flying Cha Soba with Spam Soba Sushi $16++
I've never really been a fan of soba noodles but now that it's a Flying Soba noodle dish, I had to try it! Served with spam cha soba sushi, I must really take my hat off to the Hana team for this innovative sushi. Instead of rice, cha soba is used and since soba is rather bland on it's own. The spam sushi give the sushi an overall taste. Who would've thought that soba and spam would go well together. 8. Truffle Beef Fried Rice $18++
The presentation of this dish was very interesting. The tempura flakes are in the glass bottle that is "feeding" into the rice. The truffle flavour and aroma could be tasted in the rice and with the added crunch from the tempura flakes, it was delicious. The beef however was a tad too tough for my liking. Even at Benjamin Browns, when I ordered a Sizzling Beef Chunk, I felt that the beef was too tough for my liking. Other than that, a very tasty rice dish.Overall : Hana has definitely gone miles to intrigue patrons tastebuds. Be it, an office lunch, after office hours chill out, or a family meal after spending the weekend at Toy’R us. There’s so many choices of Japanese food at Hana to cater to everyone!Restaurant Info

Name : Hana Restaurant

Address : 583 Orchard Road, #01-17 Forum The Shopping Mall, Forum The Shopping

Contact : 6737 5525

Hours : 11:30am – 10pm Daily

I've heard lots of good things about Keng Eng Kee (KEK) Seafood in Bukit Merah and decided to give it a try along with a family birthday celebration. It was easy to make a phone reservation just a day before, but do call earlier if you have firmed up plans, to ensure air-con availability. 1. Salted Egg Crab $70/kg *highly recommended*
Crabs seem to command better prices that rare minerals like gold or diamonds! It was just 2 years ago when 1kg of crabs cost $50, but nevertheless, these Indian crabs are fleshy. The salted egg sauce was so good, you know it's real salted egg and not the powered artificial salted egg, due to the graininess of the sauce. Not to mention, the taste. Sadly, KEK does no serve fried mantous, only the steamed mantous at $1 per piece. In the background of this photo, you can see 2 mantous, they're pretty big but I would still prefer to dip fried mantous into the sauce. The crab tasted reasonably fresh, but I felt that the chef had fried the crab for too long, resulting in the meat being stuck to parts of the shell.2. Ming Zhu Roll *highly recommended*
This mingzhu roll is definitely a worthy cause to visit KEK. With salted egg right in the middle, this is so pretty and yet delicious. This dish came straight to our table within 2 minutes of ordering. I was confused if this order belonged to another table, but the staff insisted it was for us. The batter is light and crispy. The mushrooms were juicy and added alot of flavour.3. Fried Hor Fun $5/$8 *highly recommended*
Probably their number 1 seller is their fried hor fun. Served with a raw egg. This dish is one of a kind, the wok hei can be subtly picked up by you sense of smell, but the taste of the wok hei is so vivid to your tastebud! The egg helps to make the hor fun wet, and when we ordered both a $5 and a $8 portion, we felt that they gave the same amount of ingredients, with 1 egg in each dish. Maybe they gave us more noodles, but we couldn't see the difference.There's prawns, lup cheong (chinese sausage), squids and some slices of fish mixed into the delicious and fragrant fried hor fun. I definitely want to come back to KEK seafood for this!4. Fried Prawn Paste Chicken
A family favourite that we usually order at every zi char, tasted rather ordinary here at KEK. The pieces were quite small and wasn't quite what we expected since the other dishes had set our expectations much higher. Skip this and also skip the hot plate tofu, it was bland and a waste of $10.5. Coffee Pork Ribs *highly recommended*
The coffee pork ribs were so addictive. The meat was boneless and tender. The coffee sauce wasn't too sweet or over powering. The meat had a tad sweetness and chewiness in every bite. The coffee sauce was the bomb!

Overall : A great place for a family meal. It cost us $180 including drinks for 7 adults.

Little House of Dreams has been through a big revamp and now sits comfortably beside Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The decor is very pretty, chic and cosy. The warm, light colours are used for the furniture and walls. There's even a play corner for kids to hang out, while parents watch them and have some savoury mains, sides, cakes or ice cream and waffles from Ben & Jerry's. I love that you can order items from both places and dine in a single location.Sambal Sotong $16.90
Beautifully plated, this was an interesting menu item that you don't normally get to see in cafes. The squid itself had a chewy texture with a characteristic earthly flavour. The squid also maintained a slightly charred aftertaste. As I'm a weakling when it comes to spicy food, I did not try the sambal sauce.Prawn Paste Chicken Wings (4 pcs) $15.90

We were expecting drumlets and winglets but we were surprised to see 4 full chicken wings in a basket. On first impression, the prawn paste aroma was evident. But upon the chicken wings cooling down to a temperature which we could consume it at, the prawn paste taste was nowhere to be found. The skin was however, superbly crispy and the meat was juicy without being oily. No need to rush to the washroom to wash your hands after consuming this chicken wings!

3. Salted Egg Yolk Calamari $13.90 *Highly Recommended*I loved salted egg and I love calamari, hence this is one of my highly recommended dishes to try at Little House of dreams. The salted egg yolk sauce was creamy and yet slightly grainy and lumpy, coupled with a distinct aromatic flavour that had a mild salty-spicy aftertaste. I just couldn't stop munching on these! Even though, these calamari rings sat for awhile, during the photoshoot, despite being being soggy, the presence of the salted egg still stood out clearly.

6. Ribeye Steak with Salad $39.90

I usually liked my steak medium, but this was medium-well and I still liked it. The steak was juicy and tender and together with the provided steak sauce, this was a very appetizing. The salad had little sliced baby potatoes which I felt was an interesting way to present carbs on a plate, without making the plate look cluttered with carbs.

8. Pork Ribs with Salad $34.90The pork ribs were thick, meaty and succulent. The meat was tasty but just like the pulled pork, it could've been a bit more tender. The sauce was sweet and tangy and perfectly marinated deep into the meat.

9. Spaghetti Laksa Prawns $26.90Simple ingredients and yet exploding with flavours. The prawns were huge but the gradual follow up with the spicy intensity didn't allow me to taste the prawns.

10. Chilli Crab Bun $19.90 *Highly Recommended*

The chilli crab patty was made with real crab meat, the sauce itself wasn't spicy and kids could probably eat this too! The chilli crab bun was certainly a satisfying and enjoyable one. The bun was toasted till the ends of the bun was crisp and pillowy in the center. The chilli crab sauce topped the crab patty with a sweet and tangy taste contributing to a shiok and yummy satisfaction level. The crab patty was also well marinated, tender, and flavourful.

14. Vanilla Bloom Pot $6.90 *Highly Recommended*This was so pretty! So much effort is made by Little House of Dreams to give you the unique dessert experience. This is actually a cupcake dressed up as a potted plant. The creme on top, was alright in sweetness factor. The cupcake on the inside was on the drier side but tasted great, when combined with the creme. I'll probably be craving for this in the d

18. Snickers Cheesecake $7.90 *Highly Recommended*The owners mentioned that if you like nuts, or snickers, you'll be a fan of this cheesecake. That was me and I knew immediately that I had to try this. Indeed, this cheesecake was filled with nuts, caramel, chocolate and a chocolate cookie handmade crust. The cheesecake was dense, but not overly sweet. I wasn't expecting this to be spectacular but it sure was!19. Lavender Blue Fruit Fizzies $8.90

All the fruit fizzies are ingeniously thought out. My Lavender Blue Fruit Fizzie was made with lavender and little iced cubes with real strawberries on the inside.

Little House of Dreams has been through a big revamp and now sits comfortably beside Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The decor is very pretty, chic and cosy. The warm, light colours are used for the furniture and walls. There's even a play corner for kids to hang out, while parents watch them and have some savoury mains, sides, cakes or ice cream and waffles from Ben & Jerry's. I love that you can order items from both places and dine in a single location.Sambal Sotong $16.90
Beautifully plated, this was an interesting menu item that you don't normally get to see in cafes. The squid itself had a chewy texture with a characteristic earthly flavour. The squid also maintained a slightly charred aftertaste. As I'm a weakling when it comes to spicy food, I did not try the sambal sauce.Prawn Paste Chicken Wings (4 pcs) $15.90

We were expecting drumlets and winglets but we were surprised to see 4 full chicken wings in a basket. On first impression, the prawn paste aroma was evident. But upon the chicken wings cooling down to a temperature which we could consume it at, the prawn paste taste was nowhere to be found. The skin was however, superbly crispy and the meat was juicy without being oily. No need to rush to the washroom to wash your hands after consuming this chicken wings!

3. Salted Egg Yolk Calamari $13.90 *Highly Recommended*I loved salted egg and I love calamari, hence this is one of my highly recommended dishes to try at Little House of dreams. The salted egg yolk sauce was creamy and yet slightly grainy and lumpy, coupled with a distinct aromatic flavour that had a mild salty-spicy aftertaste. I just couldn't stop munching on these! Even though, these calamari rings sat for awhile, during the photoshoot, despite being being soggy, the presence of the salted egg still stood out clearly.

6. Ribeye Steak with Salad $39.90

I usually liked my steak medium, but this was medium-well and I still liked it. The steak was juicy and tender and together with the provided steak sauce, this was a very appetizing. The salad had little sliced baby potatoes which I felt was an interesting way to present carbs on a plate, without making the plate look cluttered with carbs.

8. Pork Ribs with Salad $34.90The pork ribs were thick, meaty and succulent. The meat was tasty but just like the pulled pork, it could've been a bit more tender. The sauce was sweet and tangy and perfectly marinated deep into the meat.

9. Spaghetti Laksa Prawns $26.90Simple ingredients and yet exploding with flavours. The prawns were huge but the gradual follow up with the spicy intensity didn't allow me to taste the prawns.

10. Chilli Crab Bun $19.90 *Highly Recommended*

The chilli crab patty was made with real crab meat, the sauce itself wasn't spicy and kids could probably eat this too! The chilli crab bun was certainly a satisfying and enjoyable one. The bun was toasted till the ends of the bun was crisp and pillowy in the center. The chilli crab sauce topped the crab patty with a sweet and tangy taste contributing to a shiok and yummy satisfaction level. The crab patty was also well marinated, tender, and flavourful.

14. Vanilla Bloom Pot $6.90 *Highly Recommended*This was so pretty! So much effort is made by Little House of Dreams to give you the unique dessert experience. This is actually a cupcake dressed up as a potted plant. The creme on top, was alright in sweetness factor. The cupcake on the inside was on the drier side but tasted great, when combined with the creme. I'll probably be craving for this in the d

18. Snickers Cheesecake $7.90 *Highly Recommended*The owners mentioned that if you like nuts, or snickers, you'll be a fan of this cheesecake. That was me and I knew immediately that I had to try this. Indeed, this cheesecake was filled with nuts, caramel, chocolate and a chocolate cookie handmade crust. The cheesecake was dense, but not overly sweet. I wasn't expecting this to be spectacular but it sure was!19. Lavender Blue Fruit Fizzies $8.90

All the fruit fizzies are ingeniously thought out. My Lavender Blue Fruit Fizzie was made with lavender and little iced cubes with real strawberries on the inside.

Located in Clarke Quay is Shuffle Bar & Bistro that boosts live entertainment. On a monday night, which was National Day Eve. My cousins and I popped by and at the entrance, the staff asked us if we had made a reservation, unfortunately we had no idea how crowded it would be, which resulted in us getting seated at the back of the dining area. Note to self, always make a reservation at Shuffle, especially if you want to be closer to the stage and performances. 1. Smoked Duck Pizza $20++
This was a signature pizza and was found on almost every patron's table. The juicy and tender smoked duck slices, came with a variety of cheese, melted perfectly on a black pepper base and cucumbers. Simple ingredients but executed very well. The result? Khong Guan biscuit like pizza crust and the cheese on the pizza was simply irresistible, not to mention even when the pizza had cooled down, the pizza was still just as delightful in taste! I'm definitely coming back for more of this pizza.2. Aglio Olio $16++
We had an option of linguine or penne and we choose penne. I like penne better as it is easier to eat with a fork. The penne however wasn't cooked to an al dente texture. It had a rather hard bite in every one of the penne. It was a let down. Not to mention the Aglio Olio was very spicy. One of the spiciest pasta I've ever tried. The duck pizza had set such a high standard for dinner and this was just on the other end of the scale.3. Beer Battered Fish and Chips $18++
The portion of the fish and chips was huge, definitely too big for a lady, but probably decently sized for a boy's night out. The waffle chips were slightly salty and were crisp. The fish itself had a subtle taste but the tar tar sauce definitely made it more palatable. It wasn't a fantastic fish and chips, but I guess if you were craving for something like this and you're at Shuffle, no harm trying!Overall : I went to Shuffle in hopes of trying their paddle pop salted egg tart that they posted on instagram a week ago, but nope. They didn't have it. It was a slight disappointment but at least the smoked duck pizza made up for it! I'm so coming back for more of this pizza and I'm bringing more friends to soak up the atmosphere and conquer more pizzas!