As Japanese food is one of my favourite cuisines, we decided to head to Tampopo, a Japanese restaurant in Takashimaya to try out the ramen there. Of course, being the foodie I am, I had to opt for the most exciting and "filled" ramen so I got the "Deluxe Hakodate Ramen". It came with corn, butter, bamboo shoots, seaweed, egg and of course, porkThe broth was creamy and a tad too salty, but the chewy noodles and pork made up for it. The best part would have to be the egg which was half-cooked with a melt-in-your-mouth egg yolk! All in all, it was a very satisfying bowl of Ramen and I will definitely be heading back to try out the other ramen dishes!

For about $16 including GST and service charge, it is around the average price for a bowl of Ramen.

I mentioned in a previous review that Carl's Jr is my favourite fast food outlet in Singapore. Step aside Macdonalds, Carl's Jr is the category of the big boys. With larger portions and thicker-cut fries that the golden arches, Carl's Jr is a place best for the hungry and army boys. Which is also why it is right up my alley.

I usually opt for the Famous star cheese burger (which is easily one and a half times the size of a burger from McD) and make it a meal with fries and free flow of drink. This time, they were having a lunchtime promotion for their Famous star with chili cheese sauce so I opted for that while my dining partner had a breaded chicken sandwich. My favourite part of every CJ meal would have to be the thick cut fries. They are deliciously satisfying to eat and seem to be a lot more flavourful than the stringy ones offered at McDs. Not to mention the free salsa bar at CJ means that you can pick and choose which salsa sauce you want with your meal! For drinks, I usually get the homemade tea and this is also a much healthier option because the tea is unsweetened so you can choose how much (or little) sugar you want to add in it. All for only $7.90 and free-flow of drink too! On to the star of the show, sadly this time the burger was a disappointment. While I usually love the famous star with its thick beef patty and generous vegetable fillings, the chili cheese seemed to dominate the taste of the entire burger making everything taste like chili cheese. Which would have been wonderful if I had been a fan of chili cheese, but unfortunately, my tastebuds do not like angmoh chili very well. While it was not spicy, I have to say that it has an acquired taste that some of us may not be used to probably due to the spices they used.

Next time, I'll just stick to my usual Famous star minus the chili cheese so that I can enjoy my burger just the way it is. If you're looking for a quick and value-for-money meal, do head down to Carl's Jr to try out their burgers and fries!

When I used to work in a boutique in Orchard road being paid $7.50/hr as a part-time staff, I initially despaired over my lunch options because dining in town is usually on the more expensive side and I needed to figure out a way to eat good food at a price easy on my (slim) wallet. Thankfully, my co-workers brought me to Lucky Food Centre, located in Lucky Plaza (yes, a place that we usually don't venture into), that has a food court with reasonably priced dishes from about $3-6 a pop.

One of favourite stalls is the River Valley Nasi Lemak, which sells, Nasi lemak with the various condiments from fried chicken wings to fish and curry vegetables. A plate of Nasi lemak costs $3.50, and includes fragrant coconut rice, fried fish, egg omelette, otah, cucumber and the most important part, the chili sauce. I always make it a point to ask for extra chili sauce because it’s sweet and spicy and makes the dish so much more satisfying. The portions are also just enough but maybe a too little for those with larger appetites.

On the whole, I highly recommend this for an affordable and delicious meal in Town.

Kamameshi is Japanese rice flavoured with special ingredients and steamed in an iron pot, providing a steamy pot of aromatic rice for you to enjoy! I decided to try out the house specialty when we were at this restaurant the other day, since the presentation looked really cool! (cheap thrill)

I got the Tori and Unagi Kamemashi ($17.44) which was grilled eel and tender chicken in soya sauce. It arrived in a cute wooden contraption and a mini hourglass set to time for 1 minute. You're supposed to let the rice steam for 1 minute first, so when the hourglass runs out, you'll know when it's time to dig in! After the 1 minute is up, gently mix the ingredients and load 'em onto your plate! Be sure to put the lid back on the pot so that the rice left inside does not dry out and then you're ready to enjoy your meal. The rice was filled with lots of eel and chicken pieces, and things like green beans and carrots in the warm and chewy soya rice. While it was delicious, I'm usually not a fan of such rice dishes so I don't think I'll be coming back for more of this. However if steamed rice is right up your alley, head down to Sun with Moon Japanese Dining & Café to try it out!

One of my favourite snacks to eat in Singapore has got to be the sweet and icy ice cream! Perfect for hot sweltering afternoons in June, there’s always time for this lovely snack. I shared a triple scoop with 2 friends for an after lunch snack, and we got mint chocolate chip, strawberry and macadamia nut on a chocolate waffle biscuit ($12~)! I love their waffles because it smells so fragrant and delicious and goes really well with the ice cream! While the quality of the ice cream is nothing to write home about, the macadamia nut flavor was my favourite. That said, there are better ice creams out there so I’m only ambivalent about Andersens. After all, the ice cream scene in Singapore is always changing so quickly with fun and fresh flavors coming out all the time. Andersen’s has got to rethink its brand strategy to be able to keep up with the crowd in the long run.