For full review with photos, pls visit:
http://myfrozenreminiscence.blogspot.sg/2013/06/hifumi-japanese-restaurant.html

"Welcome to Hifumi Japanese Restaurant!"
... was what I wanted to hear but instead it was..

"How many?"
"You can only eat for 90 minutes, you okay?"

Hifumi is a wallet-friendly Japanese Restaurants that offers all-you-can-eat appetizer bar when you order any of their set menu.. (kinda reminds me of Ponderosa and Sizzler which have ceased their operations in Singapore..)

Also, you can just pay an additional $2 for free flow of drinks that ranges from soft drinks such as Gingle Ale and Mirinda, to hot beverages such as Mocha, Latte and Green Tea.

Salmon Oyako-jyu Set ($17.99) was pleasant visually.. the generous portion of salmon and salmon roe had totally covered the box of rice.. I took the first mouthful without any wasabi and soy sauce.. (-_-) the salmon was of room temperature..

by right, the chilled raw salmon should be taken out for cut when they prepare the dish.. hence, if the salmon was of room temperature.. either they did not chill the raw salmon or they had prepared the dish beforehand and served it up when someone ordered it.. it was the first time I ate my favorite salmon so slowly..

Saba Shioyaki Set ($12.99) looked good.. apologies for not having any comments on how it tastes cos' I'm not a fan of saba..

The appetizer bar was definitely more star-worthy than the main sets.. Takoyaki and Onion Steak were the latest items introduced about 5 weeks ago.. I don't eat onions so you won't see that on my plate..

Takoyaki was passable.. alternative meaning that you can really pass on it..

I really wanted to tabao (take away) Sweet Potato Fries soooo much.. It was fried to crisp and then stirred in sugar syrup and glazed with brown sugar powder.. This dish was super powerful! I could snack on this for 90 minutes..

Rice Cracker was to be eaten with vegetable gravy.. but the vegetable gravy is not in the picture.. the gravy was cooked with onions, cabbage and carrots.. thickened with starch.. good to have with a bowl of rice.. (^o^)

Vegetable with Cheese Fondue has vegetables such as broccoli and potatoes.. I took potatoes only.. hahaha.. I'm not an "avid" vegetable lover.. but as all of us know.. anything with cheese just won't go wrong (most of the time)..

Chawanmushi was nicely done.. to the extent that it surprised me a little.. the silken egg was soft and smooth.. it was so nice that I had 3 of this! besides a cube of mushroom and crabstick.. there was.. a SHRIMP!

My number one dish: Pumpkin with Walnut Salad.. This was super delicious! The mayonnaise / salad sauce was not too creamy and thick.. so it was just nice.. This was another dish that I want to tabao too!!

Soba with Sesame dipping sauce was a pretty generous dish to have on an appetiser bar.. especially if it's all-you-can-eat.. this was not mine but I heard that it was refreshing and nice.. and of course filling too..

Radish with Minced Chicken tasted healthy.. hahahahaa.. in other words, bland.. like hospital food.. gosh..

While rubbing the full full tummy, finish the meal with something sweet like Fruit Cocktail!

Time to review other aspects of the restaurant..

Service: BAD! No greetings, no smiles, no courtesy.. The first Japanese restaurant that does not say "Irasshaimase" (Welcome/Please come in).. When I went to pay.. the staff did not talk to me at all.. she was talking to the waiter.. pointed at the amount I had to pay and put her hand out, asking for my payment.. after I handed her my credit card, she left! and asked the other staff to print out the receipt for my signature.. Omg..

Ambience: Spacious.. which was really an important point because there were a lot of space for you to move around to get your food and drinks!

Hygiene: FAIL BIG TIME! They do not use disinfectant spray to wipe the table.. I saw the waiter wiped the table with a cloth and swept the bits of food to the floor and some flew onto the chair.. he did not bother to clean the chair.. it was like that when I was there watching him clearing the tables..

Verdict: Though the service was bad, the hygiene was not up to standard.. I will be back for second visit! because I only spent about $20 per pax and I felt like I had eaten an ala-carte buffet.. Worth it!

The Crispy Chicken was indeed crispy and chunky, but it was quite oily as well. On the other hand, (literally on the other hand) the fish fillet kinda reminds me Big M's fish fillets. It was soft and moist! It could be a healthier choice over the oily fried chicken.

I thought that the taste was rather light overall, but the texture was rather springy and soft. However, the bun absorbed some of the oil from the fried chicken and the overflowing sauce. Somehow, the bun lost its flavor and became a little soggy when I was eating it halfway.

Verdict: Though the buns lack a bit of the yummilicious factor, the appealing appearance of the buns is the selling point! Most of all, the wide variety of buns and sauces allow customers to mix and match, and experiment to come up with a delicious bun! I will be back, for sure.

For full review with photos of food and menu, please visit:
http://myfrozenreminiscence.blogspot.sg/2013/08/bear-bites.html

Part of my review:

Experience: It was like a roller-coaster ride.. Among those dim sum items that I've ordered, a few were nice and some that did not make the mark.. Judging from the marketing point that Bosses offers dim sum that are different from usual, I like that it serves many items that most dim sum restaurants don't.. However, it still lacks a bit in the tastiness..

For full review with photographs, please visit:
http://myfrozenreminiscence.blogspot.sg/2013/07/bosses-restaurant.html

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For full review, please visit: http://myfrozenreminiscence.blogspot.sg/2013/11/ramen-kagetsu-arashi-cathay.html

Before I comment on the ramen, I have to admit that I am an amateur gourmet when it comes to ramen. But fortunately, I was tasting Ramen Kagetsu Arashi with two food gourmets and one of them is a ramen fanatic.

Miss P ordered Arashi Genkotsu Ramen - Kagetsu's best-selling ramen. It features Kagetsu's house-made pork broth, simmered with pork marrow bones, fat and collagen. The natural sweetness stems from adding lots of garlic, onions, vegetables and various spices to the broth.

On the other hand, Miss H (ramen fanatic) ordered Arashi Genkotsu Miso Ramen which features Kagetsu's original miso soup. Kagetsu says that they use the finest miso paste from the prefectures across Japan. Each provincial flavor is infused to recreate an aromatic yet flavorful soup.

I ordered Arashi Genkotsu Shio Ramen. The soup was cooked with unrefined and natural sea salt which accentuates the flavors of the milky white broth.
It was said that natural sea salt has a richer, and more complex taste than processed salt. Kagetsu says that this gives their soup base "a distinctively refreshing taste".

Both Miss P and Miss H felt that the broth was indeed very thick. Compared to many other ramen, Kagetsu's broth has a very distinctively strong garlic taste and smell. While it is very subjective to comment whether it is aromatic or not, I must say that Kagetsu's broth did made itself different from many chain ramen restaurants. Even though the strong garlic-ness did hit a punch on everyone's face, I could still taste the sweetness of the rich broth.

Noodles per se failed big time. Miss H, the ramen fanatic, only finished half of what was served. Not because she was full, but she just could not continue eating the soggy overcooked noodles. As for me, I thought the noodles was comparable to the instant noodles I cook. Hahaha.. I don't have high expectations lah. So I could say that Kagetsu does better than certain chain ramen restaurants like Ajis*n. But for the similar price, I would head for Keisuke's Ramen.

Miss P, the slender girl with a huge appetite, was the first to bottoms up! I thought she cleaned it up because it was so delicious but hell no! She shook her head and said that it was not nice; she was just hungry. -_-

It is an open secret that we can hardly find a good side dish at a ramen restaurant (besides Keisuke!). The pork cutlet (tonkatsu) was so floury and the batter coating was just too thick. Just imagine the ratio between the pork and batter is 1:1. The gyoza was much better, at least. The filling was pretty decent but the skin could be crispier. Also, either they should stuff it with more filling or they should use a smaller gyoza skin. The interior of the gyoza was so empty. Disappointing.

In conclusion, Kagetsu's ramen fared 5.5/10 and the sides were about 4/10. The serving is quite big so it does fill your stomach but it would not satisfy the you who is looking for a good ramen.

Wanna have some ice cream?
Let's have the scientists concoct ice cream in a dark and mysterious laboratory down in the basement!

Just Like It! has just opened another outlet at ION Orchard (Basement 4) on 3 August.

The novelty of this conceptualized ice cream store? They do not use a regular ice cream machine to make ice cream. Instead, they use mixer and add liquid nitrogen.

When the scientists (staff) starts mixing in liquid nitrogen, this is the part of the experiment where the crowd starts to gather.

FYI: Liquid nitrogen is odorless, colorless and non-flammable. The method of using liquid nitrogen to prepare frozen desserts has been widely used and commercialized recently.

Verdict: For novelty's sake, try it! It tasted "just like" ice cream, though I get to enjoy the visual effects of the making of the ice cream. Not complaining, but I'd rather get my favorite gelato that's almost the same price.

For full review with photos, please visit:
http://myfrozenreminiscence.blogspot.sg/2013/08/just-like-it-ion-orchard.html

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