I had wandered into IKYU without any knowledge about it, but it had looked rather nice, and my friend and I were both hungry. Since they were offering a set lunch at around $25, so figured, why not!The decor of the place is really nice, classy and elegant with a little industrial feel- plenty of dark wood and metal, with slightly darker (and more romantic?) lighting. The bar area, where patrons could sit, and where two sushi chefs- one Japanese and one Malaysian- were preparing sushi and entertaining everyone with their banter and stories. It was a very friendly and chill sort of vibe.

So after some consideration, we decided on what we wanted! We also ordered drinks, I got a yuzu iced tea (which was very normal and therefore not deserving of a photo) and he got a cocktail with milk and japanese strawberry liquer.Tadaaaaa! It doesn't look like much, but it was actually really good! The alcohol taste was really subtle, and even though I don't like milk, I would have gladly drunk the whole glass!

Anyway, our appetities came soon after. He stuck with the safe option- potato salad- while I went for the salmon spring roll. His potato salad was nothing amazing I felt, but he was happily gobbling it down, so I guess if you love potato you'd like it haha. I really like my spring roll though, the skin felt like the rice paper used for wrapping vietnamese spring rolls, but crispier, giving it a crunch, and the proportion of rice and salmon and roe was just nice, allowing me to taste and savour the buttery texture of the salmon ^^ The bonito flakes sprinkled on top were a nice touch too!

Then came our mains! I was super excited because I had got the chirashi don, which i love- sashimi slices on rice, what not to love!- and he got the seven sisters sushi (basically 7 pieces of sushi lol)
Here's his sushi! I couldn't take a nice picture because it was too long, but presentation was actually very nice! Moreover, the server was super nice too, he took the time to explain each sushi so that we could fully appreciate it. I tasted the tuna sushi, which had very nice, fat, sticky rice with a thick slice of tuna on top. While not the best tuna I've had, it was not bad.And then my set arrived! I was super happy when I saw it ^^ While the sashimi was chopped up instead of in slices, it was more than compensated by the huge amount of fish. The chirashi was really yummy, with each sashimi having different textures (the salmon was the best I feel, buttery and fat, it was smooth and slid down my throat) and mixed with the lightly seasoned rice There was also this sweet pickled gourd in it? I'm not sure what it's called, or if it even is what I think it is, but it went really well with the fish because its sweetness brought out the sweetness of the fish as well!Close-up of my yummy yummy lunch!

All in all, it was a great lunch with good food at fair prices. But what was really worth mention is actually the attentive and personalised service at IKYU. I have rarely had such great service, with prompt removal of dishes and topping up of water, and smiles all round. It was very impressive and made my lunch so much better! 5/5 stars!

I went on a food exploration trail a few weeks ago around Tiong Bahru after hearing that there had been an explosion of cafes and good food/coffee around that area. First on my trail was PS Cafe Petit; I had never been to PS Cafe before and so was looking forward to the experience. The interior was very very nice, very classy and plush, like a gentleman's club in New York or something.They had a really nice bar area, a huge selection of wine and even magazines to browse- they had the New Yorker! After we went in, the barista/bartender explained to us that it was more of a takeaway place, which explained the small size of the cafe, but that if we could eat in the cafe if we were willing to eat from takeaway plates, so we started our food journey with a latte and a meatball and mozzarella calzone.It might not look amazing in this picture, but it was actually not bad- the crust was thicker and more pastry-like than other calzones that I've tried, but it was steaming hot when we broke into it, and the meatball and mozzarella were perfect complements for each other. However, as we continued eating, it started to become reallyyyyy jelat, because of the cream and cheese. Here's a close up.It was then that we discovered the highlight of the dish- the chilli that they gave at the side. It looked like sambal, but it wasn't really spicy, instead, it tasted sweet with a tinge of tangy-ness and spiciness- from what we could tell, it was chilli fried with garlic, so it was really fragrant and crunchy and really really good when eaten together with the calzone, lightening the heavy cream and cheese. We also ordered a latte that was really good. It was smooth and creamy, but light, and the coffee wasn't sour or acidic at all, which I loved. Moreover, the barista was really really nice, chatting with us and making sure that we were comfortable, even asking for feedback about his coffee and about the food.

We went on to look about the rest of the Yong Siak area, but I really enjoyed PS Cafe Petit. While I might not come back for the food- it really was a bit too creamy for me- I would definitely come back for a cuppa.

I had great ramen at The Central's Santouka, so when I found that there was another outlet at Cuppage, I couldn't wait to try it. Just my luck, a couple of friends and I were around Somerset and looking for a lunch spot, so off to Santouka we went!

Whenever I go to ramen places, I always get their signature; I feel that from their signature/ original ramen dishes, you can more or less gauge the standard of the ramen. Thus at Santouka, I got the Shio ramen- the salt based ramen. And as always, I got a serving of the tamago ^^

I was really hungry so I couldn't wait for my ramen to arrive, and when it did it smelled sooooo good I almost forgot to take a picture of it first. Anyways, I was super excited and quickly dug in after taking the mandatory shot. At first slurp though, I was disappointed. The noodles were too soggy for my liking, and they were thicker than I remember (or expected). I like my ramen a little like mee kia, thin and springy, so that was a disappointment as it felt like instant noodles to me :/ The soup was slightly better, the chicken broth was tasty and flavourful, albeit a little salty, but it didn't make up for the ramen

I think what saved the day though, was the tamago- the egg that comes with ramen. I don't know how exactly it's made, nor how to make it, but I die for a perfect tamago; soft and creamy egg white and an almost liquid gold egg yolk that spills out when you bite into it. And boy oh boy, Santouka does a GREAT tamago.Their tamago is the perfect tamago; heaven in a bite. It's slight sweetness complements the salty soup so well, and Santouka gave a whole egg, unlike certain other ramen places (coughippudocough) so that I could enjoy my eggy goodness more.

While their ramen isn't as great as I remember, Santouka's tamago is perfect and I sincerely think that I might go back, just for the tamago heheh^^

I've heard from somewhere that &made was named so as to sound like the word 'homemade' in a french accent, after it's French creator. Well, being a restaurant of celebrity chef Bruno Mernard, I wanted to see if it was really all that great, so when my friend wanted to meet up for lunch around the area, I volunteered &made.

The decor of the place is a mix of modern and quirky, with colour tones of red, black and white. We were seated at the far end of the restaurant, so getting the attention of the servers' was alittle hard, even though there wasn't much of a crowd, but when we did get their attention they were attentive and enthusiastic to serve us.

My friend, being the salmon fanatic that she is, got the Honey Salmon burger, which was basically seared salmon with a honey mustard, dill and tatar sauce, while me, being a nuisance, decided to create my own burger. I chose a beef patty and paired it with shitake mushrooms and a fried egg, as I had had great breakfast burgers before with beautiful sunny-side-ups and I had hoped to recreate that experience. All the burgers on the menu came with a side of fries, which meant that my friend got to have fries while I didn't, but that was fine.

Our burgers arrived relatively quickly, and they definitely looked good.The Honey Salmon burger, which looked great and according to my friend, yummy! (although she does like anything salmon so we don't know how accurate her judgement is.) She also kept munching on the fries, and she's rather picky about carbs, so it must mean that they were good- thick and well fried, but soft and still potato-y when you bite into it.As for my burger, well... I'm undecided. First things first, my egg was NOT a sunny-side-up. This might have been a misunderstanding on my part, as fried eggs (as I belatedly realised) are not necessarily sunny-side-ups. However, I had expected one so I was rather disappointed. The mushrooms were done well though, with the earthy taste coming through nicely, and the beef patty was fine- but not amazing. It was seasoned well and it wasn't too well done too, but I felt it wasn't very juicy, neither was it super flavourful.

All in all, while the presentation was good and the burgers weren't bad, they weren't amazing either? My burger was $17, which I felt was okay for the reputation and ambience, but again, I probably will not be coming back :/

Having wandered Orchard Central many times, I had come across this little concept store tucked away in a corner and was intrigued. It sold clothes and other 'designer/tumblr-ish' items, but had a food area as well, so I decided to give it a try one lunch break. The setup was simple but classy, with wooden blocks for chairs and a bar area for people eating alone. It was quite busy with the lunch crowd- mostly corporates with a few angmohs - but my friend and I were seated rather quickly.

The menu was a simple one, with rice dishes (like japanese dons), sushi rolls and ciabatta sandwiches. There was also a lunchs set going on, a drink and a sandwich/rice bowl for $15, and we went for that- I took the salmon and avocado ciabatta, while my friend took the wagyu beef rice bowl.

My sandwich arrived...slightly late I felt, but it's prettiness in presentation made up for it. Very smart of them to cut with the cross section showing, I love veggies so it looked REALLY good. When I bit into it, the ciabatta crust was crisp and lightly toasted but not hard, and the filling of salmon (which was rather generous i felt) complemented the creamy avocado, while the rocket, onion and cucumber added a crunch and sweetness. There was also a sort of tangy dressing which I couldn't place but really enjoyed.

My friend's beef rice came soon after; compared to mine, his seemed much less. Either way, he seemed to enjoy his meal, and complimented the beef slices as juicy and done just nice- the edges were seared well, but the middle was still slightly pink, making it not overdone and thus chewy.

Overall, it was a nice lunch, but it certainly was not the most filling lunch nor the most value-for-money one that I've had. It's great for the ambience and cool chill vibe, but I don't think I'd be returning soon.