Monster Curry sounds more like an animation rather than a restaurant. However, in Singapore Monster Curry is restaurant serve a jumbo size Japanese curry with different type of protein such as chicken, eggs, pork, prawns, fish and scallops.

I was looking for a place to grab a quick bite after collecting my rewards from one of the food review website. When I spotted Monster Curry, my cravings for Japanese curry just get the better of me. Quick look at the menu, I decided to order Cheese Chicken Katsu Curry ($14). You actually has a choice of spicy level from 1 (normal hot) to 5 (monster hot). I decided to went with normal hot. When I grab a seat after ordering, then after looking around the area, I realised that I was in a deep trouble. I saw how huge the plate was and normally each couple is sharing one dish. So when the dish come, I was staring at a 30cm in diameter huge plate. The rice filled more than half of the plate and the protein is the same size as the rice, with shaved cheese covering the top of my pork katsu. On the side, a few pieces of Japanese pickle and shaved cabbage. Staring blank at the plate, I was starting to wonder how am I going to finish it.

The pork katsu is quite tender and the batter is very thin and crispy. The curry is thick, flavourful and generous in portion. As I have only ordered a spicy level of normal hot, they added only one chilli sauce heart shape. Although the katsu is tender, it is also very lean, so you can feel on some part to be dry, instead of juicy all over. For the curry, it is served just like a sauce instead of with potatoes and carrots like other normal Japanese restaurant. Service wise is very minimum. You place your order in the counter, make payment and they send the food to your table when it is done. So interaction with them is very minimum, other example of Japanese fast food culture with low labour cost involved. Like a normal Japanese establishment, we are still greeted very warmly as we enter or exit the restaurant.

Overall, I find the portion is tremendous and generous, so you won't mind paying a little bit more. Thus, if you are looking for a place to satisfy your Japanese Curry, give this restaurant a try. I assure you that you won't come out unfulfilled. Kanpai! Cheers!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala experience, click / copy the link below to your browser:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/11/monster-curry-monster-in-size-monster.html

My Little Devil always have Vietnamese Pho cravings, especially during rainy days. Instead of going to our regular Vietnamese pit stop in Joo Chiat, we decided to try something new. A quick research, we notice that Little Vietnam keep popping up in some food review.Located at the outer side of the main entrance of Grandlink Square, Little Vietnam has both outdoor and indoor seatings. The indoor section is air conditioned, while in the evening you can dine under the stars at the outdoor seating. Giving it a familiar feeling as if you are dining in Vietnam with their outdoor deco of red lanterns. Parking is a breeze as the retail outlet in the building are pretty empty.

We started with Fresh Rice Paper Roll / Goi Cuon ($3 – for 2 pcs). Filled with rice vermicelli, prawns and vegetables this dish are the popular choice during the summer in Vietnam. The prawns are fresh, however the rice paper wrap is slightly dry and chewy. The sauce is bland, although the crush peanuts give a different texture to the dish. Slightly disappointing.Fried Rice Paper Roll / Cha Gio ($4.80) has a unique texture of crispy and resilient. The fillings is fresh and the fish sauce is just elevate this dish further. Better than the fresh paper roll.For main, LD ordered Pho Tai Bo Vien - Sliced beef and beef balls with flat noodle soup ($6.50) and I ordered Bun Ga Nuong Xa – Grilled lemongrass chicken with fresh vegetables and rice vermicelli ($5.50).

According to LD, the rice noodle in the Pho is al dente while the sliced beef is very soft and tender. However, the soup base is on the light side, not very robust. The beef ball is quite dense and not springy. So its kind of ordinary on the Pho side. My grilled lemongrass chicken thigh is very tender and well seasoned. You can feel the lemongrass marinate absorb into the chicken. The textures combination of rice vermicelli, raw vegetables and the chicken is just so diverse and the fish sauce just bind them well together. I do wish the portion of the food can be bigger though. Service here is very minimum, but the food are delivered quite fast. Decoration of the place is very minimum, but the pictures Vietnamese people and cultures on the wall just hit the spot. They only accept cash payment only.Overall, there are some good dishes is Little Vietnam unfortunately Pho is not one of them. We actually wanted to ordered some Vietnamese Baguette, but they run out of stock. Maybe this will be the reason for us to come back. Vô! Cheers!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala dining experience, click / copy the link below to your browser:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/11/little-vietnam-vietnamese-flair.html

In the last few years, it seems that a lot of Ramen House sprouting around in Singapore. The positive side of this, we are getting more quality ramen sold in Singapore, and is satisfying LD's cravings for good quality ramen that she had tasted in Hawaii. Daikokuya Ramen is one of the new ramen shop that open in recent years and offers a variety of regional ramen specialities such as Sapporo, Tokyo & Kyushu-style ramen in a contemporary and relaxing atmosphere. Located at the entrance of myVillage in Serangoon Garden, the store can be consider small as it only can accommodate less then 30 customers. The surrounding glass wall allowed passerbys to check out the delicious food served in the shop. However, this glass wall also works to the disadvantage of the shop. The shop location seems to bear the brunt of direct afternoon sunlight and turn the temperature inside the shop up. The central aircon is insufficient to cool down the dining area which we experience during our visit.

For ramen, I normally like my soup base to be solid and robust, therefore Tonkatsu Cha Shu Ramen ($15.90) was my pick. The ramen is springy (QQ) and the Cha Shu, although it is quite lean, it turns to be very tender and flavourful. It shows that the Cha Shu has gone through a long cooking process and well marinated. The broth has a white milky colour, thick with a sticky collagen feeling coming out from the bones.On the other hand, Little Devil ('LD') prefer a more clear type of soup. So she decided on Cha Shu Shoyu Ramen ($15.80). The broth is much lighter compare to mine, more like a clear soup, however the shoyu (soy sauce) give the broth a distinct flavour. The ramen texture are consistent, al dente and springy (qq), while the Cha Shu is tender and flavourfulFor side dish, we ordered Mentaimayo Gyoza and Leek Mayo Gyoza ($6.80 each). Both the gyoza nicely pan fried until crispy on the outside. I find that Japanese Gyoza normally has a stronger taste from the leek. The good thing about Mentaimayo Gyoza, it has salted cod roe toppings and mayonnaise that helps to cover the smell and give a nice salty creamy flavour. The service here is quite minimum. Although there are not many customer, it seems that the service staff is having problem clearing the table quick enough for the next round of customers and always slow in handling the customer order. Improvement is definitely needed in this area.

Overall, we find the ramen here is good and consistent. However, it seems to be missing something to elevate the ramen to the next level. Avoid visiting this place during a hot afternoon, unless you like to enjoy your bowl of ramen while you're sweating. However on any other time, Daikokuya will be sufficient to satisfy your ramen cravings. Cheers!!

For Chubby Botak Koala complete dining experience here, click / copy the following link to your browser:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/10/daikokuya-ramen-dining-tonkatsu-or.html

During our quick getaway to Batam recently, Little Devil's (LD) aunty recommended that we tried authentic Korean food in a food court. Since LD is a Korean Food lover, we decided to arrange one weekend to try out his place.

Kim Dae Moon located in the air conditioned food court at Concorde Hotel in Orchard Road. It is easily spotted, basically its operation occupied 3 stalls. Headed by a Korean lady boss that take your order and control the food , the kitchen staff are mostly from Myanmar.Instead of ordering my normal grill saba, I decided to go for something different. I ordered Steamed Saba Fish Set ($6.50). Knowing my dislike for kimchi, I did not realising that there will be some red bean paste in it. So when the food arrive, I have no choice but to eat it. The saba fish is very tender and juicy. No fishy smell and the gravy is quite subtle, a little sweet instead of spicy.Since this is the first time we were here, we also ordered other dish such as Korean Glass Noodle ($5). The noodle here is very resilient and springy but not hard. It is very flavourful, but don't expect much prawn or seafood in it. Potato Pancake ($4). This pancake is slightly different compare to the seafood pancake that we ever have in any Korean Restaurant. It is thin with crispy edges and tasted nice without any dipping sauce. LD had Spicy Beef Soup ($6.50). According to her, the soup is just all right. Nothing really special to mention about. Overall, we find the food here is average. More towards a home-cooked Korean food. Price wise it is very reasonable. For return visit, we find that we won't purposely make a trip here to enjoy the food. If you are looking for a reasonable price Korean food and you are nearby, this might be a good place to try. Cheers!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala dining experience, click / copy the link below to your browser:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/08/kim-dae-mun-authentic-korean-food-with.html

Following our recent visit to Melaka for work and encounter with Mille Crepe there, I was kind of hooked and in search for a patisserie in Singapore that made this fantastic cake. In case you are wondering, Mille Crepe is a cake made from layers of crepes. In between it will normally have a fresh cream and coated with maple syrup or different variety of flavours.

First Love Patisserie surprisingly originated from Jakarta. The Chef supposedly trained in Japan, so this mille crepe has the same style as mille crepe made popular in Hokkaido. Although they have many branches in Jakarta and surroundings, the shop in Ion Orchard Singapore is their first overseas outlet.

As a reward for picking up my Little Devil and her BFF that can't catch a cab from Ion Orchard, I got three slices of mille crepe. The Original, Strawberry and Oreo ($6.50 per slice). At first glance, I did not find anything special about the packaging. Packed in very thin and flimsy plastic container, it no longer has the flair as the printed box shown in other food blogs before. First bite of Original mille crepe, LD and I found something a little off. There is a solid texture in the cream, apparently it is not fully thawed yet. The result is of this is the crepes does not melts in your mouth. The next time around, I had a chance to tried the Original after it is properly thawed. It is soft and moist, however it still does not melts in your mouth.

The Oreo flavour is quite interesting. Coated with chocolate powder, it does actually taste like oreo cake. This slice is better than the original, however the chocolate powder can be quite overpowering and cover the taste of the cream. It is also cause the cake to be a bit harder to swallow. The Strawberry is our favourite. Unfortunately the strawberry toppings did not survive the journey home and got smudged. The strawberry really combines well with the cream and the crepes just melts in your mouth. This slice is good. Yummyyy!!There is no comment on the service and ambiance as they do not have proper seating place for their customers. Overall, the mille crepe they serve here is just okay. However, after trying the amazing freshly made version from Melaka, we can say that First Love Patisserie mille crepe is okay but not great.

For full review and more photos, please visit
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/08/first-love-patisserie-mille-crepe-from.html