Arashi Yakiniku Charcoal Grill Restaurant ('Arashi') is the new kid on the block of Boat Quay dining scene in Singapore. One of the popular dining spot and watering hole in Singapore, due to its proximity to Raffles Place and its beautiful scenery of Singapore river. A dining location that I hardly step foot on, but this time around I gratefully accept the tasting invitation from Openrice Singapore and Arashi team.For me, Arashi Yakiniku represent a breath of fresh air, breaking away from the fad of Korean BBQ that has engulf our tiny island dining scene this past few years. I personally enjoy the bbq pork belly, beef tongue and Korean beef, however Japanese yakiniku is something that I have not eaten for a while. One thing that you need to admire about Japanese is their relentless pursue of excellence. Arashi uses the latest technology of smokeless bbq from Japan together with white charcoal to ensure the best tasting result for their top grade meat. While we are waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive, we commence the dinner proceeding with Arashi Kaisen Salad ($15.80). A seafood salad consist of fresh greens with slices of salmon, prawns, shredded crab stick and fish roe and light vinaigrette dressing. Light and refreshing salad to face the upcoming barrage of protein. For the sides, we have pickled bean sprout, spinach and mushrooms also known as Namuru ($7.80) in Japanese. For the Japanese Wagyu Beef, we kick-off with Ohmi grade A4 Wagyu beef. Terderloin, Rib Eye and Sirloin ($68.80 each for 150 gram serving). Each type of meat have a different tenderness and marbling. You will have a choice of cooking the meat directly or dipping it in a marinating sauce before grilling. All the of meat are tender with nice charred caramelised grill flavour. For comparison purposes, tenderloin tenderness is 8/10, rib eye is 8.5/10 but has more fats in the centre, while surprisingly sirloin 9.5/10 and it just melts in your mouth as it has a more even spread of the marbling on the meat. To accompany the meat, you have the choice of yakiniku sauce, sesame sauce and rock sea salt and lemon. You can choose whichever you like and what suits your taste buds. I personally like sea salt and lemon to accompany my beef. Lightly seasoned the meat and let the acidity in the lemon to take care of the fats. For yakiniku sauce, you have an option to apply it to the meat before grilling as well, which presented a different flavour to the meat.

For non moo moo lover, Japanese Kurobuta Pork can be your option. We sample the Pork Belly ($19.80) and Pork Collar ($20.80). The pork belly looks deliciously sinful and due to the fat content you might want to keep an eye on it as it catch fire easily, unless you like your pork belly charred. The pork collar is sliced almost paper thin, so it will take a very short time in the grill. Afterwards, it just melts in your mouth. Please note that if you are watching your weight due to whatever reason, this might not be the place for you.If you are a chicken lover, you can try their Momi Tare Chicken (Marinated with Shoyu - $9.80). Arashi uses the chicken thigh with skin on, so the meat is more juicy and succulent Seafood selection is also available. Assorted Seafood Platter ($28.80), which consist of tiger prawns (4), squid (60g), scallops (4) and salmon slices (60g). The prawns are big, fresh and juicy; the squid is tender not rubbery while the scallops are thick, tender and juicy. Unlike the rest, the salmon slices need to be cook on aluminium container marinated with yakiniku sauce. Unfortunately due to the way it was stack in the container, it is difficult to judge the cooking time. If you want all part to be done, some part will definitely be over cook. I personally don't like this method of grilling the Salmon. From the ala carte menu, the Gindara Nitsuke (Japanese Cod Fish - $18.80) and Tempura Moriawase ($23.80) is a good option. The cod fish has is smooth in the mouth, no fishiness smell and the sauce is quite subtle not overpowering the fish. The portion of the fish is quite small. The Tempura is fresh and nicely fried. Meanwhile, you can try their garlic fried rice (Ninniku Gohan - $4.80) in you need your carbo fill. Simple and with slight hint of garlic flavour. As a Japanese restaurant the décor of the place is very simple, Zen like. We were seated in the private room on the third floor, with floor seating and you put your legs under the table. Quite popular for Japanese restaurant private room in Singapore. Overall, I really enjoyed the food here. The Wagyu Beef and Kurobuta Pork is just amazing and at the best quality. If you come here without having these above items, it will just be not worth it. I would Budget around $80 to $100 per person, without the sake. So if you have a cravings for yakiniku, give Arashi a try. Cheers!!

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Little Pancakes is a popular establishment along Upper Thomson Road that specialised in mini pancakes. The name of the shop itself already describe what they are making inside. Minions... ooopss I meant mini pancakes. We visited this place after a friend's birthday dinner in an Indian Restaurant nearby. Filled with curry, naan and basmanti rice, we decided we want something sweet and a cuppa just to settle the tummy. The pancakes menu can be divided into three categories: Sweet, Savoury and Asian. For the ice cream they use the brand 'New Zealand Ice Cream'.If this is the first time you are here (just like us), this photo should be able to help you.I ordered Going Nutella For You ($8.20), which have about 10 mini pancakes, Nutella, chocolate ice cream, chocolate chips, wafer cubes, butter and maple syrup. The plating is creative and gorgeous, all the components look fun and appetizing. The mini pancakes are about bite size, and goes well with nutella, ice-cream and light clear maple syrup. Little Devil ('LD') ordered Simple and Sweet ($6.50). A classic way to enjoy pancakes, with butter, maple syrup and icing sugar.Although the pancakes are delicious, we do think that there are some areas that can be improved. The texture of the pancakes need to be more consistent, as some of them are quite dry and make it hard to swallow. They can be more generous with the portion maple syrup. We paid extra for the maple syrup, but it wasn't even filled up to the brim.For coffee lover like myself, you will like the artisanal coffee here. I was actually attracted by their funky coffee machine before I decided on the latte. The latte is smooth, bold but with slight acidity after taste. A good coffee indeed. The décor of the place can look simple, however it is all about having fun at this place. Service is minimal, it is all about DIY here starting from placing your order, getting water and cutlery, with the exception for making the pancakes and drinks.Overall, if you are looking for pancakes, do give Little Pancake a try. They might not be the best, but their fun atmosphere here is just so refreshing. Pricing is very reasonable. Cheers!

For full review and more photos, please visit
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/12/little-pancakes-cute-mini-and-chubby.html

Ramen Champion (“RC”) is a multi-brand ramen concept brought to Singapore by Komars Group that sources popular ramen brands from Japan and invite them to compete in the annual competition for the prestigious “The Ultimate Ramen Champion”. Their latest outlet after Bugis and Changi Airport Terminal 3 is located at Great World City. Following their concept, each outlet will have different brand of ramen with their own unique taste, flavour and personality of ramen. The outlet in Great World City is represented by Bishamon Zero (existing brand), Tonkotsu Itto (existing RC competitor), Miyamoto and Butaou (new RC competitor).The opening of this outlet was kick start with inaugural Ramen Big Eater Challenge, with the presence of celebrity competitive eater from Japan, Miss Tomoko Miyake. I saw her on a variety show, and it seems that she has a stretchable stomach and gigantic appetite. So without a doubt, she was the winner of the eating challenge. If you got time, you should check her out online, you'll envy her ability to eat so much and stay in shape.

We begin this ramen adventure with Bishamon Zero's Sapporo Miso Special Ramen ($14.80). Originated from Sapporo, the broth is cloudy, robust filled miso texture. The ramen has a medium thickness, springy (qq) and tasty. The pork belly Cha Shu is tender and does not overwhelmed with its fattiness. The egg is cooked to perfection. In the soup, there is mild chilli flavour with subtle spiciness to give the warmness in the ramen. Tonkatsu Itto's Special Tonkotsu Ramen ($16.50) from Tokyo follow next. The ramen size is very thin, similar to Angel hair pasta size. It is springy, not very flavourful, but carry the broth well. The pork base soup is robust and full of collagen taste from part of the pork bones. The egg is cooked nicely with the soft yolk in the middle. The cha shu is tender, however it is tasteless. You might want to eat it while its hot, or you will be overwhelmed by the richness of the broth.Narita's City Miyamoto's Pork and Vegetable Ramen ($16). Once we saw the bowl, we decided to named it Army Boys Ramen, due to its humongous size. It seems the chef is throwing everything except for the kitchen sink in this dish. The noodle size is pretty big, similar to Mee Pok, but thicker and very resilient. The broth is difficult to spot as it is basically buried under the the layers of ramen, bean sprouts, sliced cabbage, cha shu and diced pork. Once you get through the layers above, you can taste milky robust broth with a strong garlic presence.The half boiled egg here serve in full, as it is slightly under cook compare to the previous two ramens, the yolk just ooze out when you poke the egg. The cha shu is tender and flavourful, but I find the most tasty and tender part is the diced pork. Little Devil ('LD') and I feels that this bowl can easily filled two person. The last bowl of ramen that we tried was Butaou's Special Sukiyaki Ramen ($16). Originated from Saitama Prefecture in Tokyo and inspired by Sukiyaki, the broth of this ramen originated its taste from sukiyaki sauce. The broth is robust and sweet, while the ramen is thin and springy. The egg was slow boiled with the yolk ooze out as soon as we break it. The cha shu is the tender, flavourful and the tastiest of all ramen, and the shabu-shabu style pork is just tender. Something different, but take a lot to get used to due the sukiyaki soup base and it will be a favourite to those who love sweet soup.For the sides, we tried Okonomiyaki Gyoza with bonito flakes ($5.80 for 5 pcs) and Mentaiko Gyoza ($5.80 for 5 pcs). The gyoza are tasty with a combination of crispy skin and juicy fillings. We prefer the Okonomiyaki gyoza as the combination of bonito flakes and the sauce create a more flavourful gyoza. The Mentaiko sauce, seems to lack the punch, it can do better with stronger taste with extra mentaiko mayonnaise or mentaiko toppings. Tori Karaage ($4.80) is quite delicious. Crispy on the outside, with well seasoned juicy succulent chicken thigh meat inside. While Spicy Chicken ($5 for 3 pcs) is quite ordinary. It lacks of seasoning, crispiness or even spiciness. The meat is tender, but it seems lacking in the obvious seasoning.Overall, we find the Ramen served in Ramen Champion does have a certain standard. It is very difficult to decide which as are the best as individual preference and taste can be different. For LD's and mine, we decided that Bishamon Zero's Sapporo Miso Special Ramen as our 1st preference followed by Tonkatsu Itto's Special Tonkotsu Ramen. Why don't you give it a try and let us know which ramen you like. Kanpai!!! Cheers!!!Thanks to Malcom and Ramen Champion Team for the tasting invitation.

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http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/11/ramen-champion-opening-our-eyes-to.html

Benvenuto! (Welcome in Italian.) The motto of Peperoni Pizzeria, from Les Amis Group. Peperoni @ Frankel is the third branch of Peperoni when they expand their dough kneading adventure to the east side of Singapore.

This is actually our first visit to the east branch. We were looking for a place to catch up with our friends D&C, and after shortlisting a few restaurants, we decided on Peperoni. As it was on Monday night, we manage to find parking at the roadside with ease. Once we start chatting, D&C told us that they had Peperoni at Suntec the night before with their family, however, since the pizza is good, they don't mind to have another round.

Peperoni @ Frankel looks very casual and Italian. The colours of Italian national flags of green, white and red are well represented in the establishment. The entrance is painted in green, the walls are painted in white, while the chairs and wood fire oven are red. Both the chairs and wood fire oven are so eye catching, you won't miss them.For starters, we decided on Prosciutto Crudo di Parma & Melone ($18), Mozzarella Fasciatta Con Prosciutto ($18), and Wedges ($8). Prosciutto Crudo di Parma & Melone is the traditional pairing of Prosciutto di parma and rock melon. The combination of salty and sweet from these two ingredients are just irresistible. The Prosciutto flavour is just intense, multi layer but the best part it just melts in your mouth. The rock melon is a bit small in size though. Mozzarella Fasciatta Con Prosciutto is pan fried mozzarella wrapped with Parma ham. The prosciutto is cover the chewy but soft mozzarella nicely and has a crispy texture from the pan fried. The glaze of balsamic vinegar on top of it, just seal the deal. It helps to counter the intense saltiness from prosciutto while bind the whole ingredients together, especially with the rocket salad. Big thumb-up from LD.The wedges has a crispy texture on coating, with a nice seasoning and soft on the inside. Served with mayonnaise as a dipping sauce although sour cream will taste better with it. Actually a good food for the little ones if they don't like pizza.For the pizzas, we ordered 2 large pizzas of half and half ($24 each). The first combination is Fungi & Margerita - Button, shitake & porcini mushrooms; Mozzarella 'di bufala', cherry tomatoes, basil and oregano. The pizza base is thin and crispy. The toppings are generous combine with cheese and tomato sauce is just create a juicy toppings. The fungi and margerita pizza just allow its natural ingredients to speak for it self. The second combination is Pancetta & Prosciutto Crudo di Parma - cured bacon, sliced tomatoes and egg; Parma ham and rocket salad. This pizza has more intense salty flavour because of the cured meat. The egg and rocket salad on each size of the pizza helps to counter the saltiness, but this combination just 'scream' meat, cured meat & meat; and I simply love it. Satisfied with the mains, we took our time before we move to desserts. Creme Brulee ($9) and Tortino al Cioccolato ($13) - rich molten valrhona chocolate cake served with strawberry ice cream.

The crème brulee has a nice thin layer of caramelized sugar. The custard however is more dense in texture which constrain us to taste full taste of the custard. For the Tortino, it is actually suppose to come with vanilla ice cream, however they are kind enough to switch ours to strawberry. The molten chocolate cake is overcook, no chocolate ooze out when we cut through the cake. Meanwhile, the strawberry ice cream with the walnut crust was just superb to compensate the disappointing chocolate cake. If you are looking for a non alcoholic drink, give Gunner ($7) a try. The combination of Ginger Ale, Ginger Beer and Agostura Bitter is just refreshing.

Considering this is a Les Amis group establishment, there are works needed to be done on their the service side. During the dinner we were served by two service staff, one of them is very friendly and attentive, while the other was just grumpy with a don't care attitude. Hopefully, they can deliver more consistent service standard. After all, they are the Les Amis Group.

Overall, when it come to Entrees and Pizzas, they are almost faultless. This has been the case in their other establishment as well. The desserts need some fine tuning, but the ice cream is just great. All we can say, if you are looking for a good pizza, Peperoni is one of the place. Saluti! Cheers!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala Dining experience, click / copy the link below to your browser:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/11/peperoni-all-they-knead-is-love.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