Being situated just beside the escalator that leads from the Orchard MRT station all the way to B4, it's not difficult to find Men-ya KAIKO. Then again, it can be easily missed since its entrance is rather small and the glass panel showing signature items from its menu is further down the corridor. This is a no-frills place given its space so in terms of the dining atmosphere, it can get a bit noisy and crowded especially if there are many customers around.

I just needed a quick bite and settled for my usual combination of gyoza and ramen. The gyoza here had a nice crisp surface but the filing was pretty much standard so it lacked a "wow" factor to surprise me.Similarly, the pork ramen was decent and slightly unusual because the pork slices were not the usual char siew seen in most ramen restaurants. Instead, the pork here had a slightly chewy texture and didn't have as much fats as most versions. Then again, I thought the taste of the pork didn't blend well with the ramen soup base nor the ramen itself so I gather it must have been cooked in a different type of sauce. Seeing that stalk of xiaobaicai in the noodles was yet another sign that Kaiko seems to want to go local in terms of adapting to the Singaporean tastebuds but I find it really odd to see this type of vegetable in my ramen.

I wouldn't say that this place is bad but it does have its flaws here and there so I might be reluctant to return unless I happen to have no other food choices in Ion.

For the full review, please visit: http://shokushisouseikatsu.blogspot.com/2013/11/comfort-food-at-premium-tonkichi.htmlTonkichi holds a special place in my heart for the fact that I am always assured of quality during each visit. I am wary of most tonkatsu offerings elsewhere because they tend to have these problems i.e. crust being too thick and oily, the meat being too dry due to overcooking or the oily and overly-rich aftertaste. Tonkichi is always able to produce consistently good tonkatsu and my favourite is the kurobuta which has more meat juices compared to other types of pork used in tonkatsu. However, as the kurobuta commands a premium price due to its quality and lesser quantity in the market, I only turn to this comfort food once in a while to satisfy my cravings.I also tried something this time i.e. the tsukune and momo with leeks. Surprisingly, I preferred the tsukune over the momo despite the expectation that the momo's texture should have been smoother than the tsukune.

In all, if you are looking for quality Japanese food and is prepared to pay a bit more than usual, this is the place for you.

We were famished by dinner time and simply decided to head to Kkongdon since we were at Marina Square. Unfortunately, things did not really get off on a good note because we were told that:
- The ginseng chicken soup takes a whooping 30 mins before it can be served
- We can't request the kitchen to cook the BBQ meat for us
- And service was really patchy because getting the attention of the waitresses alone was tough

Anyway, we still decided to order the samgyetang and not to do BBQ ourselves (since we were too hungry to cook) and ordered something else instead.

Although the banchan was free-flow, it was disappointing at best. The bean sprouts were too hard (not crunchy at all) while the radish kimchi tasted a bit odd. The lotus wasn't the usual sweet type I find in most Korean restaurants while the cabbage kimchi was only passable.We ordered the stir-fried kimchi with pork which does not come with steamed rice so you have to order it separately. The meat itself is OK, succulent and absorbed the flavour of the sauce. However, the kimchi failed to impress and frankly speaking, the sauce was too sweet for me. Most versions I've tasted so far tend to be on the spicy side with a slight sourish taste from the kimchi so Kkongdon's version should suit those who prefer this to be toned down on the spiciness.The kimchi hotpot was OK with quite a fair bit of ingredients like meat, mushrooms, kimchi, vegetables but given that it cost 20 bucks and that the meat was more fats than meat, it didn't feel like such a good deal. The soup was also rather diluted which I thought was a pity. If you want to order ramen, note that it comes separately at the price of $2.80 and it's just for one person.

Was here for a company dinner so obviously, this was not a conscious choice on my part. It's situated within Park Mall which gets really quiet and dim at night but surprisingly, there were quite a lot of people who were here. I started off with the usual cold items i.e. sushi, seafood and salads. The mussels were OK but the sushi was rather disappointing and didn't taste as fresh as I would have wanted. As for the salad, it was merely passable.Moving on to the dim sum and snack items, although there was a decent selection, I thought that there weren't many items which caught my fancy. It was as if nothing really tasted horrible and yet nothing could be considered as delicious.I didn't like the chili crabs but found the deep fried buns better. Strange when you come to think of it because the side dish got into my good books rather than the main ingredient. The other meat dishes were mediocre. As for the famed barbecue meats, the queue was pretty long and I didn't want to wait for that so I skipped this section.To end the evening, I had porridge which was really not what I would eat in most situations. I thought of using this to clear the saltiness that had built up over the evening but was unsuccessful.

Considering the price of around $30 in town, the spread is decent. However, more can be done about the quality so that it feels like a much better deal. Service was relatively quick i.e. clearing of plates was efficient.

Whenever I visit the Bali Thai outlet in Ion on a weekend, it's usually not fully packed which is considered good for me because I never like crowded restaurants to begin with. I've been pretty satisfied with the food served here so far but this visit seemingly wanted to buck the trend.

First up were the sides i.e. prawn cake and stuffed chicken wings. You can get these at literally every Thai restaurant so it's a readily available dish. Unfortunately, the version served on this day tasted a bit odd. The prawn cake appeared thinner than usual so I could taste more of the batter outside rather than the filing. The chicken wing looked much lighter in colour than usual so the skin didn't have that crispy taste and the filling was rather bland.As for the customised main dish, I chose seafood horfun in satay sauce which was what I tasted before. Strangely speaking, the 2nd time I tasted it felt a bit different and it felt oiler as you went further down the plate.

It does feel as if inconsistency is the key here because service was also less attentive than my first visit to this branch. I've tried other Bali Thai branches which were of a similar standard so it remains to be seen if it has improved now.