For more food reviews, please visit http://shokushisouseikatsu.blogspot.com/ 

Whenever I walked past Salt Tapas & Bar at the first floor of Raffles City Shopping Centre, it somehow felt like a place which was more for drinking rather than food so I've never had the urge to check out its menu and what it offers. In addition, the name of the restaurant i.e. the word tapas suggested that it offered small bites rather than full-course meals so that also deterred me to some extent. Upon seeing some recommendations online recently about its Jardin tea promotion on weekday afternoons from 3pm to 5pm, I finally decided to give this a try and I'm glad to say, I am happy that I did so.

Upon reaching the restaurant, the service staff would ask if you would prefer an indoor or outdoor table. If the weather is cool enough or you aren't bothered by the heavy traffic passing you by, the outdoor area would be suitable for you. On the other hand, even if you choose to enjoy the aircon comfort indoors, you can still enjoy the street view since the doors are left open. As seen from the photo, I chose aircon over al fresco since it was a bit hot after a downpour on the day I visited and I didn't want to take in the exhaust fumes from the vehicles together with my tea time snacks.As I was browsing through the menu, water was served from a wine bottle with a cup having bubbles on the side thus making it look as if this was sparkling water. I must have looked like I was very clueless about this place because the waiter took the time to explain to me what they offered during this period and even told me that this was water (in case I misunderstood it to be otherwise). I think that's rather reassuring especially for first timers like me who probably finds it a bit unsettling to be here when the staff clearly outnumbered the customers. Besides me, there was only another table of a couple with their young toddler and another table of working adults at a corner away from me apparently taking a brief break from work.

On the Jardin's food menu, there were two tea sets comprising of various snacks, both sweet and savoury. Set A contains white coffee creme brulee, camembert with lavash, Jamon croquette, Kinako macaron, Honeycomb cake, prawn taco and choc sable. On the other hand, Set B offers purple Japanese sweet potato macaron, matcha orange religieuse, raspberry rhubarb tart, Parma ham with fig, raisin scones, mini churros and pork slider. As for the drinks, you can choose from coffee and tea i.e. espresso, macchiato, long black, flat white, cappucino, cafe latte, breakfast tea, camomile, earl grey, jasmine green tea and peppermint or the three mocktails i.e. Rose n' flames, Adam's apple and Berry fruity. The Jardin tea time promotion allows you to choose one of the tea sets and one drink for the price of $35++. If you prefer to create your own unique combination (maximum 7 items), that would be $45++.On the other hand, if you wish to add more items, you can do so at the price of $5++ per item. I welcome this kind of flexibility because I always felt that a lot of tea time promotions tend to insist on a fixed menu which may not appeal to everyone. For example, if I'm not a fan of macarons and yet the menu has this item, I can't change it with something else even if I offer to pay a different price. As such, it does get on my nerves if I'm forced to eat something which I don't like so I tend not to go for tea time offers which don't allow changes or customisation to the food options. Although there were some items which I wasn't too keen on or had never had before, I decided against changing the combination in the set menu since there should have been a reason why they were put together.

Starting off with the drink, I selected the berry fruity mocktail which according to the menu consists of green tea, blackberry, mint leaves and lime. It came in this beautiful cocktail glass with two green apple rings on top of it. Frankly speaking, I wasn't sure whether I should or could eat the apple rings so I just left them as they were. As for the mocktail itself, I thought it tasted a lot like thick black tea rather than the comparatively lighter green tea so I think the blend of flavours probably resulted in this end result. As I am a big fan of mint and citrusy flavours, I was eagerly anticipating to be able to pick up the taste of the mint and lime but unfortunately, they were hardly noticeable. Nonetheless, that's not to say that this drink isn't nice. I did enjoy it after all but I guess it depends on the individual. I personally prefer to be able to pick up the distinct flavours of the ingredients which go into making this drink so at the very least, if the mint taste was stronger, this drink might have ranked higher in terms of my satisfaction index.As for the food, I selected Set B which has more items that I'm familiar with and like. The items were served in a wooden tray with chocolate soil beneath so it resembles a garden with a variety of colours. Visually, this is very appealing and the desserts looks so pretty that I felt unsure of how I should start. There isn't any particular way or order you should adhere to when eating these items so I just went with my own gut feel. Another interesting feature of this was that the waiter would come by to ask for your name which left me a bit bewildered at first. Later, I realised that this was because they wanted to write my name on the side of the tray in chalk which somehow made this feel special as if this treat is specially for me. I wondered why they put the side with my name facing outwards though and was a bit self-conscious about showing my name to the rest of the customers who were around at that time. Nonetheless, I thought this was a pretty good tactic to improve the dining experience.

The first thing which caught my attention was the sweet potato macaron which was in a light purple hue. I have never eaten macarons before and simply do not understand what the hype is all about. To me, macarons seem like an overly sweet dessert for me so I've not been too keen on this thus far. However, this sweet potato macaron had me somewhat converted, not fully though. The light aroma of the sweet potato and the not-so-sweet macaron was a joy to savour and I felt like having a second helping.

The next item was the Parma ham with fig i.e. one of the two savoury items in this set. I have never tried having ham with fig so the combination was innovative to me. However, perhaps the ham could have been paired with something sweeter than the fig because the saltiness was a tad overwhelming and could have been balanced out with another item that has a stronger taste.

Third up was the churros which is something I've been quite in love with of late. However, as this is the mini version, it was difficult to get an accurate assessment of the taste. In addition, the cream and chocolate sauce were put into the same cup thus resulting in a blended dip which I didn't quite like. Perhaps I should order the regular-sized churros next time to see how they taste.

The rhubarb tart was OK but I thought that the creamy tart base was a bit too fluffy to my liking. I don't really recall how rhubarbs are supposed to taste so I can't tell whether this tart was good especially since the sourness of the raspberries took away my attention.

The scone with raisins were really good in that it wasn't hard as a rock and had a nice aroma. Having it with the jam made the taste even better. I would have wanted more of this if it was available.

As for the pork slider, I thought that it was very flavourful especially the pickled vegetables. I wonder if there was a full-sized version which would be really satisfying to have.

Last but not least, the religieuse which supposedly should have the matcha and orange flavours, turned out to be stronger on the orange side. It might have been good to emphasize the matcha flavour too so as to strike a balance.

In conclusion, this is how I would rank the items I had (in descending order): pork slider -> sweet potato macaron -> scone with raisins -> religieuse -> Parma ham -> rhubarb tart -> churros.

Having tried this once, I think I will go back again to try other items on the food menu and another mocktail. That kinako macaron, honeycomb cake, choc sable and prawn taco on Set A do seem rather appealing. Service was great and attentive especially for a first-timer like me who was unsure of what to order and how to do it. Price-wise, it does seem a bit steep so to me, this would be a once-in-a-while indulgence on a lazy weekday afternoon.

I was looking for a nice place to have a late lunch in the Bugis area when I found Platypus Kitchen on the Internet. It had pretty good reviews and I liked what I saw on its menu so it was decided then to head to its outlet at Bugis Junction. As a matter of fact, I had walked past this place a number of times before but never had the chance or inclination to visit it especially since it seemed quite crowded during meal times.

When I entered the restaurant, I was a bit intimidated to find that I was the only customer around. I guess that's to be expected too since it was already past three when I was there. Nonetheless, the waiter who had come to greet me was very welcoming so it helped to put me at ease. I was seated at a table which allowed me to have a great view of the entire restaurant which was largely in soothing pastel tones and black. With the afternoon sun pouring in, this felt like such a good place to spend a lazy afternoon in as you watch the people walk by outside. In particular, I liked the seating which was very comfortable due to its padded seats. There have been many times when I stopped going to a restaurant because I found the seating very uncomfortable (e.g. chairs being too high or too low while eating at the table) or the tables being too close to one another thus resulting in a very cramped feeling so it was a good thing to be able to find a place which doesn't add on to my stress in this respect.First up was the lobster and crustacean soup which is roasted lobster broth served with double cream and bits of Boston lobster. Based on my experience so far, most soups would be either served in a small round bowl or those very big round dishes so it was a bit unusual to see an oval dish used in Platypus Kitchen. I liked the idea because it was rather easy to drink from and prevent spillage which tends to happen with smaller bowls. As for the soup itself, the aroma was very tempting as soon as the dish was served. There was also no need to add additional seasoning like salt and pepper because the soup was already flavourful enough on its own. As for the lobster bits, I felt that they were a bit too finely-cut for me to get a more accurate feel of the taste but at the very least, they didn't taste fishy in a bad way. The only thing which I didn't like about this dish was probably the herbs served as garnishing because they tasted a bit bitter.The main course I selected was the Italian Rosemary Garlic Cast Iron Grilled Chicken which was tagged as a specialty dish on the menu. The reason why this is called a Cast Iron Grilled Chicken is due to the fact that the chicken is grilled in heated cast iron skillets at 250 degrees Celsius. I presume that this cooking method helps to seal in the flavours of the chicken without the meat becoming too overcooked. There are four versions of this dish where the chicken is further cooked in different sauces so I think I'll be back to try the other versions another day. Coming back to this version which I ordered, I felt that the aroma of the garlic and herbs was nicely infused into the chicken so I was quite satisfied with this dish. The salad was fresh with a nice citrus-like dressing which made it more palatable since I really dislike those with a strong vinegar taste. The fries were of the right thickness but I would have preferred them to be lightly salted so as to eat them on its own. The chili sauce provided was a bit watery and unlike the usual local version we are used to so I thought that didn't go so well with the fries.

One good thing to highlight about the service here is, the staff noticed that I was struggling with cutting the meat and went to get a meat cutting knife for me to replace the bread knife I was using. Granted that I was the only customer at that time, it might not have been difficult to notice that but I still applaud them for taking the effort to make the change because they could have just ignored me anyway if I didn't ask for a change in the knives.Last but not least, my dessert was the molten lava cake served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and chocolate soil. The vanilla ice cream was rather ordinary in my opinion but I thought the idea of having that almond chocolate glico stick as a garnishing was pretty interesting. On the other hand, the lava cake was rather dense and tasted quite rich so I gathered that it should be made of dark chocolate or the proportion of dark chocolate was pretty high. It was a pity that the cake was so dense that the "lava" failed to flow out when I put my spoon into it. However, the semi-liquid chocolate within was still nice to eat despite its gooey texture. I'm not sure how the chocolate soil was made but as long as it tasted good, it didn't matter so much.On the whole, I was rather satisfied with my dining experience at Platypus Kitchen and would want to visit it again but still, I would prefer to avoid the peak hours. I sure don't mind being the centre of attention again as the only customer in the restaurant! I also liked the fact that the restaurant attempted to distinguish itself as a place where people can meet up to enjoy meals together and it's making an attempt to get people off their phones at the dining table with little notes in the form of bookmarks. There are quirky questions and little known facts about food which can be used as conversation topics and I thought that it's a pretty good idea to catch the diners' attention. Whether it does help in making people concentrate more on their dining partners and food rather than their phones still remains to be seen but this type of initiative should be encouraged for its positivity.

I've only been here for lunch a couple of times so I tend to order the lunch sets plus other side dishes like pancakes or the ddeokbokki. I heard that the dinner crowd tends to order BBQ meat and drinks and there are some items which are only available at night so depending on the time of your visit, you may be able to enjoy a different spread.

The lunch sets usually consist of a meat or seafood dish with rice and soup and cost around $10++ (depending on what you order). From what I understand, the lunch set's portion is a bit smaller than if you order the same dish ala-carte so if you are a big eater, you know what to do.

I usually order the pork or chicken bulgogi set (picture shows pork set) which is very satisfying for lunch but not to the extent of driving you to dreamland straight after the meal. It may taste a bit on the sweet side compared to other places which tend to be spicier so for people who prefer a less-spicy version, this may be for you. The ddeokbokki comes in a rather large portion and is on the sweet side so you may wish to get your lunch companion to share.

As for the pancake, I tend to choose seafood rather than kimchi (not because of taste differences) but rather I prefer the seafood version for its nicely done crust and the generous amount of seafood within (although it can fluctuate on different days).

Prices-wise, I think it's a bit steep but considering that it's in town and is relatively consistent in terms of taste, I don't mind coming here for good Korean food in a comfortable setting.

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.