Sisters and I decided to have an early pre- Chinese New Year gathering with a couple friend. We decided on japanese cuisine so we chose Ichiban Boshi located at Centrepoint, Somerset. It is a walking distance from Somerset MRT station. We arrived around 7pm and we able to get a seat immediately. Restaurant was not full house and there are seats at every part of the restaurant.We are seated at the end corner of the restaurant which is able to fit 6 pax of us. Menu was served the moment we are seated. After browsing the menu, we decided to place an order. However, we have difficulties getting attention from the staffs. We put our hands up and wave to get attention from the staff but failed.After several attempts, we managed to get our attention from the staff. We placed our orders and waited for more than 20 minutes to have our order served. We ordered Salmon Avocado handroll @S$2.40++ and California handroll as well. We were expecting the handrolls to serve first before the main course. But, the main course came first before the handroll. So, we called the staff to check on our order and follow up on our order as well. Salmon avocado handroll was served after our follow up but it is not what is shown in the menu. The handroll does not come with avocado and I requested for an exchange. California handroll came much later after 2 main courses were served.Sister ordered Chicken Nanban Wazen @S$18.90++ . This set menu comes with side dish (chilled tofu), salmon sashimi, soft shell crab, deep fried chicken cutlet with in-house dressing cream and of course includes a bowl of rice, miso soup and fruit. The chicken cutlet is nicely fried and tasted crispy on the outer skin. The meat texture is tender and juicy. Sister was very filling with this set. However, the side dish was served frozen with ice. We are quite skeptical with it and decided to check with the service staff. When we checked with the staff, he replied that it was supposed to be like that. However, i was not convinced and request the staff to check further with the kitchen staff. True enough, the staff brought back another brand new tofu which has been fully defrost and smooth.My friend ordered Kurobuta Nabe Gozen @ $23.90++. The set comes black pork with assorted vegetables in dashi stock, salmon & brocolli with spicy cod roe maynnoise & cheese, smoked duck roll, udon, appertizer & fruit. She was quite pleased with her choice as the slices of black pork was just nice to go with soup base. We can even request to top up the soup base without additional charges.We also ordered Ishiyaki Kurobuta Rice Set @ $17.90++ which comes with black pork with capsicum on rice in hotstone, salmon sashimi & miso soup. The menu has stated the waiting time is 20-25 minutes long. Hotstone was sizzling hot when it is served so we need to mixed them as soon as possible to avoid the bottom rice get burnt.I ordered Tokusen Beef & Foie Gras Don @ $22.90++. This order comes with sliced premium beef on rice topped with goose liver & spicy cod roe mayonnaise served with miso soup. I think the price is reasonable and decided to give it a try. The premium sliced beef tasted juicy and tender which compliments well with the sauce.Combination of the beef and foie gras was awesome.We also ordered ala-carte -Fried Salmon Skin @ $2.40++. It comes with crispy salmon skin with mayonnaise.This can be quite addictive when you start having it.Justin ordered ala-carte- Hotate Cheese Yaki @ $11.90++. Served on hotplate and it was pretty cheesy as the menu stated. It is best to have it with rice otherwise it could be quite salty by having it alone.Lastly, we ordered Yu Sheng called Celebration @ $21.80++ for our first ‘lo hei’ for year 2014. This is best served for 2-3 persons as stated in the menu. We ordered the smallest portion as we are quite full with our main course. The Yu Sheng comes with 12 slices of salmon and of course the symbolic meaning for each yusheng ingredients ( Red sweetened ginger, peanut crunch , pickled leek , chuka kurage, winter melon, pickled cucumber, chuka wakame , pok chui biscuits , pickled melon ,sweetened lime , five spice, cinnamon and pepper powder).

We requested the staff to clear the tables before we order Yu Sheng. The staffs are not attentive at all and we need to get attention to get them to clear the tables before we placed our order for Yu Sheng. We told the store manager to clear the tables and refill the tea but she wasn’t really paying attention on what we told her. So, when the young lady came to refill our tea, we told her again. Finally, a young lady staff cleared the tables all by herself and get our order processed.Overall dinner services are quite disappointing. So, I wrote an email to highlight on the issues above. They came back with explanation and apologize on the staff services and food quality.They also replied on the actions taken upon my email and closed the case. I hope that the services in this particular outlet will improve and noted on our feedback.

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I have been reading reviews from the social media about Lady M and finally get the chance to try it on one of the weekend. We were there after dinner and the seating areas are all messed up. Some of the tables do not have chairs and I felt the staffs are not in control with the flow of operation. I ordered Mont Blanc @S$8.00 which tasted extremely sweet for me. The cream and puree flavors are strong and it gets sweeter and sweeter when you tasted it. I drank my earl grey tea to reduce the sweetness overload.I also had the signature Lady M Mille Crepes @S$7.50. The taste is similiar with Nadeje, Malacca.The signature slice cake infused with cream in between the layers and the combination is just nice. It compliments the whole taste of the cake. Not too sweet and it is my type of taste.

As for the drinks,we ordered Earl Grey Tea and Camomile Tea @S$4.00 each pot. The tea is refillable.

If i were to visit Lady M again, i will order their signature slice cake and try on other types of cakes available.

My colleague brought me to this stall to try on their claypot pig organ dish. He said the stall is famous with this dish and I will enjoyed it. He ordered mixture of pig organ and shared among two of us. We had them with plain white rice. The taste of the pig organ was covered with the sauce and you can't really taste the so called smelly taste. It wasn't too dry to go with the plain rice and i finished everything!

Sheng Kee Dessert is well-known with its mango dessert. I ordered Mango Pomelo Sago Fettuccine @S$5.90. Ordering and payment is required to made on the spot at the ordering counter. Upon placing order, we were given the waiting number for our dessert to be served.The mango pomelo tasted sweet and has a rich mango flavor which I think it is quite consistent in terms of the quality of serving from other branches.My friend ordered Snow Fungus Papaya @S$3.60. The waiting time was more than 15 minutes. The staff did highlight to us upon ordering and check whether are we willing to wait or not. I think this is good at least the customers are aware of the waiting time. The dessert tasted sweet with the papaya taste with generous snow fungus.

We decided to visit d’Good Café after our brunch at Hatched. It is a few shops away from Hatched. It is well-known as one of the cafehopping list and has established its name in the social media. It is housed at the second and third floor of the shophouses in Holland Village. There is elevator provided if you do not want to climb the stairs. The café is beautifully decorated with small little details. The self-ordering area is quite limited space. Thus, it will be best for one to do the ordering and the rest to find places to sit. There are quite number of seating’s at level 2 and 3 so you won’t have much problem finding seats available.

Since we are quite full, we ordered the drinks to try. Here are the drinks that we ordered:-Affogato chocolate @S$6.50
Cappuccino @S$5.50
Piccolo latte @S$5.60
The presentation of the drinks is attractive and decent. Taste wise, it’s fine. The affogato chocolate has the strong aromatic smell of the coffee. So, if you are a coffee lover, you might want to give it a try but beware it tasted bitter though. But that’s how coffee taste like. Piccolo latte is lighter and smoothing. The portion of the milk was just nice for serving.

All prices inclusive of GST .Payment is to be made upon ordering and drinks to collect at the other end. However, the foods will be served by the staff itself.