It has been a while since I came to Ginza Bairin for lunch - the tonkatsu (deep fried pork) here is quite good but I decided to try their Tonkotsu Char Siew Ramen ($15.80) this time round.The ramen came in a creamy miso broth which was very tasty and I especially liked the char siew pork slices which were extra sweet and very tender. It's probably been marinated very well to achieve that taste. The ramen noodles here are pretty good too and is not the 'instant noodle' kind which you might find at other ramen restaurants.

When I start running out of lunch options around Orchard, I find myself coming to places that don't usually serve food. Well, Coffee Bean & Teal Leaf is one of those places you don't typically go to eat your lunch at. But they do serve "all day breakfast" sets including the Brek O' Day ($8) which comes with your choice of eggs (scrambled, omelette, sunny side up), 2 slices of bread, sausages and salad on the side. I ordered the scrambled eggs which turned out to be extra buttery - way too much butter until it overpowers the natural taste of the eggs. The bread and sausages were regular and their salad just doesn't go that well with the meal.

I had a lunch meeting here at Shinryoku Yakitori - it's a cozy little restaurant along Purvis Street that serves up pretty good yakitori. It was a rather cold day, so I decided to try one of their hot soba instead. The Maguro Soba ($11) comes with edamame on the side and 2 slices of orange, however the soba itself was rather disappointing. There were only 4 slices of maguro tuna and no other ingredients - just plain soba noodles. I enjoyed the broth though - light and clear, which is perfect for a cold rainy day.

For more Dim Sum reviews, check out www.jerjerjer.com.Dim Sum is something that I fell in love with at a very young age. There’s a mystical allure to those little bite-sized delicacies that enthralled me. Every basket is like a surprise in a box and opening it will engulf you in a puff of steam. Victor’s Kitchen is a very humble dim sum restaurant located at Sunshine Plaza and they serve up some really good value-for-money dim sum!The dim sum here is really quite affordable, ranging from $3 – $4 per dish. I’m not usually a fan of spare ribs, but my friends decided to try the Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce 豉汁蒸排骨 ($3). It was very tasty and the meat was tender. But like I said, I don’t really know how to appreciate this boney dish. *shrugs*Call me a traditionalist, but the Har Gow 蝦餃 ($4.50) is like the benchmark of a good Dim Sum restaurant. If the restaurant makes good Har Gow, then I’m sure the rest of the dishes will turn out to be quite good too. The Har Gow at Victor’s Kitchen is stuffed full of crunchy fresh prawns encased in a light skin. Probably one of the better Har Gow I’ve tasted.

But don’t expect much from the ambiance of the restaurant. It’s located in a rather small and stuffy shop, with tables tightly packed next to each other, so there is a bit of squeezing involved if you’re there at peak hour. Also, the restaurant is known for being closed without warning, even during days when they are supposed to be in operation. So it’s good to always have a backup plan in mind when you intend to visit Victor’s Kitchen.Another must-have dim sum is the Siew Mai 燒賣 ($4) which usually comes with a pork and prawn filling. The siew mai at Victor’s Kitchen isn’t that special but the filling was crunchy and tasty. The flavour was pretty standard without any fancy mushrooms or wolfberry on top.I didn’t really enjoy the Char Siew Pau 叉燒包 ($3.50) here because it was not as fluffy as it looks in photos and the skin was a little too thick for me. The char siew filling wasn’t that fantastic also – better than normal hawker center standard but not on par with other Chinese restaurants.Traditionally eaten with pig intestines, Chee Cheong Fun 猪肠粉 ($3) nowadays comes in lots of other fillings like char siew, prawns or even scallops. We ordered the prawn one that day. The thing about chee cheong fun is that you should definitely eat it while it’s hot and not let it sit for too long – actually that applies to all steamed dim sum. The skin isn’t as silky smooth and I thought it tasted quite normal.Crispy on the outside and crunchy on the inside, this Deep Fried Beancurd Skin with Prawn 鮮蝦付皮卷 ($4) is pretty good. It’s a very simple dish basically just prawn wrapped in beancurd skin and deep fried to a crisp, but the saltiness of the beancurd skin goes together with the prawn really nicely.I’ve heard quite a few of my friends raving about the Salted Egg Custard Bun 流沙包 ($4) at Victor’s Kitchen and now I know just why they have been so crazy over these small little buns. The salted egg yolk filling was rich and buttery, though I found the skin of the bun to be not so fluffy. But this is one awesome Liu Sha Bao in my opinion. =D

Overall, I had a good time at Victor’s Kitchen and walked out of there with full and satisfied tummies. Just don’t expect top-notch service here, though the aunties are pretty friendly. It’s very much your typical Cantonese Dim Sum place with direct, no-frills kind of service with a bit of shouting across the room during peak hours – basically you sit, order, eat and get out. And I definitely look forward to the next time I visit again!

This is where I go to get some good old fashioned COMFORT FOOD. Sun With Moon serves up pretty awesome quality Japanese food at a rather reasonable price. I decided to order their Chirashi Don this time round. It comes with a mixture of tamago, avocado cubes, fish roe and lots of other goodies mixed into the rice, making for a delightfully flavourful (and very satisfying) lunch! =DI've had their Tofu Cheesecake before but never did order it to dine-in at the restaurant. It is served in a "birdcage" of sorts which a pretty dramatic way to plate a dessert. The tofu makes this cheesecake silky smooth and light while at the same time, maintaining its rich cheesy flavour. Definitely a must-try for cheesecake lovers!