For full review and more photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2014/03/botan-japanese-restaurant-thumbsforfood.html I have been to Botan on two separate occasions- once for lunch and once for dinner. On both times I was there, the restaurant was not packed but had a fair amount of patrons dining. I actually enjoyed the fact that the place was not overcrowded so I could dine comfortably and at my own pace.

Botan has a variety of set meals for lunch and dinner. If I did not remember wrongly, the set meals are priced the same regardless of whether you are there for lunch or dinner. Prices range from $22 to about $35.

I had the Ladies Set which is one of the more expensive sets (about $30+). It came with California Maki Roll, Chawanmushi, Sashimi, Ramen, Tempura, Salad and Icecream. This set really has a little of everything. Usually, you would think that Ladies Set is probably smaller in portion but, the Ladies Set here is otherwise.The Chirashi Set is pretty alluring as well with not only fresh sashimi but a mixture of sides such as Oden that provides a good balance with raw sashimi. The best thing of the Chirashi Set I would say is the generous portion of roe on the rice. The Tempura in Botan is also another must try as it is fried to perfection. Even when the tempura was not eaten piping hot, it was crisp and delicious.

Overall, I feel that Botan is a hidden gem amidst the CBD area. This place serves value-for-money, authentic and quality Japanese food. It is suitable for business dinners as well as large group gatherings. For those who are looking for a place for good Japanese food yet want to avoid the crowds, do give Botan a try!

For more photos and full review, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2013/10/the-marshmallow-tree-cafe-telok-blangah.html

A perfect choice to chill and read on a lazy Sunday [: It is located in a corner of the Telok Blangah neighbourhood. Just a short walk from the Telok Blangah MRT!

I love the decor of the cafe. It gives off a cosy feeling which makes me feel like staying there to just read my book or talk to my friends. Well, I would really love to do that but there was a constant crowd on the Sunday that I visited and we did not want to deprive others of their coffee drinking chances! This newly set-up cafe can seat around 20-odd people I think; pretty tiny space!Latte $4.50. I thought that the coffee was pretty good! And, the coffee art was good too! For a small budding cafe, Marshmallow tree cafe has definitely surpassed my expectations of it!A differentiating point about this cafe is that they serve up their drinks with a roasted marshmallow! Loveeeee it! Though it is nothing fascinating, we were all still pretty hyped up when the marshmallows came. Reminded us of the good old days when we would all fight for the marshmallows during BBQ sessions. If only they had free flow of marshmallows or something, it would be so perfect!

Hot chocolate $5.50. I liked the hot chocolate as well as it was thick and milky enough! Would order it on days when I don't need caffeine.Waffles with a scoop of ice-cream $7.50. This is a simple yet satisfying dessert! A safe choice!

Domo Cup $4.50. I would say this is something that I would order again the next time I visit the cafe! Melted marshmallows on top with nutella and biscuits at the bottom of the cup. Definitely something that will lift your mood up high into the skies!Overall, I feel that the Marshmallow Tree Cafe is worthy place to visit. However, the cafe does not really serve proper meals so I would suggest dropping by for a cup of coffee and some sweets! Setting itself in a neighbourhood environment and having a unique theme of its own, I foresee increasing popularity of this newly opened cafe!

For full review and photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2013/05/tsukada-nojo-plaza-singapura.html

Having heard much about this restaurant, we decided to give it a try!

Be warned that it is not easy to get a table in the restaurant as it has limited seating capacity per night. Once its quota is met, sorry, you'll have to visit the place another time. The good thing is if you're there early to queue (before 7pm), they would put you on a waiting list with different timings to expect. So, you can go off shopping and be back when your timeslot is ready.

When you enter the shop, you can see that it is open kitchen concept, where you can see the preparation process of your food.

The highlight is this Collagen Hotpot. It is made from the bones of Organic Chicken, called "Jitokko" which is a precious chicken in Japan. The solidified collagen is made by boiling the bones for 8hours and then into the shape seen below. So, they will add the solidified collagen into pot and bring it to boil. The solid will slowly turn into liquid which is a thick chicken broth-like soup base.When you order the collagen hotpot, it is actually in the amount seen above. But, you can feel free to request refill of collagen when your soup is depleting.

Ingredients wise, it is $28++ per pax with minimum of 2 pax orders. The good thing is if you have 4 people and do not like all the ingredients on the set, you can order 2 standard sets and other ala carte items that are of your own preference. The ingredients are shown below.

The ingredients are fresh and from what I understand, all the ingredients serve a certain healthy and beauty purpose.If you're still feeling hungry and want more carbo, you can order the "porridge" where they will serve a plate of rice. Add it in and eat it with the soup. Really awesome how the porridge tastes like.

I guess Tsukada Nojo was really quite a unique experience on its own. If you would like to try it, remember to go early to avoid disappointments!

For more photos and review, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2012/12/rocku-yakiniku-bugis.html

We chanced upon ROCKU one day when we were looking for a dinner place in the newly revamped, Bugis+ mall. The food ROCKU serves is Japanese Barbeque ala carte for dinner. It does also have weekends lunch buffet from 11.30am-4pm at $29.90++.The exterior and interior design of the shop is like an underground punk and rock brick-walled hideout. The bricks wallpaper really brought out that vibe. The restaurant plays loud music, projecting the Music Videos of various songs, especially Japanese-pop and Korean-pop. Once in a while, you'll hear popular English pop songs.

We ordered a Beef Combo Set ($45.90) which consists of 5 different parts of the beef from the more fatty areas to the leaner meats. I really don't know how to differentiate the different parts of beef the meat were from. But, one thing to be sure, the beef was fresh and well-marinated. The set even came with chicken, some vegetables, rice and even mushrooms.The combo sets come with 2 rice and 2 miso soups. Since there were 3 of us, we ordered an extra bowl of egg fried rice ($1.50). Since you can choose egg fried rice instead of the normal plain rice, it is recommended to try it! It really is different from the normal fried rice you can find else where because it uses japanese rice. Portion of rice was however small. For those people with bigger appetities, you would probably want to get another bowl. We also ordered a serving of salmon ($8.90). The portion was rather small for the price, but, the salmon was really fresh and good.Overall, the food was good and fresh. We felt that it was one of the more affordable barbeque ala carte restaurants you can find that serves quality meat. We would definitely be back.

Also, it has many beer promotions in-house. Happy hour is from 12pm-7.30pm and prices starts from as low as $6 for half pint and towers are at $55 during happy hour. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Ladies enjoy two free alcohol beverage with purchase of food in-house, If you are dressed in ROCKU's colors, you get another 2 free drinks (for ladies only).

For full review, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2012/12/brunetti-tanglin-mall.html

Brunetti originated from Austrailia and is well known for its desserts as well as coffee. It also serves breakfast menu where it's specialty breakfast set is available till 2pm. It also has an all-day breakfast menu as well as an all-day dining menu which serves main courses.

When you step into the restaurant you would be greeted by a cozy ambience with rows of desserts, pies, pastries, gelato lining on the right. It makes me excited to see the different variety of food placed in glass displays. It just whets the appetite. Your will have to get your own seat in the restaurant and order straight from their counter.

We didn't manage to catch the breakfast menu available till 2pm. However, if you get to Brunetti's in time for it, do try the Italian Breakfast ($14.90). It is highly recommended by my friend for its generous portion.

We decided to order dishes from the all-day breakfast section as well as main courses. The food is pretty affordable with most prices ranging from $10 to $20+.

Seafood Stew was one of our favorite dishes that day. It is served with two slices of bread and a handful of greens. The delicious thing was it's flavorful gravy and portion of seafood. The gravy is thick and most suitable to be eaten with bread. There is pasta that is inside the dish as well. I really like the pasta as it was well-cooked and thus have a good texture. Definitely a must-have when we visit this place again.

Red Snapper was a recommendation by the waiter. The fish is served beautifully on the p[late which makes it look extremely appealing to the tastebuds. The fish was cooked well and fresh. What I really liked was that the fish complemented really well with the mushrooms, slices of fruits, olives and gravy that was served. It is really quite an appetizing and refreshing dish.

The Yuzu Macaron I felt is quite special and it's yuzu flavor really permeated the shell of the macaron. The filling is chocolate that we felt complemented the yuzu flavor well.

The Lemon Meringue Tart was highly recommended in online reviews. So, we had to try it for ourselves. I felt that the lemon feeling in the tart was good and went well with the meringue on top of it. The meringue wasn't too sweet which was good because I am not fan of sweet meringues. Do try the tart if you're there for desserts!

Overall, we would be back for it's brunch before 2pm. The brunch here as quipped from a friend is one of the most affordable, good quality and generous portion. The mains has some hits and misses. For the desserts, we found it a bit too pricey in relative to it's other dishes. However, if you're a dessert lover, you'll sure be spoilt for choice in Brunetti.

Lastly, they have a 1-for-1 promotion after 7pm from Sunday-Friday on selected desserts, pastries and stuff. So, if you're in the area, no harm swinging by to see what's on sale!