For full review and photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2012/10/irodori-japanese-restaurant-riverview.html

I was there on a Sunday, and there was not much of a crowd.

The sashimi here is pretty good. I really like the swordfish and the salmon sashimi. For sashimi lovers, the price of the buffet is really worth it. Another highlight of the dinner was of course, the Ebi Mentai Mayo. Each person will receive one and it was definitely yummy.

The variety is not bad as well.

I will definitely be here again as I am a hardcore sashimi lover!

Beef lovers have probably heard about Fat Cow, especially for their famed set lunches which include the popular Beef Donburi. Having heard much about it, we decided that we have to make our way down to try it out for ourselves! The plus point about the set lunches are that they are also available on weekends.

Set lunches are served with Salad, Miso Soup and Chawanmushi, as you can see from the photos below. We felt the salad and miso soup was nothing out of the ordinary. The Chawanmushi was actually quite good.
We tried 3 different items on their set lunch menu. The first is the famed Fat Cow Donburi. It consists of char-grilled wagyu beef with onsen egg and thinly grated japanese leek. Everyone agreed that it lives up to its name. The onset egg was really one of the best onsen egg I've tasted because it is so perfectly cooked. The wagyu was almost melt-in-the-mouth with a tinge of charcoal fragrance.

If you love foie gras, you've got to try the Fat foa-gura don. It is glazed foie gras with grilled wagyu beef. They added some pickle to it for a balance of flavours.
For those non-beef lovers, there are also other choices such as Chirashi Don (Mixed sashimi don), Tonkatsu Don as well as Gindara Miso Yaki seen below. The Gindara Miso Yaki is miso marinated cod filet. It is quite fresh and done quite well, preserving the natural fish oils in it. Personally, I feel that the highlight is still their wagyu dons.

Overall, we felt that food was the Fat Cow Donburi was the winning point with service on the slow side as it was pretty crowded on a weekend. The ambience was not bad as tables were partitioned for some privacy. Do get your tables reserved beforehand to avoid disappointments on weekends!

For full reviews and more photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2014/06/fat-cow-thumbsforfood.html

For full review and more photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2014/03/stew-kuche.html

Stew Kuche is situated in a coffee shop near Queensway shopping centre and Ikea. The coffee shop has other cool stalls such as Brown Sugar by Eskimo and Deburg burgers. It is definitely worth your time to check out this new generation coffee shop!They have a wide variety of beer at affordable prices. There is a draft beer counter as well!German Pork Knuckle:
Whole Knuckle- $25
Half Knuckle- $15

This is really good and delicious! The skin is sooooo crispy and savory that you just cannot have enough of it. I think if you have a huge appetite, half a knuckle is probably just right for you. Or else, you can probably share it with someone! The meat is really tender as well and it goes so well with the skin! It comes with achar and mashed potatoes as well. Pork knuckle is a must-try here!

For more photos and full review, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2014/02/le-steak-by-chef-amri-thumbsforfood.html

Le Steak by Chef Amri is one of the few halal restaurants that serve up steak. As such, when I heard of it's setting up at Jalan Kayu, it has been on my must-try halal food places. For those who know Chef Amri will know that he is a Celebrity Chef on Suria Channel. Besides being known for his charming persona, Chef Amri is known for his creativity in making healthy yet tasty dishes.

On Fridays, Weekends, eve of PH and PH, Le Steak offers Fresh Shucked Live Oyster for $22 half a dozen. The oysters are really fresh. For the price, we felt that it was quite worth it. For those who have not tried raw oysters, Le Steak is definitely a good place to try some!We also ordered Onion Rings ($3) which was served with Mustard Sauce and Mayonnaise. The mayonnaise came as a shock for us because it was blue! Look at how striking the blue is. We really have no idea why the mayonnaise was blue. However, the taste of it was of starking difference to the color as it was quite bland. We feel that the price of sides in Le Steak is quite reasonable, priced at $3.Le Steak offers 3 types of steak- Ribeye, Sirloin and Prime Tenderloin. Tenderloin is the most expensive among the 3, priced at $28.90. We feel that the steak was reasonably priced for the portion that was served. The steak was a little too well done I felt. I ordered medium but, it was more of a medium well done steak. Flavour wise, I would say it is not too bad. I felt that if it were to be served hot, it would have been better.My friend ordered Seafood Marinara ($13.90) which she was quite satisfied due to the generous serving of seafood that included mussels, squid and prawns. This dish was served hot which was a great plus point. The tomato base was well-done, not too sour nor sweet. For those looking for a pasta dish, this would be a good dish to order.Waffle with 2 scoops of Ice Cream ($8.90) is available only on weekends. I would say the waffle was quite well-done, fluffy and fragrant. The maple syrup was not too overwhelming, preserving the flavor of the waffle. I would have appreciated that they have more flavors of icecream or homemade icecream instead of only having chocolate or vanilla.Overall, I feel that Le Steak offers Muslim patrons a different dining experience. We would come back again for affordable priced steak. Their desserts were quite a pleasure too. Hopefully, next time around when we dine in Le Steak, the food will be served hot!

For full review and photos, please visit http://thumbsforfood.blogspot.sg/2012/12/tonkatsu-by-ma-maison.html

Tonkatsu, pork cutlet in Japanese has been an uprising trend in Singapore. One of the famous ones include Tonkatsu by Ma Maison at Mandarin Gallery.

For starters, with each set you order, it comes with grinded radish. It's something like an appetizer where you mix their shoyu sauce with the radish and eat it. It is quite refreshing and serves as a good opening to the meal.

The highlight would of course be it's Tonkatsu. Having tried Tonkichi's Tonkatsu and really love it, I was really curious how the one at Ma Maison would be like. Prices here are pretty much the same as other Tonkatsu restaurants, ranging from $23-$35, depending on the type of pork you choose. Each set comes with free flow rice and cabbage.

I prefer the pork cutlet meat to be juicy and that comes with the price of fats in the meat. My choice would be pork loin meat or Rosu Katsu Set. The one here is cooked nicely, rendering the meat not too tough to chew. However, I find that it lacks the juiciness that I was looking for.For those who like a mixture of pork loin and pork cutlet (which is less fatty), you can go for the mixed set. The pork cutlet is similarly cooked well, the batter is not too thick. Like I mention earlier, I still prefer pork loin. And yes, the cabbage with the Japanese salad dressing is awesome. It sort of balances the fried Tonkatsu, leaving you feeling that you have not sinned as much after eating a slab of heaty pork.Overall, I think Tonkatsu for Ma Maison did not really surprise and amaze me with it's Tonkatsu. I was really looking for the juiciness in the meat which was lacking. All in all, I feel that it was still a good meal and for those who love to eat Tonkatsu, you should have a meal here. One thing to note is the queue! After 7pm, the queue is quite long. So, make your way there early to avoid having to wait for a long time.