OChaCha – the Matcha Latte People

OCHACHA represents the coming together of different cultures & we hope that many friends will come together over cups of green tea…

it was another old-friend gathering and since xia is a health ‘freak’, i chose something light which she may like. food aside, what I liked about this place was the ambience.

comfortable lighting… a nice and cosy place for friends meet-ups and chit chats, no wonder it’s difficult to find a seat on weekends!

this was my 2nd visit to ochacha. on my 1st visit, i tried the shiitake mushroom soup ($3.80) and sakura egg sandwich ($4.80).

sakura egg sandwich

was really amazed by the portion of their sandwich set, which came with the sandwich, cucumber and cherry tomato salad (with japanese citrus dressing) and potato chips. for just barely $4.80, no complaints on the quantity.

the sakura egg sandwich was rather special cos they used a kind of Japanese sweet pinky ‘sakura bits’ in the filling. the bread contained some kindof herb (rosemary?) which really had a strong taste and unfortunately masked the creamy taste of the mayo egg filling. but overall it was passable.

this time, they came up with a “great-savers meal”, where you can get a sandwich set/sou-men/cha-soba + soup at a lower cost. i ordered the teriyaki sandwich set and shiitake mushroom soup value meal ($8.90) and ochacha silk ($5.30).

teriyaki chicken sandwich

ochacha silk

xia ordered the ocha-tsuke ($6.50) (rice with salmon flakes in Japanese green tea) ………

ochatsuke

i prefer the sakura egg sandwich to the teriyaki sandwich cos the teriyaki chicken was a bit too salty for my liking.

though the sandwiches, soba, desserts and beverages were the more popular items @ ochacha, what drew me back the second time was also the shiitake mushroom soup. i was never a mushroom soup fan but after trying the shiitake mushroom soup here, i have decided to find out more about mushroom soup and hopefully find one which can supersede this. just barely a coffee cup size and not so creamy looking (in fact watery!), it looked really ordinary… but wait… try stirring it. look at those mushroom bits!!

had never tried mushroom soup with soooo many mushroom bits ~~though watery, it was very creamy in taste… no wonder a coffee cup size is enough =P

sure will be back for more mushroom soup and desserts. stay tuned!

ochacha @ paragon shopping center, 290 orchard road #b1-25

Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice

i wonder if the owner of this chicken rice shop already knew that his chicken rice will be a hit that’s why he named it “five star” hainanese chicken rice”.

the katong area has always been a food paradise. be it local, western, japanese or even peranakan cuisine, you can find it all at… katong! the 2 very famous streets, east coast road and joo chiat road are all you need for your own yummy paradise :)

without any idea in mind what to eat, we just strolled along the street of east coast road, look-look see-see and finally there’s 3 options: katong laksa, five star hainanese chicken rice, café oliv. i’m not a hainanese chicken rice fan but a sudden crave was telling me that this must be a chicken rice night!

without further ado and already feeling really really hungry, we eagerly started to look at the menu. though they had many other side dishes like cereal prawns, dough fritters, what i wanted was non-other but only chicken rice!! we ordered the chicken meat set for 2 persons ($8.50). the food came after 5 mins and to my delight, i got my favourite chicken breast meat!! :D i know most people prefer chicken thigh as chicken breast meat may appear “dry”, “not that tender” but it contains less fat and higher protein level. ok, enough said, look at this……. see how succulent the meat was! andit really tasted soo soft and tender… i wished i had more!! not forgetting to mention that the sauce is superb as well.

another very important factor to tasty chicken rice is, of course, the rice lor~~ the rice grain used here was of good quality and you can see that the rice bits were not broken and clear. honestly, this was the best chicken- rice i had ever eaten. itwas very fragrant, not too oily and not too salty. i will give it a 5-star x infinity!!

hainanese chicken rice condiments like the chilli paste, ginger paste and dark soya sauce, though have been playing a “supporting role”, they are something you cannot do without. really happy that the dark soya sauce they used here was the traditional thick type cos it seemed to have ‘extinct’ already =p

so, remember these 3 important factors for tasty chicken rice:
chicken meat: soft, tender and succulent

rice: fragrant, yet not so oily

condiments: spicy chicken rice chilli, ginger paste and thick dark soya sauce

have i become a hainanese chicken rice fan already?!?

five star hainanese chicken rice @ 191 east coast road, singapore 428897

Yoshimaru Ramen Bar

this is a newly opened ramen restaurant in Singapore. to call it a ‘bar’ is certainly something that is quite eye-catching ~it somehow changed the impression of traditional japanese ramen to something like you can enjoy @ the ~~ bar.

it was a friends-reunion with wei and ling. after showing them some pics of yoshimaru from other food blogs, we decided that this IS the venue for our dinner gathering.

i was a bit late so wei and ling ordered the Hakata Mini Spicy Burger. sorry i wasn’t able to take some pics as they had already started to dig in before i reached =P. from the outlook, it seems like spicy buta (pork) burger with cheese (?)…looks tempting though but i didn’t order cos i am ready for the TONKOTSU RAMEN!!!

what attracted me to this ‘bar’ is this word… HAKATA! Hakata (博多) is part of kyushu (九州), southern part of Japan. as you know kyushu is famous for its tonkotsu ramen, so for a tonkotsu-ramen-fan like me, how would i miss this opportunity to savour something sooo close to japan?!? did some research and found that Yoshimaru is indeed a ramen chain-shop in Tokyo (why not Kyushu???). ok ok, no matter what i’m gonna try this out~

i ordered the Moridakusan Ramen (もりたくさんラーメン) ($15)

wei ordered the Tonkotsu Tan Tan Mian (とんこつ坦々面) ($12) while ling ordered the “D.I.Y” ramen ($9+ cost of other toppings). “D.I.Y” ramen is rather similar to mine, just that it starts off with the usual noodles+2 piece char siew.

from the pics above, you can see my “All-In” ramen has everything, including the mentaiko (明太子) and takana (高菜), which are indeed very authentic toppings in kyushu tonkotsu ramen. however, these 2 proved to be the main Culprit in making the soup saltier than the usual. wei and ling also complained that the soup was very salty. ling didn’t even finished her share, and well, i did tried my best to savour the last bits….

my earnest comments…. pinned high hopes but was rather disappointed. the soup was the authentic whitish, thick kyushu style tonkotsu soup, but it was on the saltier side. the thin noodles also a bit too soggy for my liking.

yoshimaru ramen bar @ 31 lorong Liput, holland village, singapore 277742

Kopi-O + Belgian Waffle

it’s time to relax my tired legs after 30mins of shopping. as I was alone, so did not want to join the crowd at starbucks. instead, i opted something more basic. kopi-o! the best place to do that in orchard of course is toastbox at wisma atria food republic. reason being i can bring my own food/snacks instead of getting it all from the foodcourt.. heehee..*cheeky*

before making my way to wisma, i knew i wanted to get something from sun-moulin bakery @ isetan scotts. after looking at all the make-u-drool pastries, i decided on the belgian waffle ($1.30).

this was my 2nd time getting the waffle. my 1st time eating it didn’t really leave a deep impression cos i ate it with milk tea. well, since both were ‘milky’ in taste, my verdict was that u shouldn’t eat belgian waffle with milk coffee/tea, rather, should go well with black coffee.

after getting the kopi-o ($1.30) from toastbox, settled myself at this ’secluded’ corner @ food republic. it was a quiet corner where i could overlook orchard road and enjoy the retro chinese songs broadcasted in the foodcourt. with the kopi-o, i feel that i can appreciate the belgian waffle better. they really complimented each other very well! the bitterness of the kopi-o & the buttery-ness of the waffle… heavenly~~ perhaps with the kopi-o, the waffle did not taste as sweet as the 1st time. what i like about this sun moulin belgian waffle is the crispy sugar syrupy coating and the softness of the waffle.

what a way to have high tea at a food court! why not try it out?

toastbox @ food republic, wisma atria, #04-00

sun moulin @ 350, orchard road, basement 1, isetan scotts

My Grill Shop

there are many little eateries at takashimaya b2, e.g. fisherios, yokohama romankan.. etc. my grill shop is opened by Nakajima Suisan (中島水産), the co. that sells the sushis and sashimis in cold storage. this eatery sells mainly set meals like, teriyaki ika (squid), unagi don, mero, teriyaki salmon…. they do have oden, onigiri and sushi as well.

ordered the ika teriyaki set ($10) and it comes with a full-size ika, rice, miso soup, salad & japanese pickles and fried nasu (brinjal) and also free flow of japanese green tea.

the grilled ika looks particularly oishii, especially with the teriyaki sauce. it was well done too, not over-grilled , though it was a bit too chewy for me =P. a piece of advice for those eating the ika… try to eat it slowly and do not try to swallow those un-chewable parts cos they may stick to your throat.

ika teriyaki

nasu

salad and japanese pickles

miso soup

it was a nice dining experience. reasonable price, polite staff, casual bar-top dining …. will try the oden soon!

my grill shop @ takashimaya shopping center, 391 orchard road, singapore 238873

Japanese style Avocado Shrimp Salad

ingredients:

avocado (1)

cherry tomatoes (10)

glass noodles (1 small packet)

shrimps (10 for small ones, 7 for bigger ones. slice into halves)

japanese cucumber (1)

japanese sesame dressing

steps:

1. cook the shrimps in boiling water. slice them into halves when done.

2. cook the glass noodles. . remember not to overcook or else it will be too soft. put them into ice water to preserve the “q”-ness.

3. cut the cherry tomatoes into halves. cut the japanese cucumber same shape of the cherry tomatoes.

4. cut the avocado into slices.

5. arrange the above ingredients in your salad bowl and add the japanese sesame dressing.

this is my fav salad dressing! you can also use this as a dipping sauce for your fried eggs, tofu etc, and even for your rice, noodles…

and here’s my first attempt of the avocado salad!

Menya Shinchan

came across menya shinchan from some local japanese magazines and websites… wonder why some people raved about it so decided to give it a try on a wet and cooling sunday night (best for ramen!), with my ramen buddy fangfang.

once u stepped into the restaurant the piggy smell will make u wanna just sit outside but for me, this is something which reminds me of my fav ramen in harajuku! no doubt, this should be the one!! without further a-do, we opted for the “shin-jiro” ($15.00) ladies version. “shin-jiro” ladies version comes with half the amount of noodles but same amount of cabbage. yes, CABBAGE! was this a innovation? i have never tried any ramen with cabbage in it! well… why “shin-jiro” ladies version? look at this……

wanna try authentic japanese pork-bone shoyu ramen? this is THE ONE.

Menya Shinchan @ 30 Robertson Quay #01-05 Riverside View

Tian Tian Yuan Dessert House

before i come to know of cheese cakes, muffins, sundaes…my fav dessert when i was a kid was chendol! however, recent visits to some of the local dessert stalls in the food court always ended up in a disappointment. the chendols were either too sweet, the ice toooo coarse (worst!) or too expensive…

lucky me i found this gem in the famous tiong bahru food center! not only chendol ($1.50), the cheng teng was also fantastic!! this is really a place worth those additional calories! =P

Tian Tian Yuan Dessert House @ Tiong Bahru Food Center level 2

Noodle House Ken

my love for japanese ramen and soba began during my study trip in tokyo. i didn’t really eat ramen every time but i happen to find this cheap and oishii soba place in shinjuku station, which i went there at least 2 times a week! as for ramen, my japanese friend recommended me a restaurant in harajuku called “jyangara ramen”, which i really started to luvvvv pork-bone soup base ramen. ever since, i have set a very high level of standard for ramen.

Noodle House Ken is recommended to me by a Singaporean residing in Tokyo.. “this is the taste closest to Japan”… wow, MUST TRY! The menu was quite simple: Char Siew ramen, Egg+Char Siew ramen, Miso Ramen, Hiyashi Chuuka and some other side dishes. I will always order my fav – Pork+Soya Sauce soup base..so Egg+Char Siew ramen ($11.00) is a must. The soup was full of that real piggy (pork) taste, not that oily (lucky man!) and not that salty too! Egg was sooo soft that it really melts in your mouth~~Char Siew, needless to say, soft and tasty~

What are you waiting for??

Noodle House Ken @ 150 Orchard Road #01-17/18 Orchard Plaza