Standing Sushi Bar, Queens Street

This was my last nice meal before I fell sick on Wednesday and resigned myself to 5 days of porridge, noodles, and essentially boring healthy meals. I thought getting a flu jab meant that I was invincible against all flu viruses around, and the last thing I expected was to fall ill before departing to wintry Korea. I'm not even entirely convinced I'm going to survive the cold now in my weakened state. Let's just pray for the best. 

In any case, I barged into the clinic shortly before it closed at 6 pm on Wednesday and demanded to know why I was down with a cursed sore throat, cough, high fever, and the whole package when I already took the flu jab! That was when the doctor enlightened me that the flu jab only protected me against the common flu viruses and not anything outside that bunch. So whatever I caught was not common. Fml. Seriously. 

Anyway, rant over. Back to the Standing Sushi Bar. I came by after work and was greeted by an insane long queue that stretched from the door of the Standing Sushi Bar to the adjacent street! Thankfully we just needed a table for two so we queued obediently and entertained each other with interesting stories.

Standing Sushi Bar has pretty awesome weeknight promotions. Check out the promotions below, taken from their website:

• Monday - $3 salmon sashimi, $2 sake, $5 beer, wine, hot sake, and umeshu
• Tuesday - 50% off nigiri sushi, sashimi, and alcohol (housepour glass)
• Wednesday - 50% off rolls, handrolls, and alcohol (housepour glass)
• Thursday - $3 salmon sashimi, $2 sake, $5 beer, wine, hot sake, and umeshu

We came on a Monday night because I wanted cheap salmon sashimi. Cannot resist $3 salmon sashimi and $5 umeshu!

This was our first order of 20 slices of salmon sashimi. After finishing this plate, we proceeded to order another 15 slices. When we were done with all our salmon sashimi, I felt like there were many slices of raw fish swimming around in my belly. The salmon sashimi was good and fresh. The cuts were thick and juicy, just the way I like it.

We could not possibly only have salmon sashimi for dinner so we decided to order a hand roll. We had one of their specialty rolls, the Rockstar Roll, which was basically a roll with pan-seared salmon. It was delicious! I am always fond of pan-seared salmon and did not really care that this was truly an overdose of salmon.

We definitely had too much salmon for our own good. This dinner at Standing Sushi Bar was filled with raw and cooked salmon, and nothing else. But it was just so satisfying! Washing everything down with a $5 glass of umeshu made this dinner perfect!

Standing Sushi Bar at Queen Street is near NTUC Income at Bugis, right beside the entrance to the Bras Basah MRT station.

8 Queen Street

Tanuki Raw, by the Standing Sushi Bar, Orchard Central

The same people behind the Standing Sushi Bar introduced Tanuki Raw at the Orchard Central. Tanuki Raw's daily Happy Hour is definitely one of the best Happy Hours I've ever been to. From 5pm to 8pm everyday, you could enjoy $10 martini, $2 for freshly shucked raw oysters (limited to 6 oysters per drink), and $5 for 5 slices of salmon sashimi (limited to 1 portion per drink). My friend made the extra effort to come by Tanuki Raw by 6 pm on a Friday to snag a table for us. Once everybody reached by 7pm, we began feasting on raw oysters and salmon sashimi.

The oysters were so fresh! They were extremely delicious with lemon and tobasco. The sweet freshness oozing out of the juicy oysters was just so awesome.

The salmon sashimi slices were thick and juicy. They were also very fresh and sweet. Both the oysters and salmon sashimi went very well with the martini that I ordered.

My friend told us that Tanuki Raw's main courses were pretty average so we left after finishing our drinks, oysters, and salmon sashimi. They were awesome appetizers at very reasonable prices and I would definitely be back for Tanuki Raw's happy hours!

#02-03 Orchard Central

Seoulria Korean Restaurant

I have been eating at Circular Road for more than a year but I did not realise there was such a yummy Korean restaurant in the vicinity. We would usually only walk to Tom Yum Kungfu or Yong Tau Foo, have our meal, and walk back. I have never ventured further down Circular Road to the fork, and even if I had, I would probably not notice the humble Seoulria.

Seoulria is located on the right fork along Circular Road and is a very small cozy establishment. However, the place is really crowded during lunch hours and we were lucky to find an empty table when we arrived.

The menu was filled with the usual yummy Korean fare. It was lunch and not appropriate for barbecued meats so we all had soup dishes.

The side dishes were amazing! I am especially addicted to their seaweed egg roll and sauteed broccoli. Just looking at these pictures now make me want to return to Seoulria for lunch soon. The seaweed egg roll was simple yet so delicious! I think we asked for about 4 servings of the seaweed egg roll. It was that yummy. The mashed potato was awesome as well.

My Kimchi Soup. Spicy, sour, and very delicious. Unlike the food court version with a watery soup base and limp kimchi, the kimchi soup at Seoulria was thick with flavour. It was super yummy! I finished the whole bowl and am already looking forward to my next one!

One of my friends commented that the soup was filled with MSG which caused her to be thirsty for the rest of the day. Indeed, I witnessed her repeated trips to the dry pantry for water in the afternoon. I did not experience similar symptoms. The only symptom I had was a major food coma so I had to stand and work.

I think, I will be back very soon.

22 Lorong Telok #01-01

Gem Bar, Club Street

We wanted to end 2013 with an appropriate bang. Stef and I had other plans on the last day of 2013 so we decided to meet on 30 Dec for dinner at Club Street. Most buses at the bus stop in front of Supreme Court go to Ann Siang Hill where we alighted and took a short stroll to Club Street.

This was my first time at Club Street and I was amazed to find rows of shop houses lining both sides of a gentle slope. The area reminded me of Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong where people streamed out of bars and restaurants onto the street. It was a Monday night and some bars were closed so we picked what seemed like the most happening place and settled in for the night. 

Gem Bar is located at the junction where two lanes merged at the top of the slope. Music was quite good and there was a healthy crowd inside so we decided it was a good place to spend the night. Drinks were at half-price ($14 for two house pours) every Monday and their food menu was quite extensive for a bar. You could take your pick between the usual bar bites or Asian food (like Fried Rice).

We ordered a couple of drinks, a plate of Popcorn Chicken, Seafood Baked Rice, and Laksa Spaghetti. 

The Popcorn Chicken was all right. Tasted pretty much like KFC Popcorn Chicken.

The Seafood Baked Rice came with a very generous amount of seafood. However the dish was bland and tasteless. The rice did not absorb the sweetness of the seafood and the cheese was not very tasty either. 

The Laksa Spaghetti was interesting. It came with an overload of pesto, tasted slightly spicy, but everything was masked by how salty the whole dish was. The spaghetti was done al dente but it was so salty, I ended up gulping down my drink with each mouthful of spaghetti. The prawns were fresh though.

Food was definitely a miss at Gem Bar. I have not tasted bar bites which were so completely off the mark before Gem Bar. However the drinks more than made up for it. The large glasses of house pours at $7 were extremely value for money. They did not dilute the drinks just because they were half-priced. 

The owner was a pretty interesting guy as well but he was also the reason why we ended our night early. I might return for the drinks after dinner at another restaurant in the area. 

10 Ann Siang Hill

Should I do up the layout of this blog?

I stumbled upon my old writings last night. How long has it been since I last wrote something other than legal papers, research papers, and submissions? Was it over a period of time or was there a definite moment when I decided to put the pen away and pick up the key board? When did I trade dreamy ideas for facts and rules? I thought about it while drifting off to sleep last night. I could not answer these questions.

I am toying with the idea of doing up the layout of this blog to organize my foodie and travelling stories, my writings, and my thoughts. Let me mull over it while I drift off to sleep tonight.

Tamashii Robataya, North Canal Road

Tamashii Robataya was in a quaint little shop house along North Canal Road, which is a short walk from the office. We were quite confused about how to reach the restaurant and took a while to find our way. Communal is situated on the first level of the shop house. There is a small door beside Communal's entrance with a flight of stairs leading up to the second level. Tamashii Robataya is on the second level. 

The set lunch came with a salad, sashimi, rice, miso soup, and dessert. Prices were reasonable too for the number of courses and the quality of food served. I ordered the Sake Teriyaki (Salmon Teriyaki) which was $16.80.

The salad was normal. Fresh greens with a light dressing. Just realised the picture looked awfully blur oops. 

The salmon sashimi was pretty awesome. The slices were thick, fresh, and juicy. I love the sweetness oozing out of the fresh salmon sashimi slices.

The salmon teriyaki was pretty good. Nicely grilled with a delicious crispy skin. However, the salmon was slightly overcooked which caused it to be a bit dry and tough. It lacked the juicy texture of perfectly grilled salmon.

I ordered Yuzu Sorbet as dessert which was refreshingly sweet. I love Yuzu! Never fail to perk me up after a heavy meal.

Overall, the set lunch was pretty good at Tamashii Robataya and value for money. I will be back!

#02-01 12 North Canal Road

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

I am extremely humbled and grateful for all the love, joy, laughter, happiness in 2013. 2013 brought me to many exciting places with many fantastic experiences which I will always remember. It was a year of opportunities and challenges, some gave me strength, some tripped me, and some taught me valuable lessons. But overall, I'm thankful for everything in 2013. I'm thankful for my family and the love and support they shower me with. I'm thankful for my boyfriend who stood by me through my rants and tantrums. I'm thankful for my good old friends for all the fun we always have when we meet up. I'm thankful for my new friends at work for cheering me up when the going gets tough. I'm thankful for the chance to write on this blog and share my foodie and travelling experiences with everyone. It had been a good run.

May 2014 be an exciting adventure surrounded by immense love, joy, laughter, and happiness. I hope I would learn to be mindful of every moment and not allow time to slip by me so quickly. I hope I would remember to take things one step at a time and not worry unduly. I hope I would learn that many things are out of my control and I should not mind so much. 

Most of all, I hope I would not allow life to beat me down.