Omakase at Bistro Du Le Pin

Made a reservation for dinner at Bistro Du Le Pin for an omakase dinner with Zg, Stef and King. It was our first time there and we were surprised to find that the place was tucked away in a quiet corner in Orchard Plaza. It was a very small and cozy restaurant, and we settled down into our seats along the counter.

Potato salad with mentaiko. 

Burrata cheese with tomato.

Crab cake. I really liked this dish because it was full of fresh crab meat.

Fresh oysters.

Cannot remember what this was so I guess it must have been rather forgettable (oops).

Parma ham carved off the leg sitting at the other end of the counter.

Asparagus, corn, scallop, uni and ikura. This was simple but really delicious.

Fish on a bed of greens.

Prawns in a thick creamy sauce. I had no idea what the sauce was, but it made me want to lick the bowl. 

Beef. Zg, Stef and King were very happy with the beef.

I had pork on the other hand and it was SUPERB. Just the right amount of juicy fats without being too oily. I also liked the sauteed mushrooms!

Vongole for 2 pax. Very generous with the clams and the pasta, but oh my goodness, this was definitely an overkill. We were so full from the earlier courses that we could hardly finish the pasta. 

A delicious omakase dinner with great company in a nice cozy restaurant. I think this is a place you would enjoy if you like a small, no frills restaurant serving wonderful food at affordable prices.

150 Orchard Road
Orchard Plaza
67345530

Tonkatsu Agedoki, Suntec City

This place is really jialat. I try not to slip into Singlish on my blog because, you know, keeping up the pretense of good English is necessary for running a blog. Or so I would like to think. But frankly, there is no English equivalent to what I would describe this place.

Apparently, Tonkatsu Agedoki is run by the same people behind the wildly popular Tendon Kohaku which is situated just next door. Tendon Kohaku is good, not worth the one hour queue, but worth a 20 minute queue kind of good. But omg, just how, how, could standards differ so greatly??

Granted, the first time I visited when they just opened, the tonkatsu was really good. I was so happy with my meal that I decided I would bring my family over one weekend. That was when disaster happened (to be elaborated below).

But first, some introduction.

Both times I ordered the Pork Loin Cutlet Set Meal ($21.50). 

This was taken the first time I visited Agedoki when the batter was crisp and light, the pork juicy and fresh. I was completely sold and told everybody who was willing to hear that omg, I found a fantastic tonkatsu place!

Good things must share right? So share I did with my family one Sunday evening. And WOW, look at this. What a huge difference a few weeks made! What is with that uneven clumps of batter? And that reddish seemingly uncooked pork inside? Not to mention some parts of the pork was really stringy.

What a huge disappointment. Bring back the chef who cooked the tonkatsu the first time I visited, please?

3 Temasek Boulevard, 

#03-311 Eat At Seven, 

Suntec City Mall Tower One, 

Singapore 038983

63334386

Tempura Kohaku, Suntec City

My current favourite place for tempura! Tempura Kohaku is beside Tokyo Sundubu and Menya Takechi in Suntec City. I find myself returning to this cluster of restaurants often because there is always something yummy to eat here and Suntec City is (thankfully) not as crowded as the other malls on a weekend. 

Be prepared to queue if you want to try Tempura Kohaku. The line at the door can be frightening and a great test of your patience if you arrive during the peak hours. I find that the lunch crowd is generally more manageable than the dinner crowd, and I queued for roughly 20 minutes for my lunch at Tempura Kohaku both times I visited. 

I realised that Tempura Kohaku was open on CNY Day 1 this year (thanks Stef!) so my family and I came down to have our dinner here. So happy because there was no queue at all! Perfect.

Look at the crispy batter! The generous ingredients! The light tempura sauce drizzled on the tendon! Ok, I need to calm down. They are really generous with the ingredients. Each bowl comes with 2 prawns, some vegetables, a mushroom, a crab meat stick, and a large piece of chicken. I loved the chicken. I kind of expected it to be a dry and bland slab of meat so I left it for the last. But omg, I was so pleasantly surprised! The batter was crispy, and the meat was so juicy and tasty within.

They serve only cold green tea which was not a problem for me, although I thought that a cup of hot green tea might have helped after a meal of fried food. 

7 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec Tower One, 038987

63334386

11:30 AM to 4 PM, 5 PM to 10 PM