hangout

We like to hangout. We like to hangout and eat dinner. We like to hangout and eat dinner and have drinks. We like to hangout and eat dinner and have drinks and .... Haha, does that look a little like what Bart Simpson might be writing on his blackboard?

Watami at ION Orchard is the place that we tried, based on HS's suggestion.


who? me?


Had to contend with long queues, so we guai guai waited. Got a table when it is close to what time was that? 9pm. Yes, late dinner! Can't wait any longer for the food...



yummy salad, vege is good but i like the meat better


baked rice


sotong


wafu steak which was super salty


cheese croquette (third cheese item after baked rice, potato gratin....!)


brownies and ice-cream


After dinner, it was to Gustimo for ice-cream and drinks. World Cup was on, but that section was fully reserved. Which was just as well, 'coz Brazil was defeated that night, and it would be heartbreaking for someone to watch her boy cry... Hahaa!


minimum order, 3 scoops, and all squeezed into a tiny cup.. swell



Who ate the cone ah? I came out from washroom, it was gone!

saturday night out

Located at B2 of ION Orchard towards Paterson Link. The queue was still ok for a Saturday evening (around 645pm), and we got seated after waiting for about 10-15 minutes. Saying yes to counter seats means shorter waiting time ;)




Had a clear view of the sushi master, who was all smiles and had lively exchanges with his staff (kitchen and service crew). Sushi master seemed to be Japanese, while his kitchen crew were mostly speaking in Cantonese.


sushi master at work


colorful bottles of sake


The sushis are priced at per piece and ranges from below $1 to above $6.


plump looking scallop sushi


fatty tuna mini rice (it looks like served using an ashtray... )





unagi mini rice


foie gras sushi


eel sushi ($6)



The eel (anago?) sushi looked impressive, and it tasted real soft.. but somehow, I didn't quite like it. Still prefer unagi.



hamachi sushi (i like~)


jack mackerel


california maki, with tiny crunchy roe


saury, fatty aburi salmon and ark shell sushi



They're having a 50% discount promotion for salmon in soy sauce (originally was $0.80 per piece).


aburi salmon in soy sauce


The aburi salmon in soy sauce was cheap and good! It's yummy when eaten together with the raw onion slice. Recommended!


After that, went to 111 Somerset. They have an NTUC Finest (quite small actually...) and a couple of restaurants as well. But decided to go back to Orchard Central for coffee.


taken from dunno which floor of OC but quite high la!


looking at Robinsons

The shops at OC are practically empty. So, if you need a breather from the hustle and bustle of Orchard Road.. just head to Orchard Central.

Ippudo Singapore

Like other curious parties, we went there. To Mandarin Gallery Orchard, Ippudo Singapore. Located at fourth level, we anticipated a queue and true enough, there was a queue outside the restaurant... on a Wednesday night at around 820pm.



If you can see this so close and you're in the queue, it would've meant that you had queued for almost 15 minutes...


Once you enter the shop, there's an elongated table where there's another queue to wait for tables. If you're there on Mon-Thurs before from 5-8pm, there's Happy Hours for the beers @ starting price $6. Choice of Asahi, Sapporo and the likes. Too bad, we were there after 8pm. The insides of the restaurant is quite small, and everyone shares table (well, almost everyone...)

Yes, there's the open kitchen visible upon entrance, a chandelier in the middle of the shop and the wall of neatly lined up bowls, made up the visuals. Expect noise and conversation across table is through raised voices but you may still be able to whisper sweet nothings if you're seated side by side ;P





We ordered Akamaru Ramen with egg (Red bowl), Karakamen (Spicy Miso) with chashu and Kyushu Miso Tonkotsu (seasonal), salad and shrimp bun. Also ordered the green tea (@$4 per pot and good for just 4 cups and non-refillable). Tea is served by pot only.




non-refillable pot



salad


tossing in action!



kyushu miso tonkotsu


what also have... pork belly, chashu, half-egg, cabbage


Taste wise, the broth for Akamaru tasted the best as it is flavorful yet light. Kyushu ramen has a heavier taste that gets a little too much to handle on a hot night. If the weather was much cooler, then I think it would've been a different experience... After seeing and tasting the ramen, can I say that Hakata ramen is indeed similar to the ones Ajisen is serving up, albeit Ippudo is a thinner version?


shrimp bun.. kong bak bao's underwater distant cousin.. didn't eat this as I was quite full after eating the Kyushu ramen


But of course, there's always room for desserts!



yuzu sherbet


cherry blossom ice-cream.. doesn't it looked dreamy here?


On first bite, the cherry blossom ice-cream did taste like my cough syrup.. but subsequent bite (take a larger bite) changes the initial perception. The milky taste was quite enjoyable with a subtle hint of cherry...

Yuzu sherbet on the other hand, was quite fruity, tangy, and at the same time sweet. It has yuzu (skin?) bits in it for added authenticity.


Overall a pleasant experience. But I wish it wasn't so noisy though.


my dining companions, looking hungry as this was taken pre-dinner.. and after waiting for half hour!

ion orchard

Have this impression of super-atas atmosphere when people say ION Orchard? Well, you are not alone but it was kinda fun roving in it. I've only visited Level 1 and the basements. So probably haven't experience any encounter with the 'atas' kind! Hahah

HS wanted to buy make-up so we went to a shop called 'Stage'. SG brand, and they're having promo of buy 1-get-1 free. One product ard $20-$25, so if half-price means abt $12 each. Std price, no?

So since I'm there and the promo sounds like a good bargain, so why not? Bought lip gloss and blusher since the existing ones that I had probably expired liao!


make-up


The basements were more fun! Visited Arinco King, but who can afford cakes for $18 per roll? Saw Adam Chen's burger joint, R Burger... hehe, even saw Adam Chen himself.. though I only caught his back. Then at 9+pm, the mochi stall's Japanese chaps will start calling for customers with $2 (two dollars chant). Their antics was quite cute :P