Hifumi Japanese Restaurant @ Plaza Singapura

A number of new Japanese eateries have opened at Plaza Singapura. Hifumi Japanese Restaurant is yet another Japanese concept restaurant that have found a new home on the fourth floor of Plaza Sing. Big eaters will be glad to know that this restaurant provides all-you-can-eat appetizer bar. The restaurant promises over 10 choices of appetizers available for every set meal purchased.

The appetizer bar actually only occupies a small corner near the entrance, but well it's free flow APPETIZERS, not a free flow BUFFET and appetizers are meant to be enjoyed in small doses. Thankfully the appetizer dishes were refilled regularly when I visited. The drinks counter is behind, but they do have additional charges ($1.99) for free flow access to their drinks bar.

They will provide a small black dish for you to place your appetizers on, ONLY ONE, that's why I resorted to cramming the appetizers on the plate. There were several Japanese style dishes available when I visited. I personally enjoyed the cold dishes offered like their chewy Jellyfish with plum dressing, Pumpkin and Walnut Salad, Potato salad. I also had my fill of cherry tomatoes, sweet potato fries and stewed eggplant. There was also a chawanmushi steamer at the appetizer bar, which serves miniscule bowl sized steamed egg. I lost count of the number of mini bowls I grabbed from the steamer.

For the main course, I had their Tonkatsu Set ($13.99), which came with a serving of rice and miso soup. The breaded deep fried pork cutlet was rather ordinary, perhaps too dry for my liking. I will probably go for another of their main course next time. Is it strange that I actually enjoyed stuffing myself with their bite sized appetizers than the actual main course itself?

Thai Grill N Bar @ Sembawang

We happened to pass by this restaurant on a nights out after our ICT stint and we decided to try out the Thai food offered. As suggested by its name, this restaurant serves Mookata- a thai equivalent of BBQ and steamboat and they also have a variety of drinks from their bar. Take a look at their extensive menu and you will discover that they also whip up a variety of Thai and Chinese zi char style dishes too. And there's no service charge and GST here.

We shared a 2 person Mookata set ($29.90). This was my first time sampling Mookata, so for the uninitiated, Mookata refers to traditional Thai metal pan used to BBQ meats and also cooking steamboat items. There is a mini grill dome in the centre for you to grill meat which is surrounded by a shallow space to contain the soup broth for steamboat. The entire pan is heated by burning charcoal underneath, so yes very old school. The mookata set comes with a variety to meats, including prawns, squids, marinated pork and chicken and some crabsticks, fishballs and vegetables and you are free to choose between grilling the items or dunking them in the boiling steamboat broth.

As the pan starts to heat up, you are supposed to place the pork lard provided on top of the grill dome. The oil from the pork lard will slowly drip out and help grease the metal grill. It supposedly also helps add flavour to the grilled meat! The oil also drips into the soup to add flavour too.

Besides having the mookata set, we also tried some items from their Thai food menu. We had their Mango Salad ($7) which was rather fresh and provided a really good start to our meal. We got a little greedy and also tried their Thai Green Curry Chicken ($10) which was served in a nice rich and fragrant curry with generous servings of chicken and vegetables. The Thai dishes were not too bad, and they seemed to be prepared by their in house Thai chefs.

We top off the meal with some Red Rubies dessert ($5) which was a really generous serving red rubies on top of shaved ice drizzled with coconut milk and dried mango bits. As you can see from the picture, it's a visual feast. The only problem was the way it was served. It was served in small bowl, like those you would put rice in and we had a difficult time trying to finish the dessert without spilling the contents all over the table. And the dessert most regrettably came together with the food items. There was apparently some communication error and as a result the dessert was served out immediately. If you do intend to visit this place, make sure you reiterate to the waiter you want dessert to be served later. 

Though the mookata was an experience, it was pretty normal grill and steamboat meal. I would like to try their other thai food next time round.

Thai Grill N Bar
25 Sembawang Road

Victor's Kitchen @ Sunshine Plaza

I expected Victor's Kitchen to be some really big establishment after hearing so many rave reviews about the place. So I was a little taken aback when I walked into Sunshine Plaza and into this little humble eatery tucked inside the building. The place seems a little old and run down, but I instantly felt the Hong Kong vibe with the makeshift tables and cantonese speaking staff. I came slightly early to beat the lunch crowd and was glad to find a table. So they will provide you with these order sheets where you select your dim sum and drinks. Note the "We Serve The Best Food, But Not Fast Foods" slogan directed at impatient customers.

I had their HK Summer Iced Milk Tea ($3) which is as authentic HK milk tea as it gets. It really reminds me of the iced milk tea I had in HK. The milk tea was really thick and definitely the strong hints of milk and tea flavours combined really well. They don't put the ice into the drink, but chose to chill the drink by inserting the entire cup into a mini ice bath. Haven't seen anyone do this before, but I guess this prevents the ice from diluting the milk tea!

Plastered all around the four walls of the eatery are food review cut outs that proclaim that Victor's Kitchen liu sa bao, (or Golden Egg Yolk Lava Buns ($4 for 3 pcs) as they call it in here) is the best you can find in Singapore. This is a must try item here that has been raved by so many people. The hype surrounding these buns are understandable. Though they may look small, each bun packs a whole lot of flowy molten golden goodness. I wasn't very careful with my first bun and the golden egg filling burst out as I chomped on the bun. A messy affair indeed. I was quite liked how their filling had a balance of both sweet and salty taste in it. Most other eateries simply neglect the salted egg part of the these buns; they scrimp on the salted egg filling and are happy to just let the sweet custard overpower it. Not in Victor's Kitchen. The buns were also fluffy and soft and a great complement to the lava fillings. One downside? It's a little oily and some might find it too rich, but hey, that's what makes it so so so good right?

I also tried their King Prawn Cheong Fun ($4), but there's really nothing much about this dish, except that the prawns were quite huge. King Prawns indeed. But I was a little disappointed with the texture of the cheong fun- too hard and stiff for my liking. Perhaps it has been overcooked?

The dim sum here are really affordable, I think the most expensive dish is only $5. I wasn't expecting much from service and I thought the serving ladies though efficient, seemed pretty cold and unfriendly at first. But talk to them a little and they are really polite and not that unfriendly after all. The cashier even thanked me and wished me a pleasant day ahead. I would definitely come back for my insatiable fix of Golden Egg Yolk Lava buns and milk tea!

Victor’s Kitchen
91 Bencoolen Street
Sunshine Plaza #01-21

Opening Hours: Tue to Sun 1030am to 8pm
Closed on Mon

Two Chefs @ Sin Min Avenue

Two Chefs Eating Place has a branch at Sin Min Avenue, which is really not easily accessible by public transport. Either take a bus 52 from Bishan Interchange, or just drive here. There are plenty of parking lots in the surrounding housing estate and there is a basement carpark just below the restaurant.

Two Chefs is located at Blk 409 Sin Min Avenue, you might miss it in the Sin Min estate but it actually takes up one lone 3 storey building separate from the housing estate.

 

We popped by to have a nice weekend family lunch!!! Two Chefs whips up nice chinese-dishes-served-in-relaxed-no-air-con-environment, aka zi char. Great place to bring your parents/grandparents who insist on sticking to decent chinese cuisine. And this place is definitely less crowded. No queues! One of the best parts of eating in a big group- you get to order many dishes to sample. Here was what our table looked like:

  

Here are some dishes we had:

1. Drunken Cockles

Supposedly one of their signature dishes, it is essentially a cold dish with slightly raw see hum drenched in their very interesting pestle sauce made from chilli, spring onion and garlic. Some people might be turned off by the slightly raw cockle meat but the sauce really makes this dish appetizing.

2. Butter Pork Ribs

Yet another signature dish, you will either love this or hate this. The pork ribs itself was really done well; tender but still retained a bit of chewiness. The strangest part of the dish- each pork rib is covered with copious amount of milk powder. It tasted like milk powder to me, but I'm not really sure if it is. It gives the pork ribs a really sweet, milky kind of flavour. It's a really love it or hate it kind of thing.

3. Sweet and Sour Pork

A standard zi char staple, the sweet and sour pork here is rather decent.

While you're here, do try their drink stall's Ice Jelly Drink. Just imagine your ice jelly dessert served in a cup. Yes, you can slurp up jelly bits and icy syrup from your straw. Unfortunately, no fruit cocktail provided. A refreshing drink nonetheless.

Overall, food here is pretty decent and affordably priced. One advantage of visiting their Sin Ming branch, it's less crowded, at least during Saturday lunch time when I visited. 

Two Chefs Eating Place (Sin Ming Branch)

409 Sin Ming Avenue #02-01