Singaporean foodies can’t resist a good buffet. Since Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant opened in June, I have passed by this place numerous times, and have always wanted to try it out. With close to 29 categories and over 200 selections, one is definitely spoilt for choice!

The restaurant claimed its must-trys are: chawanmushi, the grilled selection, Japanese curry, custom-made handrolls, and for dessert, tofu cheesecake.

The yakitori counter and teppanyaki counters were our favorite. My friend and I couldn’t get enough of the the yakitori chicken; for the teppanyaki counter, somehow the garlic fried rice was unbelievably tasty (I think we went for three rounds of rice) while the other great stuff were the teppanyaki pork and chicken. They were extremely well seasoned and cooked! Basically, we kept going back for more.

There was also the sushi and sashimi counter. The sushi roll was interesting—it was coated with shichimi, or “seven flavor chili pepper.” The coating was crazily spicy, and might not suit some tastes. The fun part of our meal was when we ordered custom made handrolls with extra tempura prawn. It was a  jumbo handroll overflowing with shrimp!

PHOTO COURTESY OF OF KISEKI JAPANESE BUFFET

For the lighter palate, there is a salad counter, where one can opt for pasta salad, mixed greens, potato salad, or seafood salad. For those who love eggs, you can have endless bowls of chawanmushi and tamagoyaki.

There is a tempura counter for those who like deep-fried foods, while the kids will love the fusion counter with its mix of Italian and Japanese. It serves thin-crust pizza, a la minute pasta, stuffed crab shells, takopachi balls and more!

Remember to keep some room for the Japanese curry with rice and the stew. There is also a soba counter, hotpot counter, and a dessert counter with an extra choice of white chocolate fondue. A must-try there is the tofu cheesecake.

Families with kids can prebook a children’s corner or family corner where one can watch the kids play while eating.

Weekday lunch
S$19.80+++ for adults
S$12.80+++ for children

Dinner (Monday to Thursday)
S$29.80+++ for adults
S$14.80+++ for children

Weekend lunch
S$26.80+++ for adults
S$16.80+++ for children

Dinner (Friday to Sunday)
S$32.80+++ for adults
S$16.80+++ for children

Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant
The Heeren
260 Orchard Road #B1-01
Tel.: +65 6736 1216

Overall Rating:

Tucked away in a corner of Suntec City, it’s easy to miss the small entrance of Shin Sapporo Ramen. Its dark brown façade almost fades into the sprawling exterior of its next-door neighbor, Old Town White Coffee. However, it makes up for this with its strategic location near the exit of the Circle Line Promenade MRT station.

We were greeted by the very helpful staff who explained the menu to us. There were three kinds of noodles to choose from—we were taught that the slightly curly noodles are to be eaten with the miso stock; the thin noodles with the meat broth and the thick straight noodles for the seafood clear stock.

All noodles served are freshly made in the shop daily by their chef. Trained by ramen masters in Japan, these chefs operate the noodle-making machine imported from Japan with ease. Having their own machine also means that they are able to cater to your specific request—you can choose to have your noodles as firm or as soft as you like.

The broth is also noteworthy—it is made by boiling fresh pork bones over high heat for up to 15 hours instead of using concentrated soup. Coupled with the noodles and the perfect tamago (poached eggs, firm on the outside, runny on the inside), the whole bowl made for a delectable experience.

We also took an extra order of yukibuta (Japanese for “roast pork”) which had a great char-grilled taste, with its smoky flavor enveloping the tastebuds at first bite. The Japanese leek that accompanied the meat soaked up the grilled pork oil, adding to the scrumptiousness. The other side order we had was the gyoza (dumpling). Although a common Japanese dish, the gyoza here was a fulfilling experience as it was meaty and tasty. This is definitely a great place to check out the next time you get a hankering for a slurp-worthy bowl of ramen.

Shin Sapporo Ramen
3 Temasek Boulevard
#01-223 Suntec City Mall (Tower 4)
Contact number: 6836 3538

Overall Rating:

Regular visitors to Raffles City’s Marketplace would probably be familiar with the sight of Out Of The Pan. Going down the escalator to the basement level, you get a bird’s eye view of the entire restaurant. Located right next to the popular sit-here-and-rest fountain, a meal at Out Of The Pan (or OOTP as I call it) is surprisingly therapeutic, especially enjoyable for a meal at the end of a day. The sound of water running and splashing made a great accompaniment to our order of crepes.

A mix of Asian and Western cuisine, the menu at OOTP is creative. We ordered the Pork Bulgogi Crepe and the BLT Crepe. The ham and cheese in the BLT makes a tasty combination, but it was the Pork Bulgogi that really made our night. Well-balanced between sweetness and mild spiciness, it carried much of the flavor of its Korean namesake. Not only was it a surprise from the first bite, the taste was consistently delicious and the crepe good to the last mouthful.

Our crepes were accompanied by the Asian Spices Chicken Breast Salad. The chicken was well seasoned with Thai curry paste, and the sweet Thai chilli sauce dressing light and refreshing. We topped it all off with the Mango Cooler, which was a tad too sweet, but felt smooth and soothing going down.

If you order the set meal, it costs around S$20 for a crepe, salad and drink. If you are a UOB card member however, you can take advantage of the ongoing one-for-one promotion running for lunch and dinner from Mondays to Thursdays. Note however, that it is only available for dine-in, so bring a friend along for a relaxing lunch or dinner.

If you’re looking to eat on the run, OOTP also has a counter for take-away mini crepes, with crepe choices like BLT and Mama Margherita that are absolutely tempting.

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Out Of The Pan
252 North Bridge Road #B1-45
Raffles City Shopping Centre

Contact number: 6431-6103

Opening hours:
Sun–Thu: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Fri–Sat:     10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Overall Rating:

Despite being a mere five-minute walk from the City Hall MRT station, stepping into Chijmes always feels like walking into a little wine and dine oasis from the bustling city. Today, we headed for some American cuisine at Bobby’s in Chijmes.

Started in 1995 as Bobby Rubino’s, this restaurant has undergone a major revamp to become Bobby’s Taproom, Grill + Ribs. We entered into its contemporary and appealing décor—it was clear that the owners had given great attention to detail, judging from fixtures such as the custom oryx-horn chandelier. The overall ambience was inviting and perfect for chilling out.

We started our meal with the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, which was a well-seasoned delight for the taste buds. Crunchy and fresh, the romaine leaves were amply coated with the creamy yet light dressing. There was a very generous portion of tender chicken, which was perfectly grilled. It made up for the rather average mushroom soup.

For my mains, I ordered the Prime Rib Steak, reasonably priced despite the huge portion. I loved how buttery and terrifically tender it was. It came with two substantial side dishes—mashed potatoes and salad—which complemented the steak very well. The mashed potatoes were beautifully done, creamy and smooth while the salad was a classy leaf salad in perfect accompaniment to the steak.

The meat on the Signature Baby Back Pork Ribs was so well-cooked, to the point that it fell off the bones. Tender and beautifully marinated, it was coated with a superb glaze, which made it a pleasure for the palate. Although the meat was thick, it was also supremely soft and easy to consume. In addition, it came with a huge serving of coleslaw and fries, which all added up to a most pleasurable eating experience.

On a cool night, you can choose to sit al fresco for a view of the Chijmes fountain and hall. Seating capacity goes up to at least 80 pax for the al fresco area, 120 indoors and another 50 at the bar. Take note though, as this is one of the few smoking bars in Chijmes, so be  sure to request for a table in the non-smoking section if you are sensitive to smoke.

This branch of Bobby’s at Chijmes has a few advantages over its sister bistro at Cuppage—in terms of ambience and a more varied menu.

Overall Rating:

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Bobby’s@Chijmes
30 Victoria Street, #B1-03 CHIJMES
Fountain Court, Tel: 6337-5477

Bobby’s@Cuppage
25-27 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace, Tel: 6734-3323

Located in the hot new mall 313@Somerset, Flying Chillies looks like it’s ready to deliver good food and service. As you enter this Indo-Chinese-Thai restaurant, you walk into what looks like a London pub-restaurant. Modern and chic, it envelops you in its cool setting. The original Flying Chillies started in Malaysia, and has garnered positive reviews since its inception.

Our experience at the Singapore branch was no less pleasing. Flying Chillies has developed quite a reputation for its spicy Thai food. The green curry chicken was very spicy and sweet all at the same time, leaving a most distinct and consuming flavor in the mouth. When downed with rice, it makes an unbeatable combination—it undoubtedly makes its way to the top of my list of favorites, being the best in Thai curries I have tasted so far.

The other chicken dish we ordered—pandan leaf chicken—was not as winning. Although it was rather tasty, the chicken could have been seasoned longer for the pandan taste to seep in. We also ordered baked honey pork ribs, which were cooked to perfection. Sweet and tender, it practically melted in our mouths. This is definitely one of the must-tries here.

The only vegetable dish we ordered tasted decidedly home-cooked. Wholesome and simple, the stir-fried bean curd with minced pork and mushroom was tasty and authentically Chinese.

For those who don’t like spicy food, your choices are, sadly, limited. The restaurant isn’t called “Flying Chillies” for nothing—expect to be drinking lots of water if you order dishes with the sign of two chillies.

The food is affordable and prices are comparable to other eateries like Thai Express. The average for each person ranges from S$20 to S$30.

Overall Rating:

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Flying Chillies
313@Somerset #01-29/29a/30/30a
313 Orchard Road Singapore 238895
Tel: 9654-6389
Sun-Thu: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Fri-Sat and eve of Public Holidays: 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Set in quiet surroundings, visiting this restaurant gives one the feeling of being tucked away from the world. Located at the ground floor of a HDB block, it reminds one of another well-known Teochew restaurant in the east side of Singapore, Chin Lee. Yuan Xing is popular with families, because it’s accessible yet it provides quality food at an affordable price range. A mere three-minute walk from the Boon Keng MRT station, it is also easy to locate for people who do not drive. Formerly known as Guan Hin, the 37-year-old restaurant commits itself to serving the most authentic Teochew dishes.

We started with the chicken in pepper sauce, which had been strongly seasoned and marinated to achieve a tenderness that brought joy to the mouth. It was served with achar (pickles) on the side, resulting in a tasty, complementary matching.

Next, we tried the prawns with yellow chives, which had a most succulent texture, and were fresh and juicy. The texture of the prawns was effectively enhanced by the crunchiness of the chives, which also brought out the sweetness in the prawns. The crispy sole fish also added a most enjoyable fragrance to the dish.

The fried dry rice noodles had sufficient wok hei (the flavor and essence infused in food by cooking in a wok over a high open flame). It was also made up of the three gems of Teochew cooking: chai po (salted turnips), kway teow (rice noodles) and egg. Although a simple dish, the flavors of each element worked together to bring about a taste explosion for the palate.

The final dish we ordered was the stir-fried bean-curd. It was a pleasure to eat—the tofu was immensely smooth, and was slathered with egg gravy. It simply glided down the throat. This dish is a must-order.

For dessert, we had yam paste with pumpkin and gingko nuts. The yam was smooth and well-blended, and the pumpkin added a balanced sweetness to this old Teochew favorite. The chef was also generous with his serving of gingko nuts.

As a plus, Yuan Xing’s traditional sambal belacan was perfect accompaniment for the aromatic food served here. It only takes a little of the belacan to add an edge to every dish, and spice up your experience at this homely, cozy restaurant.

Overall Rating:

Yuan Xing Teochew Restaurant
Blk 34 Whampoa West
Bendemeer Road #01-01

Tel: 6298-3179 (for bigger parties, reservations are recommended)

Opening hours:
11:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. for lunch, 6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. for dinner

Stir-Fried Pea Shoots Stir-Fried French Beans with Minced Pork Beancurd with wolfberries Overall Rating: As told to Elizabeth Low

Address: UOB Plaza 80 Raffles Place #60-01, UOB Plaza 1 Singapore 048624 Opening Hours: Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm Dinner: 6.30pm to 10.30pm If you think tongue-singeing spiciness is all there is to the Sze Chuan style of cooking, Si Chuan Dou Hua shows you other facets to the cuisine. Granted, some highlights of our experience there included some pretty fiery fare in the form of the Chong Qing Diced Chicken with Spicy Chilli dish (which was delicious but mouth-numbing after a few bites) and the Beancurd in Spicy Minced Meat Sauce, but the restaurant does a good showcase of some other Sze Chuan food varieties there too. In fact, I think we maneuvered our way around our Sze Chuan experience pretty well even without the spice. The Baked Sea Perch with Egg White dish for instance, was fresh and succulent; the meat smooth and well baked. Our veggies were satisfying too—the Stir-Fried Pea Shoots dish was simple but tasty and the Stir-Fried French Beans with Minced Pork dish was crunchy and fresh tasting too. The best part was the restaurant’s signature beancurd dish with wolfberries. The beancurd is so soft it practically melts in your mouth along with its yummy sugar syrup. Another perk of the place is its 60th storey location on top of UOB Plaza, which gives diners a gorgeous look at Singapore while dining. Though the food here is relatively highly priced, it still gets our vote.

Sacher cake

“Work is the meat of life, pleasure the dessert.” So quipped BC Forbes, founder of the influential Forbes magazine.You’ll find yourself connecting very well with that sentiment when you get to Caffe Cova: You’ll plow your way through the main course just to get to the dessert

Which is exactly what happened to the club sandwich we ordered for lunch: despite its valiant efforts to satisfy — creamy thick filling mashed between good and fresh bread — it wasn’t what we came here for, really. I think you’d probably need 20 visits to try all the pastries they have at Cova, but for sanity’s sake you should start with their droolsome signature Sacher cake — stacks of thick chocolatey layers pressed together in one cake.

Their four-piece mini pastry set is almost too good to describe. Buttery, flaky, rich, creamy, little, pieces of heaven in little round tarts. Mama Mia! Of the four, the cream puff won our hearts with its nice light cream and eggy puff pastry.

Four-piece mini pastry set	Iced cappuccino

Getting a cuppa here is a genuine Italian experience in itself too. My simple little iced cappuccino was really a potent brew of pure addiction in a cup. The coffee was authentically Italian: rich and sultry-tasting. One downside: Caffe Cova delivers its quality standards at not so merciful prices, so be prepared to dish out the dollars for your pleasure.

As told to Elizabeth Low

Overall Rating:

Your favorite reviewer had another “Eureka!” moment when he unearthed this little Hokkien gem amidst the Amoy Street “foodies’ enclave”. Stewing in a stuck-in-the-’60s, down-in-Chinatown atmosphere, Beng Hiang Restaurant certainly made good its traditional appeal.

You can’t really eat Chinese food without having pork, so we pigged out with their fabulous King Pork Ribs and Kong Bak Pao — heaven in a Chinese dish!

King Pork Ribs	Kong Bak Pao

The ribs sizzled with the unique taste of its sauces, while somehow still managing to showcase the natural sweetness of the meat. The Kong Bak Pao completely satisfied our craving: it was yummy, all its meaty gelatinous goodness bathed in dark sauces, then wrapped up in a soft white bun before arriving in your mouth for the ultimate euphoric taste sensation.

Duck Salad	Kailan with Salted Fish

The Duck Salad, the appetizer, did a good job stirring up our stomach juices with its delicious and light flavors. Then came the Kailan with Salted Fish, which went perfectly with white rice.

Fried Oyster Omelette Overall Rating:

Another big hit with this reviewer was the Fried Oyster Omelette. The crispy flour skin at the top had a crispy texture. Artery-clogging, yes, but every bite was oh-so-nice! And the oysters at Beng Hiang are big, fresh and succulent.

One more fabulous thing about this place? At Beng Hiang you’ll find good food that doesn’t cost you an arm or your firstborn. Prices are nice and reasonable; our feast worked out to be less than S$20 per person. We’re sure your financial advisor would approve.

As told to Elizabeth Low

Address: Centrepoint New Wing #B2-105/106/107

Opening Hours: Open 11am – 10pm daily

Gaudy lights, tacky Oriental decor and harassed-looking chefs shouting orders in dialect — Yi Kou Wei Heritage Taste at Centrepoint’s new wing is a Chinese restaurant straight out of the movies!

True to nature, it is also carb-heaven!

We order a sampling of Chinese favorites, beginning with the “5 Fortuner”, a dieter’s nightmare consisting of Kuei Pie Ti, Yam Cake, Carrot Cake, Pumpkin and Lotus Cake, crowned liberally with floss. Every bit was tasty, soft and supple.

5 Fortuner	Deep fried chicken wings

Next we try Granny’s Inche Kebin — weirdly enough, a Peranakan specialty! — which is a serving of four deep fried chicken wings prepared with a special seasoning. The meat is exceptionally crispy, with a delightful flavour.

Pan-fried sweet potato leaf with wolfberries

Moving on to lighter fare, we have the Pan-fried Sweet Potato Leaf with Wolfberries. It is hard to go wrong with this classic dish, and the vegetables prove crunchy but a little too salty to eat without some steamed rice.

The Sliced Fish Hor Fun with Bean Sprouts arrive doused in rich, aromatic sauce, and the pale fish slices are thick, flavorful and very fresh. The generous serving of sprouts are also a treat for the palate.

Rounding up the meal is another evergreen favourite Crispy Noodles with Seafood. This dish is disappointingly over-salted, but come in a hearty serving that the whole table can share.

We chase our dinner down with the house herbal drink, a cooling throat-soother, perfect for washing down thick sauces and sweeping away the sweltering weather.

Overall, the servings are generous and tasty but a tad heavy-handed on the salt. There are no “must-have” dishes, but still a fairly good outing for the tastebuds.

Crispy noodles with seafood	Sliced fish hor fun with bean sprouts

Overall Rating:

As told to Cherie Tan