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好心人

Ho Sim Lang

tanjong pagar

Kaisen Don

August 10, 2017 by Ho Lang

This is a gem. I say this because it really is. Tucked away on the second floor of International Plaza at Anson Road, nobody would have ever guessed that there will be a Japanese restaurant hidden.

Sad to say I still don’t know the name of the restaurant, plus this is my second visit and I still don’t know the name. So I will call it the nameless Japanese restaurant.

I had just finished my lessons and was just thinking about what I would have for dinner and wah-lah I thought of nameless and decided to go there. I can only tell you how to go if you saw Joe & Dough. Up the escalator and look for Domba Coffee and it’s a right turn and then a left turn and there it is. Alternatively, you can look for a Japanese sounding restaurant name on the second floor at the building directory.

The boss is this Japanese guy. And his Singaporean Wife who speaks fluent Japanese and Cantonese. Sadly again, I don’t know their names. I call her “Aunty” and I call him “Uncle”. Sorry for not being very helpful here. But just a clue, they have operated the business for over 30 years already. And some of their regular customers have been eating their Japanese food since they were students and now they are back with their own children to “carry on the tradition” of eating Japanese food. I thought it a little strange to talk about their business in that manner, but I guessed they were just proud that their customer branding is that strong. I asked Aunty what it was that they specialised in and she said we prepare “ordinary Japanese food, nothing fancy“. I think Aunty was just being modest.

Anyway, I said all that to say their Kaisen Don so totally rocks. Damn good quality sashimi. And everything right down to presentation basically bought me over. It’s a tad expensive at $29 (SGD) a bowl, but heck, I rather pay a little more for quality than to have low-quality Japanese food (think Japanese food in a food court).

So I was chowing down my Kaisen Don and the guys behind me who were pretty drunk started laughing and telling off-coloured jokes to each other. I didn’t care about what they were saying until they mentioned Dstllry and about their Omakase and I thought wow. Not bad at all. To get a bunch of drunk guys to talk about your business in someone else’s Japanese restaurant must mean you guys are doing something right. Keep it up Lum san.

Posted in: Reviews Tagged: dstllry, great for small groups eatery, Ho Jiaks, international plaza japanese restaurant, japanese restaurants in town, kaisen don, sake, tanjong pagar

Teppei

March 25, 2014 by Ho Lang

If you dare to, you can venture out to try Teppei. Alright, perhaps I am being vague here, but Teppei has gained popularity for their Omakase style dinners and amazingly value for money Japanese cuisine. It has become one of the most over-booked Japanese restaurants in Tanjong Pagar, possibly in Singapore.

My wife and I tried queuing for lunch once, and it was an experience in and of itself. My wife got so fed up with the inconsistent queuing system that she confronted the errant queue-cutters at the front of the store who arrived magically just minutes before the shop opened for business.

It seems Mr T himself is not really bothered by this – his policy it seems is, “if your members are all gathered by the time we are opened, we will serve you. For the rest of you in the queue, please wait your turn.”

Of course it all seemed unfair when 15 people magically appear in front of the 2 hour long queue just minutes before the petite restaurant opens its doors at noon. It also seems even more unfair when the servers do nothing but simply shrug their shoulders and point to the arbitrary service policy pasted on the glass door. I guess they get that everyday.

But unhappiness aside.

The food is amazing. My favourite being the Borachirashi (whatever that means), their signature dish. I haven’t really tried too much of their menu to be really honest. Every trip there is kind of hurried, so I don’t really get the opportunity to savour or take it all in.

I would like to do one of their dinners though, that famous Omakase – let the chef decide what goes into your mouth thing. The problem here is the rigid reservations for dinner for their tiny 20 seater restaurant is so over-booked that by the time I do get a chance to make a reservation, it might well be 4 to 5 months down the road. They seriously need to expand! Thankfully it seems, they managed to secure (or put the guy next door out of business) the unit next door. Woohoo!

So maybe I might have a chance to book for dinner between July to September 2014. That’s if I managed to get through their hotline on 29 March 2014. Alternatively I can like their Facebook page and watch out everyday for “no-shows” for dinner. I have a feeling an army of Teppei fans are already stalking their Facebook profile for these offers.

My review? 4 out of 5 thumbs-up!

 

Posted in: Reviews Tagged: food, japanese, orchid hotel, restaurants, reviews, tanjong pagar, teppei

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