Ippudo (Mandarin Gallery)

Ippudo Singapore at Mandarin Gallery was the 2nd overseas outlet to be opened outside of Japan. When the outlet opened in Dec 2009, there were long queues resulting in a minimum queuing time of 40minutes. Close to 1 and a half year later, I thought this would be a good time to try this place.

Went there on a Saturday for dinner. Just in case, there was still a queue, went there early at 6pm. Well, I guess several other people had the same idea. As it was full and there was already a queue outside. At least 10 people in front.

At last, it was our turn to enter the restaurant. Well, inside, there is another round of queuing!

As you queue inside, there are menus present so that you can decide what to eat.

At last, it was our turn to be seated. we decided to share table so that we do not need to wait longer. Noticed that seating capacity is quite small inside.

Menu (A La Carte)

Menu (Meat)

Ippudo Original Gyoza $6

The Ippudo Original Gyoza consist of 5 pieces of pan fried Gyoza. The Gyozas are quite small. On the outside, it was golden brown and crispy. Inside, it was flavourful. Small but delicious!

Menu (Ramen)

When ordering ramen, you will be asked how would you want your noodle. Soft, hard or medium (between soft and hard)? Your choice will determine the cooking duration.

Shiromaru Motoaji $15

The Shiromaru Motoaji is their original recipe tongkotsu soup served with thin noodles rosu chashu (pork loin), cabbage, kikurage, pickled ginger and spring onion. For this bowl, we requested for the soft noodles. Which means it is cooked longer till the noodle become soft. The noodles was soft, flavourful and smooth! The broth has been cooked using pork for many hours till it become this creamy colour. It was light and flavourful. Towards the end, felt that it was on the salty end. 

Akamaru Tamago $17

The Akamaru Tamago is their original recipe with their blended miso paste (a round brown paste next to the egg) and fragrant garlic oil.

After mixing the miso paste

After mixing the miso paste, the colour of the broth turns brown. It was on the salty end and with a slight taste garlic after taste. If you prefer a more intense garlic after tase, you can get fresh garlic to be pressed in the broth. I ordered the 'hard' noodles. It was springy and firm.

Tamago

Adding a Tamago (egg) cost $2 more! And I was not disappointed. Inside, the yolk is not runny nor is it fully cooked. It was still semi solid. I would have expected the egg to be hard as it seems to be slightly overcooked. To my surprise, the tamago had a melt in the mouth sensation and the egg white was soft as if it was a semi-solid too.

Overall, there is still a long queue at the outlet. Ramen wise, it was better than what I have eaten at Iluma's Ramen Champion. But the star was really the tamago! Even better than Tampopo's.

ps: this place might not be suitable on a first date. (sharing of table, noisy environment)


Ippudo Singapore (Mandarin Gallery)
Blk 333A Orchard Road
#04-02/03/04 Mandarin Gallery
Tel: 6235 2797
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-11pm
                        Sun 11am-10pm
Website

Ippudo Tao (UE Square)
207 River Valley Road
#01-55/56 UE Square
Tel: 6887 5315
Opening Hours: Mon-Thur 11am-3pm, 5pm-12am
                         Fri-Sat 11am-3pm, 5pm-2am
                         Sun 11am-11pm

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Sing Ho Hainan Chicken Rice (Middle Road)

Spotted this Hainan Chicken Rice outlet along Middle Road called Sing Ho Hainan Chicken Rice. 

Menu Cover

The menu cover looks like looks like some vintage Shaolin Martial Art book.

Part of Menu (a)

Part of Menu (b)

As usual, I ordered 1 plate of 'white' chicken rice with organ (gizzard).

'White' Chicken Rice $3.50 with Organ $0.50

With such a large plate, it make it seems as though the chicken rice is very little. The chicken rice was hard and dry. The chicken flavour was not fully infused into the rice.

How was the chicken? Just average. But glad that quite a generous portion of chicken was given. However, only 4 pieces of gizzard was given.

The chilli was average. But the ginger was surprisingly fragrant and cut finely. 


Despite all the positive reviews online. I beg to defer. Overall, it was disappointing. The chicken was average while the rice was disappointing. In any chicken rice stall, there are 3 important factors. 1) The chicken. 2) The rice. 3) Chilli. So far none met my criteria for this stall. 


Sing Ho Hainan Chicken Rice (Middle Road)
270 Middle Road
Tel: 6336 7579
Opening Hours: Daily 11am  - 11pm

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Tao's Restaurant (PoMo)

This is my 3rd visit to Tao's Restaurant. First visited this place 3 years ago in 2008. Recently, we went back to again on a Saturday afternoon. I was quite surprised to find that the layout of the place and even price has not changed. In terms of the menu, some of the items on the menu has changed.

Tao's Restaurant concept is to serve 6-7 course meal at an affordable price.

Lunch, it is 6 course meal at $19.80 ($23.30 nett)
Dinner, it is 7 course set meal at $29.80 ($35.07 nett)

What's the difference between lunch and dinner other than price? Well, for dinner there is an addition dish which is the Grilled King Oyster Mushroom & Sorbet. So far, have not eaten during dinner before so can't comment about this dish.

Now let's start with the lunch - 6 course set meal.

Menu (a)

Starter - Bacon & Mushroom Gratin

Bread (2 pieces for each person)

Course 1: Starter - Bacon & Mushroom Gratin with soft toasted bread.  It was baked in with mushroom, bacon and cheese. Using it as a spread for the bread, the Bacon & Mushroom Gratin was delicious although it was slightly on the salty end. You can ask for more serving of bread, I asked for 1 more to accompany this heavenly starter.

Salads - Top Shell Salad with Cold Japanese Noodle

Course 2: Salads - Top Shell Salad with Cold Japanese Noodle. This dish was served cold. The top shell was served with chop chilli, peanuts, Japanese noodles and a dressing that seems similar to Thai dressing. This dish did not suit my taste bud as it was on the sour side.

Salads - Prawn Roll with Pork Floss

Course 2: Salads - Prawn Roll with Pork Floss. This dish is so much better than the Top Shell Salad. It was light, refreshing and sweet, the taste of this dish complement the ingredients well.

Soups - Cream of Mushroom

Course 3: Soups - Cream of Mushroom. This dish is my favourite1 As mushroom is one of my favourite ingredient, this might be biased! This bowl of soup is 100 % mushroom! So many chunks of mushrooms between each flavour and the whole soup has a strong flavour/essence of mushroom (that I was wondering if my nose will start bleeding from being too heaty =P) Definitely home-made and totally different from the ones outside or the ones you find in cans. The only issue I had was why the bowl was not even half filled!

Soups - Cream of Pumpkin

Course 3: Soups - Cream of Pumpkin. Ordinary, I prefer mushroom soup. 

Menu (b)

Main Entrees - Tao's Grilled Chicken Jumbo Leg

Course 4: Main Entrees - Tao's Grilled Chicken Jumbo Leg. Surprisingly, there was a layer of chilli oil and giving it a spicy flavour which did not suit the sauce. Otherwise, the chicken leg was well cooked and well marinated. Moreover, it was very tender.

Main Entrees - Tao's Oven Roasted Steak

Course 4: Main Entrees - Tao's Oven Roasted Steak. The steak was huge considering that this was our 4th dish. Moreover, it was well marinated and well cooked. It was tender, soft and tasty. I have no idea why the 2 dishes use the same sauce.But the mushroom sauce really spoilt the dish, does not compliment the steak. What about the sides (mashed sweet potato, yam chip and boiled broccoli)It was delicious!

Desserts - Creme Brule

Course 5: Desserts - Creme Brule. After my previous 2 visit, I knew that the Creme Brule was a must order. But this time, I was disappointed. There was a very strong eggy flavour which even overwhelmed the flavour of the charred caramelised sugar. 

Desserts - Tiramisu

Course 5: Main Entrees - Tiramisu. This was good! 

Menu (c)

The 2 cup size are different!

Beverages - Lavender Tea

Course 6: Beverages - Lavender Tea. Too strong a flavour. Taste like medicine to me. 

Beverages - Iced Rose Apple Tea

Course 6: Beverages - Iced Rose Apple Tea. Inside, there was pieces of apple and also rose bud. This was very refreshing and light. The fork at the side is used for the apples inside. Certainly something to try.


Overall, Tao's restaurant's lunch set is quite value for money. What I look forward to over here is Bacon & Mushroom Gratin, Mushroom Soup, Tiramisu and Iced Rose Apple Tea. If you noticed, the main course was not something I look forward to. As they were average or should I say below average. The service was good and prompt. I will definitely be back for some of the items here during lunch.

*restaurant has moved to Central #04-86 (Clarke Quay)*

Tao's Restaurant (PoMo)
1 Selegie Road
#B1-19 PoMo
Tel: 6339 8858
Opening Hours: Daily 1130am - 10pm
Website