"Welcome to Waraku"...greetings echoed by each and every staff, all the way to the kitchen...that's how they welcome every customer who walks into the Starhub Centre restaurant.

Be prepared to wait at least 15mins if you did not make reservations in advance...just like what they did to me.

 

As many already knew, this restaurant is famous for its paper steamboat (aka "nabe") that comes in clear, miso or shoyu soup, with your choice of scallop, pork, beef, chicken, duck or codfish.

 

We started off with the big bowl of Hokkai salad ($9.80). There were generous servings of lettuce, salmon/squid/tuna sashimi, salmon roe and seaweed in a light wasabi-flavored dressing. I think it makes a great alternative to sashimi (which is always so darn expensive at restaurants).

 

Our Hotate Nabe Set ($18.00) and Tonkotsu Ramen ($9.80) came minutes later, before we can finish our salad...The Nabe set comes with tempura and potato salad - not very worth it actually, cos the Nabe alone cost only $10.80 (I think). The Ramen is not too bad too, considering that they don't specialise in this...the noodles and soup is still quite up to standard.

 

They also serve alcoholic cocktails too...looks not bad on the Menu, but we were too full to try....maybe next time. GANBAI!

HOHOHO...today is my office "neighbour" 's last day...HOHOHO...wish her all the BEST!

 

First time dining at this restaurant since Marina Sq revamped early this year...(or issit last year??? hmmm...whatever)

 

Decided to try it out since I'm in a spending mood again!

 

The menu is more or less the same as the Nan Bei one except that this had the different La Mian and Steamed dumplings...

 

I went for their speciality and ordered XLB ($3.60 for 4), LaMian with Double-boiled Chicken Soup ($8.50) & Pork ball with Vegetables ($10.50).

 

The Pork ball (aka Shi Zi Tou or "Lion's Head") with vegetables came drenched in a thick brown gravy but was not as salty as it looked. The meatballs were very big and soft, i wonder what goes into them...?

DB Chicken soup is just as perfect as the Nan Bei one, just my type of comfort food...LaMian was okay (dun really know how to appreciate it actually...hehe). The Mian was so long that I had to request for it to be cut up.

And lastly the XiaoLongBao is best eaten as soon as it's served....first poke the dumpling and collect the "soup" in a sppon and drink it up...ahhh....how nice...then dip the dumpling in vinegar and pop it all into your mouth with some ginger slices.

 

Life's great with all the good food! Dun you agree...

The Raffles B1 has changed so much, offering a variety of snacks, cafes and restaurants...will certainly become very popular with shoppers...

 

Well...This new restaurant at Raffles City B1 extension was recently featured on TV.

 

Anyway, I was already very full from trying out the new "junk" snacks...(remembered this British Fish&Chips...dunno what's it called). So we only ordered a salad ($8), Beef Goulash Soup ($7) and the recommended Baked Apple & Rhubarb pie ($9.50)

 

Tot the utensils were rather unique...look at the knife, nicely designed to cut your food. The service was rather good too. We've only ordered one soup, but their kitchen actually separated them into 2 smaller portions so we each had 1 bowl, so thoughtful right....and the food didn't take long to come at all...

 

The salad was pretty normal... usual suspects of lettuce, pine nuts, cheese, cherry tomato etc. I felt it was rather pricey...

 

The soup lacks some beef flavour + it's salty...and the beef were not as tender as I would have liked (Po suspects the beef cubes & soup stock may have been cooked separately, which is why the beef cubes tasted quite bland) ...maybe they can improve on that.

 

The apple pie was nice. Large enough to be shared by 2 persons.

Buttery flaky pastry covering the bowl, with a big scoop of Vanilla seed ice cream on top of it. Would be nice if they can add some cinnamon flavour to the fillings. The apples were a little sour though. Anyway, put that calorie calculator aside and try it! 

 

15% for OCBC Titanium or Platinum. Who dares say UNCARING!? ;)

No wonder so many people flock down to Serangoon Gardens for food during weekends...b'cos simply too much good food there!!!

 

If I'm not wrong, Borshch Steakhouse is one of the few (and disappearing) russian-western restaurants in Singapore. Like Shashlik which I posted earlier, it is run by hainanese-chinese and this outlet actually proclaimed that they are the ex-Troikas, the famous restaurant at Orchard in the olden days...

 

And where the hell do you get 4-course set dinners from S$13.80 onwards nowadays?!?! (yes OMG!OMG!OMG!) And mind you, they are not stingy in their servings...see the big Sirloin Steak Set ($13.80) and the Shashlik Fillet Set ($22.80) which we ordered!!!

 

Each set dinner comes with Appetiser (see the Egg with Caviar), Borshch Soup (must try), Main Course & Dessert with soft drink/coffee/tea.

 

There's also no service charge or GST...But hor, my bill says $36.97, but the charge slip reads $37.00...felt a bit cheated LOL...

 

Check it out ya...The next time you visit Serangoon Gardens, look for this value-for-$$$ restaurant just in front of the Bus stop...

Accidental finding...located along the shophouses opposite Hong Lim Complex...near Chinatown...where Yong Chun Yuan is...

 

Very Qqqq noodles. They have rice too. But the star has got to be their Soy chicken, well-marinated and tender. Nice!

 

Many people drive there just to buy takeaways. Try it!

 

See map here.