The Hungry Bunny

Hinoki is opened by the brother of the guy behind Tatsuya, and having heard a number of rave reviews about it, I was expecting a certain standard of Japanese fare when I visited this casual Japanese diner one night for dinner with Lips. Despite the family association with the much lauded Tatsuya, I was surprised to find myself plainly unimpressed with Hinoki's fare. It's a far far cry from the awesomeness that is Tatsuya. Even if I'd taken into consideration the attractively low prices of Hinoki's bento sets, the food just wasn't up to par, both in execution and quality of ingredients. Personally, I'd rather spend a little more to have much better ala carte sushi at Tatsuya . I don't mean to make comparisons because both restaurants cater to very different customer bases, but I'd expected more finesse and skill from a place with a brotherly connection to Tatsuya.   That said, the stellar service standards is a common thread between Tatsuya and Hinoki.

While it's true that we've refrained from pricey kaiseki meals, it doesn't mean that I can't ever indulge. Especially if it's for a special occasion AND on someone else's dime! Muahahaa! It was Beeps' birthday and CC, very kindly and extremely generously, brought us womenfolk out to Tatsuya to sample the Autumn best of Japanese haute cuisine. As usual, service was faultless. Discreet, warm and professional. Our green tea and sake cups never ran dry, and the various courses were a seamless rollover from one to the next. Little wonder towkays love this establishment. We all had the $200 Kaiseki Course , the only kaiseki option Tatsuya had anyway. Notwithstanding the hefty bill, the substantial and practically flawless meal was well worth the pricetag. (P.S. Photos were taken with the iPhone 4S so picture quality is noticeably different from the usual posts.) The Appetizer Course, with warm grilled gingko nuts, a duo of tepid kawaii prawns and chilled le

Ocean Curry is one of those lunch spots that you'd have to be prepared to sweat it out. Not a very glamourous thing to do in your crisp work attire, really. It's crowded, stuffy, humid, and on a hot sweltering day, ensures that you get back to the office a sweat-soaked mess. There were times that we'd be hankering to have some fish head curry at Ocean Curry but were deterred by the heat and humidity of its unconducive surroundings. But, now that the monsoon season is well upon us, the regularly cool weather allows for lunch-time indulgence at the open-air eatery without the inevitable perspiration. Despite its moniker, Ocean Curry Fish Head doesn't just serve up its claypot fish curry mainstay. They serve up a veritable repertoire of economy rice dishes, so even if you don't feel like curry fish head, you still get a full meal with other meats and vegetables. Just think of this as an economy rice stall that just happens to serve curry fish head as well. The ent

One of the things i love about Singapore is that you can eat really well without burning a hole through your wallet. Or getting food poisoning (well, most of the time anyways). We recently went out for dinner with Kang, the one friend that I can always count on to " slum it up " and " sweat it out " at a hawker centre. We ate at Tian Tian Hainanese Curry Rice at Bukit Merah View , for some old-school Hainanese comfort food. While most other Hainanese curry rice stalls are only open in the day, this is possibly the only worthwhile one that's open for business at night too. Please note that, same name and dialect notwithstanding, this curry rice stall isn't in any way connected to or related to that famous chicken rice stall at Maxwell Market.  I've realized that Hainanese curry isn't particularly well-endowed in the looks department, but trust me, what it lacked in aesthetics, it more than made up for it in taste. The plain white rice rice, slathe

Phew, when it rains, it pours. Sorry the lack of updates but I've been swamped.  This was a birthday lunch sometime back with my colleagues. The birthday boy had chosen The Exchange , so a whole bunch of us trooped on over. Maybe it's because I'd heard a couple of unimpressive reviews of this place, or maybe it's because the sprawling restaurant always seems barely filled whenever I walk past it, but I admittedly had low expectations for lunch. Nonetheless, I thought the food was way better than expected. Not memorably great, but pretty alright, with above average food, and a very value-for-money set lunch menu. Service was a little choppy and unorganized though, which was disappointing, seeing as the restaurant was only half-filled when we dined for lunch. It's been a while since I last had good risotto and The Exchange's Risotto ($27) was pretty good. Al dente grains, starchy without being too heavy, seasoned by a nicely rounded mushroom base with the hea

While the end of the year usually means that work generally winds down to a trickle, it's been the converse for us. It's strangely gotten progressively busier these past few weeks. I suppose it could be seen as a good thing. With the recession looming, it's always a good thing to be loaded with more work than not. Consequently, we've had a couple of late-ish nights in the office. Late nights in the office necessitates pampering our bellies with comfort food, and for old-school familiar favourites, we head to Ka-Soh , one of our late-night dining options that's both centrally-located and relatively 'al-cheapo'. A Cantonese cze char stalwart in its own right that's played a memorable part of our history and childhood, despite the widely held belief that the quality of their stuff has gone down over the years. In my view, the food's still delicious, just not as amazing as it used to be. And while it isn't the cheapest cze char around, they are con

Now that we're trying to purchase our home, we've cut back on our spending. Yes, that means $200-a-pop kaiseki meals are a no-go. Sob! And because we've been so spoilt by our kaiseki meals, and nothing but the best will ever do for us anymore, we've refrained from having Japanese food in quite some time. But we were recently hit with a craving for Japanese fare, and so, to satisfy that without putting a dent in our housing fund, we headed to Sushi Tei , possibly the most value-for-money, mass market Japanese food chain in SG. We just stuck to the simple, cannot-go-wrong, cooked stuff. Besides, my brothers like the place and had suggested heading there for our monthly dinner meet-up. We went to the Thomson branch because it's super near to Pops' place, and figured it'd be quicker if we walked instead of driving over. The Salmon Mentai ($6) a slice of salmon coated with a layer of creamy cod roe and baked till a caramelized char on rolled sushi rice is gr

I think we're getting addicted to Wild Honey . This is my third post in 3 weeks. A bit excessive, I know, but it's just that their eggs are really really good! We truly think it's the best place to get brunch in Singapore. We like that in all our 3 visits, the food and service have been consistently above par. We always hit up the Scotts Square outlet, because they take reservations. And, even if we're unable to get reservations, the counter seats are always available (these aren't up for reservations so as to leave availability for walk-ins). The Portobello Road ($22), aka eggs benedict, was a duo of brioche towers layered with perfectly poached eggs on wilted spinach atop juicy baked portobello, spiced with sweet melted onions and coloured peppers, and a slathering of homemade Hollandaise sauce. I'm usually not a fan of Hollandaise sauces coz I find them too rich and cloying but Wild Honey's rendition is so utterly delicious. It was at the same time s

SPRMRKT is fast becoming my go-to place for lunch. Having dined there thrice, I haven't been able to find any fault with any of their dishes.They consistently serve up good honest grub that's substantial and hearty, and it's a great place to hang out, post lunch, over a hot latte to de-compress before heading back to daily grind of work. FYI, this was Wednesday's menu. The Warm Ratatouille Salad ($10) with grilled zucchini, eggplant, fresh mixed greens, seasoned with a tomato-centric ratatouille paste and balsamic dressing, is a deconstructed version of the classic French stew. And healthier as well. Great juxtaposition of warm and cold flavours. The Pure Pumpkin Soup  ($7) with pureed p umpkins, pumpkin seed and garlic croutons is a wonderfully kitschy reference to Halloween. Smooth and sweet, this was comfort in a bowl. A flavoursome crusty Garlic Bread ($1 $3 ) helped mop up any remnants of the creamy soup. The Oxtail Penne ($18), tossed with freshly