5 Rochester Park

Opening Hours:
Lunch: 11.30am – 2.30pm (Monday to Saturday), 11am – 2.30pm (Sunday)
Dinner: 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Dim Sum High Tea Buffet: 3pm – 5.30pm (Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays)
For reservations or enquiries, please call 6774 0122.

Located amidst luscious greenery and unsuspecting revamped colonial bungalows is the famous Min Jiang Restaurant, a franchise of Goodwood Park Hotel. Juxtaposing the exterior colonial outlook, the interior is refurbished into a chic Chinese dining area. We came to Min Jiang for some Chinese dim sum during lunch time on a weekday. The place exuded an exceptionally quiet but chill ambience because of the absence of the usual traffic, noise and crowd that we find so evident in every corner of a small city like Singapore. The service staff was especially attentive, given the fact that we were one of the very few customers at that time. 

The quality of the food is definitely top-notch given the reputation it being one of the best Chinese fine dining restaurants in Singapore. We managed to order the famous Peking Duck, which we absolutely loved. The duck meat was juicy, tender, flavourful and tasty, everything you would want to look for in the dish. I was quite disappointed with their dim sum dishes because it plain expensive yet mediocre. 

One whole peking duck was priced at around $90++. The bill came up to $230+ for 4 pax. But I really liked that the chef gave us the option of using the left over meat for a spring onion stir-fry duck dish (which we da-baoed home because we were maxed out).

501 Orchard Road
Wheelock @ #03-15

Sun with Moon Japanese Dining is one of my family's favourite Jap restaurant in Singapore. We first heard about it when the Chef at my mum's cooking class recommended the place to us and we have been regular customers ever since. It is so good that we know a family that dines there every Sunday. 

We normally spend about $25 per person. Do consider becoming a member because you get 10% off your bill and 20% off on your birthday month, which is quite a substantial discount.

Must Trys 

SUN Original Kamameshi ($20-$25)
You must must try their Kamameshi dishes on the first page of the menu- basically Japanese steamed rice served in a hotpot. The rice is oh-so-fragrant and it resembles the Chinese-style claypot rice, but tastes even better. There are different combinations and the toppings include prawn, scallop, chicken, beef and salmon. 

Hotate (Scallops) with Creamy Mentaiko ($11.80)
A mixture of scallops, enoki mushrooms, fish roe and spicy mentaiko sauce baked in cheese. We loved this fusion dish so much that we tried making it at home. 

Matcha Tiramisu and Tofu Cheesecake ($5.80) 
What I especially love about Sun with Moon is that their desserts are pretty amazing and unique as well- the Japanese really strive for perfection huh. Don't leave without trying their Matcha Tiramisu- it surprised me how well the rich matcha powder complemented the creamy layers. Every bite is so refreshing and sweet. 

Sushi Selections (About $20 for 8 pieces)
One of the advantages of having a big family is that we get to try what everyone else orders. We ordered soft shell crab sushi topped with avocado, lobster salad sushi topped with seared salmon and prawn sushi topped with avocado/mango. They were all gorgeously plated and tasted soooo good. The crunch of the crab/fish roe on top added a whole new texture to the sushi. 

Their Ramen and Katsu Don are not that fantastic, but the above mentioned dishes are definitely worth trying. 

The place can get pretty crowded, especially during dinner times so do make a reservation before heading down. 

Food 4/5
Place 4/5
Price 3.5/5

61 Circular Rd

Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat 1130-2200

Headed down to town to treat ourselves to some ramen at Suzuki Ramen Bar upon a friend's recommendation. The ramen definitely did not disappoint- it could easily be the best bowl of ramen we've had in Singapore. Suzuki Ramen Bar is a small shophouse located 5 minutes away from Raffles Place MRT. 

We waited about 20 minutes to get seats because of the lunch hour crowd but the food arrived pretty fast after we were seated. There was a group of Japanese men queueing in front of us which speaks for how credible and authentic the place is. 

The great thing about Suzuki is that they serve free flow mashed potato and bean sprouts. Simple dishes, but really tasty and appetising. Loved it! Whatever is on your table is also free- several hard boiled eggs that you can add to your ramen and a big jug of Japanese iced tea. 

Another defining factor about Suzuki is the fact that you can customise your ramen. The waitress will hand you an order form where you can tick your preferences. You get to select how hard/soft you want your noodles, how strong you want the flavour of your soup broth to be, how much oil you want etcetera. 

We ordered the Pure White Tonkotsu Ramen ($12.90) as well as the Jet Black Tonkotsu Ramen ($13.90). The Jet Black Tonkotsu Ramen was my favourite and it was to die for~! It has a squid ink and garlic soup broth which sounds rather exotic but the soup is so flavourful and every mouthful leaves you wanting more. It wasn't too salty, which I liked. 

I especially loved the texture of the noodles as well. It wasn't too thick which would make it chunky and yet it was soft enough without losing its texture. 

The ramen was comparable to the ones I've tried in Japan and I would definitely go back again.

Price 4.5/5 
Food 5/5
Place 3.5/5

200 Nethervon Road
(Changi area)

Opening Hours: 
Tuesday - Sunday 1030-0000 [ Last order for Food @ 9:45pm ]
Closed on Monday unless it is a public holiday.

Super love this restaurant cafe that exuded really charming and posh vibes in the midst of lush greenery. It is situated near the Changi chalets and really ulu. Honestly, i don't think it would be easy to get there without driving or cabbing. But when really pretty chandeliers greeted me, I knew that the drive in was worth it! I especially loved their decor, it was a mix of vintage with posh making it a really comfortable yet nice place to dine in. 

I have nothing but praise for the quality of the food! Really nice hazelnut latte($6 i think), prosciutto and cheese salad, wagyu beef and mushroom pizza, truffle mushroom fries and banana milkshake. (i didn't take note of the prices but it was quite pricey. Bill came up to $80 for 2pax) I fell in love with the truffle mushroom fries! It was fabulously juicy on the inside and amazingly crisp on the outside. And to top it off, there was a side of truffle mayo to dip the fries. OOOOO. The wagyu beef and mushroom pizza was quite nice too. Banana milkshake was really thick and nice, but we couldn't finish it.

If you are looking for a really nice place to chill (in the east), have a relatively high budget and have transport, this is the place to go to! 

Their website: http://www.thecoastalsettlement.com/

Ambience: 5/5
Food: 4.5/5
Price: 4/5 (it was quite worth it lah)

76 Namly Place / 26 Lorong Nambong

Mon - Sun
Lunch: 1200-14300
Dinner: 1800-2230

La Nonna, also known as 'The Grandmother' in Italian, serves good old Italian country cuisine, much like what Grandma would usually cook, in an unpretentious and inviting Trattoria atmosphere.

Walked into this quaint italian place for the second time because i find their lunch promotions so worth it! 

Before you even begin your meal, they serve freshly baked bread with olive oil and vinegar (free) for every table. Their service is very prompt and friendly given the relatively large crowd.

For 3 persons, we ordered one 3 course set lunch ($22++) which included an appetiser,  a main course, desserts and coffee/tea. Personally thought the set lunch was quite worth it because one main course already cost about $22-$27 there about. We had an Italian salami with ruccola salad in lemon dressing. Then we had two main course pastas (1for1, sooo worth it); Capellini with scallops, tomato sauce and taggiasche olives ($22) and the Fettuccine with creamy saffron sauce, prawns and zucchini ($24). For desserts, TIRAMISU. (dessert was alright only lah)

**Would recommend: Signature La nonna pizza with black truffle, asparagus and parmesan. The truffle like-a-shiok.

Ambience: Pretty packed during lunch time because of their promotions. Would still suggest you go there for lunch because the deal is too worth it. But perhaps, you could sit upstairs instead for a quieter lunch.

Ambience: 3.5/5
Price: 4.5/5 (for lunch deals that is :p)
Food: 4/5

Check them out at: http://www.lanonna.sg/