pork collar barley risotto ($20++) - 3/5 💗
• fried vege was super yummy & sauce was
flavourful
• didn't really like the texture of the risotto (bec they use actual barley grains which didn't actl click for
me when ordering so that was my fault). however my friend q enjoyed it!
• found the pork collar a tad dry & tough. could use a little fats but you would like it if you're a fan of leaner cuts!

nachos tater tots ($12++) - 3/5 💗
• not soggy but wasn't super crispy
• generous serving of sauce & tater tots
• abit jelak after awhile
• nothing new

honey paprika wings ($13++) - 4/5 💗
• nicely fried & crispy
• honey was a great combi to the savoury dish. would have loved to have a honey dip on the side too!
• v generous portion, possible to split among 3-4 pax

lychee rosewater cake ($7.50++) - 4/5 💗
• sponge was a tad dense with a strong rose flavour
• i didn't fancy it too much because of the rose flavour & cream but my friend thought it was pretty yummy
• not too sweet! & had some refreshing bits of lychee flesh/pulp between the cake layers

overall bill $63 after ++; most dishes were abit of a miss for me this round, esp for the price.

hopefully i'd pick better next visit! 🎀

not sure if something's up with my tastebuds lately but i can't decide if i enjoyed the mazesoba today 🤨 found the flavour abit lacking although i liked that the texture of the soba was pretty bouncy & chewy! i had the tomyum soba which was pretty good on the first few bites but then kinda got boring after abit. the garlic mazesoba my friend had was not bad though. love the option to customise your bowl to have lesser noodles & more veges - good option for chive lovers.

the okonomiyaki though was rly 😍 w the sweetness of the charred cabbage. drinks during happy hour were all $6 but the yakut so chu was soooo watered down & mid. the yuzu highball was a good one though, definitely recommend.

anyway final rating for me is 6.5/10!!! good service though 💗

the matcha pistachio & caramel biscoff lattes were SO freaking good 😋😋😋😋 absolutely loved them!! & for only $7, they come with double expresso shots for your caffeine fix. the banana bread was only $4 but was incredibly chunky & huge. was served warm & was rly good except for a little but of a bread-y taste. other than that we also had the nutty donut (hazelnut) for ~$5.50 - was kinda mid but passable. would rly come again!

also would like to special mention the rly great service!!! young crowd~

if you're looking for decent japanese food in chinatown! we had the truffle chirashi don ($22) and aburi salmon don ($20). the truffle flavour was v present but not overpowering. portions of fish were decent & pretty fresh. the aburi salmon had yummy mentaiko that made the dish tasty. after 1 for 1 and ++, we paid about $28. recommend! 👍🏻

informed the staff upon entering that i would like to use burpple & asked which mains the deal is applicable to. sat down & ordered accordingly.

food - not too bad.
• the deep fried cauliflower in korean sauce ($11+) was done q well, no overly greasy taste, quite enjoyable.
• the pasta looked slightly limp but the crab flavour was not bad ($24+). the pasta was abit on the hard side rather than chewy - probably store bought pasta? other places definitely do it better, like eleven strands!

however, when it came to payment, i informed the staff that i would like to use burpple to which i heard an "i know". however, i wasn't sure if i heard correctly so i continued holding my redeemed deal
page out for him to look up. he immediately printed the receipt so i asked "you don't need the code or..?" but he just said $38.50.

he asked if i needed a receipt after i paid, to which i said yes. however, he only handed me the nets receipt. i realised that the 20% had not been applied so i asked him, to which he suddenly started denying me even informing him and even said i "flashed the screen so fast" that he couldn't even see. uh ok.

i then asked for a refund of the difference to which he checked & reverted saying the transaction had gone through, he couldn't refund me. gurl what.

told him i'd already redeemed the deal, was there really no way he could make things work for the both or us, and he said "you guys are coming back right? we can offer some discount the next round..." . like we would come back after being scammed 🙄👎🏻 and like you'd remember we have a discount when we actually return.

anyway he claimed he was new so we didn't say much. we spoke to another server who immediately helped us to initiate the refund. thought cannot refund?????? anyway, that server handed the task over to the initial person who said cannot refund who very begrudgingly processed the voiding of transaction & a new bill.

he then asked me if i have redeemed 2 deals (which confused me because the deal is 20% off mains, not 20% off ONE main) but whatever idm using all 4 deals here since i ain't gonna be back.

just sharing - can go for the food but you gotta be really loud & clear & ASK to check your bill BEFORE paying (because it's not reflected on the screen). if not, you might not get your $$ back. oh & also be prepared to redeem 1 deal per main :-)

have been wanting to try this place for a while now & finally went down to try today. was initially put off as it was a bar-type of place so i didn't know if it would really be good.

however!!!! i was so pleasantly surprised. first the staff were so attentive & helpful! and the star of the night for real. this bowl was $29.90 & each type of sashimi had FIVE SLICES (as opposed to 3-4 from most places). the sashimi was tasty although defo not like omakase/jap restaurants type of level but rly rly enjoyable! they had tuna, salmon, swordfish, scallop, octopus and tamago. my only feedback is that the wasabi could have been less artificial.

there was no ++ and after 1 for 1, we only paid $29.90 for TWO big bowls! 🙌🏻

ps: there's happy hour promos every single day w some days being soju night & housepour spirits night (1 for 1 too). had a look at their christmas cocktail menu which looked q yummy too! would defo be back to try their drinks on a non-weeknight 😉

decided to try out this quaint roadside restaurant/bar-ish place for dinner & was pleasantly surprised with the generosity of their fish portions! got the bara chirashi don ($28+) and mentaiko salmon don ($28+). fish was fresh - salmon was creamy and tuna didn't have the iron/blood taste. would be back again to try their $10 magheritas and $18 happy hour tiramisu cocktails next round !!! vv worth with the 1-1. 8/10!!!

🍟 we also ordered curly fries on the side but unfortunately that was a miss :-(

wasn't expecting such a pretty & classy interior for the price that they are charging - thought it was gonna be more like a isteaks steakhouse type of environment but so glad that i was wrong! this place is totally date-worthy. they have cocktails going for 2 for $20 (wtf right? only $10 per cup) and mocktails for 2 for $12! the mocktails we had were grapefruit fizz and lychee lemonade, both of which were super yums but grapefruit >>>>!! the flat iron steak ($24++) was very delicious and juicy, but multiple pieces had tendons/veins that made it hard to cut up or chew at times which was a pity - 8/10. really great service, welcoming to burpple beyond users. you get to choose a side & a sauce with your steak. i chose the cream spinach based on many good reviews but found it rather mid in terms of flavour, although the spinach was very soft. my friend got the mash and i found it very fluffy & yummy but she found it just average because she preferred one that was more buttery (so personal preference?). super recommend this location & will defoooo be back again!

when the platter first came ($36), i thought it was going to be too little but they were actually pretty generous with the meat! the prawns were large and the beef + chicken were substantial. they offered different soup bases (chicken or tomyum) at no added cost too. the soup was perfectly sour and spicy, although it was pretty salty. would recommend having some water to dilute the soup maybe. variety is great too. after discount - $25.20, can truly feed 2-3pax comfortably. location is just a little inconvenient, ~5 mins walk from bedok mrt. staff v friendly & trusting, only pay after you're done. recommend!

tbh i felt like this place was kind of scammy - if 1 chicken katsu rice is $15.80, top up $4 to create a set, shouldn't the 1 for 1 be $19.80? i understand that redeeming a set is compulsory to utilise the burpple beyond deal but we were charged $21.80, no questions asked, simply because burpple lists the savings as $21.80, but it is also a known fact that the savings burpple states are only an estimate and tend to be on the pricier items on the menu. it's only a matter of $2 but more so about the dishonesty and the lack of ability to justify to us why they're charging us $21.80 rather than $19.80. it becomes less of a 1-for-1 anymore.

moving on, the curry was completely watery, almost a soup/chowder like consistency LOL. when we mixed our rice in, it was almost like eating muifan... but anyway to give credit where it is due, the chicken cutlet was crispy, juicy and tender without being overdone. i enjoyed that quite much. the gyozas that you must add on are alright, just your average frozen gyozas with limited filling.

overall, this store's only saving grace is perhaps its katsu, but right opposite there is another store (shiroi tonkatsu) selling the exact same thing for only $13.80 with refillable rice, salad and miso soup so would we be back again? absolutely not.

first thing is RLY AMAZING SERVICE 😫🙏🏻 tbh literally alm HDL standard type of care in the way they talk to u, except that they tend to want to clear your plates before you're done which is abit 😮‍💨.

anw, next thing would be that they do their meats much better than their pasta & pizzas (at least from what we tried - truffle carbonara iberico & smoked salmon pizza).

starting off w the good (all the josper grillers...):
💖 the striploin steak ($25++) - juicy and flavourful, albeit a little overly salty.
💖 lamb shank ($25++) - absolutely fall off the bone tender. alot like elevan strands' actually if you've had that!
💖 honey glazed pork ribs ($22++) - crowd fav among those i went with. had a good charred flavour & perf amount of fattiness w the meat so that it wasn't too dry
💖 habanero spring chicken ($23++) - menu said a little spicy but i (a mala xiaola eater) lowkey DIED. while my other friends found it tasty & fine
💖 the mash that came with some dishes were SOOOO yummy i couldn't stop eating it

the not so good:
🫣 truffle pasta ($18++) - boring & the portion was small. the iberico in it was kind of weirdly QQ also. made me feel like i was eating rat meat 😮‍💨
🫣 smoked salmon pizza ($18++) - pretty sad for a pizza with the super hard crust & limited ingredients on top. would give this one a hard pass
🫣 fries were kinda soggy & meh

cocktails!!!! NO to the strawbs mojito (tasted sm like minty cough syrup), YES to sea breeze & vodka sunset.

bill came to $162.60 for 6 mains, 3 cocktails, 1 wine & 1 canned green tea after burpple beyond. pretty affordable i'd say. w/o drinks, it would have only been ~$15/pax! price is steep w/o discount though. highly recommend.

pros:
- generous w acai (felt like i was eating acai for days)
- generous w granola & peanuts (???
- alot of interesting toppings (eg protein/milk powder, yoghurt)
- unlimited toppings too that we didn't manage to take advantage of because of order anxiety so we just got the fixed combination acais :--(

cons:
- because it's so HOT in sg & the stand is in the middle of nowhere (push-cart-y), the acai melts super fast while they're still preparing it so by the time you get it the top is already slightly melted
- drizzle is SUPER minimal, it's the complete opposite of thesummeracai so if you're a person who enjoys drizzle with each bite this might not be for u. i think the drizzle was literally only on the top of the cup
- pricey? w/o burpple beyond i feel like L size was already $14.90 & u still have to top up for their fixed combi acais if it includes certain fruits (eg strawberries) that are usually given free in acais. their L size was also pretty comparable to the acai affair's M size so the savings is not exactly HALF

tip: BUILD YOUR OWN ACAI BOWL. don't go for the fixed combis bec that's not worth. not sure if that would end up reducing the amount of acai u have in your cup though saw a review complaining about that so 🥲

recommend score: 3/5 - good for acai lovers (literally ACAI lovers) but for topping with a side of acai lovers, u may not enjoy this too much :-( still a nice decent cup of acai!