Restaurants

Red Ginger Thai Cuisine offers affordable lunch sets around the biopolis area and I must say that their green curry chicken and tom yum chicken are both decent options!

The set meals cost $9.40 each and come with rice and a fried egg. The Green Curry, although watery, boasts lemongrass and basil flavour and had quite a kick. There was a decent number of chicken slices, which were tender. The mushroom and vegetable ingredients absorbed the flavour of the curry well. I just wished that they could provide a bit more chicken slices in the curry!

The Tom Yum Soup had a good sour and spicy punch, and definitely was great with some rice. It was decent and had some depth. The food here may not be mind-blowingly good, but is an option to consider if you are around the area.

A posh Korean BBQ restaurant in a colonial house, @chingu.rochester offers rather decent lunch sets that you can consider!

I got the Stir-Fried Pork set ($17) which came with a variety of side dishes and soup. The stir fried pork itself is quite tender and definitely very flavourful! I love how the pot that it's served in is still very hot, which burned the bottom of the rice slightly, forming this crispy crust that is similar to that of claypot rice.

The side dishes were decent including the kimchi which isn't too sour.

Considering the location, the lunch set isn't too expensive and the quality is not too bad. An option to consider!

I love my tonkatsu, and I’m glad that @onkei.tonkatsu quality tonkatsu sets are able to fulfil my katsu cravings!

The set for 2 available on Burpple Beyond ($39.90) consists of a variety of katsu that will definitely fill you up!

The Pork Loin katsu was very crisp, and the meat within was meaty, quite succulent and slightly tender. Although it was not the most tender I’ve eaten, it is definitely one of the better ones. The Fish Katsu was actually much bigger and better, due to its fresh, sweet flaky meat that was really irresistible!

The Ebi Katsu that comes with the set was very fresh and succulent within as well. The kaarage and fried oyster given were also so tender and flavourful that we wished there was more!

The set also comes with rice, soup and cabbage that is refillable, and I’m glad those were available to cut through all the fat from all the delicious fried meats!

Definitely a back I will be back whenever I have some katsu cravings!

For the unagi fans, this one is for you! Recently I had a chance to try the Unadon Double ($14.50) and I was very surprised by the quality of unagi given the price point!

The Unadon Double comes with 2 big slabs of fresh unagi, which were thick, meaty and definitely succulent. It was a perfect pairing with their fluffy rice, which you can drench the sweet savoury unagi sauce on.

With most unagi don places selling such quantity at easily 1.5 to 2 times compared to the prices here, I really can see myself visiting this place often whenever I crave some unagi. Can't wait to go back to have another!

Although they are famous for their cold noodles or naengmyeon, I decided to go unconventional and order their tofu stew instead. Boy was I pleasantly surprised!

Their seafood tofu stew (~$16) comes with a variety of seafood ingredients, including prawns and mussels, all in this wonderful comforting broth. I love how their stew is much more garlicky as compared to other establishments, giving the soup much more depth and flavour. The portion was quite big and I was pretty stuffed!

The side dishes were also pretty good, although the selection is not as extensive as other places. Another quality Korean restaurant on my go-to list!

If you are looking for Chinese bbq skewers, I feel like @bbqboxsg is really a good option. With an extensive menu and quality ingredients, it's definitely a good time with your loved ones and friends! We ordered the family set menu ($90) that can feed 3-4 pax and it comes with a variety of bbq skewers, appetizers and sharing dishes. I feel like it's quite enough for 4 and you get to try so many different varieties!

My favourite skewers got to be their tiger prawns and chicken, as they were so fresh, succulent and smoky! I loved how their skewers were placed on hot plates to keep them warm throughout the meal. The set also comes with chilli cucumbers, which were not too spicy and vinegary, and had a very satisfying crunch!

With many outlets across Singapore, this is one place to consider even when you have big groups! Can't wait to be back!

From crispy cutlets to braised pork rice to noodles, Taiwanese food at @isshinmachi_sg was splendid!

We had the Crispy Chicken Cutlet ($9.80) to share and it was amazing. With a light crispy crust and juicy succulent meat within, this was addictive!

The Specially Marinated Pork Chop Noodles in Beef Soup ($13.60 with Guan Miao Noodles) was also excellent. The noodles had a good bite, the soup was not too savoury but comforting, and the pork chop was really the star of the show. The tender juicy slices of pork were flavourful and did not have much of the foul pork odour. This is much better than many Taiwanese diners I've been to!

The other dishes that we had were good too! Definitely a place I will come back again 😍

Finally tried SBCD @sbcdsingapore and I must say, although the price point was high, the food quality served was excellent.

The LA Galbi Combo Meal ($42.90) may be expensive, but the amount served can fit about 2 average eaters. The LA Galbi itself was the show stopper, as the meat was so well seasoned and grilled. With a good smokey flavour, the meat was tender and succulent and I loved the sweet and savoury marinade used. Absolutely excellent! The tofu stew that comes with it is of a smaller portion than ordering it by itself, but it was definitely flavourful and very comforting. The seafood was very fresh!

We also got a Korean Seafood Pancake ($27.90) which was thick but crispy on the outside and fluffy within. A good sharing dish but I wished that there were more seafood ingredients used!

The side dishes served were all excellent, especially their kimchi which wasn't too sour and had a satisfying crunch. I was surprised to see a whole fish served as a side dish as well!

Definitely a good Korean food place to visit once in a while!

Picolino recently opened a new outlet at Shaw Plaza and we decided to check it out!

The Salmon Mentaiko Pizza ($28 1 for 1 with #burpplebeyond ) was fantastic, with loads of rich mentaiko sauce and fresh salmon chunks. The pizza dough is also a winner to me, due to its crispy exterior and chewy dough within. A very enjoyable pizza!

The Gnocchi in Bacon Cream ($22 1 for 1 with #burpplebeyond ) was sadly quite a miss to us. The Gnocchi itself was perhaps too soft, and though it was rich, it was too creamy and surfeiting to finish. Some fresh rocket leaves might be a good addition to cut the creaminess of the dish!

Nonetheless, the pizzas are very promising. Will definitely try other pasta options in the future as well!

Picolino
360 Balestier Rd, #01-21/22 Twin Heights, Shaw Plaza, Singapore 329783

With outside seats and a beautiful river view, this is one good place to go for good Vietnamese food and vibes. We had a couple of dishes to share and here are my favourites:

Stir Fried Seafood Vermicelli ($9) - with al dente springy noodles that were nicely drenched in some kind of soy seafood sauce, we found this quite addictive. Seafood ingredients were fresh and there was some wok hei flavour as well!

Fried Spring Rolls ($6 for 5) - now this is the crowd's favourite. Crispy rice paper rolls stuffed with meat and vegetables that were well seasoned, this was also addictive and we ended up ordering more!

Stir Fried Bittergourd with Egg ($8.80) - the bittergourd itself may be a little bitter, but they were well seasoned and the bitter flavour was musked abit by the flavour of the egg! A wonderful sharing dish. It had abit of wok hei flavour as well!

I have been here a couple of times and their food quality remained consistent. All of the food we tried was great and of an affordable price and I can't wait to be back again!

If you like your ramen really flavourful, Bonito Ramen ($20 with special toppings) from Hakata Ikkousha Ramen would be your choice. Made from bonito, pork and chicken stock, the soup itself had a deep umami savoury flavour. I got the normal tasting broth, and it's savouriness is pretty close to what I had in Japan. Very thick and rich broth that got me going for more! The large amount of spring onions was very much appreciated, as it made the soup not so surfeiting.

As for the noodles, I ordered them with very hard texture, and it had just the right amount of chewiness. The char siew maybe thin, but they were well seasoned and actually tasted somewhat closer to ham. Wished that they can go heavier on the seasoning of the marinated egg though!

This is definitely one place I will go to fulfil my ramen cravings!

I believe everything that you wish for for a hokkien mee is probably on this plate. @enjoyxiahkm 's rendition of our signature hokkien mee is really well done.

The stock used in their Big Xia Hokkien Mee ($15.80) is full of rich seafood flavour from the prawns and full of meat flavour as well from what I believe is from cooking pork bones for a long time. Wok hei within the broth is obvious as well. The noodles themselves were not too soggy and soaked up all that delicious broth well. There were thick slices of roasted pork, and they were tender and the skin was still slightly crispy! The 2 huge prawns were so meaty and had a nice smoky flavour. Topped with large crispy pork lard, there is a lot of flavour going on in this dish.

Now their sambal chilli is really on another level. While it does not pack much heat, there was so much umami flavour packed in their chilli. Definitely stir fried very well and it added another flavour dimension to the dish!

So glad that it's available on #burpplebeyond ! Definitely will be back. Absolutely lovely!