will go again if there's a discount

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! 👍🏻

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 :-(

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!

went in not expecting much because it's zichar in a hotel/atas kind of place but wow this rly was quite an impressive meal!! the mantous ($2.40/4pcs) were soft and pillowy on the inside with just the right crisp on the outside!!!! better than haidilao's if i do say so myself 😎 the red curry fish fillet ($26) was not overfried so it was crunchy without being hard/scratchy to the mouth + the flavour of the curry was sooo good & lemak (p spicy tho!); the sg chilli style prawns ($26) that are supposed to be a rendition of sg's chilli crab was okay - not rly spicy nor tomato-ey & the prawns were a little mushy, so average (wouldn't get it again tho); the grilled rojak kangkong w squid ($24) was SO good with so much wokhei & some rojak flavour wow!!!!! delicious fr 😋😋😋😋 last but not least the hakka red wine chicken claypot ($28) was not overpowering with alcohol flavour and the chicken was tender & generous in portion. yummy meal!!!! drinks were not diluted either. would be back again w burpple beyond, else it's kinda pricey for the portion given~

ps: they charge 50c for water & for the wet tissue packets!

the seafood tomyum pasta ($20.90++) had a strong tomyum taste but was a little on the salty side! came with 2 prawns & 2 large mussels. rly enjoyed that! the crab aglio olio ($18.90++) was a little bit of a miss - think they used shredded canned crab? but the tobiko provided an interesting texture when chewing the pasta! both were aldante & nicely cooked. used burpple 1 for 1 & added on one truffle fries (paid full price $14.90++). portion of fries was generous & came with a truffle mayo dip! most enjoyed item of the dinner. total bill came to $42 after discount. great service too!

ps: waitress told us the menu attached to the burpple deal is pretty outdated & there were significant differences in the "main course" options compared to their current menu. may wanna check their current menu before going down!

ordered the garlic ragu fettucine & garlic truffle carbonara for $26++ each! portions were decent but definitely not $26 worth. the taste was not bad in terms of flavour but the truffle carbonara lacked the truffle taste. pastas were done well with both being al dante. for an eatery priding themselves on "garlic", the pastas lacked that garlicky aroma although we did find whole garlic pieces in them. perhaps we would come back for the pizzas the next round, hopefully they would be better! 6.5/10

!!!!! a vvv short walk from lavender mrt, this unassuming restaurant was such a pleasant dining location! the ribeye ($28++) was perfectly medium rare with the right amount of seasoning, leaving a very juicy & flavourful bite each time! the smoked duck breast hard a firm bite without any of the duck gamey-ness ($28++). both were served atop a bed of mash potatoes & asparagus! we enjoyed the tropical fantasy mocktail ($9++) & but found the fly me to the moon mocktail ($9++) a little too sweet for us. would 100% come back again! service was so great & polite too. total bill was $43.55 after burpple 1 for 1

w burpple beyond, we spent a total of $87 for a pork schnitzel ($32++) that came with a choice of a side, pork knuckle ($42++) that came with sides, bradwurst ($22++), mac & cheese ($21++) that came with sides. recommend to make a reservation in advance because the place was PACKED even on a weekday night. pork knuckle was good as expected, crispy skin that had the fragrance of deep fried pork lard. we found the meat had a littttle porky smell but it was still tasty. there was q a thick layer of fat under the pork skin but it came off easily. the schnitzel was essentially a fanciful pork chop but it was still tender and enjoyable nonetheless. the bradwurst was abit disappointing with the meat texture being a little bit powdery (???) and not so QQ. the mac&cheese was quite good, but the smell of cheese is pretty strong. great for groups, big portions, they allowed us to take the items to go. great service by alan!

ABSOLUTELY AMAZED 🫶🏻 our bellies r soo happy rn!!! ordered the spicy & fragrant chicken pot & had a one for one house special chicken (black sauce, a little sweet). both pots were $25.80++ before discount for regular sized. spice level also customizable for both - none, mild, medium, high. we ordered non-spicy for the house special & medium spicy for the spicy & fragrant pots. would say their spice level accurately matches what one wld expect a 中辣 to be. they were generous w the chicken (v tender)! flavours were super bomb. we requested our add ons (side dishes) to be put separately so we could do it hotpot style too.

UPDATE: returned 3 weeks later and suddenly the price of their pots became $32.80++???? that is a $7 inflation... food quality & quantity is still there but for this big a price jump, it's kinda off-putting & the pot is only worth if you have burpple one for one and even then you could probably find cheaper options that are just as good around 🫠🫠🫠

the chicken roulade ($22++) was the star of the evening for us! it was perfectly seasoned & tender, with abit of charred bits that gave it a good bite/crunch. the garlic mash under the chicken was absolutely mouthwatering too. 10/10 would go back for it. the xo baby ribs ($25++) however were rly dry & disappointing. was def a miss & a waste of money but we would be back to try the pasta & perhaps order the chicken roulade again! worth only with burpple beyond.