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I’ve been spending a fair few of my meals & too much of my money on the various stalls in Foodies’ Garden, Hougang Mall’s hip new foodcourt. @donburi_maruya is one of the many new tenants in Foodies’ Garden, and finally I get an affordable dose of decent Japanese fare and beers on tap without having to travel more than ten minutes from my house. I used to pray for times like these.⠀
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You can’t go wrong with the classic of Tonkotsu ramen, and Donburi & Ramen Maruya’s Tonkotsu Special Ramen gets almost everything right. The pork bone broth is rich, sapid & delicious, making it the perfect bath for all the other elements of the ramen. The four humongous slices of chashu were tender & tasty, soaking up extra deliciousness from the savoury broth, and the ramen egg still retained a semi-molten core. Some may hate it, but I enjoyed the generous serving of crunchy cabbage in the ramen that was the only textural contrast to everything else in the bowl.⠀
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The noodles themselves, however, were lacklustre. They tasted oddly metallic and were undercooked, and I ended up leaving half the noodles uneaten while happily hoovering up the broth. All Maruya needs to do now is sort out their noodle problem, and this bowl of ramen would be truly outstanding.

First Hougang Mall got upgraded with a swanky new foodcourt with beers on tap, and now it gets @njoy.singapore Tsukimi Hamburg as well. As the name suggests, they only serve hamburg steaks and hamburg steak related dishes. Unfortunately I missed the opening discount, but I did snag myself a Foie Gras Hamburg Steak Teishoku for $20.80++.⠀
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A Teishoku is a set menu in many Japanese restaurants, and this Foie Gras Hamburg Steak set is built around a chunky hamburg steak topped with foie gras. All the food groups in the pyramid are represented here, with carbs from the rice, fibre from the VERY palatable pickles that have been enhanced by yuzu zest and the side salad, and miso tamago soup which…well, fits into a few groups.⠀
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Tsukimi’s hamburg steak blends Angus beef, Miyazaki Wagyu beef and pork together for a meaty, fatty patty. The wagyu definitely makes its presence felt, with quite possibly the fattiest patty ever. The texture is definitely more juicy & rich than any other hamburg steak out there, but it isn’t strongly flavoured on its own. This is to let the unbelievably umami demi glacé steal the show and dazzle your tastebuds. The reduced beef sauce is salty, rich and imparts fantastic flavours to the hamburg steak & foie gras.⠀
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Speaking of the foie gras, I was dismayed to find that it came in chopped up tiny strips instead of the whole slab that was pictured in the menu. Going by looks alone, I knew that it was overcooked, and I was sadly proven right. I really should’ve ordered the Bacon Hamburg Steak instead, but I’m a sucker for foie gras, and I got suckered.⠀
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Overcooked & mangled foie gras aside, Tsukimi’s hamburg steak teishokus are a hearty, healthy(ish) meal that’ll get you lots of gains without breaking the bank.

🍴DINE OUT🍴
📍Tsukimi Hamburg, Hougang Mall📍
💸 Tsukimi Hamburg Don: $13.80
*Prices not inclusive of GST and Service Charge
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We're so excited Tsukimi Hamburg opened an outlet in the East, giving us an opportunity to finally try it! Their signature Tsukimi Hamburg Don is a very comforting bowl with rice🍚, Hamburg steak, radish, topped with creamy egg yolk🍳. Their Hamburg steak is a mix of US beef, pork and Miyazaki Wagyu beef. We loved that it's thick and juicy, but felt that it has more pork than beef taste🥩. The donburi also came with house-made sauce that tastes like Kombu and bonito. However, we felt that the taste of the sauce was a bit too mild and preferred the brown sauce that comes with other Hamburg steaks usually😅. They have other interesting types of donburis and set meals revolving around Hamburg steak, we'll probably try those the next time😄!

jiggle it a little
pour the soya sauce on it
and gently poke it

the patty is similar to store-bought, just thicker.

I'm super thrill to know that @donburi_maruya has a new outlet in @hougangmall now!! What’s the different? Other than their popular Donburi Katsu, the new Hougang outlet has Hokkaido Ramen!!

What I tried,

Hokkaido Miso Special Ramen.
The broth is rich with miso flavour. The noodles is springy chewy and soaked up all the goodness of the miso broth that make it extra flavourful. I also love the tender slices of char siu and the flavourful molten-centred ramen egg. The char siu is so supple and flavourful. The ingredients truly the finishing touch that completed the ramen.

Black Pig Katsu (Teishoku)
The thick cut pork cutlet has a perfect ratio of fat to lean meat, deep-fried in panko bread crumbs that achieve shatteringly crisp and golden skin. Every slice is juicy, extremely tender and very delectable. Imagine Tender, Meaty, Juicy and Crispy all in one delightful bite. And even though it is deep fried, it didn’t taste greasy, and I could easily finish up one entire cutlet. The finely shredded cabbage, taste extra crunchy and provide a refreshing contrast to the deep-fried dish as well.

Special Pork Katsu Don.
Don't be fool by the appearance. While it may not look spectacular, the pork cutlet is very succulent and meaty with a good balance of lean meat to fats ratio and topped with an onsen egg that's cook perfectly to complement the short-grain rice. Mix them all together for hearty rice bowl.

I feel the price tag is definitely hard to beat given the restaurant-level quality and I can get at a fraction of the price. And I love how they are served just how you’d expect it to be when dining in a restaurant. I definitely be back for more given the accessibility and price affordability.

Visit them
📍 Donburi & Ramen MARUYA (Stall 17)
Foodies’ Garden @ Hougang Mall
⏰ 11am-9pm

📍New Tech Park Mall, Lorong Chuan
⏰ 11am-9pm Daily

📍56/58 Lorong 25A Geylang
⏰ 11am-10pm Daily

📍3 Media Close, One-North
⏰ 11am-7.30pm Mon-Fri (Close on PH)

📍501, West Coast Drive
⏰ 11am-9pm Daily

While the two gargantuan globes of pork katsu in the 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝘀𝘂 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝘆 ($12.80) were scrumptiously shattering, we felt there could’ve been more cheese inside.

Spinach chicken gratin @ $5.90 nett

Always love going Saizeriya as we like how they serve basic food well and at an affordable price. Portion is just nice for us as well and I like how this dish has got quite a bit of veggie in it.

@otoko_midtown has been going strong at Midtown for quite a few years now, and it’s been a while since I’ve dined there. While their Pork Yakiniku Don ($11.90 nett) is more expensive than I remember it, it’s as delicious as it was in my memory.⠀
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The thin slices of pork belly shabu shabu are stir fried over a strong flame to render out some of the fat and to get a solid sear on the pork. This important but oft-overlooked step adds more flavour to the pork before it gets simmered together with the sauce & sliced onions, and I’m satisfied that Otoko didn’t forget. The sauce itself is rather ordinary, possessing the usual umami sapidity from dashi & soy sauce, plus some sweetness from the mirin.⠀
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I was pleasantly surprised that they sauced up the plain short grain rice sufficiently. Really made for a better bowl of donburi. Skip the lava egg though, it’s overcooked and is more of a rock egg than a lava egg.

so cuteeeee

v crispy!! i completely wiped out the spicy sesame mayo it came with too😂 just that it’s a little oily so i had to keep squeezing lemon juice on them

Ebi (2pcs) & Fish (2pcs) Curry Don @ $7

Not bad for coffee shop setting just that the rice isn't really Japanese rice. The ingredients are nicely fried and the amount of curry is satisfying.

Not spectacular but good enough for a quick fix for curry don craving especially when it's nearby.

Kimly Coffeeshop at Blk 684 Hougang Avenue 8 is actually a very big food court with lots of food options under one roof.

Kanaaji Katsu is one of the stall serving Japanese cuisine, specialise with their signature katsu menu.

The ebi & fish katsu curry comes with 3 pieces of fried ebi and 2 pieces of fried fish.

The curry was delicious, though wasn’t any special out from it. The fried ebi and fish was crunchy.