Sunday Evening Meal
This evening I went out with my sister's family for dinner. They are currently staying with my mum and myself while their new flat is being renovated, and should be here for another month or so. She has 2 kids, girls, at 5 and 3 1/2. They are a bit of a handful but are good fun to be with, although I must say that it can be very tiring if you babysit them for an extended period of time!
We went to Ichibantei at Quayside, off Mohammed Sultan Road, which always serves great Tonkotsu Ramen with extremely flavoursome, milky-coloured stock which I finish completely. We were told that they boil the stock for 8 hours to get the flavour. Although I feel that they could be more generous with the pork slices, the dish is satisfying and is pretty much the Japanese comfort food that I like to have on a Sunday evening, nothing too esoteric or complicated. Priced at $11.80 ($10.80 if you want a half portion of noodles), its pretty good value and it comparable to the pricing at Ajisen, but taste wise it blows Ajisen ramen out of the water. The noodles are just slightly al dente with a nice bite and texture, which give it character. There is a spicy version of the Tonkotsu ramen if you like a bit more kick. There are other kinds of ramen, including char siew ramen, along with an earthen pot fried rice which was ordered by the table next to us. We also ordered deep fried squid tentacles (ika gesu) ($8) with bits of chilli, which was served up with the ubiquitous Japanese Mayonnaise and a so-so generic side salad, mainly lettuce. My sis liked the ika a lot, but I found them to be decent, but OK only.
After dinner, we took a walk down the river towards the Pier at Robertson and Robertson Walk, past the other Japanese restaurants of Ai and Aburiya. I noted that the Riverside Cafe in the same building as the Singapore Tyler Print Institute has made way for Les Bouchons Rive Gauche, which I would assume is a sister restaurant of Les Bouchons on Ann Siang Road, a fairly no nonsense hardcore steak/frites place (tons of frites) which should be washed down with litres of good red wine. Made a point to visit them sometime. They are closed Sundays. Had a highly disappointing meal once at the Riverside Cafe a couple of years ago, with high prices to boot, so I was not sorry to see them go.
We made it to Robertson Walk, hoping to go to Canele for dessert, but unfortunately they close at 6pm on Sundays (darn!). Since I was in the vicinity, I went upstairs to Sage to make a reservation for Friday dinner with Kazuo, Asako and Mita, as Asako (Kazuo's wife) arrives in Singapore for a week Friday and I thought it would be a great start to her trip to go to Sage for dinner and bring along a few bottles of wine. Kazuo will be bringing a German sparkling something and I still have my Alkoomi Blackbutt stored there. A nice Australian sticky will be in order. Perhaps I should bring another bottle of white wine just in case .......
So, reservation made and we headed back to Quayside in search for a decent place for dessert. We ended up at Epicurious which was pretty empty compared to the lively Aburiya which still continues to pack them in. We sat outside and it was quite windy with all the fans going at high speed. Otherwise, the ambience was casual and relaxing. I had a decaf skinny latte and a very nice chocolate mousse ($7) whilst my sis and bro-in-law shared an apple crumble with ice cream (also S$7). It was nice way to wind down the weekend. I had a look at the food menu, and it seemed decent, so another place to try. Next to Epicurious is the Japanese book store/café Bongout, which looked like it served simple Japanese meals for very reasonable prices. Another place to visit and hang out at .....
All in all, I really like the whole Robertson Walk area. You get none of the seething crowds of Orchard (horrors!), parking is comparatively cheap and the river setting is extremely relaxing and one can properly unwind. The next time I would like to try the "competition" ramen place across the road from Ichibantei - Miharu Sapporo Ramen next to the Gallery Hotel - which some say is better, so I want to check it out for myself...... with the plethora of eating places that I want to try out, I will definitely be back really soon.