Black swine is so good....- Tampopo
On Saturday we caught up with some friends for lunch at Tampopo. Tampopo, besides sounding like a small mystical bear shaped animal from the creations of Studio Ghibli, is a Japanese restaurant located on the ground floor of Liang Court. Erica had been looking forward to trying this place for some time as apparently it's meant to be pretty good.
Upon looking at the menu, one thing that struck me straight away was the heavy emphasis on pork! Don't see that very often but since I'm a huge pork man (as well as being a leg and face man), I started to think this place could be pretty special after all. Basically, they had one entire menu dedicated to Pork Katsu's and Erica knows just how much I adore my pork katsus. But here, it's not just any Pork Katsu, they specialise in Black Pig Pork Katsus. Whilst not being very politically correct, it did peak my interest as it sounded like fancy pork.
The black pork came in three grades and I ordered the top one. They had another normal one called "layer pork katsu" which sounded great, and a cheese katsu which gave me a semi as anything cheesy usually does. But, when in Rome.... and so the top grade pork katsu it was.
Tampopo
Potato Salad
Tofu
Black Pork Gyoza
Salmon Skin
Some Hand Roll
"Top Grade" Black Pork Loin Katsu
Check out teh fats
Some Ramen
Salmon and Ikura Churashi
Dessert- Serious business...
Basically I have to say, I'm very impressed. It's rare for me to make the "best ever" call about anything because it's a huge one. But this pork katsu was easily the best I've ever had thus far. Not sure if it's the black pork or what, but it was simply fantastic. The layering of meat and fat together made for a truly succulant and juicy cut of meat, plus combined with the perfectly crumbed and crisp exterior, it was truly orgasmic. But then again, I say that about most things that are fat and crispy so maybe my recommendations shouldn't be taken as gospel!
The overall standard of food here was pretty high and the menu choc full of things that I can't wait to come back and try. Definitely one of the better Japanese places I've been to here in Singers and will definitely be back to for the katsu and to try the rest of the menu.
For dessert we opted to for the Tampopo Deli on the basement level which specialises in their own version of Beard Papa's cream puff. But these guys only churn out 40 of them an hour. They're definitely very good, but personally for me I won't bother taken the gamble of trying to get there on time just to get them unless I was already in the area. Whilst the filling I think is better than Beard Papas, I still prefer the BP pastry.
The Tampopo Deli
Cream Puffs
Vanilla custardy goodness
After that, Erica and I went to Meidi-Ya and came across this thing called Cure Natural Aqua Gel... but I won't go into that..... :P
Upon looking at the menu, one thing that struck me straight away was the heavy emphasis on pork! Don't see that very often but since I'm a huge pork man (as well as being a leg and face man), I started to think this place could be pretty special after all. Basically, they had one entire menu dedicated to Pork Katsu's and Erica knows just how much I adore my pork katsus. But here, it's not just any Pork Katsu, they specialise in Black Pig Pork Katsus. Whilst not being very politically correct, it did peak my interest as it sounded like fancy pork.
The black pork came in three grades and I ordered the top one. They had another normal one called "layer pork katsu" which sounded great, and a cheese katsu which gave me a semi as anything cheesy usually does. But, when in Rome.... and so the top grade pork katsu it was.
Tampopo
Potato Salad
Tofu
Black Pork Gyoza
Salmon Skin
Some Hand Roll
"Top Grade" Black Pork Loin Katsu
Check out teh fats
Some Ramen
Salmon and Ikura Churashi
Dessert- Serious business...
Basically I have to say, I'm very impressed. It's rare for me to make the "best ever" call about anything because it's a huge one. But this pork katsu was easily the best I've ever had thus far. Not sure if it's the black pork or what, but it was simply fantastic. The layering of meat and fat together made for a truly succulant and juicy cut of meat, plus combined with the perfectly crumbed and crisp exterior, it was truly orgasmic. But then again, I say that about most things that are fat and crispy so maybe my recommendations shouldn't be taken as gospel!
The overall standard of food here was pretty high and the menu choc full of things that I can't wait to come back and try. Definitely one of the better Japanese places I've been to here in Singers and will definitely be back to for the katsu and to try the rest of the menu.
For dessert we opted to for the Tampopo Deli on the basement level which specialises in their own version of Beard Papa's cream puff. But these guys only churn out 40 of them an hour. They're definitely very good, but personally for me I won't bother taken the gamble of trying to get there on time just to get them unless I was already in the area. Whilst the filling I think is better than Beard Papas, I still prefer the BP pastry.
The Tampopo Deli
Cream Puffs
Vanilla custardy goodness
After that, Erica and I went to Meidi-Ya and came across this thing called Cure Natural Aqua Gel... but I won't go into that..... :P