Satisfying Dinner @Gyoza King

If you have been to Tanjong Pagar recently, you will be pleasantly surprised to see many Japanese restaurants (bar-top style) around Orchid Hotel and more Korean restaurants along Duxton Road.

Opened by Ramen Keisuke King, is the new concept shop called, Gyoza King that started operations since late 2013. 

Gyoza King
1 Tras Link
#01-15 Orchid Hotel
Singapore 078867
Tel: 6604 6674
Email: keisuke_sg@singnet.com.sg
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KeisukeTokyoSG

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ THE MENU ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Comes in a set meal at $13.90 per person (inclusive of choice of Gyoza, 1 bowl of rice, soup and 2 side dishes).

 

How You Order?

Simply goes down the list to :-
1.  Select your choice of Gyoza - 3 types namely, Tonkotsu King (pork); Tori King (chicken); and Keisuke (prawn). 
2.  Decide on the size of your rice and which soup (miso/veg). 
3.  Finally, pick out 2 side dishes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ THE INTERIOR ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

The moment you step into the shop, you will notice the open-concept kitchen.  So you can see the Chefs in action!  Amazed by how fast they can whip up a full meal with 2 side dishes for each customer. 

 

The restaurant has very limited space, with less than 20 persons capacity.  Customers are seated on high counter chairs.  It maybe cramped and a little uncomfortable for some customers, especially when the ladies might not have a chair to put their bags.  Therefore, I would suggest to go this place with your friend(s).

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ THE TASTE ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Using only high-end rice cooking pots made in Japan, the Koshihikari rice is cooked in batches.

 

There are complimentary vegetables e.g. pickles and beansprouts for customers to eat first, while waiting for their main dish to be ready.  *Free flow!

Next to that, you can mix your own concoction of Gyoza sauce (Japanese style).  You can follow their recommendation for the Gyoza sauce or create your own.

  

Gyoza: (5 pieces each)

Tonkostu King (left) - You can't actually distinguish them apart.  So be sure to ask the server which is which.  Definitely can try this!  It was juicy.  No stinky or oily smell of the pork filling.  Marinated to the right degree.

Keisuke (right) - Fresh!  Love the soft texture of the prawns.  Just right, not overcooked.

 

 

Sides Dishes:

Stir-Fried Eggplant/Brinjal with miso - *Thumbs up*  It is really good.  Their miso sauce used is flavoursome and somehow tasted like barbeque sauce.  Brinjal can easily be either too hard (undercooked) or too soft & mushy (overly cooked).  They are able to grasp the correct control of cooking it.

 
Deep Fried Chicken with spicy sauce & mixed sesame - Not bad.  Tasted like any crispy fried chicken. 

 

Deep-Fried Potatoes with Minced Pork Gravy - It tasted like roasted potatoes.  The minced pork gravy resembled so much like Chinese cuisine.

 

At the end of the meal, you will be very full.  Such a satisfying meal that would make you come back for more!  Great place to recommend to good friends (but more conducive in a small group).

$$-Worth Dinner Sets @Yayoiken, Liang Court

As many are aware, Liang Court is like a "mini Japan" where you can expect to see many shops & restaurants catered to the local Japanese community, and even come across Japanese expats & foreigners.  As and when, there will be Japanese food fair or homecare fair to showcase the Japanese goodies and products.  I recalled there was one time, during one of those fairs, there were a female Japanese emcee dressed in kimono and a 'sushi' mascot promoting the fair and playing games with children (of cos' they spoke in Japanese, which I don't fully understand & partly English).  Real fun to watch though!

I can't help taking notice of Yayoiken as it is very long queue each time I passed by or going into the Meidi-ya Supermarket, for it is located right next to the supermarket entrance.  Therefore, on this day, I deliberately head down with my Hubby to Liang Court earlier than the usual dinner timing (Saturday, before 6.30pm).  I was so proud of myself to be the first 3 in the line (cos' I don't really like to queue for food as I'm normally very hungry by then), and to get a table in less than 10 minutes.



Yayoiken
@Liang Court Shopping Centre
177 River Valley Road
Singapore 179030
Tel: 6338 7170

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ THE INTERIOR ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

The interior is nice.  Though it looks rather compact from the top view, it is pretty cosy to sit inside the "cubicle".  Each cubicle is separated by head-high panels, so the guests can enjoy privacy within close seating proximity.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ THE HIGHLIGHT ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I would say, the highlight of this restaurant is their high-tech ordering system.  This reminds me of another Japanese restaurant I had been to in Tokyo.  So cool!  You can keep ordering food at ease and the food comes to you faster than average restaurants, as it saves time for waiter to pass the order to the chef.  Good demonstration of high productivity and efficiency.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ THE TASTE ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mixed Toji Set - This is actually sliced beef, fried prawn and pork cutlet with egg.  My recommended choice if you are a carnivore and like to try the most variety of meat possible in 1 set.  So good you will cleaned the entire pot!  I also like their miso shiru (Japanese soybean soup) for it is less saltish, though I don't usually like miso soup.

 

Wafu Hamburg Set (topped up $1.90 for Kai Jiru, clams in Japanese soybean soup) - The beef patty was really tender, and not at all too meaty that you have to add mustard/sauces to it (better than the one I had @Ma Maison).  Very meaty & stomach-filling choice. 

 

Natto (fermented soybeans) - It was specifically ordered by my Hubby.  For me, it tasted funny, cold and fibrous.  Not quite my thing.

 

Unlike the usual Japanese ginger slice, you get free-flow of pickles.

 

Their dessert menu is nothing out of the extraordinary, playing all safe with scoop ice-cream & matcha pudding.  Nothing to surprise me, but they have an array of fruity smoothies.

This is definitely one restaurant anyone can visit frequently for super affordable (inexpensive) and good Japanese cuisine!

Gathering @Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant, Dempsey Road

We were gathered together for Gladys's birthday, at the restaurant of her choice, Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant @Dempsey.  Thanks to Gladys for the recommendation!  We enjoyed our food and the different twist from the typical Japanese set(s) you can get elsewhere.  I must say, I am pleasantly surprised.

However, it can get slightly cramped and stuffy for big group gathering (especially when the air-con was not functioning very well that day).  Also partly due to their limited seating capacity and the layout of the restaurant.

Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant
10 Dempsey Road
#01-22
Singapore 247700
Tel: 6474 2143

 

Assorted Salad - fried fish skin with fresh veggies.  Kind of an interesting combination.  Gone in split seconds!

 

Raw Fish of the Day - No doubt freshness and appropriate sliced thickness are the key for palatable sashimi.  *grin*

  

Our Choice: "Set C" for 2 persons to share, cos' we had breakfast prior to this.
1 average person can also attempt to finish this entire set for a very hearty brunch/meal.

 

Zooming into the individual dishes..
Cold soba was already put into the light sauce and topped with wasabi and seaweed thin slices when served.  Helped to cleanse my palate and at the same time filling my stomach with the right amount of carbohydrates.

 

Assorted Semi-Grilled Sushi Platter - I'm not usually a sushi person but it's superb beyond words!  You wish you could gobble down the whole piece of sushi at once!

 

Wagyu Beef Skewer (right) & Chicken Skewer (left) - The wagyu beef skewer was soft and appropriately matched with light black pepper sauce, while the chicken skewer was average.

 

Seafood & Vegetables Tempura - Nothing to nitpick.

 

Dessert was a nice single scoop of kuro goma (black sesame) ice-cream.  One of my favourite Japanese ice-cream flavours, but this one fared alright.  Would prefer something more refined in taste and less grainy in texture.

 

[ My Verdict ]:  Though a little pricey, it is still worth coming back whenever craving for a different flair in Japanese sets.

Baikohken 梅光轩 @Takashimaya Basement

Baikohken
@Takashimaya
391A Orchard Road
Ngee Ann City Tower A
#B2-01/04 Takashimaya Food Hall
Singapore 238873
Tel: 6235 3483
Official Website: http://baikohken.com/

This Japanese ramen outlet, Baikohken has been "there" ever since Takashimaya basement level was revamped (mainly the foodcourt and restaurant area) years ago.  Somehow I never really take notice of it, until that day we walked past the previously-bustling Romankan Yokohama outlet (that specialises in Japanese curry).  It was sadly deserted, but right behind the shop led us to a queue next to a really really small ramen shopfront.

 
Menu at one glance.

Exceptionally more spice/sauce and flavourings you can add into your bowl of ramen.

Gyoza were very much pan-fried on one-side but not the other..  It amazed me with a substantial amount of soup kept inside the Gyoza (that reminds me of the Shanghainese steamed dumpling, 小笼包), , but pity, the pork used as fillings contained such strong oily stench that I hated most from pork meat.  So it's a flop!

Miso Ramen (in bean paste) - I really like the soup base that had a thick, yet subtle sweet taste to it.  However, not so fancy of the noodle texture that was neither hard or soft (personally I like my noodles hard), and their char siew that reeked of pork oily smell.

[ My Verdict ]: This shop serves the biggest bowl of ramen I have ever seen!  2 persons can share this full-size bowl (can go easy on your pocket, very $$-worth!), of course unless you are super hungry you can finish the entire bowl.  Otherwise, you can order half-size.  Very generous serving on the ramen and bean sprouts.  (Note: Ajitama is add-on, does not come together with the ramen)  In terms of taste, I would still prefer my all-time favourite at Tampopo's black pork ramen (only @Liang Court branch, as NAC branch taste not as good) and Ippudo @Mandarin Gallery.

Bijin Nabe 美人锅 @Plaza Singapura, New Extension

I always passed by this shop @Plaza Singapura (PS) extension, that is very packed and the waiting list full until they refuse to take in anymore guests for the day.  (Note: They do not take in any reservation)  The restaurant's signature dish is Bijin Nabe.  This dish is a great combination of fresh vegetables, seafood, chicken and healthy dose of collagen (serves minimum 2 pax).

The restaurant's seating capacity is rather small, very limited seating and thus they restrict each table approx. 1.5 hours to dine in.  You will not see any visible long queue outside the shopfront, as the door host will call you when your table is ready and you have to get to the restaurant preferably in 5 minutes.  Thus, make sure everyone arrives before you can take your seat.  I was determined to eat their bijin nabe on one of the Fridays, thus I arrived at the restaurant at 5.30pm to leave my name and contact number, then went shopping around PS.  To manage your expectations, the sweet door host will inform you the waiting time is about 2 hours, but my table was ready in an hour's time.  By that time I returned to the restaurant, their waiting list was already full for the night.  If you can't get your name on the waiting list before 7pm (peak hour), you can forget about eating at their restaurant, and expect to queue elsewhere for your dinner.  So for the moral of this experience, I got to quote this old phrase: "early bird gets to eat the worm!" (早起的鸟儿有虫吃！).

Tsukada Nojo
@Plaza Singapura extension
60B Orchard Road
#03-81 Atrium@Orchard
Singapore 238891
Tel: 6336 5003 (**No reservation is accepted!)
Offical Website: www.apcompan.jp

Standard menu (as shown below).  The set meal per person comes with all the essential ingredients and own choice of noodles (3 types to choose from).  The serving portion is just nice (you will be full even before eating the noodles, but you would want to miss trying out their specially-made noodles you can soaked in the remaining collagen soup), without overeating.  You can also add on and order additional items from this menu.

Look how big are the slabs of collagen pudding!  They're even bigger than my 2 fists add together!!  Y(^o^)Y

The friendly service staff can straightaway tell that we are there the very 1st time.  Without us asking or saying anything, they helped, guided and served us how to eat the bijin nabe as if they are our private butler.  ** Excellent service!!
Otherwise, one can always follow the recommended steps to on "How to eat Bijin Nabe" posters that are sticked onto the wooden planks and "tabe hajimeru" (start eating)! 

2 persons' share was more than satisfying and filling.  The soup base consisted of rich collagen and chicken, that was totally mesmerising!  It was so sweet and well-balanced with the chicken wings and drums hidden underneath the big collagen puddings.  With a metal spoon rolling the bamboo chicken, Tori Tsukune into meatballs.  It was very tender and tasty.
For $25++ per person, this is definitely a wondrous treat to the stomach and skin!


It is recommended by the staff to add in the seaweed paste (purposely made into heart-shape) and yuzu slices separately into one's bowl, instead of putting it into the entire pot of collagen soup.  Indeed, it altered the taste of the soup differently.  Very interesting taste!

Just when we have finished our meal (for about nearly 2 hours), the service staff handed us a namecard each (see below picture) and tell us to write down our name.  Apparently, the restaurant has a very special loyalty programme, which give their customers the job title of Asst. Manager during first visit and "promote" them to Manager on the next visit, with a surprise appetiser by the Chef.  And of cos, you can climb the corporate ladder further with more visits!  *smiles*

 

Before you leave, don't forget to take a picture with their adorable door host (whom I believed is a genuine Japanese and can speak very fluent English)!