Revisit: Al-Ameen again!

Casual weekend lunch with mum and O. Bryani craving strikes back!

Menu:
Mutton soup

Comforting with generous serving of mutton pieces and even bone for tulang lovers, its just slightly greasy. Comfort > Greasy. The tulang part tasted kinda bland... O guessed it was due to all the goodness already gone into the soup~

Menu:
Curry chicken

Food took a really long time to arrive like 30minutes so mum got a couple of pratas and this. The gravy is slurpy addictive, not too spicy either but for $5 isn't something I would order. The prata came home and crispy and is definitely a contender for ordering when i go back (not normally a prata person).

Menu:
Vegetable mekani

Personally, i love indian vegetable dishes. IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!
This dish proved to be a winner with O. Non spicy with broccoli, green pepper, carrots and more cooked in an 'indian' sauce i know nuts about, a good companion with some bryani! $7.

Menu:

Spinach Mutton

A combi of O's love (spinach) and mine (mutton), this was sooorrt of disappointing. I mean it wasn't bad but kinda normal. The mutton dishes served at this place tend to be slightly on the tough side and didn't really absorb the flavour of the spinach sauce. Butter chicken is a better choice. $7.

Menu:
Poodina Pratha

Bread bread bread! A little something on the side. Indian bread done with mint leaves. Helluva lot better the first time, this time it came abit burnt and tasted that way as well. $2

Not a bad meal but hits and misses and loOong waiting time. Could have been better.

Casual dinner: Ivins!

Located at 19/21 Binjai Park Bukit Timah, this place proved that IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!

For lack of a better place for dinner one night, we headed over to Ivins, a Peranakan place we had been to a few times in the past. Business is brisk here with tables moving in and out fairly quickly. Reservations are definitely recommended before coming. (64683060). Portions here are fairly small per order in the range of 4-6.90 each (generally). Water is served and rice is 80cents/bowl and $1/bowl for coconut rice.

Menu:
Meatball Soup

A really good starter to the meal, the soup has a meaty flavour to it making it really comforting. Ignorant me only knows this as Rou wan tang (meatball soup). I assume it's pork or chicken.

Menu:
Fish & Chips

Besides peranakan fare, they also serve up a couple of western dishes on their menu. This is one of them. At $5.90 this was roughly the price of one dish so i decided to try. I would stave off their Fish&Chips from now on. The fries were soggy and the breaded skin came right off the fish which was a bummer. Fairly greasy too. The fish itself had a consistency of chicken and O was amazed that it was actually fish. No go.

Menu:
Stewed Pork in Peanut Sauce

I really enjoyed this. While the pork wasn't all that tender, the savory sauce with a hint of peanuts really did it for me. IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!

Menu:
Sotong with squid ink sauce.

The first two time we had this on earlier visits it was really good, done just right and the sweet and slightly spicy sauce making the sotong a real treat. IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE!
On this visit the entire dish had a somewhat limp feel to it with no kick. Some inconsistency here.

Menu:
Beef Rendang

It may not look like much but pleasant surprises are always a good thing aren't they? While it isn't the most tender stewed beef i've ever had (yes it sadly applies to most of the meats i've tried here), all i can say is ... IT'S ALL IN THE SAUCE! The rendangs here are all must try. I would say their 'signboard' dish, even if they themselves do not.

Menu:
Curry Vegetables

Came hot but hard and seemingly undercooked. Sent it back for further work done (which i hope did not include spitting into it... joking). Failed to wow, more comfort than anything and not really a good job at that. Mom also moaned the lack of ingredients in this. Still not soft enough even after it came back a 2nd time but better than the 1st.

Menu:
Chicken Rendang

If you come here for only one dish, make this it. Finally a dish here THAT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE SAUCE. Tender chicken soaked in the wonderful chicken rendang gravy that's good enough to eat on its on, everyone around the table had nothing but praise for this. Must try.

Menu:
Bubor Hitam, Chendol and Ice Jelly with lime and palm seeds

A sweet ending to the meal. These go for $1.20 per bowl and for the bubor hitam, there was even loads of soft yummy beans. I highly recommend that. The ice jelly was comforting but average. The chendol i did not try. Not a c-man. The first two visits were a lot better and I hope they get their inconsistency issues sorted out.

Bukit timah brinjal park

Pigout Food: Suki Sushi @ Cineleisure

Sashimi craving! After a few days of insane cravings for uncooked fish, i decided Suki sushi would be my choice venue to gorge myself silly. Previous 3-4 occasions at the cineleisure outlet and their CCK outlet (when it was still around) were full of hits and misses.
Their website was updated finally recently but still didn't reflect the pricing accurately. They stated $17.90 for student buffet but it turned out to be 18.90 +$1 for weekend. It's just $2 but do get it updated as these are minor annoyances that people remember the next time they think about returning. They took away my favourite HAMACHI sashimi! T_T

Menu:
Skewered asparagus bacon roll

Having printed a spanking new menu and some items taken off as well as some added, this was one of the more interesting additions. The asparagus was not very well done and the dish could have used a dash of sea salt on the surface. Comforting at most.

Menu:
Unagi sushi

This is probably the only sushi where the topping outweighs the rice. As you can see it's such a huge piece of unagi that you almost can't see the rice below. But it is horrible. The rice is falling apart and the unagi is bland and the texture somewhat tough. Bummer.

Menu:
Salmon belly sushi

Surprised to see this here. Also had the salmon sushi (no pics, busy eating) but this was SLIGHTLY better. Sigh, it's really a case of you get what you pay for. While fatty, it was somewhat tough requiring quite a chew... in fact this might have been even tougher than the regular salmon sushi... hmmm.

Menu:
Salmon roe with lobster salad

One of the few dishes i really enjoyed. With a good ratio of rice:salmon:lobster salad, a real pleasure to enjoy. They used to serve this in larger portions with quite a blob of mayo on top. Frankly it's better without the mayo... maybe they got feedback. The lobster feels a little mayo like with something i suspect are prawn bits in them. Maybe crayfish/slipper lobsters?

Menu:
Mussels with ?

I can't remember what the topping is supposed to be but clearly i remember it being NAUSEATING. After scrapping off the topping however, the mussels are quite bearable.

Menu:
Skewered squid

The bomb of the meal. One bite of this from me and O and we wouldn't touch the rest. It was that bad. It was so badly overcooked the little 'legs' felt like Bone. For a moment i wondered if this was one of those dried preserved snacks in disguise. Think rubbery leather.

Menu:
Squid Tempura

Another pleasant surprise amongst the sea of bad-average food there. Served warm and crispy, each is a delight to bite into. Served with mayo. Advice is to finish it while it's hot before it turns cold and greasy.

All in all more misses than hits. Not unexpected but i had hoped for more i guess. A point to note is that they serve really large portions and the sushi all have alot of rice so it tends to fill you up quite quickly. Meal comes with freeflow blackcurrent or peach drink (no green tea), fruits, puddings, mochi and ice-cream as dessert.

Will be a while before i the urge to gorge on here again.

Birthday Food: Russian @ Shashliks!

O's Bday passed recently. Yes, welcome to being 24, love.

Since we love to pig out and try places we’ve heard so much about but never had the fortune to try, this occasion presented us the perfect opportunity to do so at Shashliks, located on the 6th Storey of Far East Shopping centre along Orchard Road.

Prior to visiting, I’ve read reviews of the 70s décor, the rude and impassive service and their must order a main each policy so I was well prepped against any snags that might present themselves.

Upon arrival.
1. 70s décor - Check. A very cosy ambience, albeit lighter that was slightly too dim.
2. Rude/impassive service
– Has grounds, see it a bit here and there but generally was ok. The only annoying thing was one of the uncles came over and asked “finished?”, proceeding to clear one of our courses which still had a quarter left. We managed to save the poor escargots before he ran off with them. Saw one of the aunties got an order wrong and after preparing a flaming dessert and having to deliver it to another table, chided the original couple for not telling her. DUH, don’t blame others for your cock up. Rest is generally okay.
3. A main each
- No issue since it was our first time here we wanted to try quite a lot of things.

Apologise for the poor pictures but the lighting was really bad and flash from the camera probably wouldn’t have been very well received by the other diners.

Menu:
Dozen Escargots -$22

First time having these. It’s so the YUuummzzz lo… you use your clasping tool and stab the flesh out. Done up just right with lots of garlic, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Escargots taste like a cross between mussels and hum to me, 2 things I also like eating so yes I liked this.

Menu:
Mushroom soup and THE Borsch soup

No pics of the mushroom as I just couldn’t get an appetizing shot. The borsch, rated as a must try by all who reviewed the place, is h-e-a-v-e-n-l-y. Or, as heavenly as a $7 bowl of soup goes. Rich without being greasy, the vegetables & a small chunk of beef gives u that wonderfully (almost) melt in your mouth feel. Sour cream is optional but also a must (contradicting), takes the soup up by two levels ~ Must must try!
The mushroom tasted canned. Period.

Menu:
Shashliks – Beef $26

Served with 'Russian styled salad' consisting of half boiled egg, lettuce, onions and spring onion and chopped vegetables (think coleslaw done funny and without the sauce), this baby came on a sizzling hot plate done medium. Competently done, it was good but no WOW. Like a steak done kebab style. Nevertheless decent and while not exactly juicy it wasn't dry either.

Menu:
Steak with foie gras ( pâté)

As the name implies. Served with fries, a tomato, onions and some peas, corn and cube carrots, i woulda thought this a normal western stall steak except for the pâté. The fries were nice and crispy for the large cut ones but the steak overcooked and the pate somewhat tasteless. Not worth the $24-26 paid for this.

Menu:
Baked Alaska

The visually impressive end to our meal or so i thought. Flaming rum doused over cream covering an ice cream cake, ours kinda fizzled out really quickly and the cream wasn't 'baked' in any sense of the word. BUT, it is D-licious! The rum adds life to what otherwise would have been boring cream and the outter surface of the cake firm and the ice cream unaffected by the hot rum, comes together for a really special treat! The only drawback was that there was too much of this! The standard portion easily serves 3 i reckon. Also once you finish the parts with the rum it starts to get jerlak when you get to the parts without. Still, a must try. $16 well spent.

Long post, lots of pictures! Though there were hits and misses, at $120 for our dinner i certainly won't be scrambling back anytime soon except maybe for their Borsch soup and Baked Alaska. But alas, the no ordering soup n dessert only policy...

Home food post: Rite pizza and 'Subway'

Home on a rainy day? Lazy to eat out?
Well fret not, home deliveries to the rescue. O and i were craving pizza and decided to give Pizza Hut some biz after seeing them having a 1 for 1 pizza deal at $19.90.
That's where the good part ended. The following call then took place.
*Some of the language on our side has been edited for effect though minimal*

Us: Hello, we wan pizZa. Order + Address
PizzaH: We are sorry but the nearest outlet at Yuan Ching road is currently down and unable to take orders.
Us: Okaaayy... THEN? Can't u get JurongPoint Pizzahut to delivery or smth?
PizzaH: I'm sorry we can't do that as it will disrupt the operations at that branch.
Us: Okaaayy... THEN? So no pizze for us?
PizzaH: If you would like, you could place an order with us and pick it up personally at the Yuan Ching road outlet.
Us: So there is no-way-in-hell you guys are going to deliver me a pizza now.
PizzaH: That is correct.
Us: ThxXx eUu (for nothing) -HanGs up-

Peeved (me) and upset (O), we turned to trusty Google for alternatives. I mean it's no longer home delivery if i have to pick it up myself right? And it being a rainy day was precisely why we decided to order delivery and not eat out. I was thinking Canadian Pizza but i'm glad i decided to snoOpz around a lil more. Saw this Rite pizza (halal) that also had a 1for1 offers on their pizza. Their homesite can be found HERE in case you want a breakdown of prices and offers. Ordered two of their regular (smallest) pizzas for $23 and a mash potato ($1.80). Quite reasonable for a 1for1 deal. Choice of thin/regular crust and lettuce/cinnamon topping is given. I took a combination since we had 2 pizzas... the food is coming up!


Menu:
(Top): Winter Special with cinnamon topping/thin crust
(Bottom): Autumn Classic with lettuce topping/normal crust

They were Funtastic! Especially the thin crust Winter Special with cinnamon. The servings of the turkey bacon, sausage and ham were generous and together with the mayo and cinnamon topping, was so good i was taken aback. The crust so thin and crispy (thinness shown in picture),
was almost wafer like. The Autumn Classic was also good with an abundance of ingredients but perhaps the thin crust and cinnamon topping really moved me with the first bite to give this a fair review but nevertheless much better in terms of taste and amount of ingredients over Canadian Pizza anyday. The mashed potato was a little bland but with some butter tastes wonderful as a comforting side. On the upside, it tastes alot more homemade than any other mash i've ever had.

I now believe that 1 for 1 deals can net one great pizza. Pizza Hut better watch out. If Rite pizza with their nearest outlets at Jurong East and CCK can deliver in the rain, such great pizza, surely you can do the same with 2 NEARER outlets? 'Nuff said.

Enjoy Subway? Do it yourself for a fraction of the cost from NTUC
Ham (20slices, house brand) $3.50
Cheese (20 slices) $6
Lettuce (per packet) $2.75
Tomatoes (7) $1.25
Bread (House brand, 20 slices?) $2+
[Right now theres even a further 5% reduction on house brand items!]
For roughly $18.50 you have all you need for roughly ten sandwiches of your own with ingredients to spare!

It's so the yumz. That's 2 sandwiches, not one, of course. 10 mid range sandwiches at Subway would cost you $37 - $59 i estimate. Economy is bad!!!! Save!!!!!!

Random Lunch : Wok Express

me: Oi , lunch?
Sr: Ok, where
me: No queueing today please.
Sr: Ok, know a tze char place nice and no queues.
me: Sweet.

Located opposite the Fuji Xerox building and near Amara hotel, it's one of those places i'd never have found on my own. Eat first pay later style, they offer a decent range of rice/noodle dishes as well as individual dishes. Wish i had the foresight to take a shot of the menu. Never was very cOLouRfuL at describing stuff.

Menu:
Tom Yum Fried Rice

Sr said the dish this time was pretty bad compared to the last few times she had it. Apparently she only eats this and something else (Try more stuff la woman). This dish is really something different (for me). Bye x2 salted fish fried rice. The tom yum spices are nicely infused into the rice, mildly spicy but comfortably so i would say, for most people. A couple of prawns and a fishball are tossed in for the seafood factor tho it doesn't state Seafood anywhere and being in the CBD and all, the portion, taste and novelty factor (if any, for you) makes it a good choice for $5.00 if you're around the area.

Menu:
Beef Char Siew Rice + Soup

I was sorely tempted to order the fried rice too but this really caught my eye. Beef char siew? Another first. The mention of soup is interesting as it tasted like a cross between your normal fishball soup and Maggi mee chicken soup. Kinky.
On to the dish. Beef slices done char siew style on buttered rice. Nice. The rice, slightly buttery, was fragrant without being oily. The beef char siew, interesting as it may be, tasted 80% like well, char siew. On the whole, an above average char siew rice but i felt they should tweak this more to bring out the beef's flavour and less emphasis on the char siew. At $3.60 though, can't really complain about a good eat.

Wok Express is located along 72, Anson Road. Thankz Sr for the interesting find.

Nothing is safe, nothing.

Even BODY Spreads from China have been found to be contaminated with melamine...

Totally WTF lo... fortunately when it comes to chocolate and strawberry, i prefer natural flavour.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,441144,00.html

Astons Express @ Jurong Cafe

Growing in Singapore, probably everyone who's been to a coffeeshop or foodcourt woulda tried the Western food stall, at least once. But, doesn't it always seem to be more or less the same everywhere you try? To my memory, there have been a few shifts in trends on the western food front over the years... namely,
1. The growing popularity of western + rice sets
2. Bigger plate phenomenon ( same amount of food )
3. Spagetti then cream pastas being added by certain stalls

However, no one really wants to eat steak or pasta at a western stall today if there was a better alternative cheaper than say, Jack's place which i think was the steak place etched into many Singaporean's minds as the place to go for steak back when i was younger.

Enter Astons Express. A place blogged on many a food blog, most notably brought to my attention on ieatishootipost.sg. I'm not sure if they have a tagline so i'm just gonna go into the food.

Menu:
Ribeye steak - Medium ($12.90)

Having eaten this 5-6 times (yes i usually order the same thing), i can judge the consistency here. There are 2 versions, Ribeye (180g) n Ribeye X-cut(250g) which is priced at $15.90. Tried Medium-rare and Medium, the former is preferred but tends to be sometimes overly rare and thus requiring a good chew. As for medium, tried it on 2 occasions, first time was great. This time it was slightly overly done. Comes with 2 sides of your choice. O chose potato salad and corn cob. Juicy steak with good sides at good value, a must try! Look at the size of that thing ~

I'm not an expert on steak but this definitely leaves your $6-7 western steak and edges alot closer to steakhouses at only a fraction of the price. Standard steaks go for around $10-$15.90 with their prime tenderloin going for $27-$28. Someday i'll try the WAGYU i saw them advertising... no i didn't ask how much it cost.

Menu:
Double-Up Chicken [Chargrill/Black Pepper] $9.90

They also serve surprisingly good chicken. Juicy and flavourful, this restored my faith in grilled chicken which were ALWAYS dry and bland (the ones i've tried). Basically this is a 2x of their single chicken of various sauces ($5.90) so at $9.90, is good value if you're really hungry. However, stay off the black pepper, watery and not a good match with the chicken. Astons has very good BBQ sauce and that is highly recommended. Or Chargrill that uses mushroom sauce.

Menu:
Popiah ($1.20/roll)

Another surprise find. For some reason i've not been able to find decent popiah for the longest time... till now. Generous with the ingredients, the popiah skin is not affected by the moisture of the contents within and retains it's firm texture. A slight dash of chilli and the right amount sweet/savoury in the popiah really made it hit the spot. Great!

This place actually has a roast duck store with very nice duck but that for another day. Also an indonesian set meal store which looks interesting...

For the etc, seems Coach is getting v popular with the ladies. I see this as much as i see that LV bag everywhere.

Random food: Dome Cafe

Another foodie post~
This time of a set dinner for two at Dome cafe. (Isetan / Shaw along Scotts)

O and I were comtemplating between this place and a 'famous' tonkatsu place on the same level which was the 3rd? It's the level where all the restaurants are anyway. Saw the menu outside which showed a set and at the waitress' recommendation decided to take it.

Menu:
Set of the Day

Set dinner consisted of the above 3-in-1 and a soup of the day (beef onion or some cream alternative). I chose the onion which i didn't regret. The beef and onion flavours came together nicely and though not overpowering in any way, was strong enough to not come across as bland. The main consisted of (from left) 1. Grilled vegetables with prawn on skewer, 2. Pumpkin mash potato with ball of fish meat and 3. Teriyaki chicken with butter rice.

1. Vegetables are nice, grilled, end of story. Prawns were done forgettable. The vegetables were actually more enjoyable and i'm a seafood/meat person.

2. First time i've had this (yes i don't get around alot) and i must say it tastes exactly as it sounds! Like pumpkin with mashed potato texture. Wouldabeen better if it tasted like mashed potato with an infusion of pumpkin. Hmmm. On a side note, the fish meat in shape of ball was daaammn dry and bland. Interesting only to look at.

3. I like teriyaki but O hates it so slightly biased for me. That said, the rice was probably more outstanding though eventually everything tastes like teriyaki sauce. Not bad but just average.

Menu:
Seafood squid ink pasta

This was both good and value for money, something i don't find alot of nowadays. Competently done, it came with an abundance of prawns and squid on top of the pasta with the addictive cream sauce. At $13.80, i'd eat this again if i was ever in the nearby area. I liked this very much and the best way i can describe it is that all the ingredients harmonised in a good way which made it highly enjoyable. But nothing is perfect.
Even with extra sauce, the pasta drys up rather quickly so this is one dish best polished off quickly.

Total bill came up to $33 give or take and was reasonable give the set and pasta i felt. They serve water with lemons which is a nice touch. Really alot of lemon slices in their pitcher not the usual 1-2 slices so you do get that lemony feel. Nice.

On an etc note, something from kuishin bo buffet. It's an ice-cream they give during one of their 1/2 hour specials. This is water melon and when unopened even has that striped pattern. Cute!
Oh makes a good container for stuff too! :D

Random food: NUH Staff Canteen

Had lunch recently at NUH Food Enclave (aka staff canteen).
Being lunch hour and all it was really crowded but the crowd moves really quickly,
they all eat so fast!
Staff canteen = cheaper food than normal right? Well it is the case here!

Menu:
Fried Dumpling noodle ($2.50)

O remarked the noodles tasted rather alkali... i tried some, they were not very enjoyable. Not springy but more like ... stiff? This is such a value eat cause they give you FOUR of these fried dumplings roughly 5-6cm by 3cm in size that have minced meat and a prawn in them each.
Nice and flavour filled, perhaps it was the unexpected prawn-in-each that sold it to me.

Roast Duck + Roast Meat rice ($3.50)
No pictures. Roast meat wasn't crispy, bland and a little hard to chew through. Duck was normal as well except for a couple of pieces with the skin which were much better. So much difference, rather unsatisfying and not that cheap as compared to the other items too.

Guo Tie (6 pieces @ $2.50!)

WoW. Never seen guo tie going for $2.50 with 6 pieces. That said, you do get what you pay for. Frozen dumplings that are not home made. Looks big but the ingredients sadly isn't that plentiful and though juicy (oily more like it), the skin just wasn't crispy enough, coming across as soft. Still, the mantra remains. $2.50 $2.50 $2.50 $2.50 $2.50!

For dessert, Mango Puree with Aloe Vera in Ice @ $1.50. Very comforting.

All in all, an average but value filled eat. Will pop back there if i'm at NUH again.

For the etc, they were giving these out near my workplace after lunch one day and i tried this (always wanted to). I got Cacao Orange which reminded me of the cakes they gave you as gifts @ weddings in the past. I liked those cakes and i like this. Yum.

Random food update: Al Ameen @ Upper Bukit Timah Road

A post on one of my favourite eating places... Al-ameen along Upper Bukit Timah road opposite Bukit Timah Shopping Centre.

Like alot of people, i too once in a while get cravings for certain foods. Or rather, like everyone else. Bryani and indian food is one of them. I'm not the greatest expert (or any kind of expert) on food origins and terms so let the pictures do the talking. Unfortunately i only took the side dishes not the bryani ahahhaha....

Al-ameen serves up a helluva lot of stuff... from western, naan, pratas, roasted meats, seafood... you name it. That's on top of the bryani, indian tze char, drinks and desserts (a menu within itself) and more... a place blogged to death so to speak.

Would like to just share my menu.. ahem. For under $20, we had this

Green gooey looking stuff (I'm a bad photographer) which is actually spinach with indian cheese. It is heavenly. The sauce which is mostly blended spinach is fragrant and is 1/2 sauce 1/2 vegetable. There are still parts where the spinach isn't completely blended up, giving the dish more texture. Indian cheese, the other completing element of this dish was great! Not one of those overpowering cheeses, it had a slightly chewy texture and went really well with the spinach. If i felt this dish could be improved, it would be to not overly blend the spinach and have less cheese. There was ALOT of cheese. No complaints about measly portions here.

$7

Looking alot like it's cousin up there comes the butter chicken. I can't honestly say i've eaten alot to compare this with some other place but hey, the sauce is well, buttery and comforting, not too heavy to take on it's own (or w/ a lil bryani) and the chicken Relatively tender and plentiful, not much to complain and i deem value for money. Always order this when i go there.

$7

They have an assortment of bryanis as well, chicken, plain and mutton i forget what else if any. The mutton ($5) if i recall correctly serves a HUGE chunk of mutton hidden in the bowl of bryani. The bryani itself is... ...honestly flavourful enough but not the best i've had. Still it ranked good enough to be comforting. None of that look-like-bryani-but-taste-like-fried-rice stuff. The only thing is the mutton though plentiful doesn't really make the cut. Relatively dry and bland, it's better stick to the plain bryani ($3) and ordering side dishes.

Oh the bryanis are relatively large in portion and can be shared between one large male (me) and one small appetite lady (O).

Totalling $17, that leaves $3 for drinks. They have all the milo dinosaurs godzillas and what not drinks as well as teh tarik ($0.90) which i enjoy theirs very much and even sugar cane ($2.50) which is somewhat a ripoff i feel.

To sign things off, a stall from Amoy food centre. Decent queues but Piao Ji!?!?!
It means literally in chinese : To visit prostitutes.

Lol.

milestone

BnB is 16 PSPs away from selling 100 sets since March 2008!

Hoorah~

Random foodie updates! Akira Japanese Buffet Restaurant

Located @ the ground level of Link hotel a bus stop away from Tiong Bahru MRT and just opposite the new Tiong Bahru market, Akira had been one of the places i've known for a long time but never tried.
Why? All the negative reviews about bad service i've read online in the various food sites.
Nevertheless, one should venture 0ut and try new things, especially with a 30++ for a weekend dinner buffet. Other than Sakura i doubt u can get a better deal than that for Jap.
On to the food.... i think to repeat orders so bear with me on the variety :P

Goma tofu – The first of it’s kind I’ve had.
I must say its interesting and relatively good. The sauce is lip smacking addictive, like sesame n peanut grounded together. Goes well with rice if u mash it up a little.

Chilled tomato – quite literally.
Came with mayo and seasoned with a savory yet sweet sauce. Didn’t quite take to it.

Teapot soup – A must try.
Is very refreshing in a savory way but light so it acts as a good palate cleanser in between the heavier items. I’m glad I took the recommendations from other reviewers on this.
Tip: Squeeze lime and dump it inside for extra sour power!

Shitake tempura – pure disappointment!
This is normally one of my favourite tempuras… sadly it was cold, oily and not really enjoyable… must have been quite bad for me to so clearly remember not enjoying it, pea brain and all.

Beef curry rice – Who says you shouldn’t play around with your food?
Curry is of the instant mix kind but comforting. More for flavour than for the beef, the portion isn’t too big (which is good) and goes well with other dishes (Such as goma tofu). I did a beef/unagi/goma tofu bowl which I must say is an interesting mix of flavours… :p

Grilled prawns (on skewer) – Bummer :(

The first order, wow nicely grilled and covered with a light layer of salt. Very nice. I can't recall how fresh the prawns were, only the grilling n salt. Second order had minimal or no salt detected and was not as well grilled, leading to me being unable to eat the entire prawn with the shell.

A few of the dishes do suffer in quality upon repeated orders but the grilled prawn was the most notable.

I don’t believe I forgot to take pictures of the sashimi!!!!
Suffice to say they had quite a selection about 6 kinds consisting of Salmon (Sake), Tuna (Maguro), Swordfish (?), Yellow tail (Hamachi), Octopus (?) and seasoned Mackerel
Must tries: Seasoned Mackerel, Swordfish. The hamachi is so-so.

Whole Scallops with garlic - Scallopy!
Another must try. I likez. May not be a knock-your-socks-off dish but something I don’t see so often in a buffet. Still, an above average eat :D
As O would say, Scallopy!

Fried prawn (ebi fry) – I’m not a big fan of this but O is. She didn’t like the prawns they used but it was okay to me. Normal.

Tempura prawn – Have had better. The batter is not light enough here and just a few orders of their fried stuff can really make one queasy which says something. Or maybe it’s just me.

Unagi – I’m a sucker for unagi and especially ones done like this. Categories are pretty good and best I’ve had. This falls under pretty good. In fact the only horrible unagi I’ve had is Sakura’s unagi on a skewer. Disgusting, that one.

Teppanyaki vegetables – Itz de Saltyz!

But I likez. Probably a catalyst to my early demise but the smoky flavour paired with the excessive salt levels really hits the spot for me.

Garlic fried rice – This was the other must try recommended by at least 2 other reviewers… more like a need not try. Relatively bland and oily, it is, I quote, “…wasting your calories on yucky (or below average-average) food!”

All in all a real steal for 30++ for a weekend dinner. I hope they don’t 'revise' the price anytime soon.