My two pennies
Whenever having omakase for dinner is a last-minute whim for us, I would need to try very hard to secure two spots because the Covid restriction on halving restaurant guests just makes seats at well-known sushiya so undersupplied. This evening was a Monday, and we thought we could pull it off, but we couldn't, and… Continue reading Sushi Sumi: Solid Off-the-beaten-track Option (7.9)
MEATS definitely offers a tempting menu for carnivores looking to have a good time drinking and eating, but based on my experiences I wouldn't quite put it on my recommended list because of the three occasions I've been, I wasn't made to feel welcome. Pirata strives to impress with not just good food but also… Continue reading MEATS: Tempting menu, but services erratic (7.5)
At its heart, the intention of chefs Arron Rhodes (previously at Gough’s on Gough, now closed, and at Statement) and Chris Grare (previously at Lily & Bloom, now closed) was to synthesise experience and experiment, regional and global, posh and homey. That, plus one more gimmick: farm-to-table produce (at least occasionally). From a conceptual point… Continue reading Kinship: Cosmopolitan Anglo-style comfort food (7.5)
I miss a good shish, partly because my brain associates it as a comfort food, whether as a late night snack or after a boozy episode in the earlier years, but mostly still because spiced meat is delicious in itself. Despite having spent some time in parts of the Middle East, given how culturally diverse… Continue reading Bedu: Great vibes and hospitality (7.8)
Grissini should be on the rota for a lot of people who like Italian food and find its location convenient. But on this visit, I am starting to feel like this is an increasingly dated restaurant that, perhaps intentionally for its existing clientele, is still clinging on a little too strongly to the past. If… Continue reading Grissini: Behind the times (7.6)
Ganguya literally means "toy store", and the storefront looks exactly like one, with a life-sized ultraman and lots of anime figurines lining the cupboard on display. But once you open the door, you are led down to a basement restaurant that's decorated more like a home than an izakaya. The main dining room is centered… Continue reading Ganguya: Otaku-style izakaya (7.3)
Mr Brown is a lively restaurant run by the founders behind Francis and continues the concept of a sleek menu with only a handful of dishes to ensure quality and maximum economies of scale. Brown refers to browning from grilling, and as you may have correctly guessed from the title, Mr Brown specializes in just… Continue reading Mr Brown: Casual smoking and grilling action (7.9)
I saw news about Iwate Kin's opening in a Japanese magazine. It's operated by a local chef who has quite some experience as a chef in Japanese kitchens and who I suppose had just decided to venture to open a shop of his own. I tend to feel that sometimes people who do that are… Continue reading Iwate-Kin: Mom-and-pop izakaya (7.5)
Due to something of a misunderstanding from both sides of the family who I assume were both thinking of compromising for the other family, we ended up being uninvited to dinner anywhere on the night of Mid-Autumn festival this year and spent the evening at Skye. Because it's a popular day to dine at home… Continue reading Skye: Charming vibes and solid food (8.0)
Chaiwala takes up the space that previously housed Zafran, a huge Spanish tapas restaurant with a nice bar and great ambience, and the area still feels more or less the same despite some décor tweaks and change in furniture. I get the sense that the mainstream view is that Chaiwala is a great, hip place… Continue reading Chaiwala: Good hospitality, OK food (7.2)
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