Ninja Cut

I'm late on my post because of the Christmas break and some screw ups on the food feature because of some irresponsible behavior from some inconsiderate guy that got Vain Pot very sick. Seriously, if you don't have such a big head, don't wear such a big hat period. Due to the illness, we couldn't explore an Italian Weekend Brunch which I wanted to try. Oh well...

In any case, we went to Ninja Cut the week before to enjoy some healthy food. Ninja Cut is the sister outlet of the other healthy bowl Ninja Bowl. Both concepts are largely similar except that Ninja Cut provides a brunch menu along with a greater focus on proteins.

Vain Pot selected Oh My Cod! ($18) which contains baked miso cod, pickled beets, honey-glazed carrots, asparagus & endamame and onsen egg. It presents itself as a pretty hearty meal. Customers can choose to add a carbo of choice at an extra cost too with Quinoa being the most expensive carb. I like it that the cod was soft and decently tasty. The side vegetables were also well seasoned and not difficult to finish.

My food of choice was Squid Fix ($18). It contains grilled surume ika, sauteed mushrooms, miso cucumbers, onsen egg and honey-glazed carrots, furikake. I enjoyed my bowl too and especially enjoyed eating the large chunks of squid meat which were all very tender. I do think the cafe owners should remove the tentacles from the Squid Fix bowl because they are really tough and difficult to bite. I particularly enjoyed my bowl because I ate all the other ingredients given and they tasted healthy! I also thought that for a squid bowl $18 is quite a steal.

Drinks wise, Vain Pot chose Hot Mocha ($6.50) while I settled for Earl Grey Imperial ($7). Honestly, I think these healthy bowls are wasted with coffee. Tea is the right pairing for such bowls and I enjoyed the tea so much better than the mocha.

As a whole, just like my experience with Ninja Bowl, I'd be back again for another healthy bowl fix. I do like their location at Seah Street better than Ninja Bowl at Duxton. I would recommend this place if you are into clean food.

Ninja Cut
32 Seah Street

Tendon

This week has been food filled and busy. I feel like a bee buzzing around catching up on work after disappearing for 10 days. Christmas is round the corner and all the festive gatherings are here knocking. I'm prepared to gain weight.

Tendon is a place which has gone un-noticed by greedy me. Interestingly, I noticed the streaky queue when I was in the area the last time I came to check out Kajiken Ramen but didn't bother to find out what the queue was about. It was only after my friend brought me to the place because she wanted to try that I finally found out what everyone was queuing for. Tendon is a very authentic Japanese dining joint. They only have 2 options on the menu making it easy to choose. You either pick the Special Tendon ($13.90) which consist of meats and vegetables or Vegetable Tendon ($12.90) which is pure vegetables.

We picked the Special Tendon which has a mix of vegetables, chicken and prawns tempura on rice. The portions are very generous. We sat at the bar tables which meant we could see the chef prepare our food in front of us. The tempura were lightly battered and tasty. I like it that there wasn't any hint of oil when I bite into the food. I also enjoyed the sauce that goes with the tempura and the variety in the special menu was just right. In fact, after the meal I felt very full.

The meal also consisted of chawanmushi and miso soup and a tea. The chawanmushi was especially good and I finished mine in double quick time.

In short, Tendon allows you to experience authentic Japanese tendons without the cost of the aeroplane. It's really a perfect place for Jap food lovers but please do this when you have time to queue. Lunch break is probably a bad idea to brave the long queues. Oh one more important note, we didn't have enough cash and had to to the nearest ATM in order to settle the bill. They only accept cash.

Tendon
101 Tanjong Pagar Road

Brunch places worth a visit at Bangkok

Recently, I travelled to the land of smiles and coined this visit my Thailand Cafe Hunting and Lifestyle trip. It's my first trip there since I was age 9 and a lot has changed. I'm really pleased that the places I shortlisted from research proved to be satisfying to my taste buds and made my entire trip all the more enjoyable. I'll be sharing some of the brunch places I went and my thoughts on it.

My first stop was at On Luk Yun. The Thailand equivalent to Chin Mee Chin Confectionary in Singapore which I wrote about not too long ago. This old school traditional breakfast place is almost a must visit for me the next time I come back. There's a couple of key highlights that I like. The French Toast is very flavourful, you can taste the good blend of the eggs wrapped around a fluffy bread. Yummy! I like the egg kaya with steamed bread. Really, the bread is awesome fluffy and doesn't fill your tummy up and goes perfectly with the egg kaya (uniquely thailand). Even bought one kaya home for my mom. The soft boiled eggs served in a cup surprisingly carries a very addictive taste. I kept gobbling up my cup till all is gone and if not because this is such an eggy meal, I'd order a second cup. I think the soft boiled eggs addictive taste has to do with the special nestle thai sauce that is added with the pepper unlike our dark sauce back home. But I'm left blown away given that I never knew soft boiled eggs can taste any nicer. I didn't pay the bill but the total cost for two is less than $15 SGD.

On Luk Yun
72 Charoen Krung Road, Talat Noi, Samphanthawong
Bangkok 10100

Roast is another place I wish to highlight. I felt the portions are really generous and all the dishes were executed technically perfect. Why technically perfect? I felt that the eggs were creamy well beaten, bacon crispy, bread well toasted and salmon properly done, however there's no wow factor. The eggs tasted like a typical properly done scrambled eggs but it isn't a stand out scrambled eggs. There's nothing on the menu that jumps out. Thats the problem. However, if you are looking for a decent brunch fix that doesn't spoil your day, Roast is the place to be. Roast Breakfast (400 Baht with coffee), Smoked Salmon Rosti (320 Baht) and dessert was S'mores Custard Cake (280 Baht). The outlet that I went was at the Commons, a new shopping mall concept that promotes lush greenery. I think that Roast is by far the costliest brunch meal I ate at Bangkok, but it's highly popular among expats and tourist because the ambiance is really relaxing. I enjoyed myself despite not being exceptionally impressed with the food. 

Roast
Unit #T1 (Roast), The COMMONS
335 Thonglor Soi 17, Sukhumvit 55
Klongton Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110

Rocket Coffeebar is another satisfying discovery on my first adult Thailand trip. Rocket Coffeebar is a Nordic Cafe and I like it that everything about it is simple and not complicated. The eggs benedict (290 Baht) that we tried had very good hollandaise sauce, light yet brings out the flavour and the eggs were soft and runny. The eggs are fat and generous and goes very well with the sauce and bread. The salmon according to the brother is much fresher than the ones at Roast. I like my order of quail eggs and truffle (240 Baht) tasted really good too. The potato waffle that the eggs and truffle were served on wasn't too hard and eating it didn't feel tiresome at all unlike some waffles I've tried elsewhere. The bacon was fried till crispy something distinctly Thailand. I like that the truffle and eggs blended really well with the potato waffles that I enjoyed eating them together. I'm looking forward to try their other dishes the next time I return.

Rocket Coffeebar
147 Soi Sathon 12, Khwaeng Silom, Khet Bang Rak, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10500, Thailand