Haus Spinach & Noodles in Sengkang, Singapore

I almost thought this place was German when I first saw the signage for this Koufu stall at Sengkang General Hospital (110 Sengkang East Way #01-21). But they were selling local spinach noodles instead, making me realize that the name was probably meant to include an apostrophe.

Anyway, this is just your typical food court spinach soup. Mind you, the spinach in this dish is not what Popeye eats, but a Chinese spinach called xiancai instead (kinda like how local "carrot cake" is actually made from turnips). It's great dietary fiber either way.

Oh, and this place is halal, so the meat in this bowl was chicken instead of pork. It still featured the classic three egg combo inclusive of century egg and salted egg though. I happily gobbled iit up and regretted not paying for extra spinach.

Some Non-Suancaiyu Items From Tai Er

I wanted some suancaiyu for lunch today, but that gigantic bowl at Tai Er would have been too much. So I tried some of their other items, like that ganguo shousi baocai above, along with some liangfen on the side. Both were good, with the rich oil of the former being particuarly soothing, especially when coating some white rice. I liked how the rice was available in a half-bowl portion by the way, and it's also nice that they are now serving an iced version of that free roselle tea. Next time I should just get one of their mini bowls of suancaiyu, which looks like is only available as a takeout option.

Du Du Pasta from Du Du Dumplings in Singapore

This wasn't much more than just a bowl of orecchiette-like pieces of dough dressed in a rather sweet yet thin tomato sauce. I liked that it was chewy, but it's not something that I'll yearn for again. I guess I was just tickled by how it was listed on the menu at Du Du Dumplings as pasta or mian er "noodle ears." I guess they are both apt in describing it.

A Few Items from 7-Eleven Japan

Convenience stores in Japan are kinda neat given the range of packaged food there, including egg salad sandwiches, fried chicken filets, and an aburasoba that I had the other night. Even cats can get "lightly grilled bay scallop" treats that sounded so good that I wondered if it were suitable for human consumption.



This one really caught my eye though: pizzas from Pizzeria e Trattoria da Isa, a place in Tokyo that I literally walked by back in March but never tried. Frozen pizzas naturally couldn't do the real dish justice, but I still liked the rich cheese and tomato sauce on this thin crust.



And who'd have thought that 7-Eleven would have a collaboration with Denny's Japan to do frozen tantanmen? The broth wasn't anything to flip out about, but it was only now that I realized that Denny's even does tantanmen in their phsyical restaurants.

Kamukura Soup With Noodles in Osaka

I saw so many outlets of this ramen chain around Osaka that I was a bit worried that it was overly commercialized. However, it turns out it originated here from a chef who wanted to create a French consomme-like broth using cabbage and pork. And since they had an outlet here at the airport, I figured I'd finally give it a try on my way out.

They had quite a few options for toppings, including a few kinds of meat and vegetables as well as the requisite egg and gyoza. I wasn't hungry when I ordered this though, so I just got the cheapest bowl possible. The broth was indeed crisp and savory like what one would expect from cabbage and pork. I'd be happy to eat that again.

Kushiyakitei in Namba, Osaka

It turns out there's a style of cooking that originated here in Osaka called kuwayaki, with farmers using their hoes as metal platters to cook their food on while they were in the fields. And this restaurant is known for serving this style of food (5 Chome−1−18 Namba, 050-5870-0261). Big teppan grills are used instead of hoes now, so these kushiyaki-like skewers were done like teppanyaki. It wasn't anything that different from a taste perspective. But this place used quality products, including everything from the prawns to tsukune to konnyaku, not to mention wagyu. It was a convenient place to get local food in a nice setting at a decent price.

Chicken Skin Gyoza from Osaka, Japan

This was unexpected. I randomly walked into a nearby izakaya tonight and was told that one of their popular items was chicken skin gyoza. I had incorrectly thought that it was your typical gyoza that was stuffed with minced chicken skin. But it was the opposite: chicken skin was used as the wrapper (which makes sense given that it where you need contact with the heat source to make the fat deliciously crispy) while minced chicken meat was stuffed inside. That was a fun surprise.

My Empty Bowl from Ichiran Ramen in Japan

It's been a while since I've been to Ichiran. So today I went all-out with my bowl by requesting strong dashi, extra rich broth, one full clove of garlic, green onions inclusive of the white bulbs, and extra firm noodles. Now, my brain associates Ichiran with instant noodles given how easy it is to buy their boxes these days. But I still ate it with ease, and drank all the broth above.

Next time I need to remember that the red sauce was decently spicy enough at level 2 but was just too sweet. So I could crank it down one notch just to avoid the sugar. Plus, the default noodle portion is really small. That can be a good thing when one is just getting a quick afternoon snack, while also easy being enough to opt for kaedama with a few coins in the booth if one is really after a full meal.

The Akauo Himono from Shinpachi Shokudo

I didn't realize that this was an outlet of Shinpachi Shokudo, as it just looked like a nice place to get traditional grilled fish. My red akauo himono above was deliciously savory, and towards the end I commented about how amazingly affordable this all was. It was only after I paid did I take another look at the sign to realize that this was a Shinpachi Shokudo. It hardly looked like the little urban counter that I saw last time, as this outlet in the middle of Tenjinbashi-suji in Osaka (3 Chome-4-14 Tenjinbashi) was much larger and even had washitsu tatami seating.

Nagata Meat Shop in Osaka, Japan

Beef was requested for dinner tonight, and yet we didn't want to spend a lot of money nor sit for a long fancy dinner. Fortunately, there was a small butcher in the basement of the South Gate Building of Osaka Station City, just as one enters Daimaru in the basement (3 Chome−1−1 Umeda, 06-4400-4758).

People lined up at the counter to buy meat on the go, but they also had a small dining area where they served cheap and casual hanbaagu sets, complete with a warming grill in front of you, kinda like Yappari. Yes, it was juicy and rich patty, and they even gave free refills of rice. The skirt steak was a bit tough though.

Jinrui Mina Menrui Premium in Osaka, Japan

Jinrui Mina Menrui is awkwardly listed on Google Maps as "Human Beings Everybody Noodles," which looks like a literal translation. Nonetheless, we made it to an outlet today, and in particular their Premium outlet in the Barchika 03 basement of the LUCUA building (3 Chome−1−3 Umeda, 06-6131-8840).

Yes, the food was good, including that "micro" bowl above, featuring a super dark and punchy soy sauce, as well as a crisper "macro" bowl more reminiscent of that seafood broth from Chosen Shite Koso the other day. The noodles were chewy and the chashu was tender, including their thick-cut option.

They also had a bowl here called the D-Men that this is presumably what makes this outlet "premium," as it was created by a chef from a local Italian restaurant. The noodles were soupless and tossed in a pesto sauce with chopped meat and onions, which I rather liked. I'll get their half-and-half combo deal next time.

Miyamoto Munashi from Japan's Kansai Region

Miyamoto Munashi is a chain of teishoku restaurants from the Kansai region, and there was an outlet nearby on the way to the train station. Apparently they are known for their chicken nanban above; I'm actually not a fan of the dish in the first place due to the sweet brown sauce, but I still ate all of this given that the tartar sauce on top was more like a nicely done egg salad, and with tender fried chicken underneath it. It did the job of being both affordable and accessible, although next time I should try some of the local specials that I saw on the menu.