Inaho's Kitchen

This is not a easy place to find. The sign is hard to see as it is not at eye level and the place is on the second floor of a shop house behind a very discrete black door.

I think a lot of Japanese businessman frequent this place and are the main clientele. The place feels like an exclusive sake club.

Simple Decor with shelves lined with sake bottles

Pickled Octopus Salad

We were given an entree of pickled octopus salad.

 

Bacon and Spinach

This was a tasty and simple dish. I think the dish was cooked with butter. The style looks and feels like home cooked food.

 

 Onigiri- Bonito flakes and Salmon

I call this a stomach filler. The Onigiri bonito flakes rice ball is a bit too salty for me.

 Grilled Squid with Ponzu Mayo

Ponzu with seafood is a combination that works together. I couldn't taste the grilled flavor of the squid at all.

Grilled Saury Fish

This was simply done and very fresh.

 

Grilled Pork Rolls

The rolls had leeks and enoki mushrooms in it. I am also pretty sure it had shiso leaves to give it quite a unique flavor. I don't know any herb that you can substitute shiso for. I liked it but felt it lacked a touch of acidity.

The thing I like about Inaho is that it feels private. The food is not bad and a bit different from most Japanese places. It feels home cooked and it's the sort of food I think goes well with a drink.

I do think it is on the expensive side though. I have been here a couple of times and its rarely my first choice for Japanese in the area for that reason.

Location: 60A Duxton Road, Tanjong Pagar
Contact Number: 62220852

Bistro Soori

I have never heard about Bistro Soori. I stumbled upon it and found out that it was $39++ for lunch and decided to try it with a girl friend. It's a hidden gem.

The place has a clean feel to it. The thing I like about the place is that it looks classy but feels quite relaxed. It almost reminds me of restaurants in Australia.

Oysters with vinaigrette

This is simply done with red onion and a vinaigrette. Oysters don't always feel fresh and plump in Singapore but these ones were. Also, I was served with 3 oysters not one. I was quite pleased.

Tomato soup

We were given a cappucinno cup of tomato soup. It had small baby tomatoes in it for added texture. Rosemary for more flavour and smell. I appreciate that even though this was an add on, it was done very well.



Butterfish, tamarind, fennel, thai basil

This dish is clearly a fusion dish. Most places don't succeed doing fusion successfully but this was quite nice. The fish was firm fleshed and fresh. Sauce was a seafood bisque with tamarind. I think the tamarind replaces the lemon which is usually used with fish. This provides the dish with the same sort of acidity to cut through the fish. I love fennel with fish. I think the only thing I would change about this dish is to have the thai basil finely sliced into shreds instead of presented in whole leaves. The thai basil was a bit too strong to be eaten whole.

Pandan Souffle

The nice thing about souffles is that one can do souffles in any flavour imaginable. This one is done in a traditional Singaporean flavour. I am not too sure if I like souffle in the form of pandan. The eggy flavour of the souffle is still quite prominent here and I feel like it has to be toned down by a notch. Perhaps the strawberries should have been incorporated with the souffle rather than placed outside the souffle to make it work. Maybe durian souffle next time??

Plus wine, it came to about $55 per person. For the standard of food and the environment, I consider this quite a good deal. I had a lovely afternoon with good company and felt very relaxed after the lunch.

Website: http://www.bistrosoori.com/

Location: 2 Lim Teck Kim Road, Tanjong Pagar

Price: About $55 plus a glass of wine

Contact Number: 64383802

Opening Hours: Mon - Fri 1130am- 230pm, 630pm - 10pm; Sat 630pm -10pm; Sun 1130am -330pm

Clay Abode

Clay Abode specialises in claypot rice. It services mostly a lunch time CBD crowd.

 

Get the traditional claypot rice. The claypot looks like it has been well used. The rice is full of flavour and the chicken tender but it is a little too salty for me.
Anotyher addition that one should get is the egg. When you break the egg, the yolk oozes out and adds creamy texture to the rice.
Maybe they can do a premium claypot dish with prawns?

Website: http://www.clayabode.com/
Location: 32 Maxwell Road #01-05 Maxwell Chambers, Tanjong Pagar
Price: About $15 per pax plus drinks and vegetables
Opening Hours: Mon- Fri 1130pm - 3pm, 530pm - 9pm; Sat 530pm - 9pm; Sun 1130am - 3pm
Contact Number: 6227 6137

La Cicala

This spanish place has a swanky feel to it. Fortunately, the food is pretty good as well.

We ordered 6 double portion tapas for $105.

Prawns with paprika

Portion was ok and prawns were fresh. However, nothing special to this. I prefer the traditional prawns in garlic oil.

Stuffed eggplant and zuchinni.

The vegetables rolled around some sort of cheese. It tasted like a very mild mozzerella cheese. On top of it was some sort of pesto.

Grilled smoked chicken in romesco sauce

I like romesco sauce. Its a tomato and capsicum sauce. The sauce always tastes good with grilled. I would have liked the chickento have more of a charred flavor to match up to the robust sauce. 

Grilled striploin and mushrooms with spiced salt

This dish was a let down. Its really just grilled beef. The beef also seemed a bit too tough and not meaty enough for my liking.

Fried whitebait

This is simply done but very tasty.

Deep fried squid with saffron tartare sauce

The squid was crispy and tasty. Tartare povides some creamy acidity to the crispy texture. I could not taste much saffron...

The place serves pretty good tapas but it isn't outstanding. Spanish I find is always expensive in Singapore. Plus the fact that Club St is not a cheap location for a meal.

It's not a bad place to hang out with girlfriends for a few drinks and some food. The wine in this joint is expensive though.

Location: 48 Club St, Tanjong Pagar

Opening Hours: Mon- Fri 12pm- 3pm, Mon- Sat 5pm- 12pm

Pricing: About $60 per pax including dessert.

Contact number: 65348812