We always eager for good food on Saturday night, and today it was not an exceptional night. We had a few thoughts before we both agreed on giving the Japanese grill place in Cuppage a try. I remember we once walked by and saw a few Sifu’s who are actually Japanese. We thought it would worth a try to figure out how Japanese this place is. And tonight we proved that our expectation was right. This is the most Japanese’s Japanese place I’ve been before.

We went in and were served at a small table for two. Overall the place is not big, just nice to fit in tables for approximately 20+ people, plus counter seats for less than 10. It was a nice little space that makes you feel like you are really in Japan

Right, none of their food list comes with any photos. Anyway we should be pleased since their menu still has English translation.

We spent a few minutes before deciding to talk to their staff, to ask for recommendations. After a while of struggling, we ordered an A-Course, Saba Shioyaki, and Kimuchi Chige Nabe. After ordering, I asked the waitress if what we ordered were enough for us. She went blank for a while, followed by a smile, and told us that the portion should be enough for both of us.

For your information, A-course comes with Vegetable Sticks, Asparamaki, Shisomaki, Okuramaki, Shiitake, Negima, Tsukune, Uzura Tamago, Liver, Ginko Nuts, Gyumiso Yaki, Prawn, Rice, Miso Soup, Pickles, and a Dessert. We later found that it is more than enough for us, and then only understood why the waitress had such reaction.

The reason why I said it’s really Japanese because each and every small details were considered properly. Their appetizers were simply notable. Stuffed red and white carrot were just nice to warm our stomach for oncoming good stuffs. Their ocha served in vintage Baba-Nyonya-like cup, taste like one of the top graded Chinese tea (普洱), fantastic!

Simply love this small little container that they used to keep the chili powder, so cute yet so compact. The face towel prepared (seen at one small corner on the photo, too bad it was cropped off) were served nicely on a wooden container that added onto the ambiance too.

Alright, food started to be served in around 5 minutes time, beginning with some grilled sticks. First served were Asparamaki, Shisomaki, Okuramaki and Shiitake. The idea of having meat encapsulating the vegetables is brilliant. And it tasted brilliant too.

Coming next was the vegetable sticks, accompanied with some sauces. It was so fresh, and so nice to eat it just like that without cooking.

Then there came our Kimuchi Chige Nabe. It was heated with charcoals, unlike some other places where they all used flame gels to heat the soup. Don’t be surprise, the fire was not actually purple, it’s the lousy white balance of my camera phone that got fooled…

Peeked from the hole on the side, the flame plus the wordings on the ceramic pot holder, so cool.

I had to give them thumbs up on the soup base, it was so concentrated that we both like it a lot. Simple serving, yet tasty. Charged at S$11, we felt that it was worth it altogether!

Next on the list was Negima, Tsukune, Uzura Tamago and Liver. Another set of sticks that amazed us on each bites. Especially the liver, it was out of our imaginary that how liver can be grilled this way and yet taste so nice!

Ahh, the Saba Shioyaki was ready by then. I remember there’s a stall that serve Saba at S$4.50 near my company, but that was no where close to this one. Very fresh, very grilled, very nice.

We were almost full at this time when we saw the last set of sticks being served. Ginko Nuts, Gyumiso Yaki and Prawn. Ginko offered a slight bitter taste, which in a way, unexpectedly enhanced the taste of other grilled sticks. The prawn was very fresh, so grilled that the outer was very crunchy with salt, and yet preserving the inner juicy meat. Very well done!

I missed the photograph of their dessert, but it was a small bowl of red beans with mua-chi. This is the part that I finally could complain on. They should have used charcoal to boil the red beans, but I couldn’t taste the charcoal out of it! Hahaha..

We paid S$70 for the meal, and it was a satisfied and finger licking good meal! Overall, I would give our dining experience at Kushigin @ Cuppage a high 9/10 rating! This is the place where I will definitely introduce to my friends, and where I will not be hesitated to revisit it again in near future!

We both felt glad that we gave this place a try. Maybe you should, too.

My favourite – V8 Signature Dish, Grilled Chicken Chop with House Source plus Bacon and Cheese topped, nyummy!

Dory Fillet

Chicken Cutlet

Chicken Wings Delight

During the visit, I find the decorations a bit weird with excessive usage of odd lightings (those lights you got for Christmas celebration, but at single color). The ambience is rather noisy. And my friends were complaining about the rather weird chair that doesn’t really come in comfort.

Overall, the price and food taste still play the significant part. I’d rate my visit 7 out of 10, and definitely visiting again in near future. To sum up in a nutshell, if you are looking for good and cheap food at Bugis Junction, I would recommend this place to you.

You get to have lots of further discounts depending on the cards you’re having. We had 10% off our total bill by paying with DBS Mastercard. SGD$15/person for a western dish and chicken wings shared isn’t bad at all!

And also for at least once, you must order their signature dish! That’s my favourite!

Western cooking stations packed in a faux Swiss chalet setting, offering rotisseries, handmade pastas, salads and soups, not forgetting their variety meats grilled on wood-fed flames. Oh and also, their traditional Swiss breads and tarts are at tempting smell too!

This is the rotisserie nicely pan-fried with olive oil, topped with (cute and somewhat funny shaped) snail sausage. The taste is irresistible and so nice till the last bite!

This cheesy mushroom crepe tastes nice too. Although it gets a bit filling due to its superb cheese stuff, but I believe cheese lovers will love this as I did! (looking down at his ever growing tummy…)

Grilled pork neck steak accompanied with mash potato, a dish that will not make you feel guilty after having it! Something that is not too oily, nicely grilled pork neck dipped with special sauce offers a tempting taste altogether.

Paid SGD$20/person, and I personally feel that it is definitely all worth it! Nice ambiance settings, with variety range of good food, and not forgetting the polite food servants, I’d rate it as a 8.5 out of 10 dining experience.

I shall try out their Swiss home-baked bread, wide range of (cheese) cakes on the next visit!

Food was not bad overall. In fact they were great! We all love the mussels and the thin crust pizza. The chicken wings are not bad too. 7 of us shared 6 dishes, with couple of drinks, and we paid SGD$30/each.

Unfortunately it rained pretty heavily after a while we arrived. We had to share the tiny tent with another table, and it was not big enough to cover all of us. We got our shorts all wet, and it was not comfortable as we were somehow forced to stand all the way. For one time, we felt so frustrated! Anyway, it wasn’t too bad eventually as the ambience was good, the band was not bad and the food are nice.

I’d give it a 6.5 out of 10 for my dining experience. Would have been better if not because of the rain, and the way the staffs handled the situation. I bet it was not the first time they came across rainy day, but still it was handled badly.

Some lousy pictures to share, taken with my SE w810i under *real* low light condition.

Check out Timbre @ The Substation

Before heading down there, we spent our dinner time at The Café Cartel at Marina Square. This chain restaurant based in Singapore serving American cuisine is not a bad place to dine in, and they usually have promos like the one I had.

St. Louis Pork Ribs at offer price of $12.80 ($15 nett), with free soup, free flow home-baked bread, and a drink. Not a bad deal at all! I am no picky guy, hence the pork ribs are considered good, although not as good as those from Tony Roma’s..

Soup was so-so, perhaps it was because I was waiting for their home-baked bread to go with it, and their breads were too demanded that it always got taken immediately when it’s out.

Coffee is like a daily thingie to me. Even if I had it for my dinner (or sometimes supper), it doesn’t affect my bed time at all. They have so-so coffee (my friend complained that it wasn’t nice at all). But I enjoy the dilution of the milk into coffee when you pour them into it. Simply so abstract, so beautiful

Some pork ribs which my friend ordered.

St. Louis Pork Ribs compared to the further pork ribs my friend ordered. Looks like the other ribs were treated the same way as St. Louis I ordered, just the source that differs them. The side dishes are slightly different too. I preferred my fries though.

Some spaghetti that my another friend ordered. He had no comment at all. Probably he’s just a waste-bin in terms of eating, hahaha.

Huge portion, but I managed to finished them all. Alright, I did shared 1/5 of the ribs with my friend who ordered spaghetti. It was not enough for him, but just nice for me.

I would give it a 7 out of 10. Mainly because they have good ambiance, with my cool friends of course. Service was so-so, they kept forgetting our cutlery and the bread was always running out! Food portion may be slightly too much? I would prefer a better taste rather than larger serving.

We had a walk into COMEX 2008 Singapore and I bought a Sandisk 8GB thumbdrive @ $35.90. Bought it simply because I need one, to put it on my keychain for anytime usage.

Then we had some drinks at Citilink, had a short men’s talk, and observed the crowd leaving COMEX to MRT station. I found the movements interesting, and quickly fire up my camera phone and had this shot above.

Pretty dramatic, I love it.

That was my Saturday this week.