I can see why this is on every list of Singapore’s top donburis. There’s no overripe fame in this dish. I was riveted by the impossibly soft slices of beef – suffused with a medium-rare flush and gleaming with savoury marinade. This decadent centrepiece was deftly balanced by a healthy touch – brown rice, sharply flavoured, crowned by a small but assertive shaving of black truffle. I’m in love.
🏅 10/10
💭 MUST TRY
The broth was rich and strikingly briny with a distinct piscine tang. To be sure, the concept of a fish-based broth is creative, but I wish they held back with the salt. That said, the silver lining manifested in the pair of immaculately torched chashu, which had a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth texture.
🏅 7/10
💭 Can try
This is half a scallop, torched, and glazed with honeyed chilli. It’s delicious to be sure, but the nitpicker in me feels that the searing could be better controlled. (I just don’t think singed rice was part of the plan.) But at 80¢ per piece, there’s nothing much else I could really carp about.
🏅 8/10
💭 Must try!
The rice was insipid; the salmon dry, over-cooked and plainly wanting in quantity. The small wad of salmon that peeks titillatingly from between the rice is, unfortunately, all there is to it. Not quite an “appetiser” on the whole – this dish whetted no appetites and was a waste of stomach space.
🏅 1/10
💭 Focus on the ramen
This might be a pedestrian dish, but I’m impressed by the depth of flavours – amplified by a delicious pork-based sauce. It was savoury with a meaty aroma and resembled, in a way, Thai wonton noodles. I found sizeable gobbets of pork filling nestled in my dumplings, which were soft and silky albeit a tad salty. The egg noodles were a clear winner: starch free and soused with sauce. Cheers to new-age hawker delicacies!!!
🏅 8/10
💭 Must try!
I was utterly transfixed by the succulent prawns, lightly scorched on the grill and bursting with charred fragrance. These 5 bad boys rested like the crowning glory on ribbons of al dente linguine, soaked in a prawn mee-like blend of prawn bisque and chilli oil sauce, with just a tincture of crustacean flavour. This is a dish which weds culture and cookery impeccably by fusing Japanese, Italian, and Singaporean. Can’t say that I’m impressed by sluggish service and languid demeanour of their staff though.
🏅 9/10
💭 TRY IT!!!
Who would’ve thought that you could find in this unassuming place with decrepit furnishings and rickety chairs Singapore’s BEST PRAWN NOODLES? (Yes, I said that.) Perfumed with garlicky crustacean umami and sweetened by pork, this broth is sapid, flavourfully complex, and peaks taste-wise when you get to the bottom of the bowl with the sediments of seafood, diced garlic and pork bone. The perfection went right down to the pork ribs: juicy, easily detachable hunks of meat smacking of prawn broth. I’m in love.
🏅 10/10
💭 DIE DIE MUST TRY
The waffle was well-ornamented but unremarkable. I also found the half-hearted streaks of maple & chocolate syrup perplexing. A decorative gimmick? Do I eat it with my waffles? No one could be sure.
That said, I found solace in the silver lining: this velvety soft-serve. While a tad sweet, it was suffused with flavour (a rarity for soft-serves). The striking aroma of tea was matched by equally strong notes of lavender. In essence: an ambrosial touch to an otherwise plain dish.
🏅 8/10
💭 Can try
Firebake has an interesting evening atmosphere: rustic and cosy, populated with expats and Asians with polished lilts roistering over—bread. The stew was enjoyable to be sure: I appreciated the strong notes of red wine despite its thinner consistency. But I had some problems with the beef: entirely too tough, too large and insufficiently marinated. So this was regrettably average, and I‘m apprehensive about the $26 price tag.
🏅 6/10
💭 Stick to the bread
At 9.00pm, while most eateries wound up for the day, this stall at the J99 Eating House continued to draw swathes of regulars. The soup was a true source of comfort: light, sapid, and sweetened by the plenitude of cabbage slices. The addition of E-Mian and ikan bilis made it all the more flavourful, with subtle notes of starch and oil permeating the distinct fish and pork base. The only weakness lies in the fish: while they were gills-free and generally free of piscine odour, some slices were over-cooked and tougher than others. Even so, I’d say this is worth a try, and worth the bucks especially when you feel under the weather.
🏅 7/10
💭 Can try when in TPY!
The title of “best popiah” elicits variegated responses but I like to call this (at the very least) the gold standard. There’s a whole lot of goodness packed into a singular roll, bound by a fleetingly sweet black sauce and encompassed by a layer of wafer-thin wrap (包饼皮): crispy garlic bits, sliced eggs, and savoury preserved radishes which moisten but not drench. Every roll is unabashedly lavished with fried garlic and finishes off with a lingering, defining fragrance.
Cosy Corner is also famous for its array of authentic Peranakan cuisines, but its popiah alone is enough reason to pilgrim to the West.
🏅 10/10
💭 MUST TRY
What to expect: acetic, hard crust bread with a chewy texture, speckled with linseeds and sunflower seeds. Mostly enjoyable, but the tartness was obtrusive and perhaps taken a little too far: the best sourdough should be infused with only the subtlest notes of tanginess. I recommend taking a slice or two before your mains are served, to whet your appetite.
🏅 8/10
💭 Can try
