Third Time's a Charm at Tsukada Nojo 塚田農場.美人鍋

I was at Chinatown collecting my Swiss passes for my long awaited vacation to Switzerland. It was barely 6pm so I suggested to hubby to dine at Tsukada Nojo since the queue has not yet started.

We're seated immediately upon arrival and presented with the menu. The ordering process was quick as the staffs were not that busy yet and attended to us swiftly. We will be having the Bijin Nabe Hotpot $25++ per pax and two sides for dinner.

Nikumaki Onigiri ($3.50 - $3.80++ each), my fave bacon wrapped rice ball (choice of 4 kinds of toppings). I had the Yuzu Mayo one which was incredibly delicious while hubby tried his with Red Chili Oil topping.

Chicken Nanban $8.50++, which came pretty late after having to remind the waiting staffs. This Miyazaki specialty served with homemade egg mayo was a hit with hubby, who raved about the tender and succulent chicken meat. I liked the fact that they served this with more than usual amount of egg mayo, maybe to compensate for the long waiting time? Anyways, the creamy egg mayo was two thumbs up!

As this was my 3rd time having the Bijin Nabe hotpot, I wouldn't go into details of it all, for those who are clueless please click here.

The chicken collagen soup was as good as I remembered it to be, and the ingredients were all fresh and yummilicious. We ended our meal with the cute jello dessert with artwork, complimentary with every hotpot order. Today's jello was Ice Lemon Green Tea flavor, nice!

Tsukada Nojo has consistently delivered high standards in terms of service level and food quality at pocket friendly prices. That explains the snaky crowd that gathers infront of the restaurant every evening. We will definitely be visiting again in the near future.


Tsukada Nojo 塚田農場
Chinatown Point, 133 New Bridge Road #02-37, S059413
Tel: 64448840

Opens Daily
Lunch: 11:30 - 15:00
Dinner: 17:00 - 22:00

Birthday Dinner at Sumire 笑 Yakitori House, Bugis Junction

We're back again barely two weeks after our first visit to the Jap eatery. This time, we're celebrating our evil sista's birthday. As usual, we made advanced reservations as we knew it will be crowded during meal times. The restaurant seemed rather empty at 6.30pm but almost all the tables had a name tag of those who booked them.

I managed to take a few close up shots of the not-yet-busy grilling station. They used electric grills instead of charcoal ones, and had a powerful exhaust hood making sure nobody smells of BBQ meat in the restaurant.

Having been here before, we quickly placed order on the iPad and sent in over 20 requests for our fave dishes and many new ones that we're interested to try.

Once settled down, a complimentary bowl of Cabbage Shiodare (U.P. $1.90++) was served. This was nice and refreshing as expected.

We ordered a different salad to try this time, Avocado Mentai Potato Salad $3.90++. I liked the mentai mayo dressing, not too bad.

Some fresh sashimi to kick start the meal, Salmon & Yellow Tail Sashimi $8.90++ each. Extremely fresh and juicy as usual, and the thickness was just right.

Next up, one of the star dishes of the day, Anago Nigiri $9.90++. Grilled Salt water eel with sushi rice topped with teriyaki sauce. The meat was so soft and dissolved instantly in my mouth! If we didn't already ordered so many dishes, I would've ordered seconds. Highly recommended.

Another star dish that had us singing praises was the Aburi Shime Saba $14.90++, Touched vinegar marinated Saba fish, uber fresh and succulent with slight crisp from the lightly charred skin, thumbs up!

And, did I mention that this was prepared on the spot at our table? Paparazzi moment...

The Yakitori dishes arrived soon after the fiery performance. We picked out some new items to try this time round, and some old favorites with a different dipping 'sauce'. Tsukimi Tsukune $4.90++, Hinatoro (Chicken shoulder) $4.90++ and King Liver w/ Goma & Chili sauce $3.90++.

I shared the Men's chicken meatballs with egg yolk with my other sista who loves runny egg yolk. Both of us enjoyed the dish very much, the chicken meatballs and creamy yolk was a perfect match. We also had the chicken shoulder skewer which was very tender, and the grilled chicken liver which was surprisingly creamy and flavorful. Other old favorites were grilled chicken skin original and served with teriyaki sauce, Tori Kawa $2.20++ each.

We didn't try the pork skewer items on our last visit, so we ordered a few dishes to try this time. Pork belly with salt and Horse radish & soy sauce $2.90++ each. Asparagus Bacon $3.90++, Enoki Bacon $2.90++ and Quail eggs Bacon $3.90++.

Most of the pork skewers were overcooked which makes them tough and chewy, even the bacon dishes were equally disappointing. I guess pork dishes is not their forte, there is definitely a huge room for improvement here!

Moving on, some delightfully done grilled vegetables to save the day...Grilled Oyster mushrooms $2.90++ and Sweet corn with soy sauce $2.90++. Both were pretty good.

Lastly, we had some fried dishes and a bowl of Ramen to share. The fried items were good, very crispy. But the noodle and the grilled prawns was lackluster. Fried Chicken soft bones $4.90++, Tori Karaage $6.90++, Tiger prawn w/ Mentai mayo $4.90++ each and Spicy Tori Ramen $12.90++.

There were a few dishes we had previously and ordered again today but not featured here. Do check my previous post for more photos.

Despite having a couple of disappointing dishes, our overall dining experience was still a good one. Service level here remains superb, and food prices are largely affordable. There are still many little gems hidden in the extensive menu that are yet to be discovered. So this will not be the last time you'll see us here.


Sumire 笑 Yakitori House @Bugis Junction
80 Middle Road #01-88/89 Singapore 188966
Tel: 6338 9963

Mon - Thu: 11:30 am - 10:30 pm
Fri - Sat: 11:30 am - 11:30 pm
Sun: 11:30 am - 10:30 pm

Four Seasons Durian Mooncakes, D'bun & Mirana Cake House

Its the time of the year again where many shopping malls are having mooncake fairs at their atrium. I visited the one at Nex. Other than mooncake stalls, they have tea sellers and lanterns corner too.

After walking one round, I realized that durian mooncakes are the star product of many mooncake sellers this year. Goodwood Park, Peony Jade, Home Favorites etc. are all selling theirs at premium prices. I decided to buy a box of mixed mini snowskin durian mooncakes from Four Seasons Durians. The box contains 4pcs Mao Shan Wang and 4pcs D24 mini snowskin mooncakes. Early bird price $62 per box of 8.

The mooncakes were packed with real durian meat enveloped with soft and thin snowskin. They were incredibly delish, especially the MSW ones (yellow skin) which were intensely fragrant with dense and creamy mouthfeel. The D24 ones (white skin) were quite good as well, not as creamy but sweet and fragrant.

Do check them out at various Four Seasons Durian outlets or at the mooncake fairs.


Some random snacks that I tried during the past week and are worth mentioning are the Char Siew & Roast Pork Belly Pau $1.60 from D'bun, and Traditional butter cream cakes $4.80 from Mirana Cake House, both located at Basement1 of Chinatown Point.

The char siew bun was very tiny for the price of $1.60 but was loaded with good quality char siew meat and a big chunky slice of juicy roast pork belly. I was really impressed with it and now know why it is sold out daily despite its expensive price tag!

Pretty and yummy butter cream cakes that is a must buy for me whenever I'm at Chinatown Point. The cakes are moist and fluffy and not too sweet, thumbs up.