Ju Shin Jung @ West Coast Highway

This was a lunch outing with colleagues at Ju Shin Jung along West Coast Highway. Someone in our lunch group wanted to have Korean. That someone was actually thinking of Banchans rather than having the main meals.

We somehow thought of Ju Shin Jung that we all have not gone together as a group for some time. We all hop into a colleague's MPV and off we went for lunch.



The moment all the banchans came out, all of us, (especially the guy who was thinking of banchans) was so happy!



We were also served some pumpkin paste/mousse that was quite sweet tasting.



All of us settled for our own portions of the set lunch that's quite affordable.

Everyone thought we wanted some extra meat, so we ordered a spicy chicken on hot plate. It's spicy but very shiok to eat! What was interesting is that they had raisins on the chicken.



A few of us had the Saba Fish set.
Crispy fish on a bed of shredded cabbage. I could eat up everything because it was nice and crispy.



If you have been colleague for so long, you can actually guess what others will be eating. We all guess the Short Rib Beef Soup for 'old cat'. We were right. He ordered this and he says it used to be better but it's still good.



A few colleagues also had the dolsot bibimbap.
Prepare to sweat it out, because as you eat, you feel the heat from the stone. Our colleague eating this was sweating!



Don't put all the chilli paste in if you don't want to suffer the consequences of spiciness. It would be double heat. From the chilli paste and the hot stone.



The soup for those who did not order soup dishes. We did not like it. We prefer the beef rib soup that we 'helped ourselves' from 'old cat'. LOL



When we are with colleagues, we always behave like kids. We love to play with this.
The expandable hand tower. Add some water and it expands. The middle one had a few drops of water and it expanded.

Yup, parents with kids will save theirs to bring back and amuse their kids. I am sure we all have loving parents as colleagues who have to think of ways to entertain their kids 24x7!



Our meal ended with heart-shape watermelons.
It was a nice re-visit to Ju Shin Jung during lunch time.

The food's still good, service during lunch time was good too, still adequately staffed so you don't need to wait long for someone to get to you. Most of all, the lunch pricing of set meals less than $15 is still making us happy.


Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ
27 West Coast Highway
#01-18
Singapore 117867

Tel: 6464 0872
Web: www.jushinjung.com

Kim's Family Korean Restaurant @ West Coast CC

Colleagues and I just discovered that Kim's Family Korean Restaurant has a 3rd branch.

We used to visit the Lorong Kilat / Bukit Timah branch. Recently, we heard they have opened a branch at Sunset Way but we have not tried it yet. Few days ago, we saw this new branch when we went to West Coast Plaza to have lunch.

Our lunch plan changed when we saw the new branch. Images of banchans filled our disillusioned minds. We walked over from West Coast Plaza to the Community Centre!



This branch looks really nice from the outside! There's an outdoor area that should be nice in the evenings. Look, evergreen fake grass too!




The reason we suddenly decided to eat there. Their selection and varieties of banchans!
We liked most of it. They were tasty and nice, but I think we keep thinking about it that we expect more (that we were served)!




Two colleagues had the Ramen at $10 each.
Comment from the two colleagues that ate it was there are lots of seafood inside, but the "lalas" are quite small.




Another colleague had the Jajangmyun $15.
She seemed to like it. She loves all things Korean. (All our colleagues know that hehe)




I also had almost the same thing. I had Jajang Bap. $15.
I felt like eating rice so I had the rice option. It was served with a fried egg.

I have always wondered why the Korean actors and actresses always slurp it like it's the world's best food. It's black and gooey and does not look appetising at all. LOL

But I ate it all because it becomes more tasty as you eat it! There was bits of meat (the 3 layered fatty pork version), potatoes cubes, lots of onions (which I like) and all cooked in bean sauce.




Old cat, our colleague ordered the Oysters Soup. $17.
Pricey for a soup (and a bowl of rice) but there was lots of small pieces of oysters in it. Yes, small ones, but there was quite a lot of it. Soup was tasty too.
(We all could not help not dipping our spoons in his soup!)




A little pricey we know.
The place seems to be very quite too. There was only 2 tables eating.
I also just found out they have been around here for a few weeks.


Kim's Family Korean Restaurant
2 Clementi West Street 2
#01-01
(West Coast Community Centre)
Singapore 129605

Fish Mart Sakuraya @ West Coast Plaza

This was dinner about 2 weeks ago. We have not been to West Coast Plaza for the longest time so I told sis let's meet there for dinner. Walking round this 'kinda quiet' mall, I noticed Sakuraya is back!

Sakuraya used to be on the second floor near McDonalds at the old "Ginza Plaza". It is now located on the first floor of the new "West Coast Plaza" where OCBC bank used to be.


This will sound silly to you. After we placed our order, this little plate of appetizer came. We wondered if it's some complimentary stuff because we did not order it. Since it's in front of us, and we thought it was complimentary, we ate it. We ordered seaweed and was waiting for it to be served.

Suddenly we noticed the little chit on the side of the table. As our orders came, the items were ticked off. We were given the wrong order!

There was nothing we can do. We already finished it! LOL...




We ordered green soba $8.50.

While eating this, guess what I was thinking about? I was thinking of the Cold Soba on Singapore Airlines! I always remember the SQ version served on the SIN-NRT leg. Am I the only person who thinks airline food is better?




We would have preferred a little bit more wasabi. We were too lazy to ask for more. There were a lot of people dining that night and the servers all looked busy, so we did not bother them.




We also had the Unagi and Avocado rolls. $12 It was OK lah.

But we realise something. Everything we order seems to be cold!
As we ate, we are feeling colder and colder! It was not a nice feeling. We should have ordered hot food!




We also had 3 kinds of sashimi. Salmon $10, Maguro $9 and Mekajiki $9.50.

The sashimi was picked from the refrigerated display at the 'fish market' side. The fish were all cut and packed in chunks, weighted and priced. You pick what you want to eat from the selection of seafood and pass it to the 'fish guy'. He will then slice it for you and someone will serve it to your table.




The food was OK, but we left feeling cold, even after having hot tea.You noticed everything we ordered were cold stuff? Total bill was around $56 for all of the above.

So if you come here, remember to order hot food!



Fish Mart Sakuraya @ West Coast Plaza
154 West Coast Road
#B1-50/51/52 West Coast Plaza
Singapore 127371

Tel: 6773 6973
Hours: 11 am - 9 pm

Chako @ Delivery Service

Last Wednesday, a colleague 'msn' the rest of us asking if we are interested in having Chako delivered. Oh why not? It was a wet wet day and not going out sounds like a good idea.

So we placed orders with our colleague, who then called Chako's proprietress' daughter. (ooooo.... haha we always tease him)

It was a long long wait. We mean really long. We knew the Japanese lady cooking is really passionate about her food, so she takes a long time. It was also a wet day, so the traffic was bad.

Anyway, we heard a shout over the corridor, lunch is served, and we went to the enclosed meeting room for lunch. Part of the bento sets that was ordered.



A colleague had the beef set. Smells good when it was opened!



Someone else had the Chako Set. Chako set's with the fish.



I had the beef curry set. It came in two containers. Another colleague who had the Oyako Don also had it in two containers.



It's Chako's own version of curry. It's a little different from the usual curry. You will most probably like it like me. It's spicier than the ones we usually have ;-)



We decided we would just split the total cost by the number of people eating. Some were more expensive, some cheaper. We averaged it and it was $18 per person. Ya, we know it's a little expensive, but it was enjoyable. ;-)

Restaurant Chako
134 West Coast Way
Hong Leong Garden Shopping Centre
Singapore 127064

Tel: 6776 3919 / 6776 4613

Chako @ Hong Leong Garden

Our colleague 'pirate' has been asking us to have lunch at Chako, one of his favourite places for Japanese food. We have been saying no because we have been very busy at work, it's one of those places that will guarantee a long lunch because of the wait while the lady chef prepares our food with the utmost care and dedication.

We are a bit free yesterday, so we thought why not? Half our lunch gang away on leave, childcare MC, etc. So there's only 3 of us today.

Here's the tea that you might drink 2 or 3 cups before lunch is served. Remember we have to wait. :-)



It's one of the places that you have to wait, yet will be satisfied when the food's served. The home cooked style Japanese food just makes you happy.

Pirate and I had the sets that had the following beautifully crafted side dishes. The pickles.



The tofu. (you got to pour the soy sauce over it)



And the clam miso soup.



Pirate had the Beef Oyako. The beef that is really tender. We took some from pirate's because we wanted to try it.



I had the Unatamaju. I ordered this because it's the broiled version that's really nice. I remember having some of it when pirate ordered it last time and I said to myself the next time I am going to order it when I come again.

The egg layer below somehow reminds me of how my mum makes the eggs on some occasions. The egg's semi-soft with a little peppery taste. The combi with the melt in your mouth unagi really makes it lovely.



For Almondjelly, this is her first time here with us. She had the Chicken Katsu Curry Rice. The curry looks different from what you usually see because it's Chako's proprietress' version. She mixes her own curry mixture from a mixture of local and Japanese curry powder etc. The difference we tasted was it is has a bit of ume / plum like taste that gives it a hint of tanginess. We wonder what she puts in it!



A different salad side dish that goes with the Katsu Curry.



It was a quiet afternoon, so the proprietress Mdm Hisako Okugawa came and sat and talked with us. She asked how we like the food, etc. We said it was lovely. We were chatting and the conversation led her to tell us about Japan, the places she goes to when she visits her other family there. It does make us wanna visit Japan too! She originates from Okayama. Hmm next time if I do visit Japan, I should visit Okayama eh? :-)


Approx of an average of $19 per person incl of taxes etc.


Restaurant Chako
134 West Coast Way
Hong Leong Garden Shopping Centre
Singapore 127064

Tel: 6776 3919 / 6776 4613

Chako @ Hong Leong Garden (Part II)

Here's Part II of the Chako lunch we had.

The place is not very big, the kitchen is just behind these 'curtains'. When you step in, it's like stepping into some old traditional Japanese place.



Anyway, back to what we ate.
Here's the Oden $16 that we shared. We all find it quite nice. The yellow mustard that goes with it really gives it a kick!



Dpuk had the Chicken Katsu Ju Set. $16.
Bread-crumbed deep-fried chicken fillet placed on a bed of rice, topped with egg and onion gravy

(the rest of the set items has been shown yesterday)
Normally the fried chicken is on top of the eggs right? Here it is hidden below.



Pirate had Unatamaju Set. $22.
Broiled eel in our home-made sauce served on bed of egg-topped rice.



Pirate said you got to try it, it's broiled and it's really really soft inside, and he cut a piece of it for all of us to try. (if you like eel and like it soft, you should try this. we loved it)



JSFR had pre-ordered Zoni Set. $18
It's claypot soup with chicken, vegetables, mushroom and glutinous rice cake. JSFR really liked the glutinous rice cakes in it. It's really soft and when she's eating, all of us were looking at her eat. (Well, it's because her was the last to arrive, so most of us finished our meal. LOL)



We were already quite full but somehow we wanted the dessert. The desserts we have below had to be pre-ordered.

The custard pudding served in caramel sauce. $6.50
We had two of this. Some of us like it, some preferred the next dessert. We concluded those who did not like burnt sugar taste, ie caramel did not liked it. LOL..



The green tea pudding served with azuki. $6.50
Now, the one who did not like the above adored this. It was so cold and refreshing. The azuki makes it nicer too. (haha.. you can tell which dessert I liked).

Just as we were eating this, I thought I heard a familiar voice. Dr ieatishootipost.sg walked in to have lunch too.



Oh, there's a photo of President Nathan and wife's and the the proprietress family in the shop too! ;-)

For lunch, if you pay in cash you get 10% off. Our total bill was $142.50.
So so full, we had problems trying to stay awake to work after lunch. LOL...

Restaurant Chako
134 West Coast Way
Hong Leong Garden Shopping Centre
Singapore 127064

Tel: 6776 3919 / 6776 4613

Chako @ Hong Leong Garden (Part I)

Our colleague 'pirate' has been telling us about this place that he has been going. It's a small little Japanese place at Hong Leong Garden. He has been there so often, we realise that he is on first name terms with proprietress and her daughter. LOL...

He even got a softcopy of the menu of the place and emailed to us last week. He planned for us to go today, so for the whole week, we tried to rush as much work as possible so that we can have a longer long time today.

Why longer hour? Because the proprietress Mdm Hisako Okugawa makes the dishes only when you order and she does it with so much care and passion. Definitely not a rush job. (We had to wait quite a while haha)



Three hour before lunch time today, 'pirate' yahoo messenger us, telling us that to save time, we can choose what we want to eat first (from the menu he sent us last week), he can then sms our orders to the shop. So we did.

I pre-0rdered the Chako Set. $19.
Grilled mackerel served with a piece of bite-sized bread-crumbed deep-fried chicken & cuttlefish, salad, vinaigrette/vegetable side, stewed dish of the day, cold beancurd, rice, miso soup, pickled radish and fruits.



The Grilled mackerel. We had two of us ordering this and both of us thought it is one of the nicer grilled mackerel around.



The piece of bite-sized bread-crumbed deep-fried chicken & cuttlefish.



The salad, vinaigrette/vegetable side. I kinda like their little bit of mash potato.



Think this is the stew dish of the day. It's like popiah fillings. :-) Quite nice.



The following are the set items. (ie, if you convert your items into a set, you get the following).
The miso soup with clams inside. Pirate told us, he prefers the soup at night, it is thicker and saltier. haha...



The cold beancurd.
(we are suppose to pour our own soy over it)



You know why it takes a long time? Look! We realise everyone's pickles were so neatly arranged and stacked! haha...



The glittering and soft short grain rice.



Pirate told us the proprietress has recently lowered the prices because many of her customers are students from the school nearby. We wonder how pirate gets to know all these details. LOL...

Too many photos for one post, I shall post the rest tomorrow.

Restaurant Chako
134 West Coast Way
Hong Leong Garden Shopping Centre
Singapore 127064

Tel: 6776 3919 / 6776 4613