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