Waraku Japanese @ Central

Today's lunch after church was at Central. Wow, there's like 4 to 5 or more Japanese Restaurants at Central, one of the newest shopping mall in town.

We decided to walk into a familiar brand. Waraku. So here it goes....



The temaki we ordered. 3 diff kind. Unagi Temaki, Salmon Temaki and Soft shell crab temaki. (left to right)



Salmon Sushi



This is the paper pot set meal. Its beef.



It's paper on top on fire, see it does not burn. (think no longer a fad in Singapore, it's been around for years...) but still fun right?



The set includes also rice etc and these tempuras.



This is the pork soba something on hot stone.



It's steaming hot and stayed hot for a long time. Comes in a wooden box.



Sis will always order Okonomiyaki when she goes to a Jap place. So here it is... Very good..



This is chicken udon soup.



This is my food. Its Katsu Soba curry. Comes in a huge giantic bowl.



By the way, according to the lady taking our orders, all the udons and sobas are directly imported from Japan, not the local ones.

Geek Terminal : Coffee from the Heart

Are you a coffee lover, or are you a caffeine addict? Think about it.

Introducing Danny, one of the rare certified barista in Singapore. He makes coffee from the heart. Though I am not a coffee drinker, but I learned quite a bit from him just by his explanation while making a cup of espresso. He's one of the partners of Geek Terminal.



If you want to know more, go over for a cuppa. Just like the crowd of people that was there last nite, you might just taste your best coffee!

OK. Back to photo blogging.

This is "Coda di topo" or "mouse tail" in Italian. The flow out is determine by the coarseness of the grind and also the flow of water. Barista can take a look and know if other barista has done all the basics correct.



The espresso, which is approx 20 ml. (If I heard correctly.)
Correction: 30ml. (thank Danny for the correction)



Next it is to froth the milk for top up the espresso. In some places, you see a thermometer in it, but for an expert barista like him, he knows exactly when the desired shine and thickness of the frothy foam is achieved. (see his hands acting as a thermometer, and his eyes on the milk)

Doing it correctly, it should start with cold fresh milk and milk should not be heated beyond 70 C. When milk is heated or steamed, the lactose or 'milk sugar' becomes more soluble and the perceived sweetness also increases. It's one reason why if the froth is done properly, you do not need to add sugar to your espresso.



The frothed milk is mixed with the espresso.



The next few picture shows you the 'coffee art', where you get the designs on top of the coffee.






If you realise, the way he pours the milk into the cup, the design appears!
* See the chope chope section below for more pictures of it.. *



Our barista is drawing ping.sg for the group of us that was there.











Turn the cup facing us, there you go. ping.sg espresso.




ok. the chope chope section.
before i go... let me show you another set of coffee art.

Look at this expert do it! The patterns appears by the way he pours the froth milk!







Cool ya, the last swipe of the pour creates the palm like design.

Hope you enjoyed today's post.

Geek Food @ Geek Terminal

If you feel like a geek and want eat a geeky place, come to this place. It's call Geek Terminal. It's located right in the financial district at 55 Market Street.

Cool place. The tables are designed for you to hide your notebook when your food's served.

The chairs are so called designed to let you sit there for long hours. There's Wifi too if you want, choose either Geek Terminal's own or Wireless @SG.

I had dinner with a few geeky bloggers from Ping.Sg

This is the menu. It's your place to recharge.



This is my drink. Chinotto.



This is 'tstar's Grilled Salmon.
Grilled Salmon with lemon butter, seasonal vegs, mashed potatoes and gravy.



This is NTT's Hawaiian Sandwich.
Chicken ham, pineapples, cucumber and lettuce with barbecue sauce.



This is my bake rice. Out of the 4 baked rice dishes, only 2 are currently available.
This is Chicken & Mushroom Bake Rice.
Topped with peas, brown gravy and cheese.



Ridzuan ordered this: Soft Shell Chilli Crab
Tempura fried soft shell crab with their "chilli crab" gravy over spaghetti.



Ok. There are stuff eaten, but the photos did not come out nice. So they are not here ;-(