Ah Cai and I had been to Ootoya a few times, but only outside. Reason was, the casual Japanese eatery was always full-house and there was always a snaking queue during the times that we went. We gave this a miss a few times, but on this day we were dead-set on dining here. It’s either Ootoya or nowhere.

Ootoya serves simple, home-cooked Jap fare in the teishoku –style. The set consisted of a miso soup, 2 appetisers, Jap pickles, and the main itself. My 3 appetizers came in the form a stewed pumpkin (soft and super yums) and stewed spinach topped with silver fish, shiitake mushrooms, and inari (pretty bland and normal).

Cai had the Charcoal Grilled Atka mackerel set ($17). The oily (naturally) fish was salt-cured and grilled to perfection, with moist flakes that were a little fishy and salty crispy skin on the underside. I wouldn’t have ordered this dish as it had way too many bones! I’m just too lazy to pick out the flesh from all that bones, but Cai had no complaints.

I had the Soy Milk Mixed-grain Porridge with Vegetables and Chicken. I couldn’t really discern the soy milk; the milky coloured broth seemed more like chicken broth to me but it sure tasted good. It had 9 different kinds of grains – pressed barley, millet, leaf mustard, black bean, green bean, red bean, black rice, black sesame, and amaranth. The grains were really soft yet retained their bite. There were also lots of spinach, onions, carrots, shiitake and shimeiji mushrooms in it. It was really pleasant and comforting. I tried to replicate this dish at home but it didn’t taste anywhere near. Lol.

We ordered a side dish Deep-fried Chicken with Sweet and sour vinegar dip to share as well. The chicken was very juicy, though oily, but it went well with the dip. The chicken pieces were quite big too.

Verdict: Overall, this was a pleasant meal. I would probably return again for the Soy milk porridge, it’s my kind of comfort food. And also I would like to try the enticing desserts! E.g. Soy milk blanc, Green tea parfait, Banana parfait etc

*The pictures were taken from Google as I forgot to take pictures of it =x

Miss Clarity Cafe - 'Budget' French food

26th November 2009

During our 3-hour break, the Girls and I headed down to Miss Clarity Café (Upper Thomson) for our lunch! We had their lunch set menu which was extremely value-for-money as we had a choice of Salad/Soup + Main Course + Dessert + Drink, and all that for just $8.80++. How awesome is that?

I chose tea for my choice of drink and it came in the form of a very diluted teh peng.
The salad was acceptable, being crisp and crunchy. Didn't take pictures of it.

Oxtail stew

This came with the choice of rice/bread and I chose the latter. This is what was described in the menu ‘Oxtails braised in red wine and stock’. I couldn’t discern the red wine in here, but it was certainly flavorful from the oils of the oxtails without being overly rich or salty and it was definitely not oily.

The oxtails were very tender and it fell off the bone at the mere prick of the fork. However, there were an obscene amount of gelatinous fats, or was it tendons? I’m not sure, but I didn’t really take to the gelatinous parts. There were also potatoes and carrots in the stew which were soft and not too mushy.

Fish cordon bleu-fish fillet sandwiched with ham n cheese

I had a bite of Jessie’s order and I certainly liked the combination of the crispy fish fillets with ham and cheese sandwiched in between. It was served on a bed of soft potato mash.

Pan seared dory served w/ garlic mayo

This was Amanda’s order and of course, I tried a little of it. I simply have to try a bit of everything! :D Her order sounded boring but it was really simple and comfort food at its best. The dory fish was soft and succulent and was accompanied with a healthy serving of vegetables and potato mash.

Seafood tomyam pasta

Jaslin and Cherie shared this one as they weren’t very hungry. This was decent, the tomyam was definitely very spicy but pleasant. Pasta was not cooked al dente but that’s okay, at least it wasn’t terribly overcooked.

Bread and Butter Pudding

For my dessert I chose to have the Bread and Butter pudding. The portion served was really amusing, as in meagre. However, that didn't really bother me as I'm getting what I paid for ($8.80). The soft pudding was drenched in some kind of sauce (vanilla?), and wasn't too sweet. It was my first time eating B&B pudding and I didn't really know what to expect, but I thought it was pretty alright.

Mud Ooze

Jaslin had this as a topup to her dessert. She thought that it was just vanilla ice-cream with chocolate fudge but surprise surprise, there was a lovely brownie hidden at the bottom of the ramekin!

Verdict: This is a pretty good place for a girls' outing, but I wouldn't say the same for guys as the decor (walls in hot pink and girly murals) can be a put-off for guys. I like this place for its value-for-money sets and unpretentious food. I will definitely return to try its other dishes!

Branches:

Upper Thomson Road

Purvis St