Menya Musashi Ramen at Raffles City

** Update ** We've given Menya Musashi another try - this time at the new ION Orchard outlet. Find out if we've changed our minds!

Would you line up for an hour for food? Because it certainly seems like you'd need that amount of time standing in line at Menya Musashi Ramen over at Raffles City. During peak periods, at least. This fairly late entrant to the Singapore/Malaysia Ramen market originates from Tokyo, where it's gotten hugely positive raves & reviews since its' opening in the 1990's.

Like pretty much every other ramen restaurant once it's opened shop in our borders, there's a strict kitchen | seating/dining area segregation; no chance of sitting at the counter and chatting up the chef while he cooks up your noodles, sadly.


This particular outlet in Singapore is surprisingly sparse on the choices. You do get a choice of 3 soups - white, black and red - but they're basically the same pork-based soup (white), with a choice of added fried garlic oil (black), or chili oil (red). No choosing how well done you want your noodles to be, either.

Oh, in our customary fashion of trying a new ramen place we also try the gyoza at SGD5.90 which was decent.


I go for the Black soup base with Kakuni (Braised Pork) instead of the usual cha shu. At SGD14.90, it's very similarly priced to the competition.

Unfortunately I thought the ramen wasn't really to my tastes. The noodles were a bit soggy for my liking (I prefer a firmer, more al dente bite), and the soup was too thick and oily - bordering on being an (oily/greasy) gravy, really.


The darling was also somewhat disappointed with her Tsukemen (Red, SGD14.90). The Tsukemen "style" is where you have a dry bowl of noodles, and you dip it into a sauce/soup before slurping/eating. We felt that for dipping, the red soup was not strong tasting or concentrated enough. The cha shu is good though; and if you're a big eater you can "upsize" your order of noodles up to a whopping 5 times portion.


Also, we thought that the egg was overcooked - bordering on being hard boiled.


At the end of the meal we were rather let down. Perhaps the overall taste of both types of ramen just didn't gel with our tastes & preferences. Add in the upwards-of-45-minute queue times and we have to say that it isn't worth the wait at all. Non-halal.

Our Ramen Rankings:
Superb!: Ippudo & Santouka
Delicious!: Nantsuttei, Tampopo & Keisuke Tonkotsu King
Solid: Shin-Sapporo, Keisuke, Gantetsu, Gensuke, Riki, Ikkousha & Bario
Below Average: Marutama, Menya Musashi & Menya Iroha

Juice Exploration ::: Kiwi + Orange Juice

With the success of our adventure with Kiwi & Fuju Apple Juice. We wonder how about replacing the Fuji Apple with Orange! The result was good.



Proportions to make it taste good!
1 part Kiwi
1 part Fuji Apple

Kiwi skin may add a slightly bitter taste to the juice, however, it's your choice to keep the skin intact or removed it. Peel & slice the orange up and then juice them in your juicer. I love to chill my fruits so I do not need to add ice which will dilute the juice when it melt.


Kiwi
Health Benefit of Kiwi Juice
Vitamin C
Vitamin A
Vitamin E
Promote health and longevity
Rich in minerals
Protective phytochemicals
Phosphorus
Magnesium
Potassium
Copper.
Reduces high blood pressure
Regulates heart beat
Boosts our immune system
Helps with iron absorption
Prevention of anaemia
Valuable antioxidants that protect cells from free-radical damage
Improves eyesight.
Supports energy metabolism and nerve function
Folate, or folic acid, plays an essential role in making new body cells **hint** it's essential for women planning pregnancy and during pregnancy.
Aids our fluid balance.
Keep the liver, skin, joints, and muscles healthy.
Respiratory tract health.

When is the best time to cut kiwi in general?
Select kiwifruits by holding them between your thumb and forefinger and gently apply pressure. Ripe Kiwi that have the sweetest taste will feel a little soft. If kiwi fruits is not a little soft when you gently apply pressure with your thumb and forefinger, they have reached the peak of their sweetness and are not yet ready to be consumed.

How to store kiwis?
For storage or more gradual ripening, keep either ripe or unripe kiwis in the refrigerator for no longer than 1-2 weeks. It can be left to ripen for a few days to a week at room temperature, away from exposure to sunlight and heat. For speedy ripening process, placing the kiwi fruits in a paper bag with an apple, banana or pear it will help.

Next let's learn a little about Fuji apples. It's the most loved apple, which everyone would actually have it and go with the saying 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'.


Orange
Health Benefit of Orange Juice
Vitamin B
Vitamin C
Vitamin P
Antioxidants
Boosting the immune system
Calcium
Magnesium
Phosphorous
Potassium
balanced metabolism
excellent blood pressure
lower bad cholesterol levels
bring some relief to those who suffer from arthritis pains
can be used as a part of weight loss program
Prevent Kidney Stones
Prevent Ulcers and Reduce Risk for Stomach Cancer
Protect Respiratory Health
Protect Against Rheumatoid Arthritis
help with lung and skin disorders
helps with indigestion, constipation and all digestive problems
good cleanser of the internal system
calms the nervous system
making it effective in treating nervousness, anxiety and insomnia

How to choose oranges in general?
Choose the ones that has smoothly textured skin and are firm and heavy for their size. It will have a higher juice content, than those that are either spongy or lighter in weight.

How to store oranges?
- At room temperature or in the refrigerator. It generally can last two weeks with either method and retain nearly the same level of their vitamin content. The best way to store oranges is loose to avoid it being exposed to moisture, as they can easily develop mold.
- Orange juice and zest can be stored for later use. Freeze the freshly squeezed orange juice then store them in plastic bags in the freezer. Orange zest that are dried should be stored in a cool, dry place and a must too in an airtight glass container.

Note to take
- Rinse your mouth with water after drinking orange juice as the acidic can weaken our tooth enamel.
- It is recommended to eat a slice of tomato or cucumber after drinking acidic juices.



Click here for our blog page Desserts, & Drink for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Juice Exploration ::: Kiwi + Fuji Apple Juice

Warning to our readers, do not try to drink kiwi juice alone. It's undrinkable from both of our experience as we tried. So, here is one of the delicious recipe we tried since my mom gave us 1 dozen of kiwis. This recipe also works for people who hate kiwis *hint dear.



Proportions to make it taste good!
1 part Kiwi
1 part Fuji Apple

Kiwi skin may add a slightly bitter taste to the juice, however, it's your choice to keep the skin intact or removed it. Slice the apple up and then juice them in your juicer. I love to chill my fruits so I do not need to add ice which will dilute the juice when it melt.

Let's learn a little about kiwis.


Kiwi
Health Benefit of Kiwi Juice
Vitamin C
Vitamin A
Vitamin E
Promote health and longevity
Rich in minerals
Protective phytochemicals
Phosphorus
Magnesium
Potassium
Copper.
Reduces high blood pressure
Regulates heart beat
Boosts our immune system
Helps with iron absorption
Prevention of anaemia
Valuable antioxidants that protect cells from free-radical damage
Improves eyesight.
Supports energy metabolism and nerve function
Folate, or folic acid, plays an essential role in making new body cells **hint** it's essential for women planning pregnancy and during pregnancy.
Aids our fluid balance.
Keep the liver, skin, joints, and muscles healthy.
Respiratory tract health.

When is the best time to cut kiwi in general?
Select kiwifruits by holding them between your thumb and forefinger and gently apply pressure. Ripe Kiwi that have the sweetest taste will feel a little soft. If kiwi fruits is not a little soft when you gently apply pressure with your thumb and forefinger, they have reached the peak of their sweetness and are not yet ready to be consumed.

How to store kiwis?
- For storage or more gradual ripening, keep either ripe or unripe apple in the refrigerator for no longer than 1-2 weeks. It can be left to ripen for a few days to a week at room temperature, away from exposure to sunlight and heat. For speedy ripening process, placing the apple fruits in a paper bag with an apple, banana or pear it will help.
- Next let's learn a little about Fuji apples. It's the most loved apple, which everyone would actually have it and go with the saying 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'.


Fuji Apple
Health Benefit of Fuji Apple Juice
Vitamin C
Fibre
Phloridzin
Quercetin
Pectin
Antioxidants
Bioflavonoids
Prevent heart disease
Prevent cancer
Weight management
Bone Health
Helps prevent Asthma
Helps prevent the development of cancer
Helps lower the bad cholesterol
Helps manage diabetes
Keep your heart healthy
Calm hunger pangs more thoroughly

How to choose Fuji Apple in general?
A good-quality Fuji apple will be firm with smooth and clean skin. The Fuji apple should feel solid and heavy instead of not soft and light. Avoid choosing Fuji Apple that are soft, have dark spots, apple skin that are wrinkles. A good Fuji Apple is usually green or yellowish green, with red highlights or pinkish. In my opinion the larger ones at times could be less flavourful as the medium-sized ones.

How to store Fuji Apple?
Store, keep apples as cold as possible in the refrigerator.

Read more here : Apples - Health Benefits of Apples74
Read more here : FUJI APPLE HEALTH BENEFITS

Cooking Exploration ::: Awesome Home-Cooked Pistachio-Crusted Lamb Rack - Easy & Super Delicious!

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to serve this lamb rack. It's delicious, your guests will be impressed, and it's actually really easy!


For those of us casual home cooks, I think what bums us a lot is pulling off a random recipe on the web, following the instructions to a Tee, and then realizing that the result is rubbish. No worries with this recipe we're about to give you, though! It's satisfaction guaranteed, or ... uh, or you're welcome to leave a nasty comment which we promise we won't delete :)

So anyways, we start off with a lamb rack. Actually scratch that - we start off by pre-heating the oven to 205degrees C, then we turn our attentions to the lamb rack! I'm not sure how much this particular rack weighs, but it seems very much like a standard-sized, 8-rib rack.


Next, what you want to do is to grab a knife and trim off most of the fat around the bones. While a bit of fat in any meat is good, you don't want to have too much of it. Don't worry about being neat at this stage either.


Before we brown the meat we're going to season it liberally with salt and pepper, and a little Italian Herb mix. If you're just starting out in your cooking exploration, here's a small secret: When a cook says "a pinch of salt," the amount he/she has in mind is about two or three times more than what you're thinking - so don't worry about adding a little more salt and pepper.


Heat some olive oil or vegetable oil in a pan, let it get hot, and then sear the rack for about a minute or so - to get a nice firm cooked "crust" on the outside. Not to lock in the juices, though - there's plenty of articles on the web that claim "searing meat locks in all the juices" is actually false ...


Once the sear is done, we can move on to mixing up the wonderful pistachio crust. We need just 4 ingredients - chopped roasted pistachios (don't chop them too fine) and breadcrumbs (we used Japanese breadcrumbs) in about a 2:1 ratio, and 2 tablespoons of melted butter & extra virgin olive oil to hold everything together.

The pistachio-breadcrumb mix won't stick to the lamb rack on its' own, though, so you'll have to "stick" it on using Mustard - we used a Fine Wholegrain Mustard, but if you want a stronger flavour you could also use Dijon Mustard. Just spread the mustard all over the meat like you would spread icing on a cake, and it'll hold the pistachio-breadcrumb crust during the cooking process.


Your oven should be thoroughly pre-heated by now, so pop the rack right in. If you've got a meat thermometer, you're looking at about 65deg C internal temperature for medium rare; if you don't have a meat thermometer unfortunately you're going to have to wing it. 20-21 minutes should be just about right for Medium Rare.


When time's up let your lamb rack rest on a chopping board for a couple of minutes to let the juices settle ...


... and then carve! 4 ribs should feed a person of average appetite.


We served our lamb rack with some goose fat potatoes and some salad.


Result: Awesome!!. The lamb turned out a pink medium-rare; and contrasted wonderfully with the tanginess of the mustard and nutty crunch from the pistachios & breadcrumbs. The beauty of this recipe is that, as you've seen above, it is really quite straightforward and easy to prepare - but your guests will think you slaved away at it all afternoon!

So go ahead and give it a try, and leave us a comment to tell us how it went!

Buffet Lunch at Open House, Grand Park Orchard.

I've noticed that I don't go to hotel restaurants that often. I think it's because a hotel restaurant isn't one that you would go to by accident. What I mean is that you can be walking around in a shopping mall, come across a nice looking place and think "ooh, let's have lunch here." But you wouldn't walk past a hotel and think the same ... would you? Anyways, my colleague Ben very kindly lent me his Park Gold card, which gives 20% discount off F&B at any of the Park Group hotels in Singapore - which is how we ended up seated in the Open House restaurant over at Grand Park Orchard for their buffet lunch.

Instead of a huge buffet line, most of the food at Open House is cooked a la minute, courtesy of 5 food cooking counters. Place your order with the chef manning the particular station and he'll deliver the food right to your table after cooking it. Starting off with the roast meats station, with a selection of roasted char siu, siew yuk, roasted duck and roasted chicken. We thought that the meats were solid but not spectacular; the siew yuk for example was too lean for our tastes. And the skin wasn't crispy enough.


Moving on to the dim sum station where we place an order for some siew mai, har gao, wo dip and fried carrot cake. If you're wondering why carrot cake is called carrot cake (when the main ingredient is actually radish) - it's because the chinese word for radish is "white carrot."




The noodles station serves up taster-sized portions of laksa, prawn mee and wantan mee. We were quite disappointed by the prawn mee and wantan mee as it came out rather bland and tasteless.


It probably seems odd to have a Pizza station seeing as the rest of the food is generally Chinese; but upon closer inspection we spot a Singapore Chili Crab pizza on the menu. And promptly order it, which was also a disappointment as it took ages to arrive and tasted rather bad. There was way to little Chili Crab sauce, so it ended up being dry and tasting almost like a sauceless pizza.


The last of the cooking stations was for claypot rice & soup - at which we ordered waxed meats rice - which was pretty nice - and peanut soup. Soups don't taste good unless they're simmered / boiled for a decent amount of time to extract out all the flavours of the ingredients, and this soup very obviously wasn't simmered long enough.


The buffet also serves up salads/cold meats and desserts in your standard/typical buffet line style. We didn't think the salads or meats were anything special; but the desserts were quite nice - above average for buffet standards!



At SGD33.00 per person for the buffet lunch, we feel that the price we paid was "OK" on the value for money scale. There is perhaps less variety of dishes compared to a traditional buffet; which Open House tries to compensate for by cooking most of their food to order. Theoretically this should mean better taste; but there are some misses among the hits.

Open House Restaurant is in Grand Park Orchard - sort of "opposite" the junction from Takashimaya (along Orchard Road) and "behind" the Abercrombie & Fitch shop. Non-halal.