BOTEJYU OKONOMIYAKI

Finally the much anticipated Botejyu from Osaka has opened in Liang Court Shopping Mall level 2. I understand that the restaurant is managed by Bachmann Japanese Restaurant Pte Ltd, which also runs Ajisen Ramen chain of restaurants. As I love Osaka's specialities like okonomiyaki and takoyaki, I just had to give Botejyu a shot.

I ordered the pork okonomiyaki and pork yaki-soba. As I was at the restaurant during off-peak hours, both dishes arrived within 15 minutes. I heard that during peak hours, customers have to wait at least 30 minutes for an okonomiyaki. Bottles of bonito flakes, aonori (seaweed flakes) and chilli powder were available on every table.

The pork okonomiyaki tasted rather average, nothing to shout about. Somehow I did not enjoy the flour and chopped cabbage batter combination. The combination of okonomiyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise was good though. Well, nothing beats the original from Osaka. The pork yaki-soba was not bad. The soba was well-fried with yaki-soba sauce. Aromatic and tasty, not too soggy. It went well with the sliced pork and cabbage.

• Food & Beverage 6.5/10 • Ambience 6.5/10 • Service 7/10

A GIFT FROM OSAKA

I had a wonderful surprise lately when I received a parcel from my Japanese friend, Akiko. Recently she and her family went to the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum in Ikeda, Osaka. She wanted to share with me her experience at the museum by sending me the museum flyer, packets of instant noodles and a souvenir cup noodle. So nice of her!

The museum has an instant ramen workshop "My Cup Noodle Factory", which allows visitors to make their very own "fresh" instant noodles. Akiko and her mum wanted me to try their choice of instant noodles – chicken ramen in a cup. They also did some beautiful paintings on the cup, using words like "love" and "peace". The cup noodle was wrapped in a clear plastic "balloon" pack with red cotton string. What a nice souvenir item!

As for the packets of instant noodles (bought from the museum), Akiko sent me Chicken Ramen, Shio (salt-based) Ramen and Miso Ramen. I just can't wait to cook them and get to know their taste. Now I know where I should visit when I go to Osaka again.

I am thinking what should I send to Akiko from Singapore next time...

CUPCAKES @ PAISLEY & CREAM

Delicious and creative food always interest me. And I have heard that Paisley & Cream serves a wide variety of cupcakes that are beautiful to see and yummy to eat. The cafe is located at The Central #01-09/10. From the glass showcase, I could see cupcakes flavours divided into 4 kinds – Nutty (pistachio, hazelnut, peanut butter, almond, etc), Fruity (strawberry, lemon, mango, carrot, etc), Chocolate (kit kat, toblerone, espresso+chocolate, snickers, etc) and Speciality (rum & raisin, baileys & hazelnut, kahlua & coffee, etc).

I ordered 2 cupcakes and a cup of coffee. One cupcake was the double chocolate. The chocolate cupcake was filled and frosted with chocolate buttercream, topped with edible tiny silver ball bearings and a tiny heart-shaped red biscuit. Beautiful! The cupcake had a slightly bitter taste and was not too sweet. Very delicious when eaten with the cream mousse.

The other cupcake I ordered was vanilla. The vanilla cupcake was filled and frosted with vanilla buttercream, topped with edible tiny silver ball bearings and a tiny flower biscuit. Visually stunning! Frankly I couldn't bear to eat it. The cupcake was not too sweet and very yummy when eaten with the cream mousse.

• Food & Beverage 8/10 • Ambience 7.5/10 • Service 7/10