Japanese donburi sets for only S$12 nett? Yes, you got that right!

Katanashi is a Japanese tapas bar along Boat Quay that offers reasonably priced set lunch meals on weekdays, catering mostly to working professionals whose offices are nearby.

For those who are not familiar with the area, Katanashi is a less-than-ten-minutes walking distance from Raffles Place MRT station. We are giving the Japanese bar bonus points for easy accessibility, but is their food really value-for-money? 

While Katanashi has an alfresco area, we would recommend going indoors to escape the scorching heat. Those who are dining alone can also choose to sit by the bar as you watch the chefs prepare your food right before you.

We first tried the Unatama-Don (S$12) which came in a lovely presentation.

The plump unagi glistened from the teriyaki sauce drizzled over it and went extremely well with savoury egg omelette and warm Japanese rice. There is also the usual seaweed flakes which adds extra texture in your donburi.

Every set meal comes with pickles, miso soup and cold chawanmushi. Considering the generous portion, having a lunch set meal at Katanashi is definitely a bargain!

Next up, we decided to go for that day’s Special Don—which happened to be Spicy Tuna Sashimi Don. Also at S$12 nett, it came with a huge serving of deep red tuna sashimi slices served atop warm rice and the same side dishes.

While the tuna was fresh and well marinated in spicy sauce, we would enjoy it more if the sashimi was served chilled instead.

Those who are keen to try other options can look forward to Rouleau-Don, Chicken Teritama-Don, Katsu Curry-Don and Maguro Salmon-Don (S$12).

Otherwise, treat yourself to something slightly more luxurious, such as the Hokkaido-Don and Roast Beef-Don (S$15).

Katanashi
77 Boat Quay
Singapore 049865
Tel: +65 6533 0490
Mon to Fri: 11.45am – 2.30pm, 5pm – 11.30pm
Sat: 5pm – 11.30pm
Nearest Station: Raffles Place

Julee is a staff writer for ladyironchef. She is an advocate of travel and hopes to visit Iceland someday. She enjoys having a good conversation over tea and a slice of cake. There are two things in the world she cannot live without—food and humour.

Neko no Niwa, Singapore’s first cat cafe, is officially opening today. Located at Boat Quay, the cafe is named Neko no Niwa, which means ‘cat garden’ in Japanese.

For the uninitiated, a pet cafe is a theme cafe where you pay a time-based fee to watch and play with the residing pets while you have your drink and desserts.

When we were in Seoul earlier this year, we discovered many cats and dogs cafes, and it made us wonder why no one thought of opening a similar concept in Singapore, Now there is finally a place for cat lovers to gather. Neko no Niwa has 13 resident cats, and it is charging S$12/pax for the first hour, and S$5/pax for the subsequent 1/2 hour block. Now, we hope someone will open a dog cafe in Singapore next!

Cat Cafe Neko no Niwa
54A Boat Quay, Level 2
Tel: +65 6536 5319
Mon to Fri: 11am – 10pm
Sat & PH: 10am – 10pm
Sun: 2pm – 9pm
Nearest Station: Clarke Quay/Raffles Place

Photo by Furry-Photos. Nicholas specialises in pet photography and he is based in Singapore. For more information, email him at contact@furry-photos.com (Note: this is not the contact for the cafe).

Le Chasseur has been widely raved about in numerous reviews by newspapers, magazines and food blogs. A few of my friends are also huge fans of the food there. They are always talking about this hidden gem of a restaurant that serves good zi char. So when a friend was in town visiting, I decided to bring her there for dinner. And from the first dish, we could not stop singing its praises.

The menu is extensive, and you will find that you want to order everything. Perennial favourites include coffee pork ribs ($16), salted fish eggplant ($8.5), fish bee hoon with bittergourd ($7), pork knuckle ($32) and claypot chicken rice ($11)

We started off with the oyster omelette ($9) and stir-fried kailan ($5.3).

Next, we had butter oatmeal prawns ($6/100g). They were very good, but I was told that their BBQ live prawns ($9.6) are even better. Apparently, you need to make an advance reservation for it as they only sell a limited quantity of it everyday.

Everyone was also won over by the claypot rice ($20 for L/$11 for S) – one of the signature items on the menu. You know it is something special when the girls asked for second helpings of carbs during dinner. Definitely a must-order if you are eating at Le Chasseur.

The herbal chicken ($16), on the other hand, was only decent. It is something that I will order once, but not again.

The pièce de résistance was the pork knuckle ($32). Deep-fried three times to ensure the crispiness, it was blow-my-socks-off good. It came with a special sauce made of cucumber, onion, starfruit, and light soya sauce. While the pork knuckle was good enough on its own, the sauce added a slightly different dimension to it.

All in all, Le Chasseur is an air-conditioned zi char restaurant that serves excellent food at very affordable prices. I will definitely bring my friends back to try the other signature dishes.

Le Chasseur
Blk 27 Eunos Road 2
Tel: +65 6337 7677
Nearest Station: Eunos

It was supposed to be January, but it is almost April soon! Well, like they say, better late than never! Forty-four was the magical number this time, and I’m glad to see many of my regulars, and of course our new friends.

Salt & Pepper Calamari

We started with the simple appetiser, but I was too busy running from table to table that the calamari turned cold by the time I returned!

Chicken & Cheese Quesadillas

Dallas signature Quesadillas was one of the dish which I remembered from my previous visit. Tasting almost like a Mexican taco, there was chicken bits soaked with tomato in chicken broth.

Shredded Pork Tacos

Baby Back Pork ribs

There was some confusion when the ribs were served. The three different flavours of Fiery, Alabama & Smoked Hickory BBQ were too alike! Because we did everything in tasting portions, the pork ribs had to be cut and served this way, otherwise we were be there until four.

Dallas Wings

There was some feedback that the wings were too dry and lacked marination.

Tempura Barramundi

Corn & crab fritters

Beef Fajitas with Guacamole & sour cream

Breaded mushrooms

The “twin” brother which looked almost identical to the Corn & Crab Fritters.

***

A total number of 44 people turned up for this LIC food outing, thank you everyone! Like I’ve mentioned, there will be no date announced yet for the next lic food outing, I will try to organise it soon, so see you next time! I’ll also like to thank Jason, the owner for Dallas for hosting us.

I will be adding the group photos to my Facebook page later. Do add me there to see the photos!

Read about my previous visit to Dallas here.
And Catherine @ Camemberu
Julia @ AromaCookery
Fen @ Sgdessert
Keropok man @ Singapuradailymakanphoto

Dallas Restaurant & Bar
31 Boat Quay
Boat Quay Conservation area
Tel: 6532 2131
Website: http://www.dallas.sg/

Featured in

icon-23
icon-22