Shimbashi Soba at Paragon

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I am facing some issues posting the pictures. Will try to post the photos asap.

PRICE: About $18 for a set lunch

TASTE: Yummy

SERVICE: Attentive

I absolutely love this place. It is among my long-time favourites. If I choose to go broke at any restaurant, it'd probably be Shimbashi Soba. The zaru soba is just irresistable. I ordered the set lunch which included rice with vegetables and mushroom, zaru soba and salad. My sister also ordered a set lunch but hers was rice with tofu and egg, zaru soba and salad. Both of us ordered Mugi Cha for drinks.

When our lunches were served, it seemed to be a lot for two girls to finish. But once we got started on the food, nothing could stop us and we chomped our way through the entire meal. And, for the record, my elfin sis even cleaned up every single bit of rice and every single strand of soba. The rice was fragrant with the smell of japanese soya sauce and the mushrooms were fresh with their all-natural MSG. The mushrooms were cooked thoroughly but still maintained their crunchy texture, not like some places where the mushrooms are so overcooked.

What more can I say about the zaru soba? The soba master has a certificate of accreditation from the Japanese government! The soba is freshly produced in the restaurant from buckwheat from Tasmania. Each strand is smooth and absorbs the soya-based dipping sauce (Tsuyu) very well. The sauce was so light in taste that it perfectly complemented the zaru soba without overwhelming the original taste of the buckwheat.

Even though we had so much to eat, we weren't feeling particularly glutted. We felt that we had a good amount of food. My guess is that our meals were generally healthy and not at all greasy. That's why we weren't feeling glutted. Furthermore, we had the iced Mugi Cha to quell any form of greasiness. Mugi Cha is roasted barley tea. One can really smell and taste the roast.

Food for Thought at North Bridge Centre

Price: $5plus for a slice of cake

Food: Would love to visit again =)

The entrance of the cafe has a lovely display window beside it and it seemed all so English and pretty. Besides, the cafe's lovely name just beckoned to me. It made me curious as to what sort of an establishment it is. Consequently, I found out that this cafe is a social enterprise, one that believes in giving back to society. It neither charges GST nor service charge. Thus, when my dad went to give tips in a jar, he realised that it wasn't really tips, it was a well-building fund so that other people can have clean water someday also. The cafe undertakes other social projects as well. A well-conceived idea indeed.



My dad and I ordered Aunty Sandra's Chocolate Malteser cake, a cafe latte and a hot chocolate. The cake was rich, moist and fresh. The bananas generously used in the cake was the taste of sweet freshness. I am not a big fan of banana cakes because they usually use banana essence and very little bananas. But, this cake was very different, the rich taste of the chocolate was made less cloying by the use of fresh slices of bananas. I think I could easily gobble up a few slices of it without getting sick of it. Well, provided my belt doesn't tighten too much, haha...



The hot chocolate was a tad too sweet and the chocolate was nothing fantastic, I have a lurking suspicion that they use Cadbury cocoa powder. Nonetheless, hot chocolate is still one of my favourite beverages for the warm fuzzy feeling it gives to the drinker.