Ichiban Boshi Suntec City

In the land of "tze chars" and hawker food, when I meet someone who loves Japanese food, I feel an instant affinity with he or she. Mia and I are considered almost-strangers. This was my first meet-up with her since the flogger dinner and I had an amazing time. I'm always nervous about meeting up with 'new people'.. worried the lack of common topics, the judgements made and sealed when the wrong comment slips and worst of all, the evident lack of interest in whatever topic is brought up by either partner. Can you imagine having to stare at your dimishing dinner plate for more than an hour?

Ok, I admit.

I'm worse than a creature of habit. I'm a creature of questionable habits on a well-trodden routine. More predictable than a Korean drama, my meals revolve around cranberry muffins, Cedele, Ichiban, cranberry muffins, Cedele, Ichiban. This week alone, I have lost count of the number of times I have had muffins (BY THE WAY, O Brien's mufins are desparately in need of a good bake-up.. but we'll save that for another day). I guess a lot of this has to do with convenience because these eateries are just a ten minute walk away from my office. I'm really just making excuses for myself.

Less than twenty-four hours after my last visit to Ichiban Boshi at Wisma Atria, I had lunch with Mia at you-know-where. Out of all the the Ichiban Boshi outlets, the Suntec outlet is my favourite. Well-lit, clean-cut and spacious, I like my Japanese resutarants clinical-looking. The menu, I believe, differs from branch to branch so you wouldn't run the risk of having to order the same thing over and over and ov- again.

I ordered the all-encomposing Business Gozen set: sashimi, grilled mackerel, tempura assortment, chawanmushi, watermelon slices and miso soup. This best exemplifies my credo: "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" as the individual food potions are just enough to satisfy your craving but not overwhelm your appetite.



The grilled mackerel, chewy and succulent, was thumbs-up. It had a slight distinct mackerel smell that will please enthusiasts (myself included). A squeeze of fresh lemon would have easily masked the smell but wouldn't it be funny if you ate mackeral without the smell? It would be like having beef that tasted like chicken. MIA! When I googled 'japanese grilled mackeral,' your blog actually registered first! Haha..



The tempura assortment consisted of a prawn, okra and a slice of eggplant. Unlike sweet sauce the other night, this time round I had tentsuyu sauce for dipping purposes.

Sashimi slices weren't the thickest you could find but they were fresh and mysteriously glossy. Chawanmushi was customarily smooth and didn't suffer from the blandness experienced two nights ago.



Mia had the Salmon Kaminabe (10.90). I was actually intrigued by the vintage teapot, which was used to dispense the soup. How unnecessarily frivolous but pretty!

Happy Me.
Saturday afternoon and I am home watching The Nanny (Season 1) re-runs. Her signature "Mr Sheffield", outrageous leopard-print skirt suits, shoulder pads and a laughter that sounds like a self-inflicted wound.

"... Well, the more the merrier. Except for chins! [Haw-haw-haw] My aunt had more 'chins' than a Chinese phonebook... [Haw-haw-haw] "

Arh, she's awfully good.

Have I mentioned how much I love Japanese food? Haha. Alright, I will be the first one to admit I do need to explore more options.

Lunch at Sun Japanese Dining next?