Ma Maison: For the Salt Lovers

Originally at Nagoya Japan, this restaurant has travelled all its way here to our very homeland Singapore - with its first branch opened at Bugis Junction, and its second at The Central ©, Clarke Quay.

What immediately sent us both in awe was its old English cottage charm, complete with parquetry flooring, wooden tables and chairs.

The windows are fringed with curtains, and window sills are filled with wine bottles and interesting ornaments like old clocks and some tin boxes. There's even a wooden rack with displays of wine bottles, dainty plates and crockery.

With candles and vintage table lamps, the entire restaurant was set in dim lighting, creating a very homely and romantic feel.


From our (reserved) window seat, we had an excellent view overlooking the Singapore River, which further enhanced our dining experience.

Western dishes with a Japanese twist are served here. To speak of, what is unique about Ma Maison is that they have authentic Japanese servers to wait on you, but of course it takes time for you to really understand their English.

Cha Soba Salad,   S$7.00++,   

A splendid fusion of Japanese and Italian, where the tangy Cha Soba was well mingled among the ham strips, shredded eggs, tomato wedges, cucumber slices, lettuce, kizami nori (shredded seaweed), and a few blobs of Japanese mayonnaise. The thoughtfulness of keeping the salad cold extended to even the plate, to doubly make sure you enjoy the dish chilled.

Tonkatsu Set,   S$19.50++,   

The Tonkatsu Set consisted of a deep fried pork cutlet served on a wire mesh, a bowl of miso soup and rice, Japanese salad, mashed potatoes, pickles, and a single scoop of black sesame ice cream as dessert. The restaurant provided two seasoning to go along with the pork cutlet - high mineral rock salt, and Ma Maison's homemade Tonkatsu sauce. (Both salty!)

This dish had been highly recommended by peers who had tried it, and personally, we find it too fatty and salty for our liking. Portion was big, and with every bite, juice and fats came oozing out from underneath the crispy cutlet skin. Miso soup came with a surprising chockful of bonus ingredients like carrots, onions, chicken cubes, plus some other vegetables (too many to remember!)

Doteni Hamburger,   S$19.80++,   

The Japanese really take pride in their food presentation, and just by the look of it, you can't wait you to get your fork and knife working. Topped with a sunny side up and scattered with small soft pieces of beef tendons, the minced beef hamburger patty made a good attempt. The whole dish was soaked in heavy Doteni (red miso bean) sauce, which turned out to be so salty that the taste stayed stinging on our taste buds.


The delicious but salty mix of everything.


A big brass key would be placed on every customer's table for them to make payment after they're done with their meal.

VERDICT
Notice that we kept emphasizing how salty the food was. Yes. In fact, that was really what we could recall of the food served in Ma Maison. Great ambience, great service, and definitely a great place for salty taste buds.

Ma Maison - The Central
#03-96, The Central ©
6 Eu Tong Sen Street, S(059817)
(+65) 6327 8122
Mon - Sun: 11.30 a.m. - 11 p.m.
http://www.ma-maison.co.jp

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Indulgz Bistro: Where Senzes R Quite Satizfied

After two advertorials done by a famous blogger, we were dying to try out the highly rated food at Indulgz Bistro. But since they were advertorials (meaning the restaurant treated the blogger to their food), it COULD be a biased view. Therefore, we decided to come take a look ourselves.

Surprisingly, the restaurant turned out to be much smaller than what we initially expected. However, the beautifully decorated interior gave us both a very warm and fuzzy feel.

The ambience and music here totally sets the right mood in for a romantic dinner for two, or a peaceful get-together with your friends.

Tomato and Fresh Basil Soup,   S$5++,   

This smooth and sour Tomato Soup sure served as a great kick starter, awakening your taste buds for more food ahead.

Beef Bolognaise Melted Cheese Fries,   S$8.80++,   

Both of us got hooked instantly on our very first mouthful. Beefy homemade Bolognaise matched flawlessly with the pleasingly warm Melted Cheese. The Thick Cut Fries, was soft and fluffy, but never soggy. Oh! How so sinfully delicious!

Prawn and Crabmeat Pasta in Lobster Bisque Sauce,   S$19.90++,   

Nice as it sounded, yet disappointingly, it tasted horrid to the max. The Linguini was dry and hard; thse Lobster Bisque Sauce was as tasteless thickened tap water; and the Prawn and Crabmeat were equally tasteless as well (or perhaps they're too small to be even seasoned/marinated).

Baked Honey Garlic Chicken,   S$19++,   

A decent main course we would say. It was a whole piece of chicken leg, and the thoughtful part was that, the bone was removed. The meat was tenderly baked, just that it wasn't distinguishly Honey Garlic Chicken. Sides like mashed potatoes and boiled carrot sticks were of the norm.

VERDICT
Overall presentation was nifty and attractive, but the food was nothing to shout about, really. And for that kind of average food standard, the menu was considerably overpriced. Anyhow, Indulgz Bistro is still worth a visit if you wish to impress a date. "Ho kua, bo ho jia" - (In hokkien, "Nice to look at, not nice to eat".)

Indulgz Bistro
#01-01, TQL Suites
9 Tan Quee Lan Street, S(188098)
(+65) 6238 7032
Tue - Fri: 11.30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Sat - Sun: 12 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Mon: Closed
http://www.indulgz.com

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