of mojitos and other madness: itadakimas!

with an entire floor dedicated to japanese food at the newly opened parco millenia, naming it itadakimas truly is quite apt. g and i have been there twice already and this girl is proud to have checked out two of the seven outlets at the floor. there are actually two ramen joints at parco but nantsuttei packed quite a queue so being truly singaporean, we decided to see what the fuss was all about.

touted to serve up tonkotsu soup ramen derived from the kyushu area, their claim to fame is their special and unique ma-oil ingredient which is a blend of seven types of deep-fried garlic with sesame oil. i do have to admit that the additional oil layer floating in the bowl was slightly disturbing but when mixed together with the al dente noodles, tender char siu and additional dash of freshly grated garlic, this kyushu take on the classic pork bone soup turned out pretty satisfying. the gyoza though was a bit of a let down so i would recommend just sticking to the bowls of ramen (ramen eating lecture included in the menu too i must add!), and of course saying yes to the offer for fresh garlic topping!

nantsuttei singapore

p03-06 millenia walk

(65) 6337 7166

located two doors down from nantsuttei is the all familiar ma maison. i actually found out they were opening this third joint after seeing ads at their central outlet and was stoked to have one more venue to head too that hopefully wouldn't be quite as jam packed as their other two outlets!

the menu seemed a little different from that at bugis and central...the main stays of the hamburg steak, gratins and garlic escorgots were of course still there, but both g and i didn't remember scallop carparccios nor mentaiko pasta from before so ordering was quite a no-brainer. the carparccio was refreshing with fresh scallops topped with a slight tangy sesame infused dressing (i love jap dressings!) and my mentaiko pasta definitely hit the spot. the serving was huge with a generous portion of prawns and sotong all tossed in yummy mentaiko. the hamburg steak with brown sauce is always a winner, with almost every table that evening spotting a plate of this western inspired dish...so g too was happy.

ma maison continues to be one of my favorite places to go to whenever i am in the mood for something japanese yet not quite looking for the classic sashimi type meal. i really hope this parco outlet remains under the radar a little while longer as i personally am not a huge fan of queuing, plus they don't take reservations (i think!)...so some planning will be required i think the next time i head to ma maison but queue or not, the meal will definitely satisfy!