Good Lunch Deals (Part I)

Work has been crazy lately and I haven’t had much time to blog. When I get home, I gobble down dinner and vegetate in front of the TV. So much for a meaningful existence.

I dare not commit to weekday after-work plans now. Most recently on Valentine’s Day, I had a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner slice of raisin bread. B was sweet enough to pick me up post-drinks-with-his-pseudo-single mates but no, Valentine’s supper did not materialize.

Why didn’t anyone warn me about working for an American MNC?!!

No matter. This is a post about nice lunches. Given I can’t do many weekday dinners, I seek solace in my afternoon foodie fix now. These are two recent set lunch gems I found.

1. Kurosan Ginza (30 Robertson Quay, #01-10/11 Riverside View)

This is one mean Chiraishi set with salad, soup and dessert. All for $20++! On our first visit, we already preempted withdrawal syndrome and made reservations to return the next week.

Thank goodness Robertson Quay is a bit out of the work hood for most people, else I might not (for ehem selfish reasons) share this here. Not only is the bowl generously piled high with quality cuts of fish, the chocolate dessert here is absolutely delish too. Some sort of chocolate pudding - the milk/cream and chocolate combi is so yummy! Service here, in true Japanese fashion, rocks.

2. Sandaime Bunji (9 Raffles Boulevard, #01-14/15 Millenia Walk)

Talking about stretching that dollar, did you think that $9++ would get you this (see below) set? The restaurant does daily lunch set specials and the day we went it had:

Teriyaki chicken, salad, cold tofu, chawamushi, big bowl of mixed oden, rice, oxtail soup and dessert

Who would have thought that (such a quite) posh-looking restaurant like this would have such a good lunch deal?! W00t!

“Can you please not blog about this place?” B pleaded. Haha. Sorry love, I have a duty to my readers here. To give B credit, he had “discovered” this sweet deal a few weeks ago and was completely bowled over by the Gyutan (beef tongue – the restaurant’s signature) lunch set.

Watch this space. I am so going to look for more fantastic value lunch deals - I know they're out there!

Kumo

I’m flying to Tokyo with the new boss for work next week but we decided on Jap for my welcome lunch anyway. Kumo is a (year + old?) Japanese restaurant at Icon Village, Tanjong Pagar which looks interesting but unfortunately also intimidating (read: atas and expensive) from the outside.

But like I said, this was a welcome lunch and on corporate account so….

I had the $38++ set and it comprised a few courses:

First, we had a simple salad. Second up was the sashimi course. Hmm. Yes, fresh indeed. But serving was a bit small – such a tease, I was left wanting more.

Luckily, the bento set more than made up for the petite appetizer portions. From left upper corner clockwise, there was the goat cheese salad, the prawn and vege tempura, two pieces of grilled saba fish and a small hill of beef sukiyaki (dried stir-fried, not soup). These came with rice and soup too.

We were stuffed but the sorbet dessert was very refreshing so we polished that off anyway.

Overall, a good meal. I can’t complain, since this was a treat. But objectively, Kumo’s set lunch was Tatsuya/Aoki pricing and the experience just fell short. The restaurant was packed with similar “business lunch” types though so I’m guessing it’s good if you have an expense account.

I doubt this will be a regular lunch joint for me. If the Jap craving hits, I’d walk (and mind you it’s a long walk now that I’m at Chartis Building) all the way to Botan for my chiraishi fix.

Au Petit Salut

There are many great value-for-money set lunches in town and I am on a mission to check out all of them. The problem is that I work in Shenton Way and the furthest I'd stretch lunchtime is two hours (boss, are you reading this?). Lunch beyond the radius of Tanjong Pagar/Raffles Place/ City Hall will be a tad rushed on weekdays.

Restaurants that offer their weekday lunch deals even on Saturdays are a godsend , and Au Petit Salut is a gem. The 3 course set lunch at $30++ is really a great deal. Comes with coffee or tea too.




My choices for the set was a salad as appetizer, braised beef cheeks as the main, and for dessert, the chocolate choux bun with vanilla ice cream. Well-researched choices, if I dare say so myself.



Good quality ingredients, delightful taste and generous servings. I liked the relaxed ambience of the restaurant. An ideal venue for a leisurely lunch on a Saturday afternoon.