SUN with MOON, and a pale reflection of
The Reflection
It was perhaps unfortunate that we chanced upon Ministry Of Food / My Izakaya on their first day of operation, while hunting around for an afternoon snack in the newly, snazzily redone Marina Square yesterday. Their menu offered Japanese cafe-restaurant type food and desserts, so J and I decided to give it a try.
First problem - no baby chair. As this was their first day of operation, the waiter explained, they had forgotten to buy baby chairs. No worries, we said, we'll just carry the baby. And so we proceeded to order our food.
"I'll have the Shiratama Kurizen, please."
"That's a dessert, sir."
"Yes, that's fine." (Yes, I can read your menu perfectly well thankyouverymuch.)
J ordered a Tofu Avocado Salad ($6.80).
Our food took some time to come. J noted that the kitchen staff (the place had one of those long peek-into-the-kitchen service counters) seemed to be having trouble with a bento box that had been sitting on the counter since we arrived. Uh-oh. "Five minutes," J said to me, after we had waited for a bit. "In five minutes, if the food doesn't come, we're out of here."
My Shiratama Kurizen ($6.50) arrived shortly after, a cold combination of white rice-flour dumpling balls in a bowl of red bean, topped with soft-serve ice cream, like the kind you get at McD's. Exactly like that kind, in fact. Ummmm. As I dug into the dessert, a few things came to mind - the red bean was too sweet, the shiratama balls weren't very good, and the odd combination of sweet red bean and slightly-salty(!?) soft-serve left something to be desired.
J had this to say about her salad: "If I can tell you what they used to make the dressing, then I can make this at home. And if I can make the same thing at home..." Wasabi and mayo. Uh-oh again.
We decided to pay up quickly and leave, so we called for the bill.
"What cards do you take?"
"Which do you have?"
"Do you take Amex?" I ask, fishing out my card.
"Mastercard, sir."
I flip my wallet open again.
The waiter's hand glides down, hovers close over my open wallet and points to a card inside. "Maybe this one, I think."
Shell shock!
I signed the unevenly-torn charge chit haphazardly, still a little stunned at what had just transpired. J was busy feeding Ethan, so we had to stay put for a while.
The same waiter then came over with a tray and asked, "Can I clear your glasses?"
Not "May I top up your water?" as I was expecting.
Thanks for the unasked-for 15% discount, but I don't think I'll be going back to MOF.
SUN with MOON - The Real Deal
To make up for yesterday's fiasco at MOF, we decided to have lunch today at SUN with MOON Japanese Dining & Café.
J and I have been fans of Japanese cafe-style afternoon snacks, especially after sampling Tokyo's delightful confectioneries during a trip some years back. We've regularly taken advantage of Shimbashi Soba's (at Paragon, B1) special $5 afternoon dessert + coffee/tea offer, often indulging in their cream anmitsu that's normally worth $8+ during regular meal hours.
A couple of weeks ago, we walked into SUN with MOON at Wheelock Place for tea.. and were hooked. We were seated next to the window, watching traffic navigate the Orchard Boulevard and Scotts Road junction on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Ambience and service was great, and the Marron (Japanese chestnut) and Chocolate parfait I had then was definitely up to par.
Today, there was a 20-minute queue for lunch. J left her name and cellphone number with the reservations counter and we went off shopping until they called us. No physical queueing necessary.
Seating at the restaurant is divided into different sections, with distinctive styles in each section ranging from egg-cup chairs to booths to sushi-counter seating. There are a number of cosy tucked-away corners, perfect for chilling out with friends. Unfortunately, today we were seated in the dimly-lit section near the front, not exactly one of my favourites, but with today's crowd I'm not complaining.
I ordered the Komachi Bento set ($25.50), an 8-dish selection served in a basket: crab salad, tamagoyaki, tori karaage, two small sushi rolls, unagi kabayaki, grilled beef roll stuffed with mushrooms, agedashi tofu and a salmon and avocado rice paper roll topped with salmon roe. Accompanied by udon. Matcha ice cream and coffee came later. All good!
J had the Shogayaki & Tomato Salad set ($13.80), which turned out to be grilled pork slices in ginger sauce, with tomato salad, miso soup, rice and pickles. And a cup of tea after. I sampled a piece of the pork, not bad at all.
The food came quickly after ordering, as usual. It surprised me greatly on our first visit, that the food tasted as good as it did despite having arrived as quickly as it did. It's as if the entire restaurant functions like a well-oiled machine, effective and efficient without compromising on food or service quality. Superb!
And then there was one
Perhaps I'm making a very unfair comparison here. Granted that MOF is still extremely raw, while SwM has been around for some time and already has two outlets in Singapore (first branch is at Chijmes). But hey, these are two establishments with fairly similar offerings. And it's a cruel world out there.
Maybe someday there will be a rematch, but it probably won't be on this blog.
'Cos I'm recommending SUN with MOON to my friends.
SUN with MOON Japanese Dining & Café
501 Orchard Road
Wheelock Place
#03-15/16/17
Singapore 238880
Tel: 6733 6636
posted by varf @ 10:53 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
Did you try the Japanese gelato at Azabu Sabo? Also at Marina Square, had the nice natural fruit taste, not too sweet, with a tinge of the zest, etc found only where natural ingredients are used. We had it takeaway over the weekend, FOUR flavours. heh. Funny thing was a sign saying that their gelato cannot be consumed within the restaurant, apparently because they serve more sophisticated Japanese deserts inside.
Ah. I see you are back.
Back, or at least, annoyed enough to rant about something :)
One thing that I forgot to mention about SUN with MOON is that the quality of their set meals is pretty darned good. Comparable to (or better than) some of the teishoku at certain established Japanese restaurants that I frequent.
SwM is having a one-for-one Sushi (lunch? I forget) offer for the month of July, at $60++, Sat/Sun/Mon only. I'm tempted to try.
Allow me to say a word of fairness. Personally i tried the food at MOF before and return as a happy customers always. They are newly opened for a month plus only and i have been there with my family for as many as 6 times. Yes, they are new, and they tried extremely hard to explain to almost everyone browsing at their entrance that they are new and pleaded for a chance for passer-by to try their food. They apologised for things that werent in place yet which is common for things to go wrong for any new set-up. For a local start-up with minimal financial power, i reckon they have done pretty well and i will continue to support them. Sun & Moon Japanese is a big & well-established set-up by the Suntory Group. While they offered many desserts also, they arent as authentic as MOF. MOF gives generous food/dessert portion which is a lot easier to my pocket to please my children.
I lived in Japan, Tokyo, Osaka & Kyoto before and knew the japanese have different versions to their food and desserts. MOF's desserts is pretty authentic and my Japanese husband enjoyed ordering it, especially the red beans. Maybe you do not know that native Japanese eat extremely sweet red beans, normally from Hokkaido. Any less sweet, it wont be authentic to the native Japanese. It is different culture. Japanese eat Hokkaido red bean with bitter green tea which neutralises the sweetness. Same goes to Ramen, they eat Ramen with beer netralising the saltiness from Ramen. Maybe it didnt suit your taste bud only.
As for the ice cream, I am hooked to MOF's Macha Imo - the little Japanese Sweet Potato with MacDonald's look-alike soft ice-cream. As a regular patron there, i understood that they did not use chemicals in their ice cream as it melts faster than usual ice cream. This is also the reason why i brought my children there so often. At least i knew the kids are having ice cream free from chemicals, artificial colourings & flavourings and also preservatives too. I happened to pass-by when Ministry of Food was merely a few days in operation. And i remember a waitress explained to me their ice cream melts faster but as they were having a loan set ice cream machine due to shipment delay by ice cream machine supplier, she apologised for the half-melted ice cream being overly-soft. Being a discerning ice cream lover myself, i find their ice cream not the best but definitely an healitier option. It is easy to identify. The ice cream doesnt leave an uncomfortable stickiness on the throat after eating. I am trained professionally as a Lab Chemist therefore knew that the kind waitress was telling the truth that MOF indeed did not add in chemicals to prevent their ice cream from melting. For a simple kind gesture to allow customers to eat healthier, i think MOF deserves another try from you. It is unfair to penalise a new start-up on its first day in operation and post on a blog to be accessed by the whole nation.
I tried both the Japanese gelato at Azbusabo & Ministry of Food before and prefered the green tea flavour, sesame flavour gelato at MOF but i like the durian flavour gelato of Azabusabo. However i feel safer to buy from MOF simply because it is apparent that they did not add in aritificial colourings to their gelato resulting in a dull-looking unappetising colour. Last but least, i am really happy to have found MOF as i reckon they serve food with their heart, which is not common in today's mercenery society. And i am referring to both their desserts & main courses after comparing portion, price & food taste of Sun & Moon, Ministry of Food & also Azabusabo.
screw MOF. Screw defensive, anonymous, rambling entries about healthy food too.
Kuriya rocks! We should go there again soon!
Azabu's gelato ice cream belongs to a different boss that's why cannot be consumed inside the restaurant to not mess up the accounts. I worked there part-time while waiting to go into Uni. The mgt sucks! Their Japanese desserts sucks too!!
YK
Comparing Wheelock SWM with itself, i would say that their standard has dropped tremendously since their opening.
Usually have my late dinners there on Saturday night (gf has late church service) and the last 3 encounters was poor. From the staff who pretended not to see us approaching to the short gay-ish waiter who put his both hands on the table when taking orders (he even unbuttoned the top of his shirt like a cheap slut). The beef with ginger seasonal promo dish was served to us cold twice. The list goes on.
After the 3 visit last month, I gave up. Started going to Satsuma (Gallery hotel) since and no real complains so far.
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