Have you heard about the sushi place in Takashimaya with no seating but has a good sushi? If you visited Saigon Center Mall on basement floor, you would probably see people standing eating sushi. And maybe even wonder why would they do that. Does the sushi come from Annam Store there? Nope. I finally found the place (which actually is not hard to find…)
The place called Sushi and Sashimi. Very clear about what they are selling! The shop is not big but it has several cooler storage for the sushi. The variant of sushi and sashimi also very good. They will let you know if they have a fresh fish shipped for the day. They also have promotion on certain items. My favorite is unadon (grilled eel on top of rice). On promotion day, it costs me 99k vnd. and normal price is 129k.
Their sushi is really fresh and yummy, also affordable price. No wonder a Japanese friend was recommended this place to me. They don’t have any seating, so you have to find a place to eat after you pay. Or you can do it like me, take it home 🙂
Have you tried it as well? What do you think of this place? Let me know in comment below.
If you like meat, especially grilled meat, and you are happened to be in Saigon Center Shopping Mall, you should try Gyu-Shige. We tried it out of curiousity when we were there. The place is crowded but we were only need to wait for 5 minutes and they got us a table.
Drink Menu Gyu Shige
I like how they have vast option of beer and other drinks. I was surprised they have Asahi beer as well. But since it was imported, the price is high for a beer! I ordered Sapporo instead.
Beef menu Gyu Shige
Their option of meats are not that many, but it is enough for us. We ordered the usual dish we ate on Japanese or Korean BBQ restaurant. It’s kind of he standard for us to compare the quality of the meat and also the taste. Can you guess which are they? Yes! They are Karubi (Beef Ribs) and Samgyeopsal (Pork Belly). We always ordered this especially on new restaurant that we haven’t tried before.
Salad Gyu Shige
My husband ordered a salad as well, because he didn’t order steamed rice. We never thought that the portion was quite big! And it was also a fresh salad.
Side dish
Compare to Korean BBQ, Japanese BBQ didn’t have many side dish comes with the main course. This plate of vegetables and a plate of kimchi were the only thing for our side dish. We used lettuce a lot, to eat with the meat. Make a wrap and put the red sauce inside. And I must say, this red sauce is the best I’ve tried. It was really yummy. I couldn’t stop eating it.
Karubi Gyu Shige
The karubi was also good quality. It was juicy and no weird ‘beef’ smell. It tasted delicious as well. I like to grill it medium, so it would still juicy. Yum!
Pork Belly Gyu Shige
The other menu was Pork Belly. This was the first time I grilled pork belly by myself. Usually we had the servant to do it, or it came in small pieces. This one is more korean style. So I had to grilled it to half-cook then I cut them with scissors to smaller piece and grilled until well cooked. I LOVE their pork belly. It was not dry and it was marinated really well. Very recommended to order this.
Overall we were happy eating in Gyu Shige. The price also affordable for a restaurant inside a shopping mall, and comparable as well. The only thing that they should improve would be the grill. They let us use the same grill for beef and pork. It should have used different type of grill for different kind of meat. Pork has fat that easily burned on grill, and it also can cause the fire to raised up to the grill if we used the grill for beef.
Thanks for reading. Ciao!
Address : L5-16 Saigon Centre, 65 Le Loi street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
For you who loves Japanese food or just want something different in the city, you should try Manmaru. Their menu is more to the home cooked style. There are sashimi, sushi and rolls as well. And they were delicious. Fresh fish.
They have 2 branches, one at Ly Tu Trong street and the other one at Mac Dinh Chi street. I went to the second one. The design of the restaurant is unique. It gave me the feeling of eating in Japan (with some background Vietnamese voices..). I read on one of the review that if you want quieter place, you should go to second floor.
They put the menu in Japanese on the wall, but they also have normal menu book 😀 If I remember correctly, there was no English translation for the menu. But if you are familiar with Japanese food, that should not be a problem. Or you can always ask the waiters.
Yaki Soba Manmaru
Sashimi Moriawase Manmaru
We ordered sashimi set and yaki soba (fried noodle). They were delicious! We were very happy to eat it. Definitely will go back there. Even my husband said he would invite his staffs to eat there one day because it has different ambience.
Since it passes the time so long already, I combined my 2 last days in Singapore in this post. My 4th day was basically spent in Farrer Park Medical Centre for the check up and meeting my doctor. This hospital is quite new and they have a very good imaging laboratory (for ultrasound, MRI, etc). To reach this hospital, I went to Farrer Park MRT Station, and searched for “Farrer Road Station Rd” exit. I think this one is easier than “Farrer Park Medical Centre” exit. At the exit, go to the left then turn left, and there you will see it already.
I had an appointment with them which was arranged by my doctor. The staff brought me to changing room and asked me to wear the top gown. After that I was ushered to the room. I often do this ultrasound check and they normally done in less than 30 minutes. But this one, it took 1 hour! She really did a thorough check and very detail, didn’t let the time hurried her.
Instruction in Changing Room
After the check, I went to cashier and paid for it. Then I had about 3.5 hours before the appointment with my doctor. I contacted my friend who lives near that area and apparently she was busy with her child. So.. Let’s go to Plaza Singapura! It is very convenient since it is at the same route so I don’t need to change MRT. It is only 2 station away from Farrer Park.
I haven’t had breakfast and this started to bother me. I’ve been to Plaza Singapura before but it was many years ago, so I didn’t familiar with their layout and shops. But.. I found Old Chang Kee! My favorite snack there is the crispy squid head.I’m not a fan of squid head but for this one i love it!
Old Chang Kee
The next plan would be finding place to sit and buy a drink. And I failed on that… Couldn’t find somewhere to sit and enjoy my morning. I was sure there is a place or two to sit, but I just wasn’t familiar with the place. I ended up sitting at the bench outside the plaze lol. Enjoying my squid head and headed back to the building. Wondered where the drink places are!
There are many interesting shop in Plaza Singapura. I don’t remember what I did there but it was suddenly already 12pm and time for lunch. I had lunch with my friend at coco ichibanya. I like japanese curry rice, and they made a good one here. It was hard to find the place though, since I wasn’t familiar with the plaza (again..). Apparently it is located at the junction area, the new plaza Singapura, connected at 3rd floor.
There were many construction area inside the plaza, so I was amazed that I could find my way back to MRT Station on my first attempt xD There were no signboard or anything to lead me to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station. Maybe I could find it because I’m used to play RPG games lol. Finding routes and such. Anyway.. I’m back at the hospital and met my doctor. After a few examination, I’m done for the day. Everything is okay according to her (hooray!).
I had about 4 hours before my dinner appointment. My bag was heavy because I brought my samsung tab. So tempted to go back to hotel and put everything away so I could walk without any burden, but there were many stores at plaza singapura that I haven’t checked it out! So I went there instead. Strolling through daisho with their halloween collection, and bought some for dog costume. Bought a game at game store. Trying out nana’s green tea.
Finally I had a chance to open my samsun gtab and worked on my blog while enjoying this houjicha latte. It was yummy. Their place is very strategic. In the center of the plaza and big cafe as well.
After that, I continued my journey to look around more. There is paper market, where they sell MANY kind of paper for scrap book, cards, etc. They also have stamps, stickers, and other cute stuff to make paper craft. Next to it is Art Friend. There is one in Vietnam as well, but this one in Plaza Singapura is huge!
In the end I didn’t have time to go back to hotel and put my heavy things away. Just went to meeting place directly. My friend wanted me to try Mentai udon in Matcha House. She said it is really delicious. So let’s try!
This is the udon. It’s similar with the one I liked at Marugame Udon before they removed it from the menu. But this one has bacon as well. I mixed all of them together. Yup, calorie bomb! But it was delicious. Need to finish it quick though, or else it won’t taste good when they’re cold.
After dinner, I just remembered that I wanted to buy a battery charger for my camera. I emailed the store already and they gave me the price. With hight hope, I went to Center Point and went straight to camera store. It was closed. I couldn’t believe it. Before 9.00 pm and they already closed! My friend told me it was because of Monday. They normally closed the store early on Monday. Whaaa??
Last day
I had breakfast at Watanabe Coffee (again). This time I ordered banana cinnamon. Ahh.. they were sooo tasty. I normally can’t eat much for breakfast, but this one I can finish it.
Banana Cinnamon Toast @ Watanabe Coffee
There was not much to do during last day. I already tired of walking, especially my back already sore from carrying the backpack all the time. I just visited some stores without buying anything, and just keep walking. And it was time for lunch before I knew it..
Lucky Chicken Rice
My Singaporean friend asked me, why foreigner soo in love with their chicken rice. It’s just chicken and rice. True indeed. I also don’t know why people going crazy about this chicken rice. But one thing I know, I like their hainan rice. I used to hate hainan rice when I was in Indonesia. I still hate it though, but I love Singaporean hainan rice 😀
There you go, all done for my trip. See you next time, Singapore. I’ll be back.
I wasn’t looking forward to this trip, because I have to do a check-up during my stay there. Woke up this morning at 5.15 am, finished packing my stuff and went to airport at 6.30 am. There wasn’t traffic jam and I arrived around 7 am at airport. I didn’t have my luggage with me, because my husband will carry it with him after he’s finished with work. My flight was with tiger air. The queue was not bad, I picked the shortest queue with not many checked-in baggage. But ended up waiting longer because of the trainee at the counter.
After I finished my check-in, I need to go through the first labyrinth. Security check. At least they make line so it was not that bad. It just looked terrible because of too many people at a time in 1 long queue, but the wait was not that long.
Next one is the immigration. Second labyrinth. This one always frustrates me because of the way they are queuing. I saw the line at most right side had a chance to be served by 2 counters. There is a counter for priority passenger, and if no one is there the officer will call the person on the line at most right side. Good chance! I picked that line of course. Just as about 3 persons standing on priority line. . . In the end, it was the same with other line.
I was waiting at gate 16 but they changed it to gate 19. Luckily it is not far, so I didn’t have to walk far 😀 I saw a water (drinking) station before gate 16 and a water dispenser before gate 18. So next time I will bring empty water bottle and get water from there instead of buying. Yes, i’m cheapskate! This time I bought it from a store for USD $2! Or 45k vnd.
The flight was on-time. I arrived at Changi International Airport terminal 2 at 11.55 pm as scheduled. I went directly to arrival, passed the immigration and custom check, and straight to money changer to buy simcard. There are several kiosk that sell simcard, but my favorite is Travellex Money Changer. They have Singtel Hi! Tourist 5 day for SGD15. Great deal. Starhub also have something similar for SGD18. Since I’m only staying in Singapore for 5 days, I bought that Singtel 5-day tourist simcard. There is other packages as well. You can check it at the counter.
I went to the city by train (MRT). Terminal 2 is very convenient as the MRT station is at the same building, so I don’t have to take sky train to other station to get on the train. It was raining when I arrived in Singapore. My friend told me it has been since 6 am. So I decided to look for lunch nearby Orchard area. I chose Food Republic in Wisma Atria.
When you don’t know what to eat, it is better to go for food court to get some ideas. Food Republic in Wisma Atria is one of my favorite. The location and the food variant are good. It is close by from Orchard MRT Station. They have Japan food city too now! As I strolled around Food Republic, I found one food I wanted. It was chicken cutlet noodle!
The place called RedRing Treasures Cutlet Noodles. I was interested in 2 dishes. Chicken cutlet and squid cutlet. I actually like squid better but I need to remember my health.. And squid is trickier to cook. I hate chewy squid. So I picked chicken instead. Paid SGD 5.5. While waiting for my food, I read that their cutlet was marinated for 24 hours before fried. Interesting.
Since I came there alone, I couldn’t asked someone to look for a place to sit for me. So I walked around with a tray, trying to find a place to sit and eat. It was hard on lunch hour, even tho it was already 1 pm still many people eating there. When I finally found a place, I tried the cutlet. It was delicious! The meat is tender and they tasted very good. So they weren’t lying about marinated the cutlet! I like this! The noodle also good. Chinese thin noodles. Recommended to try.
After lunch, I walked to my hotel and stopped by at Shaw Center to see the pet shop there. There is 1 pet shop inside Shaw Center on 4th floor, called Pet Lovers Centre. I didn’t look for something in particular. Just browsing and see if they have a good collar for my friend. She asked me to let her know if I found one for her dog. But there was nothing special about the collar. They are just normal collar without any design. I looked around the shop and didn’t find anything interesting to buy. Found some stuffs that are available in Ho Chi Minh City as well, and their prices are higher here.
I checked in at my hotel and rest for a bit. At 6.20 pm I went to Novena Station and met my friend. We planned to have dinner together. At first, I wanted to try Founder Bakkut Teh. But they are located in Balestier Road, about 20 mins walking from the station. Too far.. Gonna starve before reach the place. We decided to look around in Square 2. My friend has a favorite ramen place there and it had queue when we arrived at the shop. So we were walking around looking for another option, and we found Seoul Yummy.
We sat at the corner table. The table next to us ordered Buddae Jigae, a mixed of meat, vegetable, and noodle in kimchi soup. Very interesting, but also looks spicy… Me and spicy food, never get along 😦 In the end, we ordered something else. My friend ordered a spicy kimchi ramen with chicken and cheese.
Spicy Kimchi Ramen with Chicken and Cheese
I ordered grilled eel bibimbap. I forgot to take a picture of it 😦 For the drink, we ordered roasted barley tea. Overall the food is okay. It is spicy and more to the sweet taste than salty. I don’t mind a little spicy food as long as it’s salty as well. But this restaurant mostly has sweet taste. Even on their side dishes.
Among the appetizer / side, I like the tofu the most since it’s salty xD In total, I spent SGD 22 for foood and drink. Quite expensive and the food was not impressive. Definitely not recommend this place.
After dinner, we walked around inside Square 2. There are not many shops there, but at least have a few interesting shops. The first one we saw was Korean supermarket. They are selling korean product (doh!).
This noodle, according my friend, can be made as seen on korean drama. Cooked it and add chesse then eat with kimchi. She said it is very yummy. I should try it!! But I don’t want to buy the noodle here and carry it over to vietnam… Let’s see if I can find it in Ho Chi Minh City. They have a new korean supermarket in the city.
Next is Japan Store. Many household products and they are cheap as well. Also many Japanese product. So I like this place.
We entered several fashion shops as well, but didn’t buy anything. The products are not good and their price is high. I saw 1 dress, very simple and no brand. Price tag is SGD 83. Good bye!
On ground floor I saw Vincci. This one is a shoe brand from Malaysia if I’m not mistaken. My other friend used to like this so much because it’s comfortable to wear and affordable price. We looked around the small corner of Vincci and didn’t find anything to buy at the moment. But at least this friend of mine found a new place to buy her next shoes 😀
The last shop we stopped by was Miss Empire. This shop has MANY cute accesories. Earrings, bracelets, necklace, bag charm, etc. Their products are from korean. There are some product from Paris, France as well. I found and owl earrings! It’s so cute, couldn’t resist to buy it. The earrings price range are from SGD 15 to SGD 49. They have gold plated ones and silver ones.
They have other branches as well. And each branch has special collection. For example, the branch at Clarke Quay has more collection for party people, and at Orchard Central has style for Japanese people. Interesting… I need to check it out 😀 The shopkeeper asked me to check their website as well. http://www.missempire.com.sg.
That was all for day 1. There was not much to do other than eat and shop 😀 but at least it was a productive one because I tried new things and found new things as well!
Thanks for reading my adventure in Singapore during my 1st day here. See you on next post!
This noodle, according my friend, can be made as seen on korean drama. Cooked it and add chesse then eat with kimchi. She said it is very yummy. I should try it!! But I don’t want to buy the noodle here and carry it over to vietnam… Let’s see if I can find it in Ho Chi Minh City. They have a new korean supermarket in the city.
tastymonial 