Makisan / M(- a -)ki san - Sushi and Salad with nice presentation and taste

• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: Multiple Location
• Home Page
• Facebook Page
• Instagram Page

Fancy some healthier options after indulging all the junk food you see during your CNY visiting? 

We chance upon Makisan when we were walking past Ang Mo Kio central and decided to give this shop a try. Makisan is a halal certified Design-Your-Own Sushi / Salad restaurant situated alongside with many shop houses. 

The shopfront is neat and clean, and the staffs working in store were systematic - one to take order, one to place the ingredient the customer choose together and one to wrap and cut your sushi into pieces (via a machine), before packing them the into the sushi box. 

You can choose to design your own salad or design your own sushi by filling up the forms available at the entrance of the shop. The guided steps on the order sheet is clear and easy to fill. We’ve decided to try out the DIY sushi during our visit. Other than the Japanese white rice, they have the healthier brown rice option for you to choose on top of your usual nori (seaweed) base, or egg crepe base - for a change!

We waited about 5 minutes before our order is ready. While waiting, we noticed a lot of deliveroo and foodpanda deliverers collecting their orders as well. Our diy sushi came with a cute Tiffany blue box, and it totally looked like we have received an expensive gift ( well, it does look like a watch box to be honest) !

They have two sizes for sushi, one is Mega San and the other, which we ordered, is the “Little San”. The difference between the two as per how it is named, is of course the size of the sushi. 

Our creation as seen above. Everything in it has what we usually order off the sushi bar! Our wrap contains Chicken floss, tamago and crab stick. For the sauce, we have chosen yuzu sesame. We like the slight hint of yuzu in the sesame taste and we thought it went quite well with the overall ingredients we have chosen. It has a refreshing taste and yet it’s not overpowering, definitely a sauce you can try if you visit!

We ordered the tempura enoki mushroom to go along with our Little San. The tempura batter was very crispy, but a little too oily for our liking. It would be so much better if the chef can heat up cooking oil in the deep frying pan to the right temperature before frying the enoki mushroom.

Makisan is one of the no frill and healthy food store concept that is slowly gaining its popularity especially among the younger generations. About 90% of the ingredients are non deep fried, and what makes it greater is that you can choose the ingredients you like to put them into your sushi, based on your mood. If you have no idea what to put inside your sushi, Makisan has their own menu for you to choose as well. We will definitely return soon to try out their DIY salad. Do share with us your experience if you have tried them before! 

Ramenplay (拉麵玩家) - First time having pork cheek

• Operating Hours: 11 AM to 10 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 30 Tai Seng Street #01-03 S(534013)
• How to get there: Tai Seng MRT, take exit B and walk about 5 mins.
• Food I had: Pork Yakiniku Tonkotsu Ramen, Toroniku Ramen, Chicken Gyoza

Was going to Changi but we drove passed Breadtalk HQ and was thinking why not have our dinner there? So we went over without knowing what to eat. We reached the dining area and we saw RamenPlay that we have not tried yet, so why not? 

It was 9.30PM and there were expectedly no crowds.

There was an ongoing promotion where you order a ramen and top up additional $4 to have a side with a drink.

Toroniku Ramen, Toroniku means pork cheek. This is one of RamenPlay’s recommended dish on the menu. I loved the firm texture of the ramen, it is very similar texture as wanton mee, hard yet chewy once bite.

The pork cheek in this dish was surprisingly very soft until it nearly melts in your mouth, but I do not like the slight burnt taste of the meat, and that burnt taste does blend into the soup which does not make the soup better. If there was no burnt taste, the broth would be much tasteful.

I have always love Japanese soft boiled egg, and Ramenplay did not fail my expectation on the egg. The yoke was very juicy, gluey and full of taste, if you eat it with the soup it will taste much better.

Next was Pork Yakiniku Ramen, Yakiniku means grilled meat. it reminds me of Yoshinoya, the taste was exactly it. The noodle having the constant texture, the difference is the soup, which does have a much sweeter in taste compared to Toroniku Ramen, but this soup does not have the burnt taste so I can conclude that its the burnt pork cheek that spoil the soup.

We ordered a set and 3 gyoza presented to us, with sesame sauce at the side. If you love gyoza or any fried dumpling dim sum, you will love this. The minced chicken meat wrapped in crispy dumpling skin. The skin was fried to the point where the skin was crispy but preserved the juice and tenderness of the meat.

RamenPlay has a lot of items offered on the menu even Shabu Shabu. There were so many other Japanese Ramen stores these days, you could give it a try with their ramen (hope their pork cheek is not burnt) especially their gyoza. After tried out their dishes here, I will return for their food over here to have an affordable Japanese cuisine as compared to others.

Ramenplay does have other stores around Singapore, Bedok Mall, JEM, Novena Square, and Resorts World Sentosa. Do comment if they do really taste differently.