There's this Okinawan eatery tucked in the corner of Liang Court's basement that we are reminded to try every week when we go to Tampopo Deli for dessert. This time, we ditched our regular haunts and headed there with Chubbs for lunch. I fell in love with the quirky, distinctively Japanese decor the second I entered, and the experience was made all the more pleasant with the friendly and courteous Japanese wait staff and the only other patrons were Japanese families dining with young kids.
Playing with the waitress.
Okinawan cuisine features pork, rice and noodles, so that's what we ordered. Chubbs and I shared a bowl of very delicious and smooth noodles in a rich pork and vegetable broth, Fuzzy had a plate of cold noodles with a sour ume dipping sauce, we ordered at a raw shallot and shaved bonito starter that was in season, and finished off with sauteed pork belly with spring onions.
The bowl of noodles were the star of the show; smooth and fine-textured- simply out-of-this-world! Chubbs heartily ate a bowl of it with the lip-smacking broth that it was served with. The sauteed spring onions could be less salty, but the vegetable was so young, that I couldn't taste any onion in it. It was like eating tender leafy greens. The shallot and bonito flake appetiser was very good too. The vegetable tasted like a cross between a leek and spring onions, but was extremely crispy and sweet. The bonito flakes lent a nice savouriness to the dish. My bowl of noodles came in a set with pork fried rice and home-made tofu. The rice went well with the sauteed greens, but let me tell you about the home-made tofu. I couldn't believe the texture and flavour of it; it was akin to eating fresh clotted cream or really good quality Greek yoghurt. It was ultra smooth, nutty, thick, creamy, and there's hardly any taste of soy. I will go back simply for another bite of this.
My baby noodle monster.
Shallots covered with bonito flakes.
Sauteed spring onions with stewed pork belly, and fried rice in the background.
Rubbing his round tummy gleefully after his meal.
