Sukiya

Sukiya, a Japan's leading Gyudon Restaurant chain with over 2600 outlets worldwide. Their mission is to serve Gyudon at an affordable pricing with the use of safe and high quality ingredients at convenient locations. We visited their outlet in Funan.

Sukiya at Funan

Besides the usual canned drinks as beverages, we tried out the following, Pudding Earl Grey Tea & Matcha Latte Ice.

Pudding Earl Grey Tea & Matcha Latte Ice - $4.50 Each 

For those who enjoy more than 1 type of meat on their bowl can choose such dishes from their Combination Menu. They are only available in their Standard M Size or Large Size. The Large Size has a meat portion of M size but 125% of the rice size. Both beef and beef yakiniku was savory. The two types of meat was distinguished and separated by a stalk of blanch greens in the middle of the bowl. 
 

Gyudon & Yakiniku - $10.50 (L)

Time for some greens! I had Gyudon with sliced Okra. The soluble Fibre from the Okra's unique slime matches perfectly with their special sauce, giving them a special taste.

Okra Gyudon (M) with Green Vegetables Miso Soup Combo and Egg - $6.50 + $2 + $1.20

Yakiniku Bowl (M) with Karage & Lemon Tea  Combo - $6.90 + $4.50

Want just more than beef? You can also choose to have their Teriyaki Salmon with Sukiya's Signature Simmered Beef.

Salmon Beef Bowl with Salad + Coke - $13.50 + $3.50

I love the concept of how Sukiya portion up their rice in the menu so that diners can decide how much portion of rice they want than to allow food wastage later on. They use 100% Koshihikari, a carefully selected short-grain rice for Gyudon and they are slightly sweet, soft, springy and moist. 

Rating: 3.25 / 5 

Sukiya
Location: Funan, 107 North Bridge Road, #B1-32 Singapore 179105
Website

Ajumma's

Passing by Ajumma's unkempt times, we finally step our food into the eating place and check out what is the hype about. The eating place was usually full and with many patrons joining the snaky queues every time when I pass by. We were lucky to have the last table even out of their peak hours.

Ajumma's

Ajumma's is a casual Korean restaurant established in 2014 that sells hearty food from the markets and streets of Korea. The seats in Funan are rather limited and we were given a 45 minutes dining session.

Menu

Ajumma's Jjajangmyeon comes with chunks of braised pork fried with fermented black bean paste slathered over the handmade noodles. 

Jjajangmyeon - $12.90

The sauce was adequate for the portion of noodles in the bowl topped with shredded cucumber as well as green peas. The braised pork was soft and tender, and went well with the chewy noodles. This bowl of noodles come with 4 side dishes.

Mixing the noodles with fermented black bean paste

The 4 side dishes were refillable just like any other Korean Restaurant. We were served with Kimchi, seaweed, pickles and cream corn kernels. 

4 Side Dishes

These tender slices of Ajumma's homemade Beef Bulgogi, Nongshim Sari Gomtang Ramyeon make 

a hearty and delicious bowl of beef Ramyeon. It is served with 2 small bundles of enoki mushrooms and 4 side dishes too.

Beef Ramyeon - $10.50

The traditional style seafood pancake made with a blend of Korean pastes with ingredients such as prawns and squid. Its quite savoury alone and has an earthy flavour. Dipped them into the soya sauce to enjoy it.

Traditional Jangtteok Seafood Pancake - $15.90

The hot stone pot was filled with luscious eggs topped with roasted sesame oil and sprinkled with some spring onions, an all-time favourite on the menu. 

Fluffy Steamed Eggs - $6.90

Service was friendly and the food was pretty decent. A point to note for those who are sitting near the stone wall is to be careful in case there is abrasion as the surface was uneven. 

Rating: 3 / 5

Ajumma's
Location: Funan, 107 North Bridge Rd, #B1-31, Singapore 179105
Website

Eventasty一碗田 Noodle Bar

Eventasty Noodle Bar is located at the quiet corner of Funan Digital Mall. The indoor seating are within Funan Digital Mall, air-conditioned while the outdoor seating was on the corridor walkway of Funan Digital Mall.

Eventasty Noodle Bar

The side dish is good with mild spiciness. It is something good to munch on if you are a fan of Century egg.

Tofu with Century Egg 金典皮蛋豆腐- $3

Those who have been going around for Hotpot will understand that Tomato Soup base has gradually gained popularity over the years. Eventasty's tomato soup was put to simmer for about 6 hours and it's considered unique on its own in Singapore. The beef was well braised and tender. 

Tomato Soup with Braised Beef Noodle 金典番茄牛肉面 - $12.90

Needless to say, the Tomato broth was amazingly great. La Mian texture was springy and chewy. Besides having braised beef in tomato soup, there are peas and corn kernels too.

Braised Beef

The use of Goji Berries in Pork Bone Soup had enhanced its sweetness. Pieces of Pork were soft and tender. La Mian texture was similar to the tomato soup with some bounciness in them.

Herbal Pork Bone Soup with Pork Knuckle Noodle 招牌草本圆蹄面 - $13.90

Pork

Quality and standard of food is there. One good note is that they pride themselves with that No MSG was used 

Rating: 3 / 5

Eventasty一碗田 Noodle Bar
Location: Funan, 107 North Bridge Road, Mall, #01-13 Singapore 179105

Godmama

Godmama is one of the popular dining places in Funan Mall. They are located on the 4th level and specialised in serving Modern Peranakan Food. I have been eyeing their Peranakan Food since Funan had been reopened. 

Godmama at Funan

As we did not have a reservation, we were offered a seat in the Alfresco dining section. The menu was well designed and laid out with alluring graphics.

Menu

We had the Makan Kakis Set and we found out that the portion was actually big enough for 3 pax. It consists of Small Plates, Mains for sharing, Choice of Dessert and Drink.

Makan Kakis Set Menu $80++ for 2 pax

Small Plates (Sharing)

Ikan Keropok was served as a starter for sharing. The plate of fish crackers was big for 2 pax. Fish crackers were crispy and comes with a Homemade Belacan Mayo dip.

Ikan Keropok

The pieces of fish Crackers were flavourful and big in size.

Dip the crackers

Choice of Drink (1 Each)

The cooler gave me a refreshing start for the meal, just that it was a bit on the bitter side.

Pandan Lemongrass Cooler

The Pandan with Gula Melaka was thick with coconut milk. Stir well before drinking.

Pandan with Gula Melaka 

This is an additional item we ordered out of the Makan Kaki's Menu. The popiah is said to be recreated using Godmama's traditional family recipe. While the typical popiah uses the Popiah Skin, Godmama make use of egg skin crepe filled with hand-cut, stewed and caramelized vegetable fillings, lettuce, minced garlic, crispy garlic, sprouts, fresh prawns and cucumber wrapped within. 

All-Star Egg Skin Popiah - $6.50

The size of the Popiah reminds me of the famous Popiah in Joo Chiat. However, the taste from it was something out of my expectation as the fillings were more on the marshy side without crunchy details. The garlic taste was overpowering overall.

Fillings

The crispy wings are addictive. The way they cut the mid joint into halves makes it easier to consume. These wings were dusted with a special spice seasoning and served with homemade Belacan mayo similar to what they had for the Ikan Keropok.

Nyonya Fried Wings

A pet peeve was that the meat was a little bit dry.

Wing and Homemade Belacan Mayo

Mains (Sharing) 

Mains

A classic Nyonya mixed vegetables braised in vegetable soup with bean curd skin and mushrooms. The soup is good enough to drench on the rice.

Chap Chye 

This Signature belly of pork is simmered in an aromatic tamarind stew served with Tau Kwa (tofu) and chilli.

Babi Assam

Sotong aka Squid was stirred fried and cooked together with mild spicy and sweet sambal sauce. The texture was chewy and decent.

Sambal Sotong

Nyonya Archar is a staple must-have dish in every Peranakan Household and I thought it will be good. The ones I had from the wet market is better.

Nyonya Archar & Sambal Belacan

Butterfly Blue Pea Rice did have the right fluff but lacked in fragrance.

Butterfly Blue Pea Rice 

Choice of Dessert (1 Each)

The Durian Creme Brulee is unavailable and we got to choose other desserts given on the normal menu. We had the Gingerflower & Lychee Sorbet which is Godmama's exclusive by local creamery Apiary. It is topped with roasted peanut crumble, lime jelly and crowned by a piece of dried pineapple.

Ginger flower & Lychee Sorbet 

My favourite dish out of the entire menu! The homemade silken coconut panna cotta was served chilled with Pulut Hitam (black glutinous rice) and desiccated coconut topped with some biscuit crumbles. The riots of texture from this dessert left a good impression on me.

Pulut Hitam Panna Cotta

Having tried the desserts, they made me want to come back again for their Durian Creme Brulee which was not available on that day.

Rating: 3 / 5

Godmama
Location: 107 North Bridge Rd, #04-07, Singapore 179105
Website

Afuri Ramen

Ever since that the popular Japanese Ramen stall has come to Singapore and has its launch in Funan Mall, we will always notice the snaky long queues in the basement outside its stall. Comparing to other food options in the mall, their queues are the longest during meal times.

Afuri Ramen in Funan Mall

Orders are pretty easy via the ipad that is docked to every table. Its quite efficient in times when there is a crowd and servers do not need to wait for us to decide on our orders. The entire place was kind of open concept, diners can even see through the glass panel into their kitchen.

Open Concept Kitchen

A full bodied dashi based broth that brings up the sweet aroma of Yuzu. Enjoy having Tsukemen dipping the ramen into the dipping sauce that is packed full of citrus taste. The noodles are springy and pieces of belly meat was so soft that it disintegrated at the slightest force. Not only that the Yuzu has elevated the dish and make it so refreshingly great.

Yuzu Tsukemen - $15.90

Don't feel like having Yuzu based ramen? How about going for a slight cream base soup in ramen? The broth are rich in pork taste with a light mouth feel.

Tonkotsu Shio Ramen - $13.90

Surprised that their Char Siew has more charred flavours than I have thought.

Char Siew or Charred "Siew"

The Yuzu Shio ramen is a combination of citrus and salt taste. It comes with a clear soup broth with a subtle taste of Yuzu. Its perfect for someone who isn't going after those rich and creamy Tonkotsu broth base.

Yuzu Shio Ramen - $15.90

For those who prefer to have rice, they can order this Kakuni Cha Shu Don. Love its colorful dish with onsen egg.

Kakuni Cha Shu Don - $9.80 / $6.80 (Regular / Small)

So what's the verdict? Does it worth the hype and time in queuing? I believe that Afuri's Yuzu collection stands out from the crowd. Together with its whole grain noodle and no MSG used I would say that this unique combination is still worth a try.

Rating: 3 / 5

Afuri Ramen
Location: Funan Mall, 107 North Bridge Road, #B1-29, Singapore 179105
Nearest MRT Station: City Hall (NS25/EW13)