Novena Square
North, Singapore
August 2015
It was time for lunch. Attractive posters describing various promotions adorn the walkways. Over at Level 2, this poster seemed interestiing. The decision was made.
There were 4 kinds of donburi (rice). Ranging from S$9-12, they range from chicken to pork to beef. These sets come with salad, kimchi and wakame seafood soup.
Opting for more variety, the Gyu-Kaku Bento Set (priced at S$15) was chosen. According to the description, this Set contains these: "Rice Item", "Cold Item", "Deep Fried Item", "Pickled Item", "Meat Item", "Soup Item" - a total of 7 different items.
Despite the picture on the poster, it was still a surprise when the Bento Set arrived. There were 6 compartments within the Set. Each compartment contained an item, each barely bigger than a saucer dish.
Deducting the Kimchi ("pickled item"), Wakame Seaweed Soup ("soup item"), and a simple lettuce-corn-tomato combination ("salad item"), which were components of the other Don Sets, it really seems like there isn't much "value" left of the Set.
- The Rice ("rice item") was topped with cooked salmon shreds and egg bits. The portion was about 30% of a normal rice bowl. Hardly enough for the fistful of recommended rice intake. The salmon was bland (i.e. tasteless) and the egg hard.
- The tofu was once again miniscule in size, about the length of half a thumb. The spicy sauce was mild and tasty and it was a healthy side.
- Of the final two dishes, it was hard to tell which was the "deep fried item" and which was the "meat item". One consisted of two fried beef balls dribbled with some tomato sauce. This tasted as good as those in Ikea.
- The fried breadcrusted pork/chicken served with raw cabbage slices was aromatic due to the breaded crust and some sprinkling of mayonnaise.
All in all, this Set seemed more like a serving of appetizers, or worse still, a payable Set of really small dishes which other restaurants normally serve as freeflow appetizers.
