Yomeya Goemon at Star Vista

Yomenya Goemon (洋面屋五右卫门) at Star Vista is a Japanese restaurant serving Japanese-style western food.  The restaurant has been there since the opening of Star Vista, so it has been quite a number of years, but I only got to try it recently.

There is a display of the food they serve at the restaurant front, to entice the undecided diners to come in.   The place is not big, with a typical Japanese restaurant decoration, and tiny tables and chairs.  What is interesting is every table has this half-moon shaped tray, with your napkin and chopsticks on it.

I ordered the Hokkaido soup spaghetti.  It came like a piece of art.  The spaghetti was simmering in a thick, fragrant soup.  The color of the soup was snow white, just like the vast snow field in Hokkaido during winter.

Soup Hokkaido Spaghetti, $16.80++

Toppings of salmon, sausage, potato cubes, bacon and corn were scattered around on top.  The soup was very good, the fragrance came from alcohol, I guessed.  The spaghetti was not the hard in the core type, more fully cooked, but not until it lost its defined body-shape.

The portion was not very big, but sufficient to make your stomach feel contented.  Service was pretty good too.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience and I enjoyed it.

Porn's Sexy Thai Food at Star Vista

Porn's Sexy Thai Food is a Thai restaurant owed by Singapore TV personality Pornsak Prajakwit.  He is a Thai Chinese, but made his fame in Singapore.  Heard about his restaurant for quite a number of years.  The first one was at Bugis, but then never had a chance to give a try.  Now that there is one at Star Vista, finally I gave it a try.

The interior design is of the street and casual style to mimic Bangkok's street culture.

Pornsak's life-size cut-out figure stands at the entrance to welcome the guests.

Green Curry with Chicken, $10.90++

Our first dish was green curry with chicken.  The curry was not very spicy when it first entered your mouth, but then slowly slowly the spiciness would creep up and you found your mouth and tongue burning.  At such a critical time, your best rescue would be a sip of the famous Thai ice tea.

Thai Ice Tea, $3.90++

This Thai ice tea was my savior for the day, to save me from spiciness and some other not so pleasant taste which you will know when you read on.

Nong Kai Fish Fillet, $12.90++

Stir-Fried Bean Sprout with Mushroom, $8.90++

We also ordered a fish fillet and a stir-fried bean sprout with mushroom.  These two dishes had one thing in common - Saltiness.  Both were very salty.  That was the only dominant taste that I could register with my taste buds.

The fish fillet was simmering in a clear spicy broth.  Even with the spiciness of the broth, it still couldn't cover the fish smell of the fillet. That really says a lot...

Pad Thai, $11.90++

Last but not least, my Pad Thai.  It is one of my most favorite Thai dish, and it always brings me lots of satisfaction.  The Pad Thai here was a surprise to me, a chunk of wet stuff all mixed together.  There was no taste other than saltiness.

In terms of service, when we arrived, there were about 4-5 tables with customers, and two waitresses.  I am not in the restaurant industry, so I don't know whether this is considered to be under-staffed.  My opinion is no.  The service was slow.  The waitress who served us was a role model of service without a smile.  She pulled a long face throughout.  When our dishes were served, there were no cutlery for our table.

Overall, the food they serve is not the normal standard Thai food.  You can easily find better Thai food elsewhere in Singapore.  The friend who dined with me concluded that it is a restaurant that we should not come back.  I like Pornsak as a TV personality, but not for his restaurant.  Sorry.