Dinner at Momoya

Been yearning for Japanese buffet and K was also in the mood for buffet. We had eaten once at Holland V Raku. The grilled gindara and tofu with century egg was so memorable but Raku was out since it is very expensive. Was considering Akira, Ikoi, Hanabi, Senki and Himawari but saw not so good reviews on Hungrygowhere so searched again. Been once to Minori at UE Square and it was quite horrific so it should never be considered at all. I was once treated to dinner at Ikoi and remembered they had such an extensive tempura menu that I always wanted to bring K (he loves deep fried stuff you see) but bearing in mind the very cramped seating and the forever ongoing reservation list, it was out of the question as well.

So, I found this Momoya place located at ulu Picardy Garden. Sounds very beautiful right? Is quite near to Expo and along Upper Changi Road actually.

The wait staff were very nice. I made a reservation for 730pm and we arrived at about 8pm. The moment we went in, 1 wait staff came to ask us if we made any reservation but before I could answer her, another quickly rushed towards us and signalled the previous to bring us to an empty table. I presume they were expecting us. It was a very nice feeling and the nice waitress immediately asked if we needed a baby seat without us requesting. While putting XY into the highchair, K noticed that they even took the initiative to wipe the seat before giving it to us as the seat was slightly damp.

Not going to do a review about the food. Not as if I am up to doing reviews :) Will just post some pics of some of the dishes we find it nice or not served at other Jap buffets.

We were served this huge plate of Sashimi Moriwase which is a big mistake cuz I don't eat raw fish and K was not a big fan of Sashimi. I thought the waitress is Chinese so I told her in Mandarin to serve 一人份. K told me later on (after the platter arrived) that she's not Chinese. He knew it but he don't say it earlier. Anyway K had a hard time eating this and he could only manage half of it. We must be the biggest joke of the restaurant. Not only not going for seconds but even unable to finish the first. As in picture is the Spider Temaki. Wow, I can't remember when was the last time I had handroll with crispy and not soggy seaweed. The softshell crab was hot and crispy, indicating that it was newly fried and not kept in the kitchen for long time. Chawanmushi was great but don't know why we didn't order another round.

The girl was given a pack of Baby Bites after she had finished her porridge dinner. See how is her sitting posture? Cannot make it la this girl...

1 of the dishes I loved very much. Out of 120+ items on the menu and I had to like this best. Haha what a joke. It's a buffet so I can like any dish you know! A very simple mesclun salad with Jap dressing topped with baby sardines. A bit reminds me of the mini salad served at Waraku Pasta which comes with every pasta ordered.

Stick salad with miso paste. Hm... wondering why did they give such a big "serving" of miso paste. As if can finish like that. The one at Raku was the best but I also remember the price they charge for this is CRAZY!!!

The guy who eat till his face is bloated. Struggling with the Sashimi actually cuz he said paiseh to return the plate with still so many pcs.

Me with little Xiang Ying. She's always seated next to me whenever we dine cuz porridge-feeding is my job. We gave her a carrot stick to "munch" on which is less messy than the Baby Bites. You see, she has not enough teeth and strength to really bite the carrot so it just served as a toy teether for her. As a bonus for XY, I gave her tiny bites of grilled saba. Her first taste of grilled fish. I think on our next visit maybe I will just bring plain porridge and take grilled saba for her. haha

Pickled lotus root. I didn't like it but as said above, I'll post pics of items rarely served at other Jap buffets.

Prawn gratin. Indeed very rare dish on the menu. In fact they have a whole list of western dish like pasta and baked stuff. This one is not too bad. Regretted not trying the cod roe pasta and I wasn't very full too.

Tako balls. I suspect this could be deep fried cuz the outer part is a bit crispy and the inside is piping hot and just like usual takos.

1 of the wall deco.

The girl who couldn't keep still. Started from yesterday, she did this new trick: Stand up from the highchair. Yes, you got it right. She got bored being confined to the seat that she simply stood up on her own. We were so shocked and quickly pulled her back into the seat. Just too bad that the baby chairs outside are usually not well maintained. The seat belt were usually missing or broken resulting in the child being unbuckled in the seat. Seems to me that Ikea highchair is the worst amongst all the highchairs we use outside and most dining places use Ikea highchairs due to the fact (I think) that Ikea highchairs are the most affordable in the market.

We took some shots outside the restaurant after dinner.

While K was trying to take another shot of me and XY, a gentleman passed by and offered to take happy family pic for us. We were surprised that such nice ppl exists. Then he told us he owns the place haha. The Thai restaurant a few units away also his. We will try the Thai food next time round.

I didn't stuff myself at all. In fact we ate very little but my tummy still very obvious. Very loose ma. Not my shorts very loose. I meant my tummy la.

Back at home... we removed the satin holder cuz these days XY has grown much taller and her tiptoe skills improved tremendously so she can easily reach it but that did not stop her from attempting at all. In fact she now challenges herself but going to greater "heights". *headache*

It's very difficult to capture a smiley pic of her these days. This will have to be the best of the lot.



















Ooh... 1 of my favourite shots. *love*

The overall experience at Momoya was good. Cost for dinner was $30+. No GST, yeah. But they do charge $1 per pax for green tea which I think is kind of calculative. No desserts or ice cream included either. Very calculative. They also do not have those kind of "complimentary" items which are only served once, whether you want or not they bring to you kind which is fine by me cuz I don't fancy those things much. Shall be back in future :)