We know this place.
We've eaten here at Maccha House several times before.
Except that it's mostly been at Orchard Central, not PLQ, and so somehow, goodness knows how, we always seem to walk past this place without intending to.
Today, however, was an anomaly.
Maybe because we didn't feel like going straight down to the basement like we always do.
And maybe because we wanted to take a look around.
It's a little embarrassing but it took us a few minutes of staring at the outlet entrance before we realized this was the same one we'd always ate at whenever we were in the Somerset part of Orchard.
It was nice to see the familiar menu all over again.
I'd almost forgotten how it was.
Maccha House offers an interesting array of dishes to suit a different variety of palates for different persons.
Pastas are one of their strongest offerings on the menu.
Or at least that's how it seems to me- because they really do have nicely concocted pastas on the menu- and I'm always hoping to order one each time I look at the picture of one.
It's another dish that we often order though.
Not because it's better or more expensive or anything like that, but because we like the way they do their beef, and it's a dish that's got a little bit of everything in it.
To be honest I don't know the name of this dish.
I only know how it looks and that it's got beef, omurice, salad, soup and dessert all included in it.
One thing about this dish is that it makes for a very healthy, wholesome meal, and therefore, influences you to eat it very slow.
More than once I've found myself picking up the beef delicately, chewing it carefully and appreciating the burst of meat juice in my mouth.
More than once too I've found myself attempting not to rush through the soft, fluffy scramble-like egg, instead choosing to separate it cleanly so that I can eat it with the rice.
This is a meal that cleverly and surreptitiously. combines elements of both the land and the sea.
You don't feel it at first.
That is, until you work your way through the beautifully done slices of beef, the lovely, soft egg. the rice, the seaweed in your miso soup, and the huge, fresh lettuce greens.
It isn't just the main meal that appeals to me.
There is the dessert too.
It doesn't matter so much that they don't give you full sized portions (or even half) .
What matters is the surprise.
You never know what it is they'll give you.
Sometimes it's a bit of jelly.
Sometimes it's dango (those small, chewy round rice balls you find in Japanese-style parfaits).
But, always, always, there's a tiny little bit of anko (red bean paste) and maybe a spoonful of sweet little adzuki beans.