A friend of mine, having in recent days found out that I held special love for all things salmon, recommended me this place close to Lavender MRT station.
It was not difficult to find, she emphasized.
All I had to do was to get to Lavender MRT, get out on the V Hotel side, walk past the booth outlets of McDonalds, Luckin Coffee and a few other food stores, past the building behind- with the Burger King and Subway- and then get to the coffee shop next to the mom and pop store selling biscuits, snacks, little stuff, and the like.
I followed her instructions, and found myself in what I soon realized was the Kimly Coffee Shop next to Kitchener Complex on what was essentially French Road.
I was a little surprised.
This coffee shop I had passed by before.
Just that I hadn't looked at the stalls inside, and so hadn't known of Ten Ten Otoko (Sashimi).
I might have come to try their donburi had I known of it earlier.
But that's life.
There are times where you don't pay attention to places, or things, until they pop right up at you.
Ten Ten has a good range of dishes.
What exactly they are, I don't know, but all of it involves rice- they are a donburi stall after all.
One of the more popular dishes here was the Chirashi Don, where over a bowl of rice was heaped perfectly cubed and well-chopped pieces of salmon sashimi, tuna sashimi, scallop, and probably some other varieties of seafood that offhand I cannot remember now.
Chirashi Don is one of those bowls that leave you with a myriad of flavors and textures in every mouthful. Almost at once you get the chapalang flavors of scallop, tuna, salmon with a homemade sauce when you take your first bite.
It was a dish to be considered- the picture on the wall looked tempting- but today we decided we'd order something else.
My friend chose what I call the Salmon & Avocado Bowl.
I'm not sure what the proper name of this bowl is as per their menu, but in essence that's what his dinner was.
Atop a bed of rice there were several slices of cold, chilled salmon sashimi. Next to all those slices, a skillfully sliced avocado. There was a bit of fish roe, and if I'm not wrong, a dollop of mayonnaise as well.
The whole bowl had been arranged in a way that the sight of it alone lifted your spirits and whetted your appetite.
I was drawn to the salmon.
But I was drawn even more to the avocado.
So refreshing on my eyes did I find this fruit that I helped myself to two slices without asking. The avocado was cold, and I relished in its distinctive creamy texture that only a fruit like avo can bring.
Whilst I liked the avocado, my friend liked the chill of the salmon.
They were sliced perfectly well- not to thin, not too thick- just enough that you could taste the firm of the fish but not have to chew too much or too hard.
His only gripe was that there were too few.
Would've been nice, he said had there been more.
My friend' didn't leave hungry though.
Not when I shared my bowl of Katsudon because it was huge.
Yes, in spite being attracted by all the delicious, colorful, chilled, fresh-looking sashimi on the menu board, this evening I had a crave for something warm, fluffy and crispy, crunchy at the same time.
So it was this bowl of Katsudon that I decided to have.
From the picture it is a bit difficult to tell, buried underneath the fluffy egg as it is, but the piece of deep-fried pork cutlet was actually quite big, so much so that it stretched almost the whole diameter of the bowl.
I liked how the batter of the cutlet was crunchy, tasty, with a hint of saltiness that left a delightful, fun taste on the palate but yet at the same time, didn't overwhelm.
I had also wondered if the meat itself be tough or dry, or if the breaded skin would separate from the meat (as had happened to me elsewhere) but nope, not at all,
My chopsticks picked up well the skin and the meat together very well.
And the meat, whilst it might not have been very tender, it wasn't dry or hard either.
I loved this bowl.
It made me feel full, satisfied, comforted.
Something tells me that I will be coming back here again.
It's not so much of the donburi or the rest of the menu itself.
It is the atmosphere.
Very rare is it that in a coffee shop one gets to have food as healthy and appetizing as this, especially if you be in an housing estate that comprises a mix of the local heartlander as much as the expatriate working in some of the (tech) and (event) companies a five minute walk away.
It makes for a lovely contrast.
Also for a pleasant surprise.