Super soba super soba mania @ Kurotaki

When I first saw pictures of their soba noodles I added it to my to eat list imediately.

Kurotaki specialises in Soba noodles and they serve four different types.

On the menu they have an introductory for each type of noodle which is quite informative for those who do not know.
Just to cut it short the four types of noodles are:
Inaka soba noodle – countryside soba that is springy with soft tender texture
Etanbetsu soba - thin and sticky, made from centermost part fo buckwheat.
Sarashina sesame soba - made with premium buckwheat flour.
Shiretoko Zarusoba thin soba noodle served cold on bamboo basket made with centermost of part of buckwheat seeds together with kelps and seaweed.

 

 

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Ordered Chilled Shiretoko Zarusoba with sesame and black garlic oil sauce, Chilled sarashina sesame soba with natto and Assorted skewers.
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Chilled Shiretoko Zarusoba with sesame and black garlic oil sauce
I had to try this because I wanted to try the soba made with seaweed and kelp.
The sauce was interesting and tasted of sesame and black pepper. The menu does not say it has pepper on the English but the Chinese has.
The combination of sesame and ground black pepper was quite good because the spicyness of the pepper balances out the creaminess of the sesame sauce.

 

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Chilled sarashina sesame soba with natto
I just had to get these noodles as well because all my favourite elements were there: natto beans, egg, okra, kelp, mountain yam and grated white radish.
These noodles came with a separate vinaigrette sauce and it tasted really refreshing that I poured all of it.
The noodles also had these delicious tiny crisp seeds that looked like ultra tiny dried chick peas which I did not know what is was but everything matched so well together.

 

 

 

 

☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Assorted skewers: chicken pork, beef and ox tongue with green pepper turnip sauce, turnip, plum and spices.
I ordered this because the green puree looked interesting, the green puree was basically green peppers and white radish pureed together.
On the menu it saids turnip but I think they mean white radish.
Overall the skewers were nice because of the white radish puree.
☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
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To try on my next visit:
Fresh tomato, sea urchin and salmon roe chilled etanbetsu soba and DIY Japanese tofu curd.

 

 

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A super bowlin burger at a high price @ Bowl Burger

I am surprised that there are not many reviews on this place despite a burger craze a few years ago.
I wanted to try this place years ago but it just seemed too far and I didnt know this place was within walking distance to Central.

It is located right at the end of Mercer so you have to resist other temptations in that area.
There are three tables, on the walls are food posters and menu, there are also some self service sauces which you can use.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Initially when I settled down, there was a strong deep frying oil smell so I was worried the food would have strong oil taste but it turned out OK, however comparing my prawn patty to an earlier review, my patty looked darker and same with the chips!
http://static1.openrice.com.hk/UserPhoto/photo/1/15B/0085R8A6266D5DB97C66ACm.jpg
After trying it I really regretted not going a few years ago when the most expensive burger set was around $60-70.
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[Photo I took in 2009]

 

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I finally tried it at a cost! The prawn burger set now costs a whopping $56 which puts itself in the range of the other high end burgers such as Triple O's GBU etc. It used to be $48!!
It also costs more than MOS and Freshness burger.

I really wanted to try the Indian veggie burger but eating vegetarian food also comes at a price too, sometimes vegetarian food cost more than meat just like BRATS vegetarian sausages!!

In the end picked the beef burger and the prawn burger.
I came especially for the prawn burger because not many places do prawn burgers and they are seasonal products in McDs.

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

 

Prawn burger
Both the burger buns were topped with sesame which I am not a fan of, but in this case it worked out really nicely.
The bun was toasted to the point that it was quite crispy and the thickness of the burger decreased when you held it.
Anyway the thickness of the prawn patty was about 1 inch thick.
I requested for Tartar sauce as the previous review said the Thai sauce wasnt that good and personally I do not like Thai sauce.
The tartar sauce was really sour but I could not find pieces of guerkins or dill in the sauce. As well as tartar sauce there was also salad cream, tomato slices and lettuce. I should have requested for curry sauce instead.
I finished the tomato and lettuce that were in the burger and then started eating the burger.
The prawn patty was really different to the ones at McDs and MOS, the prawn patty was much meatier and chewier.
The prawn patty coating looked like it had been over fried compared to the earlier reviews on Openrice.
Anyway the taste was exactly the same as the prawn patty found in Sesame prawns toasts this is why the sesame bun worked out because the bun was toasted until is was really crispy with a slight soft bread texture and since the sesames were also heavily toasted, it tasted like a mega version of sesame prawn toasts found in China Town!!!!
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Beef burger
Not a fan of beef but it did bring me memories of the burgers at school.
Although I am not a fan of beef it can be made really delicious, but in this case I don't think it was delicious .
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Fries
Although the fries looked over done they were nice, crispy on the outside and soft inside.
The fries are cut with some potato skin attached to it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★

 

Potato salad
Not the usual western potato and egg salad because it had apples in it.
Luckily there was no sweet salad sauce in it, the potato and egg salad tasted nice despite there were pieces of apples in it.
The apples used in the salad were Gala types which have light green and rose skin.
The potato salad was made with mayonnaise.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Anyway I hope to try the curry pork chop burger, Indian Veggie burger and the Lamb burger on my next visit!