Affordable Japanese food alert! If you are staying or studying near King Albert Park, this might be a place you want to check out for a casual lunch or dinner. Located inside the very oddly-shaped KAP Mall, Gaijin is a casual Japanese eatery that builds vertically upwards to seat about 12+ peeps upstairs at max capacity. There's a bar that connects to the "open kitchen" of sorts below. Small outfit but hey, there really is some soul to be found!

There's a variety of drinks to be had, be it umeshu, beer or sake. Here's the owner/founder, the OG "Gaijin" himself. 


Here's the menu on what to expect at Gajin. It is surprisingly diverse despite the small cook area and mains are split between 10 Donburis and 2 Ramen. There are also 6 sides to pick from. 





Straight up we sampled their famous Gyu Don (S$14) which was very flavourful. I liked how that translated to a good sauce and complement to well-cooked sushi rice as well. At this price, no complaints!


Then there's the Gaijin Tendon (S$13). Price aside, I felt that this was decent due to the freshness of the ingredients that got tempura-ed, though the sauce could afford to be a bit more generous. Still a good option if you don't eat beef.


Then there's my favourite, a sleeper hit called the Katsu Curry Don (S$15). I didn't expect it to be good but the pork was surprisingly tender and well battered! This with the sweet, not-spicy Japanese curry sauce went super well with the rice. Simple, comforting. 


For those looking for something soupy, there's the Gaijin Udon (S$10). However this was probably the least impressive dish we tried - the soup was super salty and concentrated even though we didn't take too long to take pics, so order at your own risk. 

On the bright side we gave feedback, and this problem can be fixed somewhat with just some hot water. The service upstairs is kinda spotty though - we couldn't get any attention since the server (not the owner) only comes up to give us food. That was the not so good part - perhaps something you get with the low prices is to put up with non-existent service.


Other than the 3 dons and udon, we also sampled both their ramen - the Shio and Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen (both S$12). They were decent enough and uses thin ramen noodles. The broth is nothing to write home about though. Feeling rather ambivalent about it. 


What I liked was the Fried Chicken, or Gaijin Karaage (S$8/3 pieces or S$12/5 pieces) that was over-fried so there's minimal grease. They are also available as Karaage Curry Don (S$12 with 3 pieces). Fans of fried chicken will definitely enough it, as I did.


I'd say go check it out if you are in the area and didn't want to travel all the way to town. And if you would like some home-style Japanese cuisine without breaking the piggybank. However I am definitely not going to rave about this due to the service and food quality inconsistency so.. visit at your own discretion.

Gaijin Japanese Soul Food
9 King Albert Park, #01-40, Singapore 598332
Mon-Fri noon to 3pm and 6pm-9pm, Sat to Sundays noon to 9pm
+65 69040400

Thanks to Gaijin for the invite!

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Hi guys! Here's a long overdue post but I went to Phuket in Thailand in early April this year to celebrate my birthday and experience Songkran! Even though it was a short 4 day trip, we managed to cover quite a lot so here's some of my recommendations of what to eat and do in Phuket. We rented a car from the airport to get around as taxis are very expensive so you NEED a vehicle to get around because Phuket is shaped oddly. Where we stayed was more like northwest at the Novotel Kamala (Beach) so all the more we needed a car to drive to the middle (Patong) and the east (Old Town). Here's a rough map for your reference.

Map courtesy of Wanderlog, the best trip planner app on iOS and Android

Our accommodation was pretty nice for the price, but the mozzies and dank smells occasionally floating around weren't great. I think mozzies are an islandwide problem though!


When we landed it was evening so we drove to Patong area to find dinner - and there were some stalls (and touristy trappy seafood stalls) at Banzaan Fresh Market. We had some customisable noodle soup instead for S$2. Followed by some Big C shopping at the Jungceylon Shopping Centre next door to get breakfast items for the beach next day!



Here's the Phukids.


Anyway, here's a guide to Phuket Old Town because that's where the bulk of the exploration was at. We drove down after our beach morning with our DIY brekkie.  


The entire place reminds me of Penang, Malaysia so much! The murals, the Sino-Portugese styled buildings and old shophouses. And the heat, of course. 



So we checked out 3 cafes - Crepe is Crepe Cafe, Campus Coffee Roaster and a.dessert moments. All three were excellent - and within 10 minutes of each other - and my pick was the Crepe is Crepe for their bubble tea drink and mango sticky rice crepe! The aircon was also a much welcome respite.




Campus Coffee Roaster had exposed brick walls and school desks as decor, which was cool. They are more specialised in coffee than anything else.


I really had wanted to go to a.dessert moments because I saw that they had the Milo Crepe Cake. And I remembered that Thailand's crepe cakes are usually excellent. So I sort of wanted to try it! And it was good - just not something you need to travel all the way for though. Our bunch went back to Old Town a second time because we wanted to check out the Sunday night market!



For lunch or dinner in Old Town, I will highly recommend checking out Blue Elephant Cooking School and Restaurant! It was a fantabulous classic Thai food lunch and when we went they were relatively empty - they have parking as well behind.  


We ordered so many items it is impossible to show all. The green curry and the red massaman curry were highlights - but everything else was also very classic. And it didn't burn a hole in our pockets despite being a little more fancy than normal Thai restaurants!



We also took a few pics in their nice compound and I bought a few packets of their famous curry/Tom yam paste.


Other than Blue Elephant, visitors should always try to make it for the Phuket Old Town Night Market that happens every Sunday from 4pm to 10pm, if possible!




We had lots of fun just walking around checking out all the food stalls! 

 Lastly, this is not in Phuket Old Town, but a place worth checking out for fresh seafood is Laem Hin Seafood that is more perpendicular to Patong Beach, on the east side of the island. So you will have to drive through Patong and pass by Old Town before you get there. But it is worth it! We also stopped by to get fresh Thai milk tea along the way from one of those roadside stalls. 




We also tried out another place for traditional Thai food that is nearer to our hotel at the northwest, called Bua Restaurant. It was really tasty and the 'kelong' style restaurant had a homely feel to it as well. Their fish cake was steamed in a coconut, which was surprisingly good.


So was the stir fried crab in their unique sweet-savoury sauce! I totally don't know what it is called in Thai so you might have to just show this pic to them to order it, haha.



So that's it, some of my recommendations in Phuket! It is not many, but all of the places I wrote here are at least decent enough to give it a try amidst all the options available! Lastly, we had such fun in Songkran with our water guns at Bangla Walking Street. Till next time Phuket!


Travel Itinerary: Where to eat and go in Phuket Old Town, Thailand

Hi guys! Here's a long overdue post but I went to Phuket in Thailand in early April this year to celebrate my birthday and experience Songkran ! Even thoug…