We’ve been on a sort-of food ritual lately, eating out only in places that served Japanese or Singaporean-Malay cuisine. You can only have so much Italian, right? And honestly, I like the pasta we cook at home better than some places we’re eaten at. But I digress.

We ended up in another Singaporean food joint for dinner yesterday when we are at the SM Megamall to cover a convention for the main blog as well as take a look at the brand spanking new Forever 21 flagship store. Orchard Road is a truly Singaporean concept store that features the same open kitchens and the same food selections familiar to those who have been to the real Orchard Road’s famous food centers like Food Republic, Food Opera, and many others.

I usually judge a local Singaporean food joint by how it serves its laksa (except for places that don’t serve it at all, like Shiok). Having had laksa at the Manila stores of both Toast Box and Makan Sutra (as well as the real deal in hawkers stalls all over the island-city), I had fairly high standards.

Orchard Road’s laksa looked a bit watery when it arrived at the table, but after the first sip you forget all about that less than desirable consistency. The flavor is rich — belying its watery first impression, and you can taste the freshness of the prawn, cockles, and peppers that they added to the laksa gravy. The more I ate the more I came to appreciate Orchard Road’s laksa — definitely better than Toast Box’s, and just a little short of Makan Sutra’s (but let’s not forget: Makan Sutra Manila’s food quality is woefully inconsistent).

  .

I also liked the other bits and pieces we ordered alongside our laksa. The chicken satay was nice and juicy and savory, and did not need any help from the peanut sauce it was provided with. The curry samosas were crispy on the outside, smooth and flavorful on the inside. The bandung was sweet and creamy — but again a bit on the watery side (maybe this is a portioning concern?), but the iced teh tarik was hands down the best on the local scene (so good, I had two glasses!).

While we’re on the subject of drinks, I’d like to talk a bit about an entry I read in a local food blog that dissed the store’s Milo Dinosaur. The writer said that it was an overpriced glass of cold Milo, and that he felt ripped off since he didn’t know what he was ordering in the first place. Sorry to break it to you hun but that is exactly what a Milo Dinosaur is like — if you had done your research before you went out and ordered it then you didn’t have to do so much belly-aching.

If you feel cheated that’s fine — but blame that on your own ignorance for not understanding what you just ordered, instead of calling the restaurant a rip-off joint for serving you exactly what you asked for >.>

Anyway — let’s not dwell too much on that. I really liked my Orchard Road experience so yes — even if it was a tad pricey compared to hawker stalls (we kept converting everything to Sing dollar in our heads), I feel we got our money’s worth and will make sure to drop by the store again real soon.