Saturday, November 17, 2007

Ohsho, Cuppage Plaza

Ohsho, Cuppage Plaza
I've been to this place Ohsho (5 Koek Road, #01-10 Cuppage Plaza) once some years back for ramen and noticed the food that was being served in this counter styled eatery which featured Japanese food and cooking that reminded more more than a little of tze char. I have wondered if that was Japanese styled Chinese or Chinese styled Japanese? I'm guessing that it's a fusion of both if I had to put a label onto it. Well, it's probably more Japanese than Chinese though. Run by a bunch of Chinese guys that does the cooking and overseen by one other Japanese dude that was probably the one in charge of the eatery. Tucked in a little corner by the entrance of Cuppage Plaza, this cosy shop sees their regular share of crowd during the meal hours.

Ohsho, gyoza
The menu features a bunch of stir fried dishes, a selection of ramen & fried rice and various set combinations of the a la carte items. There is a set dinner which always seem to be available for $16 which consists of a very delicious fried rice, omelet with chopped vegetables and crabsticks, stir fried pork with onions and bell peppers, breaded fried prawn, mashed potatos, some shredded cabbage with mayo dressing and a bunch of gyoza. The portions of that set is pretty substantial and the fried rice with minced pork here is pretty good stuff. There is a char aroma from the wok and that's something that's to me, really more Chinese than Japanese.

Ohsho, ramenTheir gyoza were pretty decent, if unexceptional. The skins are nicely browned, a little oily and the insides were hot and juicy. The condiments that are available for them included white vinegar, a chilli paste and something that's labelled as gyoza sauce which I didn't try. The vinegar however, worked well with the dumplings especially when paired with the chilli paste which has a noticeable kick and really adds zest. I would prefer the Chinese pot stickers (guo tie) over these any day though. Maybe, I just haven't had really good gyozas. The char siew ramen wasn't very noteworthy except for those tasty char siew slices which were rather fragrant. The noodle weren't of the type that I liked and their broth doesn't come across as outstanding.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's Japanese styled Chinese. It's actually a big ramen chain from Japan, and of course ramen (and gyoza)'s roots all come from Chinese cuisine. Arguably, the Japanese do it much better, but also arguably, Osho may not necessarily be the best at it.

Anonymous said...

I'll have to say.. i can't wait to come home and try them all. :)