Ma Maison at The Central Clarke Quay

Hi everyone!

It's not that I have not been out eating, it's just that I have been too busy to blog! But I am back on Sweetly Nice, bringing to you Ma Maison!

Ma Maison @ The Central Clarke Quay

Ma Maison menu. Was this deliberately designed to look like a Singaporean passport?

Location: The Central #03-96, Clarke Quay MRT Station.

Opening Hours: 11.30am - 3pm (lunch), 6pm - 10pm (dinner).

Cuisine: Fusion, Japanese-based.

Price: ~$50/couple

Ambience: Rustic, country.

View: Singapore river along Clarke Quay.

(I figured it is easier for you to read if I put all the quick facts first before the photos, so the sub-sections may seem a little split because the words don't come with the photos. But I will caption all my photos, so you know. I will also go through the review in chronological order, according to how I actually saw the place from when I stepped in.)

Ambience
I am in love with down-to-earth country decor, so you can imagine, when I stepped in, I was awe-struck. This IS my cup of tea. =D

Inside of Ma Maison@The Central.

I don't open bottles outside, but I thought the wine shelf is really pretty, and adds well to that rustic feel. All those drinks also makes part of the wall decor.

The wine shelf.

One of the things that I always notice about a restaurant is how much effort (or sometimes lack of effort) that the management puts into these table side necessities.

Here, you can see that beautiful stain glass lamp, the vintage-style porcelain sugar holder, the little straw basket that contains the chill and pepper.

You can also glimpse a bit of the curtains. The curtains have floral prints and are absolutely in tune with the entire country-style decor of Ma Maison.

Table top decor, sauces and necessities.

View
This Ma Maison has the view of Singapore river, and by the river, are colourful old shophouses. This part actually reminds me of those world heritage sites like Cinque Terre, Italy, and the colourful streets of Mexico.

Of course, Singapore's colourful shophouses are quite far when compared to Cinque Terre, Italy (but I secretly hope some part of Singapore can make the UNESCO World Heritage List).

Regardless, our shophouses by the Singapore river, do carry our colonial past with us; it is our heritage. And if you are down by this part of the Singapore river, you need to get out there, into the sun, and take a walk across (just right across The Central), to visit what is now known as the MICA Building. It is part of our national heritage conservation list (google or Trip Advisor it). It's superbly beautiful, and trust me, MICA building is picture perfect, and will be pretty sitting in your honeymoon album or FB page.

View of a stretch of Singapore River with colourful shophouses on an unfortunately cloudy day, from my seat at Ma Maison.

On to the food!
The first that arrived were the drinks. This is ice tea (no lemon) that comes free with the dessert we ordered. It is very normal, but I took a picture anyway.

My free ice tea with order of dessert.

Next came soup! This is corn soup that comes with an Omu-Rice set.

This is worth getting envious or jealous over! =P You've got to try how smooth and tasty the soup is. As I am typing, I can still taste that balanced sweetness in my mouth. Oh, I am drooling too. I want another bowl.

Fabulous corn soup. Must try.

The next one is a simple bowl of salad. Nothing special. Raw vegetables with standard Japanese sesame dressing, but nevertheless nice enough, and I love it all the same. Again, this came with Omu-Rice set.

Small bowl of salad.

Then they placed this set of sauces on our table.

Sauces for Tonkatsu set.

Both of us were wondering what this is. Turns out, it is sauce for my Tonkatsu and that yellow one is some kind of Japanese mustard. They taste homemade, and yes, you need to try this!

Here comes the main!
This is Omu-Rice. And I am sure you've noticed that flower pattern going on in the brown sauce. The omelette also look oo-lala gorgeous. The omelette is flowy, curvy, just the right shade of yellow, yummy!

Omu-Rice. This Omu-Rice set costs $15.50.

That brown sauce is to-die-for. It is gently sour, well-balanced by a little salt. It does not overwhelms the taste of the omelette, unlike the sauces from some other restaurants. I always find that the other Japanese restaurants use supermarket mass manufactured one that is just way too sour. The best part of Ma Maison brown sauce, really, is that little work of art. Who would have thought that brown sauce can look like milk in latte?

And the egg, oh my, the egg. Speechless. It is fluffy, and not overly-seasoned till too salt.

Next up, Tonkatsu.

Gosh, you will find yourself slurping up this pork chop!

Juicy and soft Tonkatsu (pork chop) but with crispy skin and delicious homemade sauce, $19.50.

I say "slurping" because this is heavenly soft and juicy inside! The crust is crispy, not oily, and it tastes good too. You can eat this plain, or with those special homemade sauces I introduced earlier on, it will taste equally good.

You NEED to try this.

It is by far the best pork chop I've ever eaten.

And I think I have to show you the miso soup that comes with the Tonkatsu set too, because it is so enjoyable. This soup, is what I call, real-brewed. You know, like real-brewed tea? This is real-brew miso soup.

Miso soup that came with Tonkatsu set.

What I mean by real-brewed, is that this is cooked from real ingredients, so you actually get chunks of good soft meat inside, carrots, big pieces of seaweed, etc.

If you go to fast food style Japanese restaurants, they will serve you miso soup that comes out of a machine. Meaning to say, your miso soup comes from a premix packet, kind of like instant noodles, and all you need to do is pump boiling water in, to serve. The ingredients will be minimal, a little bit of tofu, a little bit of seaweed.

But this one by Ma Maison is different. You get what you think Miso Soup is.

And when you're serve high-quality real-brewed miso soup, you drink it up, to the last drop. Don't waste.

Japanese drink miso very often, and the miso and seaweed in the soup is part of what keeps them healthy. It is said that seaweed is so deep green and full of wonderful nutrients that a bit of seaweed beats one serving of your normal vegetables.

Dessert!
Last but not least, it is my Mont Blanc. This Mont Blanc is not the pen, it is a cake. =D

See that thick crust at the bottom? I love it!

Okay, I must be one of those slightly insane people who prefers biscuit to cream, but this is homemade! It is not your normal factory-made thin crust (that you get with most mass market cheesecakes).

Mont Blanc homemade dessert, $8.80.

Actually, this whole thing is homemade. And I love everything (particularly the biscuit), especially that funny fruit on top. I don't know what it is, but it is good.

The best part about this cake is that it is not overly sweet.

Everything at Ma Maison is just so well-balanced and gentle on your tongue.

Service
I did not run into any problems with the service, so I am giving it full marks. I really liked that they clear plates fast, it felt like they secretly keep an eye on you as you eat. And so, they were able to serve your next course right on time. I never had to raise my hand to ask, because everything was done automatically.

My Bill
$51.55. Great price tag! Both of us were amazed at how affordable this was, considering the standard of the food we got. Don't forget, we had dessert! It is way below what we expected, because we have done food trips at many other places that just aren't as good, and the bill always add up to some $70-$80 (it's crazy eating in Japanese restaurants in Singapore).

My take? 10/10.
I will go back again, just to try other things on the menu. And I also want to visit the other outlets because I heard that every Ma Maison outlet in Singapore has a different theme. This one that we visited has a Western theme, so the food is Japanese mixed with European style.

I definitely recommend it to others, perhaps for Mother's Day, Father's Day, anniversaries, and tourists! If you are don't have Ma Maison in your country, come here. It will be a convenient part of the tour if you have the Singapore River (boat cruise), and Clarke Quay night scene on your itinerary.

I would limit the number of people to 4-5, because this place really isn't big, and the tables aren't made to accommodate gatherings or parties. So I wouldn't recommend this for class reunions, unless of course, you reserve the whole restaurant. Read more "Ma Maison at The Central Clarke Quay..."