Waraku Japanese Restaurant @ East Coast Park

Waraku first opened at East Coast Park some years back, and it was one of the first restaurants to introduce steamboat in a paper pot (How does the paper pot keep from burning up, pray tell?).

Since then, it has opened a few branches (Marina Square, East Coast Road etc).

We came here over the weekend because it was unbearably hot and I wanted to have some zaru soba or cold ramen.

Well, we really loved it. The food was great, and very affordably priced. The best thing is, they were so baby-friendly and had such fantastic service. There was a 10 minute wait for a table, as they were full at about 830 pm. And while we (and some others) waited, they came out and served us plastic cups of iced lemon tea, iced green tea, beer and water. Now, that's great service to me. Kudos to them. And it says a lot when there are some places (cough, bakerzin, cough) which charge for tap water.

DH ordered this mentaiko yaki (SGD8). It's grilled codfish roe. But on the menu, it was described as a rather unappetising "burnt fish roe". It was quite interesting. Chewy, smoky exterior with a salty interior of roe.

DH's order of unagi nabe (eel hotpot) (SGD 12.80). It was served with a raw egg that you cracked into the pot. Baby loved the soft slightly boiled egg, and wanted more, but DH had gobbled most of it up.

My waraku cold soba (SGD14.80), served with dipping sauce, and a plethora of ingredients - egg, beeancurd, crabmeat, seaweed, fishcake, crispy sprinkles.

THE LOOT!

And I really meant it when I said that they were baby-friendly. The nice lady supervisor gave Baby a pack of cheese biscuits, a toy piggy bank in the shape of a post box, and a noisy gun. She also gave him a Spiderman mask, which I returned since he doesn't really play with masks right now.

DH loved the gun. He used it to shoot me whenever I dissed him throughout the dinner (Me: "You're a terrible father for eating up all the egg.... " DH: "Bang Bang!"). Which made the waitress laugh. DH said it took all his self-restraint not to shoot her too.