Tatsuya's

First of all, i must disclaim that this is known as the "ten-dollar-tomato" place to my family...but of course it is now the "thirty-dollar-set-lunch" place to us!

So to write about this experience makes me so excited...of course you guys all know how i lurvvve writing...Here goes:

Food.

The set lunch was pretty okay (how much more descriptive does a science person get???).

At $25-30, it was certainly good value, given the myriad of things presented to us (overheard: "is this salad mine or your's?? what about this sauce???").

But then we spotted everyone huddling around the chef's table.

The very thoughtful waiter informed that these informed customers (read: japanese) were having the chef's recommendations - roughly $180 per pax.

Note: If you're wondering why i thought he was thoughtful, it's cos he actually disuaded us from ordering more food later on!! What a guy!!

Feeling adventurous (i.e. "we have to order at least one thing from the a la carte menu to not look so lame..."), we settled on sharing a cod and snapper head.

The cod underperformed in serving size i.e. it was no different from what someone ordered as part of the set lunch, while the snapper head outperformed i.e. it sure had bigger bones and less meat!!

Service. Easily summed up.

One waitress who seemed pretty assertive & knowledgeable - definitely not japanese.

One waiter who was quite attentive and thoughtful - again, definitely not japanese.

Conversation.

My mind is completely blank on what we spoke about before M (i hope i get the name right) arrived.

I recall there was some speak about something i cannot write any further about. i.e. bosses / senior management. Can someone remind me??

In any case, after M arrived, obviously the conversation revolved around M. Oops. I mean, it was largely about some issues M was seeking our advice on. Which of course we did not hesitate giving.

The critical issue at hand was the definition of several key terms:
- "ambiguous"...is this the new code for relationships??
- "necklace"... with a chain or without?? pre-sent as a pre-cursor to a ring??
- "prada"...nylon or is there anything cheaper??
- "camera"... digital, point-and-shoot (read: idiot proof) or SLR / SRL..?? whatever...
- "expensive"...budget busting, or worse still, salary busting??

In the end, the true definition of friendship was all we really managed to define. i.e. when you are clouded by emotion, you can always count on your friends to offer rational and steadfast advice in line with ANY budgetary constraints.

Now how's that for a set lunch experience...