Lunch at Ma Maison Japanese Restaurant @ Bugis Junction

200 Victoria Street #02-51 Bugis Junction, Singapore 188021

Tel: 6338 4819

A quaint little Japanese-Western fusion restaurant located at Bugis Junction, and has been around for years (thankfully), well known for its delicious pasta and other dishes, Ma Maison was the choice for us that day as we headed for lunch.

The first thing one sees when entering the dimly-lit restaurant would be this long counter where diners sit eating and perhaps watching / chatting up the chefs hard at work behind the glass.

The brick and wood decor brings about a vintage feel, and the French windows coupled with pretty little table lamps give the place an intimate, romantic ambience.

There are also many ornaments such as Japanese books, an exotic collection of wine bottles etc adorning this restaurant with its impeccable service.

I could not resist checking out the pastries shelf, as per my usual practice. Lots of tantalizing names caught my eye - cherry tart, grape tart, peach tart etc all stared back at me, each looking more delicious than the other.

See the pretty tablecloth and lampshade? So Country French! What a true infusion of east-meets-west concept.

The Buddy had a set lunch, which came first with a Soup of the Day - chicken for today. He claimed it was good - delicious and creamy.

I took over the Salad since he is anti-greens. It was a small bowl of crispy, juicy lettuce and corn, topped with thousand island sauce - simple but tasty.

The Buddy selected the famous Hamburger Steak Set (SGD$16.50) - juicy, thick patty with sunny side up egg, side vegetables and mashed potato, served with rice or burger.  The burger was tender, grilled to perfect with hints of smokiness to its flavor, yet still retaining the lusciousness of beef's natural flavor. Pity the Buddy asked for the egg to be cooked fully, because the steak is best eaten with the egg yolk poked and infusing the steak, adding to the taste.

I had the Prawns and Scallops Gratin (SGD$13.80) - baked to a lovely golden color and slathered thickly with cheese. The huge fresh prawns and chewy scallops were delicious and lent credence to the cheesy pasta. The gratin melted in one's mouth literally, scoring points immediately.

For dessert, there was a slice of Grape Tart - huge, juicy grapes that were sweet, not sour. They did not taste processed, and are laid out beautifully in red and green tones, atop a crunchy biscuit base. I loved how the grapes popped literally in our mouths before we settled the sweetness with the more solid crusty base.