ABBA, SS2

Remember the iconic Swedish pop group ABBA? Their songs still sound as fresh as the day when I was a teenager fantasizing about becoming a rock star wahahahaha!!! Well, this ABBA has nothing to do with that ABBA.

It was a Friday evening and my partner and I initially planned on dinner at Chili's (we haven't been for a while) when I suddenly remembered that Chili's is a popular buka puasa venue.

For the time being it is best to avoid the hot buka puasa spots and that was how we ended up at SS2. We parked and walked around looking for a place to eat. 

Some restaurants were jam packed with queues forming outside while others were deathly quiet. That's when we came across ABBA.

My partner loves bento (and chicken karaage) so it did not take much convincing for him to agree to step inside.

So this is a Hotpot and Japanese Fusion restaurant. Interesting.

We took our time to peruse the menu. I was immediately attracted to the Beef Rice Bowl due to the sight of the magnificent medium rare beef.

And then there were the Salmon Rice Bowl and Wasabi Prawn Rice Bowl. Both looked pretty good too.

And then there were the bentos.

And some other Japanese side dishes.

And this is their Mala Hotpot. Not quite our thing.

Then there is the Barbecue & Hotpot Sets. I would prefer just the yakitoris without the hotpot.

They even have Korean Army Stew, something I have never been able to wrap my head around, much as I love Korean.

They even a small selection of pasta.

And of course beverages.

It looks like this restaurant has a lot going on their menu, a little bit of everything.

These were our orders. A Beef Rice Bowl for me.

A Delight Bento Set for him.

Both our meals came with a miso soup and chawanmushi.

Of course we had to have the Chicken Karaage.

And a Chicken Spinach Tomatoes Pasta to share.

Overall, we had quite a lovely meal. I was rather pleased with my Beef Rice Bowl.

It took quite a long time for it to be served (the pasta too) but it was worth the wait. The beef was done perfectly to medium rare and was tender and moist to the bite. It was a very satisfying bowl of food and I would not mind having it again.

I enjoyed the garlic sauce - garlicky, gingery, sweet and salty - it hit all the right notes with me.

My partner was happy with his bento and chicken karaage (thumbs up from me too except that I thought it was a bit greasy, could have been drained better).

He also liked the pasta which I did not appreciate quite as much due to the lemon juice squeezed in but I must give credit to the generous portion and ingredients and the tender chicken chunks.

I would say that ABBA was a delightful find and I am sure we will find ourselves here again soon.