ホッピーバでの夕食

The BFF and I made a last minute dinner date and bravely went out without a restaurant reservation. It was just a random meal so we weren’t bothered with fancy. We would settle for wherever eatery that had available space for us. At the Tanjong Pagar area, the crowds were ridiculous. There were queues out spilling out of the sidewalk at many restaurants. The required social distancing was as minimal as it could be without breaking the rules. Yeah, the tables are spaced a meter apart. But when butts and spines sit down, your back is barely 50cm from the person behind. We grimaced at the crowd at The Public Izakaya. Those tables were too close and we didn’t want to wait an hour for a table.

Went across to The Public Izakaya's sister bar- The Hoppy Bar. By some random luck, we were immediately ushered to the last four seats at the bar in the quiet corner. Perfect. The BFF had a craving for a small serving of tako wasabi, of which I resolutely ignored. Me and wasabi aren’t really friends. I wanted the negitoro on toast. Hurhurhur. She was loading up on carbs for her morning dive by way of tsukemen. I loaded up for my run through buta-onigiri. Had a small bowl of gyusuji nikomi (牛筋煮込み, beef brisket and tendon stew) as well. 

Also had a few sticks of yakitori which took super long to arrive. But that was cool because we were warned about the wait, large orders, crowds and such; anyway we had other food to eat first. The food at Hoppy Bar and The Public Izakaya is generally satisfying. It’s a casual izakaya that fits our easy mood. Ordered beer too. We had enough of drinking from bottles and cans. It has been a few months since we had such good Suntory beer on tap. Ahhhhh. Absolutely refreshing.