I've been a loyal fan of Waraku, a Japanese family-friendly chain restaurant, for many years. I like Waraku for their large variety of dishes at reasonable prices, good food and good service. On the few occasions when the food was lacking, the service staff were diligent in gathering feedback and offering options such as replacing the dish with a new serving (prepared with greater care) or an alternative. It's not very often that one encounters good service in Singapore. All the times I've visited Waraku and its subsidiaries, I've been pleased to note the consistency in their efforts to maintain a good level of service.

One of my favourite dishes at Waraku is the Ishiyaki Ankake Ramen. I like it because it is served bubbling away in a hot stone bowl, the thick soup is rich in flavour and not excessively starchy. The bowl is chockful of fresh ingredients. Being a carb freak, I loved the strands of ramen that have absorbed the flavour of the soup. The prawns and squid are very fresh, crunchy and sweet. I don't really like to eat pork but the tranches of belly pork are usually tender and well-seasoned. If you love bamboo shoots, the menma (bamboo shoot) here is quite good as its tender yet has a slight crunch as opposed to overly fibrous menma that's served at some places.