Showing posts with label Japanese Cuisine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese Cuisine. Show all posts
27 May 2014
Sushi Megumi Japanese Resturant - Quality > Quantity
My friend brought me all the way to Sentosa to have lunch at a Japanese Resturant which he often patronize and rave about. The place is quite inaccessible for non-drivers like me, since it is located within Sentosa Golf Club. Be prepared to view some pictures of authentic Japanese food prepared by the Japanese chef himself!
Not the typical outdoor view you usually get! A segment of grassy plains where people play golf - OMG so beautiful!
Golf carts parked neatly along the road. This picture could be a perfect painting inspiration!
Despite the beautiful view of the golf course, we still dined indoors to escape the afternoon heat. The indoor seating is definitely much more 'Japanese' and comfortable too. I noticed that the other guests were mainly golfers or businessmen having a meal with their client.
My friend had the Chirashi bowl! (Close to $40)
It definitely was tempting to see his entire bowl of rice being covered with a variety of fresh ingredients! Uni! Toro! Unagi! Etc....!
My other friend and I decided to go for the Bento set which came with a bowl of rice and miso soup. The lighting was dim and my pictures did not give justice to the yumminess of the food. (About $40 a set which I felt was worth the value!)
Going a little into details, strips of carrots, black fungus and maybe prawn paste (felt the tingling due to my allergy to crustaceans), coated with a light batter and fried. It was so addictive as a snack itself!
Salad, bacon wrapped oyster, prickled ginger flower, fried chicken karaage, grilled salmon and tamago (sweet egg)! I am no fan of tamago but this was quite an exception!
Snapper and tuna sashimi, raw shrimp, 1/4 of a scallop and kelp! 1 word - Fresh
My favorite fresh and crunchy bamboo shoots infused with dashi broth with bonito flakes! I wished I had more...
Last but not least, we had citron sorbet and a cup of tea! (Not sure if it was hojicha or brown rice tea though.)
Another cup of tea which I guessed would aid digestion. See the cute baby crawling up....
If I had the chance, I would be back again!
29 Apr 2014
The Public Izakaya by Hachi - Over Fusion??
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| The interior was furnished so beautifully that it felt so surreal! Am I still in Singapore? The streets along Tanjong Pagar where offices are located in almost every building? The dim lanterns hanging across the ceilings emitted an orangey glow that made the entire restaurant felt so homely. Too bad my friends and I had to dine outdoors due to the peak lunch period and the clash with the office crowd. (Picture taken after the meal.) |
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| There were free flow of appetizers, mainly salad that were not worth the mention since they were either soggy or badly marinated. It could be a wise move since office people are getting rather health conscious nowadays. Health is wealth! |
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| Certain food like this serving of deep fried chicken cutlets with wedges found in the lunch menu totally contradicts the Japanese style. Could it be a fusion that was overtaken by the western part? With the ketchup bottles as a backdrop, no one could tell this dish was from a Japanese restaurant. Tender juicy chicken but the ratio to the crispy batter was imbalance. Let's not talk about the processed wedges since I decided to skip them. |
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| My friend received a wrong order but he decided to take it anyway. I think due to the really huge pieces of ribs that were too eye-catching and difficult to resist. My stares could not be turned away due to the tantalizing gravy that drenched the rice. Gosh, I want to eat from that yummy bowl right now! |
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| I had the pork belly set which looked less appealing as compared to my friend's ribs. It was simple, tender and mildly salty, perfect combination with plain rice. Thankfully I had other dishes to whet up my appetite. |
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| ARH....Finally the most Japanese-like food that arrived at our table! A light bodied clear soup with certain unknown Japanese ingredients in it! Hard boiled egg, taro, fishcake filled with sticky flour and another spongy fishcake. Such enjoyable and real comfort food I would say. By the end of our catching up meal, the entire place was empty as people went back to their monotonous work life. How I wished I had more freedom and be stress-free! |
3 Feb 2014
Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Four Seasons - Back again
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| I mentioned before that I would quit ramen dining somewhere in my previous post and I was back here in Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Four Seasons again. Not that I did not stick to my words but it was my friend's decision to queue for it since he have not tried from this outlet before. We ended up queueing for more than 30 minutes while he kept sharing his recent 3 weeks of experience in Japan with me. He also mentioned that in Japan, many dining places required queueing too and he did not mind waiting at all. (Provided you don't faint from huger first.) As for me, it was my 3rd visit and I admit that this outlet was one of the better ones in Singapore. Like finally we could step into the restaurant and were given the counter seats. Interesting to watch the chefs in action but annoying to have smoke flying directly at my face while enjoying my bowl of ramen. |
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| I suggested the 'Autumn' ramen to my friend since he loves spicy food. He gobbled it hungrily and agreed with me that it was really delicious, one of the better ones he tried in Singapore, even better than Ramen Keisuke Tori King (its sister outlet). As for me, I tried the Tonkotsu King and it sure was addictive and I could have easily drank 4 bowls of such tasty broth. Another YUM factor was the thinly sliced tender pork with some fats and onions which provided an additional bit of sweetness. I really would not mind eating this bowl of ramen for a week! By the way, my previous posts on Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Four Seasons could be found here and here. |
13 Jan 2014
Sushi King (JB) - Virgin's trip 1st meal
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| My friend brought me to Johor Bahru to find food and I honestly say, it was my virgin trip to JB! I know it is rather shocking, even to myself. Can you imagine a virgin trip to JB at the age of 23?! Did I just revealed my age? Anyway, we did not exit Johor Bahru City Square to hunt for food as I was already amazed by the countless unknown food outlet brands located all around. We as adventurous foodies, randomly decided to dine at Sushi King since neither of us have heard nor tried it before. So many plates of untouched sushi revolving around the conveyor belt endlessly prevented me from taking them. I wondered how long they have been on this merry-go-round system... |
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| So not appetizing! My friend and I decided to order from the menu instead. |
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| Our sushi with collagen balls! I admit that I ordered this sushi just because of the word collagen. Not sure what it was made of but in my mouth, it was just tasteless agar agar. Did I just get scammed? |
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| My Unagi Set consists of a bowl of rice, miso soup and chawanmushi finally arrived! Really standard meal with no comments about the quality at all, except for the really slow service. (Thankfully we were not in a hurry.) |
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| My friend's rice set with deep fried chicken karaage, jellyfish, salmon sashimi and a piece of grilled salmon. That concludes my 1st meal in JB, but more to come! |
7 Jan 2014
Yonehachi - Sticky rice in Japanese cuisine?
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| Located at Takashimaya basement, clustered with many food booth and squeezing through the streaming flow of people, I dragged my friend along to try Yonehachi which caught my attention some time ago. The attractive range of lightly-toned colourful sticky rice tightened into capsules was an unusual sight in Singapore. After ordering our set with the chosen type of rice, we waited like forever before being served. The presentation was so not appealing and only the Okowa was worth the mention. |
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| I tried the Chicken Teriyaki Set and topped up an additional $1.00 for the scallop Okowa. The set meal itself was purely a disappointment but I guessed the sticky glutinous rice was supposed to be the highlight. How often do you get to see sticky glutinous rice appearing in a Japanese outlet's menu? Although the scallop Okowa was lightly salted and tasty, it had only 2-3 miserable pieces of thinly sliced scallop on it. |
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| My friend had the Shio Saba Set with red bean Okowa (original rice). His original rice came with a good amount of red beans unlike my pathetic scallops. Slightly less flavorful but I guessed I felt a very mild tinge of sweetness in there. |
29 Dec 2013
Menya Mushashi - All the way to the West
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| After this meal at Menya Mushashi which I ate with my friends at Westgate (a newly open mall beside Jem), I somehow felt the pinch of spending so much on a bowl of ramen. A bowl of ramen from any other restaurants could easily hit $15 to $20, more than enough to cover an entire day food expanses. Perhaps I should stop trying so many different outlets and stick to the same few favorite ones to prevent unwanted disappointment. Back to this bowl of Black Special Ramen Set which I ordered that included a choice of side dish. I was once again greatly disappointed about almost every major components this bowl contained. Murky looking broth that lacked flavor, only half a non-molten centre egg, average slice of pork belly and a boring piece of fried bean curd skin. I was quite pissed off about the extremely low amount of broth in my bowl too, not that I enjoyed it. The only thing I liked was the H-shaped noodles that were supposed to 'collect' a bit of broth along its grooves, just like the spirals of fusilli pasta. Thick, smooth, slightly chewy and I guessed mildly salted too. |
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| Dennis had the White Special Ramen Set that was the plainest among all. Simple thick broth with every ingredients exactly the same as what I had described above. |
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| Yong Xian tried the Red Special Ramen Set which looked more orangey than red and was mildly spicy. I hoped they did not choose different types of ramen just for my photography sake or I would be so touched LOL! |
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| Our mediocre side dishes with the gyoza standing out because of its juicy meat fillings. The maki was too cloying due to its tightly compressed rice. No more trying of new ramen outlets for me liao, unless I suffer a major crave! |
27 Dec 2013
Ramen Champion - Getting worse?
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| Before I begin typing this post, I was already questioning myself why the heck I choose to eat the same bowl of ramen the third time? The first time I randomly tried (out of the other outlets), I fell for it. The lovely thick and slightly flat noodles in the salty-savory broth with additional 3 huge spoonful of finely chopped garlic was so addictive. The second time I ate, it was less satisfying but still delicious. This time, I was utterly disappointed with this same type of ramen, but of far-fetched standard. The molten centred eggs were still acceptable but not the broth. There was an obvious layer on the surface (definitely oil), and the broth was rather bland and tasteless. What did I just paid for? |
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| My friend was searching for a bowl of ramen with spicy broth and the picture of Buta God Tonkotse Ramen caught his attention. The flaring red broth from all that chili flakes or spices prevented me from trying. He was thoroughly enjoying both his ramen, as well as the feeling of perspiring non-stop throughout his meal. So not my meaning/sort of enjoyment. |
7 Dec 2013
En Jap Grill and Bar Skewer Buffet - Grilled delicacies
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| To celebrate my Mum's birthday, I suggested treating her to a buffet. Despite being out of the way, I picked En Jap Grill and Bar as the venue, which was located at UE Square. The place had a relaxing vibe and the restaurant was conducive and easy for conversation. Picking a buffet meal to celebrate my mum's birthday was quite a horrible choice as she hardly eat much! (My brother and I felt that we were wasting our money...) It was my second visit and having the skewer buffet here, which made me experienced enough to know what to order in plentiful or in minimum. Click here to read about my first visit! |
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| The platter of fresh sashimi, average thickness, for 4 of us. (One time order only) There were no fishy smell at all and I hoped I could have free flow of them! |
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| Salad with thinly sliced pork! I hoped they were more generous with the pork slices as we did not want to order another serving of salad just for it. |
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| Basically all the skewers were grilled on the spot and could be seen through the glass panel that separates the diners and the cooks. I felt that the open concept kitchen definitely made the cooks more stress! There were hits and misses and the quality were not exactly consistent. Our favourites were obviously the grilled beef (not shown here), scallops and salmon skewers as they were simply delicious with natural juices emitting from them. |
14 Nov 2013
Hifumi - Celebrating a birthday
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| Meeting out and gathering as a group would happen less occasionally nowadays since each of us have our own lifestyle and work commitments to concentrate on. The only thing that would pull us together would be a special occasion such as a birthday or a public holiday like Christmas which would be approaching real soon! Anyway, we were still procrastinating on where should we have our dinner that day. I ended up recommending Hifumi since they have the concept of free flow appetizer when you ordered a main course. I just love the feel of Jap display... |
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| I love capturing simple images of minimalist objects such as this unique shape bowl containing my chawanmushi. I was utterly stunned by its silky smooth texture, although the bottom half felt kind of powdery. |
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| Among all the appetizers available, this was our favorite! Glazed with sugary sweetness, these sweet potato fries were so addictive that we shared a rather huge serving! |
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| Let me show you guys the 4 main courses which we ordered! Random tossing of unagi, salmon, prawns, egg, cucumber and roes! Just the colours itself was so attractive! |
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| Thick but slightly dry pork cutlet embedded among moist and fluffy eggs! My second time having this dish! My first visit can be found here! |
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| Swirly melted cheese fusing with Japanese curry rice! The surface definitely looked like it was torched (char parts spotted). |
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| Rather spicy curry chicken with vegetables fusion! Something which I would not have ordered... |
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| Happy birthday!!! So many people were staring at us while we took pictures as we were making a hell lot of noises (laughter) at a cafe. We were having fun among ourselves that those stares were oblivious to us, LOL! |
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| Posing with our printed polariod shots! The group shot was a tough one as we tried not to waste any films or els someone would be angry... |
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| Had many shots but these were the best 3! |
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| Cheers! |
7 Sept 2013
Rakuzen - A Jap dinner with mum!
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| My mum and I were already starving and I was on a verge of having stomach cramps due to excessive hunger. It was already 7+ and we still have not eaten our dinner! I seriously disliked the feeling of starvation but I still led my mum all the way from Suntec City to Millenia Walk, believing that there would be yummy food existing around that area. I was right! There were quite a couple of restaurants in there as well as hidden around the bends. My mums choose Rakuzen, which I had in mind since I had cravings for Japanese food. The place was rather quiet and dimly lit, so I felt my eyelids getting heavier every moment. I shake myself up, trying to enjoy the peaceful ambiance and the beautifully designed furnishing around me. |
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| My mum ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen which looked like an ordinary bowl of ramen. (Instant noodles would be more liked it.) How do you actually present a bowl of ramen to look more appetizing? Tough one I supposed. Despite the non-attractive presentation, the soup base was really superb! It was soothingly light and the umami flavor was irresistible. My mum really enjoyed her ramen but the greatest disappointment was that the Tonkotsu Ramen here had no Tonkotsu in it. Therefore, it was basically a plain bowl with only some vegetables to go with! |
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| As for me, I had a craving for sashimi but wanted something more filling. So I ended up picking the Sakura Chirashi Don - Mixed sashimi over japanese vinegared rice. Pardon me as I really could not tell if the sashimi were fresh all because I did not get a satisfying feel after consuming them. All I knew was that there were no traces of any fishy smell emitting from them. The prickled ginger slices were unusually good with mild pungentness. I guessed the pink sugar I left behind was sakura sugar as I did not like additional artificial sweetness in my don. On the whole, the price tag was something I should consider before stepping into any Japanese restaurant, which my mum would be oblivious to. |