hotpot 火锅

having lunch with meimei, my godsis today on 4.5.2018. ^^

my sis & bil are joining lunch. my sis loves hotpot 火锅, and hotpot about the easiest thing to do, no effort so i decided to just make hotpot 火锅 for lunch. 🙂

hotpot 火锅

i got the mushrooms (enoki, shitake & abalone mushrooms), and chinese cabbage & spinach from sheng shion.

hotpot 火锅

i had some leftover chicken stock so boiled 1/2 the chinese cabbage in the stock for 3hrs.

added 1/2 the beef balls & teochew fishcakes (also from sheng shiong)..

beef, pork & prawns

i used 1.2 of the 500g first choice USDA shabu beef from qbfoods, and the other day i bought japanese white pork from donki.

japanese white pork (bought from donki)

the white pork was for sukiyaki so thicker cut than shabu, but ok for me.

this pork was ok but not the same quality as iberico pork, not as tender & sweet, but still quite ok.

USDA first choice shabu beef

the USDA first choice shabu beef  was quite super. sweet beef very thinly sliced, so very tender & sweet. first choice indeed.

mushrooms & vege

& mushrooms & vege always good complements for hotpot & made the soup very sweet, balanced sweetness from the meat & the vege.

teochew fishcake & bean curd skin

the beancurd skin always very good.

hotpot 火锅

we cleaned up the food. i left the table earlier so meimei had a good chat with my sis & bil.

after lunch my sis made 功夫茶, and we ate some ground nuts.

a very enjoyable lunch & time together.

c.h.e.f andy

fragrant spicy grilled seabass 香辣考金目鲈

WT bought 4pax OPS buddies lunch at sujiang grilled fish at IMM building on 3.5.2018. ^^

WT fetched me from my place, then fetched M & CH met us at sujiang. 🙂

fragrant spicy grilled seabass 香辣考金目鲈

there was a lunch promo S$38.80 for while grilled seabass plus 2 sides dishes.

WT ordered that plus 2 more side dishes- so we had enoki (golden mushrooms), niang gao (like the korean dok), a bean curd skin 百叶, and another item. 🙂

the fish & the dish was very good in general. taste wise though good, i much prefer the taste at 重庆烤鱼 Chong Qing Grilled Fish (WT also bought dinner that time) 

somehow this fragrant spicy 香辣 flavour here NOT fragrant as i expected for  genuine mala dish…maybe the flavour was adjusted, not the one i expected or thought was genuine mala fragrant spicy 香辣 flavour!

saliva chicken 口水鸡

saliva chicken 口水鸡

the saliva chicken 口水鸡 for me was a failure. looked quite nice but does not have the fragrant mala taste of saliva chicken 口水鸡, more like an adulterated sweet sesame taste, or maybe my tastebuds off today. haha! 🙂

my idea of a good saliva chicken 口水鸡 is that at crystal jade or

at the really excellent lunch at shenzhen on 13.9.2017. 🙂

any case WT & i can make much better saliva chicken 口水鸡!

deepfried eggplant

the deepfried eggplant was good, very competent.

fried long beans

the fried long beans with mince pork was good too.

actually both dishes were really of good standard, though many other restaurants can do the same.

chendol at red ginger level 1 IMM

after lunch we adjourned to red ginger at level 1 of IMM.

CH bought chendol. nice kidney beans & good, thick coconut milk & gula melaka..

it was a pretty good chendol, better than all the hawker centres, better than amoy chendol at chinatown & still better than island penang kitchen also.

we maybe partial but four seasons chendol at toa payoh lor 8 still better la…

c.h.e.f andy

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beef & foie gras don S$23  (recycled stock photo from 19.3.2018)

had 2pax dinner with my OPS bro WT @ tanuki raw at level 4 orchard central on 2.5.2018. ^^

WT was away for 2months+, back to shanghai 2 days after our OPS CNY makan & chill at CH2 house on 24.2.2018. 

so catching up with him this evening after my recent trips – OPS sakura trip to kyoto 5-12.4.2018, then my croatia tripw ith wife & daughter 19-30.4.2018.

WT had the foie gras & steak don. he still prefers non sashimi after lots of shanghai japanese ala carte buffet training, lol!

the foie gras & steak don looked really good, maybe i should have ordered that too.

tanuki chirashi don S$24.90 (recycled stock photo from 19.3.2018)

the chirashi don today was not great. i guess all depends on the freshness & cut on the day, but if it is inconsistent, means the retsurant not that great!

(i did not take photo this time so using recycled photos from my last makan here).

afterwards i went to donki at B2 to buy some kagoshima kurobuta & white pork etc

then WT bought coffee at yakun.

i forgot to redeem S$4.80 parking after going donki B2 then yakun ay L5. next time must redeem parking right away la!

c.h.e.f andy

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argentine ribeye 

had early birthday lunch for my dear friend CL @ bochinche on 2.5.2018. ^^

i was away this period with wife & daughter & arrived home 7pm+ the evening before..so i googled while overseas to find a good place to go for lunch.

argentinian steak sounded like a good propostion! 🙂

bochinche set lunch

bochinche offers a 2,3 course set lunch.

bochinche 

quite good ambience, parking though was a problem.

i thought i was early, but i chose the wrong route option & took telok ayer street. though it was before 12pm, both telok ayer & amoy streets had no parking spaces & worse, both streets were jammed up & took a long time to get by…after i turned into club street & by that time, no carpark space left on club street, so i had to make a big detour to park at ura open rooftop carpark at mnd building maxwell road.

got to bochinche finallt at 12.20pm!

asparagus with goat cheese 

i took the 2 course at S$32.

got CL to take the 3 course & a white wine.

we both had asparagus (not bad!) & argentine ribeye (very good!)..

aspagragus was ok, goat cheese was a nice dip with added texture of the grated chestnuts…

argentine ribeye 

 

the argentine ribeye was par excellence, really quite a superb steak that is not wagyu & not USDA prime??? or maybe it can be considered USDA prime?

very tender & sweet (very important), and properly charred…we enjoyed the steak very much. 🙂

i asked the waitress what is the ala carte price for the argentine ribeye. she said S$75 for 300g ribeye. our set lunch serving was 190g… 🙂

i asked her if bochinche meant something in argentinian. she went to find out & returned to say it meant something like creating a ruckus? i supposed a lot of fun & fiesta?

strawberry dessert & ice cream

i tried a tsp of the strawberry & ice cream…pretty good…overall a nice dessert.

after lunch we drove to tiong hoe for a nice cuppa…and a good chat!

CL was joining another group of friends for avenger – infinity war movie & another birthday dinner afterwards & i am having dinner with my OPS bro WT…

c.h.e.f andy

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special aburi sushi set 

tsukiji sushi takewaka has a sushi promotion…

i went with LKY to try the special aburi sushi set on 17.4.2018. ^^

last time i came (also with LKY on one day & WM my OPS bro on the previous day) was on 2.8.2017. 

the set consisted of 11 aburi (flamed) sushi = 3 salmon belly, 3 wagyu, 3 toro & 2 foie gras, all good stuff, S$24.50 at 50% discount.

aburi toro (complimentary)

additionally, we each had 2 pieces of aburi toro (complimentary), care of jpassport coupons.

special aburi sushi set

special aburi sushi set 

the wasabi had no kick…we asked for more, but still not much taste…the sushi rice was good .

somehow the special aburi sushi didn’t have the wow that i expected of such top quality ingredients. it was good for sure but also pretty bland, a strange word though to describe toro, wagyu & foie gras, but there it was!

i guess still mighty good having all these for S$24.40++, just my expectation was a bit heightened.

c.h.e.f andy

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Tsukiji Sushi Takewaka

wanton noodles

daughter called to have early lunch at 6th ave good good eating house on 4.4.2018. ^^

daughter & JH came over to pick up my wife & me. 🙂

JH had the 6th avenue wanton noodles PLUS the jln tua kong bakchormee.

dumplings noodle 水饺面

wife & daughter had the dumplings noodle 水饺面…

I had my usual kopi c gosong tilok…

i had not taken this wanton noodles here for very long. checking, my last post was 3 yrs ago on 15.2.2018. 

i tried the noodles. it was quite good, but i think not as good as jian kang wanton noodles at commonwealth crescent food centre. 

& the jln tua kong bcm is always good. everyone was happy & satisfied. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

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6th Avenue Wanton Noodles

Address:

Good Good Eating House, 24 Sixth Ave, Singapore 276481

Opening Hours:

teochew muay dishes

went with sis, bil & SL (old friend of my bro) & her son for teochew muay this morning at ye shanghai 夜上海 at lengkok bahru on 2.4.2018. ^^

we were there at 11.45am on a monday no queue.

sis went to order the dishes. we had 2 fishes – mullet & also a steamed garoupa, and 7 vegetables dishes. sis later added another 5 vegetable dishes. i think all came to like $7pax for 5pax.

long queue at 12pm+ 

a queue formed shortly, and while we were having lunch, the queue snaked to maybe 15-20pax long.

teochew muay dishes 

fish were fresh & sweet. i always like mullet best, very firm & sweet especially with tau jeon.

& the vegetables freshly fried, steaming hot when served.

all finito

we finished up everything. coffeeeshop was bright & airy enough, and everything was quite pleasant.

i asked the server he said they opened 10am to 5am next morning.

a simple, inexpensive & most enjoyable lunch.

c.h.e.f andy

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排骨王vinegared ribs 

KF & wife A bought lunch @ dragon phoenix grand temasek club rifle range road. we were 3 couples 6pax including my jogging mate & his wife SW.

KF ordered 5 dishes. they were all quite good.

排骨王vinegared ribs is regular zi char dish. of course they did it here as good as any, a common dish many would order.

yam basket 

the yam basket is their signature here & chef hooi kok wai, one of the quartet 4 heavenly chefs, created the dish like 50 years ago.

the yam was 松fluffy & nice, quite a heavy dish.

roast chicken

roast chicken is supposed to be their specialty/signature dish…

it was rather mediocre leh…the breast meat on the dry & dense side, not near the best!

brocoli mushrooms 

brocoli mushroom dish was well done & tasty.

fried beehoon

the fried beehoon was quite creatively presented, covered with a fried egg omelette & nicely sauteed prawns!

nice dish, nothing special though apart from presentation…

it was a very pleasant & enjoyable lunch among old friends. it was easter sunday, & my friend is the chief pastor at the church which started & run teban gardens community service centre where i cooked a breakfast dish every friday. my friend of course shared the easter message & good news. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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dragon phoenix GRAND @ temasek club riffle range road

Address:
131 Rifle Range Road,
2nd level of Block 2,
Singapore 588406.

Contact:

(+65) 6463-3628

MSW & D13

my OPS bro PK arranged to meet at sin kian choon jln membina 2pm on 27.3.2018. ^^

durian was late so we had coffee at the corner coffesshop.

got our durians around 3pm & went to tiong bahru food centre (empty & quiet on a monday 3pm+). had a durian feast.

PK bought 2 MSW (S$14/kg) & 2 D13 (S$15each), total S$90+…he inisted his treat today…

D13

we started with the D13. D13 was extremely good today.

very creamy & most important, very fragrant..WM bought 4 D13 for home & he said it was just as good…

MSW

MSW of course was a different level of creaminess, and small seeds. very good MSW also.

this was a durian feast as we expected. we only finished 1 msw & 1 D13, and PK inisted i took 1 packet MSW home alongside my bamboo & golden phoenix…

sin kian choon

the gang (regulars like WM & PK knows mike very well by now).

sin kian choon

WM bought 4 D13 paid S$50 instead of S$60.

durian price

i paid total S$29 = S$11 for 2 small golden phoenix (S$10/kg for small durians) & $18 for 1 bamboo (S$11/kg ).

i didn’t quite get discount, but not complaining, just S$29 for 2 boxes, all very good durians.

tiong bahru cha kuay teow

tiong bahru cha kuay teow

after durians, WM went to get cheng tng ice dessert etc (i didn’t take).

PK went to order S$5 char kuay teow..he said good wokhae.

tiong bahru cha kuay teow

it was just mediocre to me, i think about my standard la…

for me, nothing compares with hai kee at telok blangah crescent

& outram road char kuay teow at hong lim food centre would be second on my list…

MSQ

i took some MSW & left remaining for my son & wife in sealed container. they managed to finish between them the next day.

golden pheonix & bamboo

for my own S$29 of bamboo + golden phoenix, i mange to finish them over 2 days.

bamboo

bamboo

first the bamboo, almost felt like MSW, very creamy & fragrant & slightly bitter. bigger seeds than MSW…still MSW is different, really super creamy.

golden pheonix

the next day i ate the golden phoenix. it was also very good, but i would say bamboo comes first, then D13 then this golden phoenix (though i think normally golden phoenix would be better than D13.

“eat back the capital” 吃够本, really shiok the durians!

c.h.e.f andy

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thai mango salad

rice crakers minced meat with prawns

next we have the rice crackers. this a common thai dish always served with the minced meat toppings. the addition was prawns, which is new to me. anyway a competent dish.

prawn cake

the prawn cake was excellent!

very good batter & very tasty prawn cake, nicely complemented with thai sweet sauce, and also pickled carrots & radish…

prawn cake

for sure a dish i would order again here!

tomyam soup

the tomyam talay was competent.

much better than the diluted ones i had recently at thai pan at mandarin gardens overwhelmed by sourness, here a quite measured taste.

tomyam soup

not quite the intense aroma, tasty tomyam talay at patara, but a good tomyam i would order nevertheless,

i think about same & competent like nakhon kitchen hollandv etc..

stuffed chicken wings

stuffed chicken wings also another standard fare.

stuffed chicken wings

a simple dish, it looked good & quite tasty taken with the thai sweet sauce.

claypot tofu

the claypot tofu with prawns & vegetables quite a good complementary dish.

claypot tofu

tofu was well infused, gravy was good  & vegetables are always welcome.

basil beef

i asked for the basil beef.

beef was tender, tenderised i guess like most chinese/asian preparations.

the sauce was overpowering. this is a common preparation (just like nakhon kitchen hollandv) just not my preference.

i would do with more chilli to give more spicy kick & just a little sauce to enjoy the sweet basil flavours.

some restaurants like patara do it with little sauce. & a cheap joint like le wu also did it well enough.

basil minced pork

the basil minced pork was the same preparation using minced pork in place of beef.

pepper crab

the crab was excellent!

like SCG said, you have to pre-order the crabs, so the crab is very fresh & firm & “hard 硬” meaning the meat filled the shells.

black pepper very flavourful, just a tad sweet…

claypot crab beehoon

the claypot crab tanhoon their specialty here & indeed it was good! tasty well infused tanhoon, and we all ended up taking more crabs than we needed la…

sweet potato with tea ice cream

SCG ordered 2 desserts for us to try, the sweet potato with coconut cream, and the mango with sticky rice…

& SGC’s wife made the coconut sorbet & tea ice cream (not in menu).

the tea ice cream was very flavourful, just a tad sweet for me. the coconut was a very refreshing sorbet, and wonderful coconut favours…

mango sticky rice

the mango sticky rice quite the usual, competent!

the sweet potato with coconut cream also very nice la!

Dr S came. he had his vegetarian dinner already so didn’t eat much here.

we had a truly wonderful evening, took lots of photos, and SCG arranged for me to visit the kitchen & had photos with Joe, with all 3 thai chefs.

afterwards we adjourned a few shops down the block to hong kong street chun kee for beer. i had to prepare something for tomorrow’s 8pax tapas+pasta+steak dinner & also thurs OPS sakura gang 海底捞 hotpot dinner so i excused myself shortly…

c.h.e.f andy

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Joe’s Thai Kitchen

tapas

had a wonderful homecooked 8pax tapas+pasta+steak dinner on 21.3.2018. ^^

i made 10 dishes, 6 cold tapas, 2 hot tapas, 1 pasta & 1 steak –

1. pumpkin salad
2. nobu miso cod
3. teriyaki salmon belly
4. flamed miso belly pork
5. ika sugatayaki (flamed while squid)
6. grilled vegetables
7. chorizo prawns
8. herb crusted rack of lamb
9. seafood fiduea (proxy by broken angelhair)
10. tagliata di manzo (sliced beef steak)

i have not invited this group of friends (introduced by NCL some years back) for maybe 2 years now. recently JK had invited me like 4 times, after she renovated her flat, and she made wonderful dinners/lunches…the most recently one i could not attend.

so i say about time i invited this group. wife also joined dinner so we had 8pax.

pumpkin salad

i started with pumpkin salad. roasted pumpkin last evening, overdid it, so roasted a second batch 20mins, quite perfect.

went very well as usual with arugula (rockets) & cherry tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic, sea salt & some honey (did not have agave nectar).

teriyaki salmon belly

did my usual teriyaki salmon belly. & as usual everyone loved this! ^^

i did this 25odegC(max) 15mins, if i were using the other oven, it would be 280degC & 12 mins. looked & tasted wonderful with dill from my garden…

nobu miso cod & teriyaki salmon belly

& i did nobu miso cod..this a dish equally favourite for my friends & family though perhaps more would line up for the salmon.

nobu miso cod

firm, flaky, oily texture, sweet & wonderfully miso flavoured.

nobu miso cod & miso belly pork

i did also miso belly pork.

miso belly pork

cut away skin, boiled in boiling water to remove scum, then coated with miso marinade & placed in 95degC oven for 6hrs.

nicely flavoured & firm crystalline texture. perfect for flaming to give the bbq flavours.

ika sugatayaki

ika sugatayaki

same for ika sugatayaki.

i bought this from donki at orchard central the day before.

steamed about 90%-95% done, then dry on rack in fridge, then added olive oil, sea salt, coarse black pepper & honey, and flamed when serving…

this really quite jap restaurant standard, done quite perfectly. ^^

roasted vege

i had roasted vege…just put together some red, yellow, green peppers, egg plant, corn, onons & garlic, added olive oil, sea salt black pepper, butter & roasted for 30mins.

roasted vege

it was a welcome complement to the meats, and it was so easy, no skills required to put it together. 🙂

chorizo prawns

i had 2 tapas to be served hot.

first was chorizo prawns…

chorizo prawns

the key here was really a very good chicken stock. i did not add or used prawns stock as wife preferred chicken stock.

i added the prawns (seasoned with fish sauce & white pepper) when serving. prawns were cooked just right & it was a really excellent dish, fresh, sweet, bouncy prawns & excellent chorizo flavours.

herb crusted rack of lamb

the other hot “tapas” was a rack of lamb.

this lamb bought from qbfoods already denuded (frenched & caps off). i religiously removed the remaining fat (very little of it, would have been a mountain of fat if not denuded) & some membrane. i decided to simplify the effort so no chopped pistachio, just herb crusted.

herb crusted rack of lamb(before roasting 23mins)

roasted at 210egC for 210degC for about 22-23mins.

seafood fiduea

for tapsa, i decided on fiduea instead of paella. fiduea & preparation was new, whereas paella misture i made often enough!

again everything rest with a good stock! i had intense chicken stock & white wine added to browned garlic, chilli padi & olive oil, and reduced further.

when serving, i added the broken angel hair (proxy to fiduea which i could not get at the supermarkets), covered & braised (only 2 mins to cook angel hair), then added prawns & sotongs.

the key was in the stock & estimation of the amount, enough just to cook & infuse the pasta, and to reduce so the “foduea” came out just al dente, prawns & sotongs were just cooked & not overcooked, and the gravy was sufficiently reduced…

tagliata di manzo – usda prime ribeye 

the last dish was tagliata di manzo…this always good & the usda prime was simply wonderful – tender, moist, properly browned. doneness was slight over so medium well instead of medium rare. still excellent steak!^^

grapes 

thanks CH & J who brought the grapes, CP for cakes, choon for sorbet, JeK  for making me 2 kg heavier (kong bak pao) and ourselves for a jolly good time👍

CL & all have a safe & wonderful memorable trip to iceland/france/spain & Jeanette to machupichu!

cakes

CP brought nice cakes.

macha cake

chocolate mousse cake

cake

strawberry cake

most like the macha cake. myself, i like the chocolate mousse cake. 🙂

wei’s lemon sorbet

tanuki chirashi don S$22.90 

went with sis & bil to tanuki raw at orchard central for 3pax lunch on 19.3.2018. ^^

the last time i came here also with my sis & bil was on 21.8.2017. 🙂

tanuki chirashi don S$22.90 

today the chirashi don was just as good..

there is a $2 payable if you want the salad & miso soup. i didn’t need any so i ordered for 2pax for sis & bil.

tanuki chirashi don S$22.90 

the sashimi cuts were very good really, in general i think better than sun with moon & en sakaba…

only that they did not have the expensive anago & aka ebi at en sakaba, but the uni serving is larger here…

anyway all the sashimi cuts very fresh & sweet & good size cuts…

sis also had this tanuki chirashi don..

unagi & foie gras S$25.90

bil ordered the unagi don. it came with a larget thick cut piece of foie gras & also aburi hotate, so i guess that was giving quite good value for the pricier don.

unagi & foie gras S$25.90

unagi & foie gras S$25.90 

sis & bil share a bit of their respective dons. i think both donburi lunch were very good, though i don’t mind to alternate this with en sakaba’s chirashi don S$28. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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fish ball noodles

eldest daughter (recently married) called to have lunch..

like my friend CCG said when children called to buy you things or to go makan together, always say YES!!! lol!^^

we decided to go tiong hoe for coffee (again! for me 😜) on 17.3.2018. 🙂

stopped by coffeeshop opposite (blk 169A stirling food court) & daughter took a fishball noodles from a wanton noodles stall. I did not eat..didn’t look edible but daughter liked the plain noodles 😎