my plate 

equinox used to be my favourite buffet destination.

i like the semi buffet arrangement, where the main course is a fine dining ala carte order. especially when i hardly take any main course at buffets as they are the food warmers variety & invariably not great.

the other place i thought semi-buffet is better quality than equinox is the mezze lunch at one ninety at four seasons.

one ninety of course more ex c/w with equinox S$59pax with 50% feed @ raffles discounts.

my one ninety post was 3 yrs ago & no post on equinox, so have not been to equinox like 4 yrs?? basically avoid buffet la…if i can…

singapore river – view from equinox level 70 

the other advantage of equinox is of course it’s great vantage, superb view! 🙂

of MBS, padang, raffles place etc…

raffles place – view from equinox level 70 

on this day i went with my sis for the semi buffet lunch on 15.7.2016. ^^

amex is varying the feed @ raffles discounts so will be 35% instead of 50% discount come 1.8.2016. so i thought i come with my sis 1 last time before the change in discount kicks in.

equinox – level 70 swissotel 

many people thinking that as well?

buffet spread 

well after 4 yrs absence from this place, it’s like 面目全非. buffet spread halved??

the other side which used to host the cooked small plate dishes & cheese board are now tables & chairs.

sushi 

there’s the usual sushi.

ok average stuff. i didn’t take much before not taking much now, just the unagi & one maki.

sashimi 

same sashimi. i just take the belly.

my plate 

oysters were quite nice, fresh & sweet.

my sis loved the crabs. i took a few. she took many more! 🙂

unagi sushi topped with caviar 

they had the caviar & tobiko. din have these before.

i piled some caviar on the unagi.

maki topped with tobiko 

& some tobiko on the maki.

crab claws 

the cold crab not too bad la…

pan-fried barramundi

pan-fried barramundi 

some how the mains also did not feel as good as before. psychological?

barramundi was ok i supposed, but i though it was a lot better previously…

belly pork 

belly pork & pumpkin mash passable also.

belly pork 

not particularly impressive taste wise. texture ok did not impress either.

fruits 

there were some fruits. run of the mill & not sweet, so just took watermelon. 🙂

dessert

tried some cakes.

soft ice creams 

also the soft-serve ice cream, pretty good, not too sweet.

soft ice cream & cakes

cakes also not too sweet. quite nice actually.

cakes 

took some apricots, dates. sis took some fig also which i tried.

cappuccino 

& cappuccino & tea part of the buffet.

at 50% discounts lunch was S$29.50pax. not really bad but quite poor c/w before.

for this mediocre food, i think even the square & ellenborough market cafe are better so for me no point coming back even at 50% discount so forget about 30% discount from 1.8.2016.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Equinox @ swissotel the stamford

Address:

mikuni chirashi don

went with wife for 2pax lunch at mikuni today on 14.7.2016. ^^

amex is rebranding & varying its feed @ raffles privileges to love dining from 1aug2016.

there will be additions of new restaurants in shangri-la, marriott, st regis, raffles & W Singapore.

but also for mikuni & equinox, discounts will drop from the current 50% to 30% from 1.8.2016, the trade-offs being the flat 35% will apply for up to 10pax.

so i am dining at mikuni rather often this period. haha!

mikuni

others probably thinking the same! 🙂

mikuni chirashi don

chirashi don is always good. priced at S$90, it is S$45 after 50% discount.

there are all the premium cuts including 2 pieces of chutoro, uni, botan ebi.

the sashimi were fresh & premium quality. the don (rice) though strangely poor.

wife was commenting that overall experience the chirashi don at kuriya dining more satisfying.

quite indeed!

& though hachi omakase lunch was twice the price, on a head to head, i would pick hachi omakase lunch everytime.

look at the photos, it is easy to see why! 🙂

kagoshima wagyu don

the kagoshima wagyu don is S$48 or S$24 after 50% discounts.

wagyu was tasty, but still a long way off c/w the grilled ohmi 近江wagyu at hachi omakase lunch.

kagoshima wagyu don

the don again is below par.

strangely sweet & kind of wet.

kagoshima wagyu don

the ingredients were good, so has to put down to the preparation. i wonder.

kagoshima wagyu sukiyaki konabe (stock photo)

we also shared a kagoshima wagyu sukiyaki konabe. forgot to take photos so i am using a stock photo.

still, it was very good lunch for the price, so we would missed it somewhat come 1aug2016.

lunch was S$110nett for 2pax, quite good for the quality.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mikuni @ Fairmont

Address:

80 Bras Basah Rd, Fairmont Hotel 3/L, Raffles City, Singapore 189560

Contact:

6431 6156

Opening Hours:

Mon-Sun: 12-2:30pm, 6:30-10:30pm

spicy black bean paste fish head

went with my OPS primary school classmates for a walk along the southern ridge on 13.7.2016. ^^

we started just past 6pm, walked along the elevated gangway from hortpark to mt faber & back past 8pm.

hong kong street sum kee @ alexandra village 香港街珍记

decided to go nearby hong kong street sum kee @ alexandra village 香港街珍记for dinner.

this place notorious for parking in the day. but after 6.30pm the season carpark lots are available.

the coffeeshop & sum kee also not crowded, so it was a breeze actually, no hassle.

la pok – crispy lard

friends ordered the crispy lard.

i have decided to cut down, but still tried one piece. din like this oily style..i like the crispy dry pork lard so no problem to keep to one piece…haha! 🙂

fish belly thick beehoon 鱼肌米粉

fish belly thick beehoon 鱼肌米粉 was very good.

soup was tasty, quite intense. a friend said could smell the XO. later we decided it was the 花雕酒 fragrance. 🙂

i think though the one at holladv village XO fish head bee hoon at dover crescent is better. more intense & tasty than this.

also they gave quite a lot of fish belly. we ordered medium but maybe it was large?

fish belly thick beehoon 鱼肌米粉

very shiok la, this! ^^

san lou hor fun

the san lou hor fun was just ok passable, taste ok & had a bit of wok hae. but not too great. a lot of other places make this better.

san lou hor fun

was better when i added green chilli & chlli padi for the kick!

a friend said got to order smaller plate to feel more wok hae…looked like we again had large?

prawn paste chicken

i liked the prawn paste chicken. another friend liked too. one friend though thought the prawn paste taste was not strong enough.

prawn paste chicken

recently i had prawn paste chicken –

1. at hup choon @ binjai park
2. & then at forture restaurant @ old holland road

they were all good. this one was just as good for me. my helper makes very good deep-fried chicken wings also. just as tasty & crispy w/o the prawn paste. enjoyed that equally. 🙂

spicy black bean paste fish head

the spicy black beans was very good. everyone liked it!

spicy black bean paste fish head

but having tried this again after a very long time (i think years) i thought it was maybe not as good as the hong kong street chun kee 香港街珍记 at commonwealth food centre?

in fact after looking at the old photos i am positive the song fish head at hong kong street chun kee 香港街珍记 at commonwealth food centre is better.

bean curd skin with spinach

this bean curd skin dish never tried before.

it was very good. a very nicely done dish, great bean curd flavours & tasty dish.

bill – S$68 for 5pax

dinner was S$68 for 5pax.

really quite good tasty food at a good price.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

teochew chendul

after shoon huat bakuteh & ya wang 鸭皇 early dinner, we walked to the store at taman sentosa.

nothing much to see there so we made our way back to city square in 3 taxis.

one friend wanted to eat bbq cuttlefish….seriously!!

anyhow we walked out of city square & through an interesting market street lane spanning jln siu chin & crossing over jln siu nam. on one side is a malay night market. scross jln siu nam is a chinese night market. some stalls though were exactly the same, basically selling bbq seafood like similar stalls in singapore notably say at newton hawker centre, lau pasat, makasutra gluttons bay etc…

wrong place la…no rojak stalls & grilled taupok, so no grilled cuttlefish…

teochew chendul

we trooped back to city square…what else to do but to eat again?

teochew chendul

we found this teochew chendul shop in city square.

look genuine. 🙂

teochew chendul

& the chendul was good, thick coconut milk, flavourful gula melaka, and got kidney beans!!!

teochew chendul

very enjoyable!

but i felt that it was not as good as four seasons chendl at toa payoh lor 8 food centre.

Four Seasons GCT Chendul

so when i got back to singapore i went to try the GCT chendul again. & indeed that was even more flavourful & intense!

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

ya wang 鸭皇 roast duck

like our last JB trip 1 month ago, we bought roast duck from ya wang 鸭皇 across the street opposite restoran shoon huat & ate it with the bakuteh. ^^

ya wang 鸭皇 roast duck

this time though we were there about 4pm+ and there were only 2 halves of roast duck left.

the last time we  had the 十全flavours, this time it was 当归 &人参.

ya wang 鸭皇 roast duck

so we managed to get what we could.

however 2 friends wanted to ta pao to bring back to singapore. so we asked again, & actually they had new roast duck ready in 5 – 10mins. but still no 十全flavours.

ya wang 鸭皇 roast duck

roast duck flavours were still very nice. “pang”…& it’s like RM65 for a whole duck so almost 1/2 price c/w singapore.

ya wang 鸭皇 roast duck

somehow this time the duck felt a bit dry, not as moist & juicy as last.

ya wang 鸭皇 roast duck

psychological becos only 2 halves left??

but probably true also, leftovers probably not the best pieces.

duck was good, maybe not really fantastic..

i guess better than singapore hawker ducks, though those in restaurants like –

1. canton paradise,
2. tunglok singature,
3. xin cuisine

here are all very good.

now especially with the fatty london duck (using irish duck).

somehow i felt the london ducks in london were still the best, the ones we ate at-

1. goldmine &
2. four seasons

in london….

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++

 Ya Wang 鸭皇 @ Taman Sentosa

shoon huat bakuteh

after loading up 22 packets of ming ang ma tie soh 马蹄酥+ some tau sa pia, we decided not to flag taxis but to make a 20mins walk to taman sentosa.

weather was hot but oddly it was quite good to walk rather than get squeezed in a taxi & maybe stucked in jam, but probably no jam at the hour.

anyway we ate too much so walking is always good…

shoon huat bakuteh

we came shoon huat the last time.

ya wang 鸭皇 was directly opposite across the road.

we ta pao the a whole roast duck fromya wang 鸭皇 last time & we did the same this time. ^^

shoon huat bakuteh

we ordered 2 pot of bakuteh, 1 sesame chicken & another chicken (oyster sauce??), you char kueh 油条 & fried veg.

shoon huat bakuteh

the bakuteh soup was very good here. the soya bean tau kee added to the sweetness of the soup.

shoon huat bakuteh

it’s a very nice soup for me even trying it the second time.

i like our singapore bakuteh as well, like from-

• rong cheng bakuteh or
• ng ah sio bakuteh or
• song fa bakuteh

or

• my own bakuteh

it’s different & both are nice…shoon huat version very tasty as a dish/soup though i don’t equate specifically with my familiar bakuteh taste.

shoon huat bakuteh

this time the pork ribs were not as good as what we had last time, about 1 month ago. soup just as good.

claypot chicken

claypot chicken

we had both preparation of claypot chicken.

claypot sesame chicken

claypot sesame chicken

both were nice. i liked the sesame chicken better.

fried veg

fried veg

we had some fried veg. it was nice ok nothing special, no special wok hae bascially a blanched veg with loads of onion oil.

walloped all

there were 11 of us, so no problem we just walloped everything, including the roast duck. ^^

it was a fun time for us, even though it was just eating & eating. good friends, fellowship, sharing jokes etc. this our second time though eating about same food, still enjoying every bit.

maybe next trip have to look at some other eating places to try out la…

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++

ma tie soh @ ming ang confectionary

after some shopping at the sports shop followed by nice refreshing cooling dessert at snow city dessert,

we walked out of ksl city mall & walked over to ming ang confectionary nearby on 28.6.2016. ^^

ming ang confectionary

this a famous long standing confectionary 老字号. the Ma Tie Soh 马蹄酥 is crispy slight charred on the outside & nice slightly sticky for the filling inside. 🙂

in my last trip here a month ago with all these friends, i bought some Ma Tie Soh 马蹄酥 & also tau sha pia, & they were both extremely good…

ma tie soh & pastries

for the Ma Tie Soh 马蹄酥, they have “buy 10 packets then 1 packet free”.

we bought like 20 packets + 2 free. i brought home 5 packets & gave 3 to my OPS friends!

ming ang confectionary tau sa pia

i like the “salty” tau sha pia here very much too.

the tau sha was also excellent!

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ming Ang Confectionary

Address:

S$4.50 prawn bakut noodles

went to pay some bills at axs at esso station at dunnearn road this afternoon.

on the way back dropped by & parked at Sixth Cafelink 15 Anamalai Avenue

decided to give the prawn noodles stall a try. 🙂

i ordered the S$4.50 prawn & pork rib noodles.

S$4.50 prawn bakut noodles

the pork ribs were actually very well done, perfectly braised, tender, has bite & very tasty…

there were actually about 5 pieces of pork soft bones. i only took photo after eating 2 pieces.

& there were 3 prawns, which were fresh, quite nice. plus like 6 thin slices of lean pork (tasteless like paper).

soup was also ok…

S$4.50 prawn bakut noodles

the big disaster is the sauce.

chilli seemed ok but there were a pool of sweet dark sauce that destroyed the prawn noodle taste.

it might have been the pork rib braising sauce. & actually the pork ribs though great in texture & taste, may be better taken with rice & other dishes. with noodles it seemed to be the wrong taste.

so i took the ingredients but left 1/2 the noodles uneaten.

not sure if i asked the stall holder not to add the sauce, the result might be better…anyway not sure i want to try this again also…

so far where prawn noodles is concerned –

• the one i consistently like is why eat har.
• the one i used to like even better than why eat har is wah kee prawn noodles. but it’s getting so expensive now I not sure if i would like it as much now.
• the one convenient for me nearby & which i don’t mind is adam road noo cheng prawn noodles.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++

Sixth Cafelink

Address:

durian ice, tau huay, 杨枝甘露

after buying banana cake at hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory & nice coffee, we went in 2 groups to ksl city.

a friend’s bil who lived in JB came to fetch some of us in his MPV 7 seater. the others took a cab to ksl city.

we bought some Ts & shorts etc at the sports shop, then we went to level 2 to have dessert at snow city dessert Snow City Dessert 雪山飞糊.

durian ice

we ordered the usual durian ice shavings. i think we ordered 4 to share. the MSW durian ice too ex so we skipped that.

durian ice

the combination of a very flavourful durian mousse, durian ice shavings, some sago etc made it a very enjoyable, refreshing dessert.

i am having this for the second time, still liked it, but didn’t need too much of it either. 🙂

sesame & peanut dumplings

the dumplings 汤圆 was good. we ordered 3 to share.

sesame & peanut dumplings

the ginger sauce also very nice.

sesame & peanut dumplings

i preferred sesame to peanut. 🙂

durian kueh

the durian kueh so so can do without. we ordered only one.

tau huay

the tau huay tib was good too. very smooth & again a bit of ginger sauce.

tau huay

we ordered 1 to try first then added 2 more.

杨枝甘露

the one dessert never to order here is 杨枝甘露. that’s an absolute disaster! one friend among us can make this dessert & taste 10 times better. actually not a good comparison as this 杨枝甘露 real flop…very sweet, pasty mango, not edible la…

this our second trip & a repeat visit to snow city…got to find another dessert place next round la…

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Snow City Dessert 雪山飞糊 KSL City Mall

Address:

Contact:

+60 7-330 5616

Opening Hours

hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory

after a most satisfying fish head curry at kam long restaurant,

our friend led us through several streets to hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory. ^^

constant queue hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory

there was a very long queue!!!

supposed to be the best banana cake. even my daughter heard of the shop when she saw the banana cake i brought back.

make a guess. all singaporeans?

constant queue hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory

one friend started queueing.

i think in the end 8 out of 11 of us bought the large box…

what to do, Singaporeans la!!! ^^

hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory

a true factory production. the long pieces of banana cake coming out.

hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory

& the lady cutting & packing the small box (one row) & large box (2 rows).

banana cake @ hiap joo bakery & biscuit factory (large packet)

we got 8 packets.

fresh from the oven, very hot! we were told to leave the box open so there would not be condensation falling back on the cake.

according to johorkaki, hiap joo was started by an englishman & operating since 1919, and handed over to the great granfather of the current owners in the 1930s. and they have used the same wood fired clay brick kilns from when the time it started operations.

it was a very nice cake really, slightly charred outside, not too sweet, not too dense, perfect texture spongy & moist…

but of course i am never to queue for this thing myself.

nice coffee – several friends said over roasted

the rest of us sat at the coffeeshop opposite (restaurant kin hua) & ordered coffee.

i enjoyed this coffee though a few friends rmarked that it was over-roasted. the evaporated milk for my kopi c gosong very “pang” & very well smoothly blended with the flavourful coffee. almost like the nespresso at my running mate house very week where he added evaporated milk to nespresso.

some durian pastry

there was some stall at the coffeeshop selling this durian kueh.

some durian pastry

i didn’t think much of it. took 1/2. there were like 2 piece left so some friends not taking too.

after that we movd in 2 groups to ksl city mall.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hiap Joo Bakery & Biscuit Factory

Address:

13, Jalan Tan Hiok Nee, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Opening Hours:

Mon to Sat – 7.30am to 5.30pm

thai style curry fish head – S$25 

went with wife & daughter for 3pax dinner at forture seafood at old holland road. ^^

forture seafood @ old holland road 

last time i made a blog post on forture was in nov2015. 🙂

place always crowded in the weekends.

thai style curry fish head – S$25 

all of us love the curry. nice tangy curry, fresh fish head.

thai style curry fish head – S$25 

i drank up the curry everytime!

prawn paste chicken – S$8 

ordered prawn paste chicken.

prawn paste chicken – S$8 

it was nice, but my helper made just as delicious fried chicken wings.

this one does have slight prawn paste flavours. quite well done, this! i don’t remember ordering this here before….

stir-fried thai kailan – $8 

the thai kai lan was good too.

stir-fried thai kailan – $8 

good wok hae like every good zi char place…

seafood hor fun – S$4 

& we ordered a small hor fun to share, S$4 now….

seafood hor fun – S$4 

hor fun here generally nice though once or nice we got the wrong chef…

not much ingredients but quite nice, tasty..

dinner 4 dishes for 3pax was S$45.90. quite ok la i guess.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Forture Seafood

Address:

kam long RN$22 fish head curry 

went with friends to JB for one day makan trip + little shopping on 28.6.2016. ^^

kam long fish head curry (near city square) 

our first stop after CIQ was kam long fish head, near to city square.

kam long fish head curry (near city square) 

shop was small, anyway already full.

constant queue at kam long fish head curry 

it was just 10.45am-ish. didn’t stop the long queue.

these people no need work. i guess 80% from singapore?

the queue was constant, i guess until sold out la….

kam long fish head curry 

fish head was small RM$22 medium RM$33 large RM$44.

we had 11pax. there was no large tables. even for 5 or 6pax we probably wait long time even when it reached our turn.

so we broke into 3 tables = 4, 4, 3.

& we ordered 2x small for each table, so total 6 orders of fish heads.

i supposed 2 small gave us more curries, veg & taupok than 1 large? they do top up the curries if you need.

kam long fish head curry 

this like a super efficient factory operation. they do several 100s claypot every day i think.

the fish head did not look super fresh. taste also, but they were fresh & not stale, sweet & firm enough just not super fresh.

this like a RM$22 (S$7) fish head shared by 2 including veg & taupok, so can’t expect everything la…

curry was like ready like huge pot. so just scoop curry & veg into the right size claypot, add the fish head, bring to the back to heat over stove for 5 to 6 mins, top with taupok, and voila! its on your table…

kam long fish head curry 

love the curry…really shiok delicious…yum yum…i basically drank the curry. finished the 2 pots on my table.

slightly less thick & intense as my own (maybe that’s how i should do it), quite similarto the fish head curry at hup choon.

tau pok, veg also very nice.

kam long fish head curry 

fish meat quality couldn’t really complain like i say. still sweet & firm.

not much meat though, so got to take sparingly, got to think of the next guy..next time will order fish head & fish tail.

only that next time don’t know whether want to come here & queue 1/2hr+ or not???

one friend’s bil lived in JB. he came to fetch us to bring 1/2 the group to ksl plaza. he doesn’t go to kam long, maybe most JB-ites don’t only singaporeans..he said there are so many good fish head curries & with aircon…

kam long was a great experience first time la…but of course we need not really eat a RM$22 fish head curry, just a very good fish head curry will do, and if got aircon & no queue better still wad!

kam long fish head curry (near city square) 

factory production may not be poetry in motion….

kam long fish head curry (near city square) 

super efficient system…the economic theory of specialisation in full display, just one menu = fish head…

curry fish tail 

curry fish tail next time (if??)

constant queue at kam long fish head curry 

same long queue before & after our makan.

i will definitely come here for the fish head curry if it’s my first visit!

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kam Long Fish Head Curry

Address:

small selections

went with friends (we had 4pax) to try out the june S$100gourmet dinner at lewin terrace on 24.6.2016. ^^

my last 100 gourmet at disgruntled chef @ ang siang hill was very good!

was considering to try the restaurant. the prices for regular lunch & dinner menus on the high side for me though not outrageous. & the june menu with 2 japanese chefs in a modern jap euro restaurant sounded good for a start.

100 gourmet menu

for me, this was a very good menu & also a very good dinner (with the exception of dessert).

small selections

the claimed S$180++pax for non citibank card for this quality of ingredients & food would not be outrageous & just their normal menu pricing, though for myself only that would be on the high side for the food.

so for S$100 gourmet (about S$121 nett with some booking admin charges) was for me a very good dinner.

we started with a small selections.

kumamoto prawns

i had kumamoto prawns first but haha…that was a let down la!

i have tried sweet fresh kumamoto prawns. this is not it! not sweet & texture also wrong. this item would be much below par…fortunately the rest were very good!

white asparagus

white asparagus was very good.

white asparagus

very sweet, excellent texture, fine dining restaurant standard.

mozarella pannacotta

the mozarella pannacotta was smooth, flavourful, had some savoury & also citrous combination. very nice!

pork rillette

i like the pork rillette, very flavourful..

pork rillette

i mostly like well done rillette dishes, especially duck rilette, so very “pang”.

one of the best duck rillette i had was at clifford on 27.3.2014. so long liao. must go back la!

yellow tail

the yellow tail with some tobiko (cod roes) was good. nothing special though, like any hamachi sashimi…

broad beans pie

i like this broad bean pie thingy. something different & a different texture to accompany the other doshes.

foie gras with corn veloutte

second course was a foie gras veloutte.

the foie gras was done as a mousse. the yellow top was the corn veloutte, which was less a soup than a sauce.

foie gras with corn veloutte

the whole experience was quite wonderful, very nice, flavourful.

tagliolini – mussels, scallops, safron, bottarga

for me the pasta was excellent!

one friend did not quite it though. he felt this manner of fine dining serving the pasta was cold.

tagliolini – mussels, scallops, safron, bottarga

i cooked very good pasta myself so if i order pasta outside it would be dishes i cannot cook & this would be one of them.

the salted fish roe bottarga is an italian delicacy & made the pasta so tasty.

tagliolini – mussels, scallops, safron, bottarga

the seafood, mussels & scallops etc were small helping but good quality. one fine dish this was!

seabream with lobster veloutte

& the seabream was a very good class fine dining preparation.

seabream with lobster veloutte

very sweet consistent tender fish (probably sous vide) with excellent lobster broth as sauce.

seabream with lobster veloutte

a top fine dining restaurant standard.

kagoshima wagyu

the kagoshima wagyu had to be the best.

i asked, the server said about 75g.

kagoshima wagyu

very marbled melt-in-the-mouth & nicely grilled wagyu.

kagoshima wagyu

not the best wagyu i had but a very good one.

after that i had an excellent, better ohmi wagyu at hachi on 7.7.2016. ^^

miyagi strawberry

the dessert was pretty like a japanese painting.

miyagi strawberry

the white chocolate was a bit better.

the ones of the left side (texture & taste not as good as a good madeleine) were forgettable.

but overall the dinner was quite exquisite for me for S$121pax nett. not overly so. i would say (if not taking account of the fact that this one has kagoshima wagyu) the overall cooking was better at my last 100gourmet at disgruntled chef.

so i was very happy with this dinner!

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Address:

21 Lewin Terrace Singapore, Singapore 179290

Entrance to Lewin Terrace is thru 23 B Coleman Street next to Singapore Philatelic Museum (Singapore 179807). Enter thru the red gates next to Singapore Philatelic Museum. Main entrance to our restaurant is located up the flight of stairs of Fort Canning Park

Contact:

Tel:63339905

Website: http://www.lewinterrace.com.sg
Email: info@lewinterrace.com.sg

Opening Hours: Monday to Sunday
Lunch: 12:00pm – 03:00pm (Last order at 02:00pm)
Dinner: 06.30pm – 11:00pm (Last order at 09.30pm)

edamame mousse with uni 

wife bought lunch at hachi on 7.7.2016. ^^

that’s my best lunch ever, or at least the best lunch i can remember la! 🙂

hachi

hachi is our favourite japanese restaurant, along with mikuni & kuriya dining. 🙂

& i guess c/w chinese & western restaurants we are willing to spend money going, these 3 are still the best..

eg there is corner house but its a S$200pax degustation..there are the very expensive good ones we don’t go & the expensive not great ones we don’t go…tunglok signature & xin cuisine are very good & we go often but i would still rate the japanese restaurants better for the price i am willing to pay…

just personal preferences la…

our most recent omakase dinner at hachi though was not great…

(though before that were all excellent eg our best omakase dinne ron 15.9.2015).

just check i did not make a post on that. if it were the same, then i would not pay S$168pax for it..

that’s why we were coming here this time to try the lunch again.

edamame mousse with uni 

the edamame mousse was very good..very light, mild sweet flavours, with a good size lump of uni inside, and so pretty to behold.

oyster with ponzu jelly 

& the oyster with ponzu jelly-even more delightful..

the food plating here always so beautiful like the top western degustation restaurants & nice restaurant & ryokan kaiseki dishes in japan!

oyster with ponzu jelly 

oyster so fresh, plump, juicy, big. it’s a large oyster, cut in 2 bite size, very sweet, no metallic taste & very nice with the slight tangy ponzu jelly.

ohmo wagyu sukiyaki konabe 

there were 3 servings of ohmi wagyu 近江和牛 in this S$88pax 9-course lunch omakase.

ohmo wagyu sukiyaki konabe 

first was the sukiyaki konabe.

this was similar to the one served at mikuni.

ohmi wagyu here is better quality than the kagoshima wagyu at mikuni, serving is smaller, & the sukiyaki broth here is much better, less sweet but very tasty!

sashimi moriawase – akami, hamachi, shima-aji 

sashimi moriawase was good quality – akami lean toro was very sweet & excellent texture w/o the usual fibrous sinewy texture of maguro. hamachi & shima-aji were very good…

sashimi moriawase – akamai, hamachi, shima-aji 

not the top top quality sashimi but for a 9-course lunch omakase priced at S$88pax, this would be superior quality…

hotate tempura 

the hotate tempura was very tasty.

hotate tempura 

i not sure this the best way to eat a very sweet nice plump hokkaido scallop, but it’s not a bad way too..very nice & a good change from eating everything sashimi or cerviche style…

grilled ohmi wagyu 近江和牛 

the bestest of the best lunch has to be the grilled ohmi wagyu 近江和牛.

this was just so good, like the very best in japan, melt in the mouth tender & intense, marbled, flavourful. ^^

grilled ohmi wagyu 近江和牛 

done so well…

it’s even better than the miyazaki wagyu i had recently at the S$100gourmet dinner at lewin terrace.

ohmi wagyu sushi 

& there was a 3rd serving of ohmi wagyu 近江和牛!

sushi – first with truffle salt, next aburi (flamed) & topped with uni & caviar, 3rd aburi & some sauce.

ohmi wagyu sushi 

these were just superb la…superfluous! 🙂

sakura ebi inaniwa udon 

rounded off with inaniwa udon with sakura ebi…nice! 🙂

yuzu jelly with black beans 

wife don’t like ice cream so they replaced with yuzu jelly & black beans…bagus la!

yuzu ice cream 

yuzu ice cream also very good, light, fragrant & nice refreshing change from usual macha or even the stronger black sesame. 🙂

such a wonderful lunch for S$88pax.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

pumpkin sauce crab – S$19.80 per crab

had a really nice 7pax dinner for a very close friend @ ah yat seafood at grandstand on 6.7.2016. ^^

it was an early celebration for his birthday. 🙂 today is also hari raya puasa aidilfitri!

i ordered 6 dishes for 7pax.

peking duck – S$52

peking duck was good, the good restaurant standard.

price is S$38 on weekdays & S$52 on weekends & PH.

peking duck – no charge

there is a cooking charge for a second eat, S$10 small, S$15medium & S$20large for (say) noodles. might as well order another hor fun or fried rice right??

peking duck – no charge

so we just had the duck meat. no charge. 🙂

it was good, moist, juicy, tasty. 🙂

pumpkin sauce crab – S$19.80 per crab

i ordered 3 crabs.

these are specials at S$19.80 per crab of about 500g, not sure if it was heavier than 500g but they all looked decent size to me. the larger sri lankan crabs (800g or more) selling at S$55/kg, quite a bit of difference.

2 of the crabs i asked to cook with pumpkin sauce.

this a sauce that my wife likes & we used to eat this many years ago when children were younger.

pumpkin sauce crab

all my friends loved this, a bit of thai style flavours.

steamed soon hock – about S$30

the live soon hock was selling at S$55/kg. this one was about 560g, S$30.

steamed soon hock – about S$30

steamed soon hock was excellent! ^^

the meat is finer than red garoupa & just as firm & sweet, excellent fish this! 🙂

claypot alaskan crab tanhoon – S$32

the alaskan crab claypot tanhoon was my recently discovered dish here. it as really nice. the tanhoon was so well infused with the shellfish flavours, pepper & coriander, so very tasty.

claypot alaskan crab tanhoon – S$32

this dish in fact inspired me to do my own claypot tanhoon prawns, which was quite excellent too la! 🙂

crab beehoon – S$19.80 per crab

the last crab i asked them to make crab beehoon, paying S$15 for a medium portion of beehoon.

quite ridiculous if you think of it – S$19.80 for crab & S$15 for beehoon ????

anyway it was an excellent dish, so very tasty la! ^^

in the end it is what we want & enjoy la…so let the restaurant make a bit from other places since the crab is cheap….

crab beehoon – S$19.80 per crab

it looked a bit messy c/w crab beehoon at other places like (say) –

1. ming kee live seafood
2. kamjiazhuan (this one looks really good!)
3. yi jia seafood

crab beehoon – S$19.80 per crab

but taste was good, equally good, and that’s all that counts! 🙂

birthday cake

a friend went to get the birthday cake.

birthday cake

a very nice very light cream cake from chateraise. excellent cake!

it was a really great evening. great camaraderie…this friend is very busy, and he finds time to do many overseas missions a year, run a clinic for foreign workers, & also help many people in singapore. this a good time to get him to relax & chill a bit. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

bittergourd pork ribs

my OPS primary school friend bought 5pax lunch at sik bao sin, geylang lor 34 today on 5.7.2016. ^^

food was better than i expected actually.

we were originally supposed to go to sik wai sin, but there was a sign on the door saying temporarily closed. so we called sik bao sin (which my friend said is run by the brother) & they said “just come over, got table”.

when we got there, there was a queue of like 8pax. 3 large tables looked like occupied by tour group. my friend spoke with the lady that we called & we got a table.

only 1 time i been to sik wai sin was a dinner organised by my RI friend like 5 yrs ago. the proprietor was well known as nazi chef – they say “no menu, no air con, no service”. not sure how it is now.

sik bao sin is quite the opposite. looked like a typical totally efficiently-run, orderly place. high ceiling, air con, not warm nor cluttered. 2 servers, but efficient, food came 5-10 mins after.

menu very short, limited. we ordered 5 dishes, which is like 1/2 the menu items.

bittergourd pork ribs

bittergourd pork ribs was good.

tasty, nice sauce, pork ribs were tender, bittergourd not bitter, very soft, which was not my preferred texture but most people would like it this way. very good, i didn’t think outstanding.

lar pok

the lar pok, deep-fried pork lard or chee yao char cost $1, came with oil.

i didn’t think much of it at all. i think even some bakchormee lar pok are better. think pork lard should come dry & not in oil.

steamed song fish head – S$25

all the dishes were good except their steamed song fish head.

this came with tau jeon. i am not familiar with this style as i thought the common styles are spicy black bean sauce, hk steam, sichuan chilli (剁椒), and maybe minced ginger (which is more common on pating fish).

i myself have never taken a tau jeon steamed song fish head. i can see though that tau jeon is ok with such a dish. my cantonese friends said this is called “meen see”.

steamed song fish head – S$25

whatever the style, basically this dish was underwhelming. still nice dish so not poor la, just underwhelming.

any stalls in chinatown, hk street chun kee, even hawker centres (like dunman) would serve equal (many better) fish head than this & at 1/2 the price.

steamed minced pork with salted fish

steamed minced pork with salted fish was competent.

steamed minced pork with salted fish

quite nice. i enjoyed it. always like salted fish minced pork.

alan’s salted fish minced pork咸鱼饼

this reminded me of the scrumptious meal we had at alan’s place. i think alan’s rendition was better than this.

alan is my good friend’s brother who is the proprietor of WEH (why eat har). 

tofu prawns – S$26

the tofu prawn was the standout dish here today.

tofu prawns

prawns were huge & really excellent.

& the tofu, sauce with egg was just fabulous la…

fried kai lan

kai lan also very good. good wok hae, just slight salty. the standard of a good zi char!

lunch was S$107 for 5pax, pretty ok for the food we had.

after lunch we went to the friend’s place & had karaoke with his internet TV. ^^

had a swell time with these old friends.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

mikuni maki – S$25

had a great lunch with my OPS primary school friends at mikuni today on 4.7.2016.^^

there is 50% discounts for up to 4pax on monday for feed@raffles.

the last time i made a post on mikuni was on 3.1.2016.

mikuni maki – S$25

for today i decided to go ala carte to let my friends try the dishes i like.

we had a maki. usually i take the united nations futomaki, can’t remember if i took the signature mikuni maki before, probably did.

anyway it was good. unagi was the thick kebayaki fresh unagi type not the thin dry type, the standard of good maki in a good restaurant.

golden prawns – S$40

golden prawns seem to be a small helping today, or perhaps mikuni has reduced the size of the serving, was quite big portion previously. prawn was bouncy, but one friend didn’t like it, felt it was treated (processed type), like the chinese crystal prawns. maybe it was, don’t know.

boned-in kurobuta belly pork – S$42

i think the boned-in kurobuta belly pork was very good.

boned-in kurobuta belly pork – S$42

marbled & flavourful, and a very good serving size.

lobster uniyaki – S$48

i ordered a lobster uniyaki, then added a second as my friends all liked the dish. lobster was a fair size, i guess maybe 450g.

presentation was good (as always) & taste pretty good too.

kagoshima wagyu sukiyaki konabe – S$48

the kagoshima wagyu sukiyaki konabe is my perennial favourite.

today we have 2 orders to share among 4pax.

each order had 3 large pieces of thick cut marbled wagyu. one friend commented very good. in fact at 50% discounts, it was only S$24, and for that price you probably get thin cut ordinary NZ beef in an average restaurant.

mizayaki wagyu don – S$48

i ordered the miyazaki wagyu don to share. took this for the first time. i think it was really good, next time i come i will order one just for myself. ^^

lunch was S$204 for 4pax = S$51pax nett.

more importantly i enjoyed the lunch. i think all my friends do.

nowadays i do avoid set if i can unless i like the set & they are very good value. rather eat less & cherry pick the dishes i like lor…

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Mikuni

Address:

80 Bras Basah Rd, Fairmont Hotel 3/L, Raffles City, Singapore 189560

Contact:

6431 6156

Opening Hours:

Mon-Sun: 12-2:30pm, 6:30-10:30pm