iberian pork secreto medium well

had 4pax family dinner @ porta at park hotel clarke quay to celebrate wife & son birthdays on 8.11.2017. ^^

porta

porta 

restaurant located next to entrance to park hotel clarke quay. nice ambience.

bread basket

bread basket was the usual, ok.

grilled octopus S$18

there is a UOB 1 for 1 main course & pasta promotion, which require reservations by phone or via chope online. 🙂 so the cheaper main course/pasta is free. 🙂

grilled octopus S$18

we ordered the grilled octopus appetizer S$18.

it was very good, tender, tasty, & nice garnishes & bit of sauce.

though not quite the standard of what we had at lake comon & cinque terre eg alle darsene @ lake como.

panseared foie gras S$24

foie gras was a good serving, according to the server, about 115g to 120g.

panseared foie gras S$24

i did not take the foie gras. wife & children said it was very good, very tasty, much better than mr & mrs bund in shanghai recently on 28.10.2017. 🙂

prawn & chorizo linguine S$22

we picked the prawn & chorizo linguine S$22, the popular dish here.

prawn & chorizo linguine S$22 

it was an excellent pasta – presentation was perfect, pretty,pasta texture was al dente, prawn was fresh & bouncy, & chorizo flavours were superb. & nice shaved parmesan cheese.

squidink seafood pasta S$20

same with the pasta of the day S$20 – a squid ink sauce seafood linguine. 🙂

squidink seafood pasta S$20

very tasty, though between the 2, i think the prawn chorizo linguine was better. 🙂

iberian pork secreto medium well S$26

the iberian pork secreto medium well S$26 was perfect too.

secreto had good marbling, flavourful & very well done, charred ont he outside, and sauce very tasty also. server advised the recommended doneness is medium well.

i googled secreto. found that it’s a secret butcher’s cut, not too specific, could be a cut near the belly. anyway it was a very good tasting cut.

100day grain fed black angus ribeye rare S$34

the 100day grain fed black angus ribeye rare S$34 also very good.

very tender, and sweet.

100day grain fed black angus ribeye medium rare S$34

i think good & fair price for a 100day grain fed black angus ribeye at S$34, and great value when there is 1 for 1. 🙂

100day grain fed black angus ribeye medium rare S$34

the 2oog rib eye steak was served with a tub of fries. 🙂

dinner for 4pax was about S$160, including of 1 for 1 alcoholic drinks from 4pm – 9pm. the white wine we had was very good, the whisky (fott-step in the dark) was useless, just whicky on the rocks…w/o the drinks it would have been about S$115. very good value! ^^

c.h.e.f andy

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

Porta @ Park Hotel Clarke Quay

#1 hotate isobe age

had another awesome A5 ohmi wagyu omakase lunch at hachi on 8.11.2017. ^^

first dish was hotate isobe age, a nori (seaweed) flavoured fritter of scallop on a bed of pumpkin puree.

scallop was good, sweet…the nori flavoured fritter also very nice.

#2 large oyster with ponzu jelly

the oyster with ponzu jelly was another really delectable dish…so nice lor!

oyster very fresh, plump & sweet, & the ponzu jelly combined perfectly. 🙂

#3 ohmi wagyu nimono 近江和牛 with taro

the ohmi wagyu 近江和牛nimono (steamed dish) was so flavourful & melt-in-the-mouth.

i think maybe i will try making this dish myself, getting a cheaper wagyu cut & sous vide or low temperature braise.

#4 sashimi moriawase – akami, kampachi, hirame

the sashimi moriawase had only akami, kampachi, hirame. all the sashimi were very good, very sweet.

but the quality of ingredients prompted me to look at past omakase lunches i had here.

looking at the photos of the sashimi moriawase on 2.2.2017 with my 3 OPS bros, the sashimi today was much inferior in quality by comparison.

likewise, then we had uni isobe age..today we had hotate isobe age…quite different la..

#5 grilled A5 ohmi wagyu steak

the grilled A5 ohmi wagyu steak was the best dish for this omakase..so flavourful, marbled, melt-in-your-mouth. ^^

#5 grilled A5 ohmi wagyu steak 

it was served with some some charcoal salt, sweet potato, a white grated wasabi, momotaro tomatoes from hokkaido, crackers and a wedge of tiny dried fishes. awesome!

#6 ohmi wagyu sushi 

the 3 ohmi wagyu sushi were yopped with a ponzu minced daikon, uni & caviar, and a white foie gras dust. 🙂

#6 ohmi wagyu sushi

i liked all 3, not surprisingly the caviar & uni one best. the white foie gras dust did not seem to add anything to the delicious wagyu sushi….

#7 soba with sakura ebi

the “gohan” item for the set was soba with sakura ebi. nice too.

#7 soba with sakura ebi 

tasty dish & sakura ebi flavour & texture was a great accompaniment.

#8 vanilla ice cream with chestnut

they did not have the kuromame which they supposed to serve so replaced by a vanilla ice cream with pistachio chips & chestnut mash in the middle. nice dessert too.

the omakase lunch is now S$95pax (S$88pax before). it is 8-course c/w with the omakase dinner, now at S$178 pax and S$218pax (S$138pax & S$188pax before). it is not cheap but with 3 servings of A5 ohmi wagyu i guess that is still for me the best jap omakase in town for the price.

if c/w the previous same omakase say on 2.2.2017. the ingredients were distinctly inferior, but overall the omakase lunch still very good. just hope there is no continuous shifting of prices north & ingredients south!

c.h.e.f andy

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

garlic steamed razor clams S$5.50 each

my good friend dentist bro bought 11pax dinner at ah yat abalone forum to celebrate my wife, daughter & son birthdays in november on 6.11.2017. ^^

we ordered the usual promo items.

garlic steamed razor clams S$5.50 each

the razor clams were very well done, consistent & perfect texture 火侯& the best garlicy flavour & with tanhoon. great stuff! 🙂

3 boston lobsters in superior stock上汤焗 @ S$29.80 each

there were 11pax. i ordered 5 boston lobsters at the promo price @ S$29.80 each. ^^

i know the superior stock preparation 上汤焗 is good here so i ordred 3 lobsters in superior stock上汤焗.

lobster in superior stock上汤焗

live lobsters, so perfectly fresh & sweet & tasty.

lobster in superior stock上汤焗

today though the superior stock上汤焗  was not the best i had here, not intense or tasty enough…

2 boston lobsters in lime sauce @ S$29.80 each

i had wanted to the pumpkin preparation which was the popular dish at ah yat grandstand.

the server said they don’t do here, and she recommended the lime sauce preparation.

and it was very good. very tasty sauce indeed!

2 boston lobsters in lime sauce @ S$29.80 each

a new preparation for me & a thoroughly delicious & enjoyable one.

it trigger my interest, maybe i will try doing pumpkin sauce preparation and also this lime sauce preparation at home, maybe with prawn first & see if i want to progress to crab or lobster…

crab tanhoon = 1.2kh crab @ S$98/kg & 30% discounts

they do not serve sri lankan crab. the server recommended the canadian crab similar to dungeness crab 麵包蟹…

crab tanhoon = 1.2kh crab @ S$98/kg & 30% discounts

crab tanhoon was very tasty. everyone loved it… 🙂

crab tanhoon = 1.2kh crab @ S$98/kg & 30% discounts

it’s a bit expensive. th dish cost like S$82 after 30% discounts.

it was very good though, and this huge serving size was necessary to feed 11 hungry chappies…. 🙂

HK steamed garoupa = 1kg @ S$38/kg

tiger garoupa is another promo dish here at S$38/kg.

& it is done really well here. excellent every time, and no different this evening. ^^

HK steamed garoupa = 1kg @ S$38/kgHK steamed garoupa

fish was very fresh, meat was bouncy and very tasty, nicely garnished.

the sauce was very fragrant.

HK steamed garoupa = 1kg @ S$38/kg

everyone enjoyed the fish! 🙂

HK steamed garoupa = 1kg @ S$38/kg

really like the simple hong kong steam preparation..meat very tasty & sauce very fragrant…

fried brocoli S$32

had to add a vegetable & it’s really expensive… large brocoli for S$32!

fried brocoli S$32

brocoli was ok, not specially good wokhae. i can do this kind of standard anytime.

seafood horfun 

seafood hor fun was ok, good serving size, enough for 11pax.

good enough wok hae i supposed.. a pretty ok competent dish, not particularly outstanding.

seafood horfun

good a mount of ingredients too.

they charge like S$2.70pax for tea & another S$3 per plate of peanuts which is tied to the napkins. so we have to pay for the nuts otherwise no napkins.. for our 11pax dinner they charged $9 for peanuts + napkins…maybe it is inventive, but i think it is a nuisance, though ok if the food is good & price is right then let them make some money ok la…

dinner for 11pax was S$%18 nett. i think price ok considering we had 5 lobsters, 1.2kg crab. 1 kg garoupa, 11 razor clams + brocoli + horfun.

everyone enjoyed the food.

anyway we had a very fun dinner, my family of 5 + my good friend & bro dentist + godsis & 2 hubby + 3 RI bros…

very memorable evening & happy birthdays to my wife, daughter & son…

c.h.e.f andy

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

Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant Address:

chorizho tortilla – spanish omelette

several family birthdays coming up this period…we got a day when everyone is around & went out for a 5pax family dinner at sabio @ duxton hill on 5.11.2017. ^^

open air parking outside the restaurant was easy on a sunday at 7pm.

sabio has a group menu. we ordered 12 tapas for S$128 to share among 5pax.

first tapas on the table was a chorizho tortilla – spanish omelette. pretty tasty especially with the chorizo, very nicely done, good presentation. 🙂

they allowed repeat orders (more than 1 order per tapas), so we ordered 8 tapas first, and decide on the remaining 4 after we have tasted the tapas we ordered.

tomato gazpacho S$8

daughter wanted a gazpacho. it was S$8 on the menu so we ordered the gazpacho ala carte.

my own white cucumber & red tomato gazpacho on 19.11.2015

it was ordinary.

i think my own tomato & cucumber gazpacho a lot tastier. 🙂

chorizo ham croquette 

the chorizo ham croquette good too, very tasty & crisp outside. 🙂

ceviche gambas with tacos chip 

the ceviche gambas with tacos chip very good.

ceviche gambas with tacos chip 

we ordered this a second time.

ceviche gambas with tacos chip 

it has sweet raw prawns, good salsa & crisp tacos chip, great texture combination & excellent dining experience!

ceviche gambas with tacos chip 

this a must order if i come again. 🙂

pan fry prawns

& the panfried gambas was just as good. son like this even better.

prawns were bouncy. sauce was the best! very tasty indeed.

pan fry prawns 

wife thought it’s like frozen prawns. in any case this prawn texture is easy to do, the sauce though is more of a challenge. i think it is a lobster or shellfish bisque, so maybe i will try a bisque & do this prawn tapas dish.

sliced octopus

we ordered the octopus. it was nice texture, a bit bland in taste, a bit better with the sea salt.

anyway, gave me some ideas….maybe i will experiment a squid dish..don’t have octopus don’t so easy to get it seems…

chorizo 

a tasty if salty chorizo dish…son, youngest daughter & i quite like the dish..this easy to do…again got to think a bit about the sauce..

mussels in white wine sauce 

mussels in white wine sauce, oddly, was the below par dish among the excellent tapas dishes.

really odd. i really the creamy white wine sauce not tasty. mussels was ok actually but overall much underwhelming.

squid ala plancha 

the squid ala plancha a little overcooked. i can do better than that.

the sauce though was tasty. that one i got to think about what to do how to do…

caviar eggplant with toast 

the caviar eggplant on toast was nice. couldn’t taste any cavar though, didn’t seem to matter much.

this a dish i can do easily.

squid ink seafood fiduea 

the squid ink seafood fiduea was good, flavourful. son & i thought the seafood fiduea at foc was much superior, a lot tastier stock.

i didn’t find any fiduea in the supermarts. i tried with beehoon before, cutting it small after baking. maybe angelhair texture would be better, more al dente. i can cut it small, then bake it or reduce the stock & cook. it would fun experimenting.

squid ink seafood fiduea S$26

still, this squid ink seafood fiduea was quite excellent. i will certainly order this again if i come.

we ordered a jug of sanglia, and son ordered a churos to take away.

5pax tapas dinner came to S$261nett. we were happy with the service which was very good & efficient & also my daughter broke a wine glass, so i gave a big tip.

we enjoyed very much this family outing & joint birthdays dinner. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

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

teochew dishes

had a jumbo S$100 e-voucher expiring 9.11.2017 that can be used at chui huay lim, got my OPS bros to join me for a 5pax dinner on 3.11.2017. ^^

ter kar ton – pig trotter jelly S$12

i need to order like S$200 to use the S$100 e-voucher.

it’s more convenient now withe-voucher only need to show my ic. service was good. the young guy is from shandong jinan (provincial capital). he helped me to compute the food orders & i managed to order about S$203 including tea (S$1.20pax quite ok) & nuts (S$2/plate also ok), so i can apply the S$100 vouchers discounts. 🙂

the ter kar ton – pig trotter jelly S$12 was competent, ok…i had better ones…

hae chor – ngoh hiang prawn rolls S$12

hae chor – ngoh hiang prawn rolls S$12 was very good, very tasty. 🙂

crab meat fish maw soup S$42

the crab meat fish maw soup S$42 also very good, chokeful of ingredients & mostly importantly a very tasty stock! 🙂

the hae chor & this crabmeat fish maw soup are what i would order if i come again. 🙂

1/2 braised duck S$32

the 1/2 braised duck S$32 was the worst dish we had this evening, a disaster considering that braised duck & goose are like the signatures of every good teochew restaurant.

we ordered 1/2 duck S$32 according to menu, but it came as a plate of sliced meat.

there was no options for 鸭片&鸭肉as in many teochew restaurants, and it makes NO sense to serve 1/2 duck in this manner. it did not look like 1/2 duck at all & we did not feel there were thigh meat, only breast meat.

i will NEVER EVER order this dish here again! FULLSTOP!

we should have just rejected the dish la! lol! 🙂

i guess to be fair duck itself was passable, a bit soft & bland in taste with no texture c/w eating a proper duck meat – a style i do not like…

imperial treasure teochew @ taka’s 1/2 teochew braised duck S$28

to illustrate the above photo of imperial treasure’s teochew restaurant show’s how 1/2 braised duck should be served. 

orh lua – oyster omelette S$20

there was cold crab available this evening.

& i absolutely refused to order any fish here! like S$110 for a treadfin fish tail & pomfret etc.

very easy to do just as good steam fish at home for 10% the cost.

pepper beef fillet S$14

the pepper beef fillet S$14 was excellent.

this not the chinese tenderised beef cube style which very artificially tender & overly sweet.

this a bit like korean or western fillet style, done very nicely & even came with caramelised onions.

pepper beef fillet S$14

certainly a dish i would order again…very good for the price! ^^

string beans 四季豆 S$14 

the string beans 四季豆 S$14 was expensive like many vegetable dishes these days. it was quite tasty though, so quite fine by me.

seafood mee sua S$22

the seafood mee sua was nice, flavourful. my friends liked it, said good wok hae, and tasty.

seafood mee sua 

& small serving S$22 good enough for 5pax…

orh nee – yam paste S$5/bowl

i didn’t think much of the orh nee – yam paste S$5/bowl. S$25 for 5pax & quite bland & tasteless, not “pang” not flavourful.

a really good one would be like at fragrant garden – then it would be worth eating.

overall the food was below the standard of frangrant gardens where HC bought 9pax OPS dinner on 30.12.2016. 

dinner came to about S$121 after S$100 voucher discounts, so for that price then it was pretty decent food to have for 5pax!

c.h.e.f andy

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

Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine

Address:

nonya food @ chilli padi

wife arranged 3pax dinner at chilli padi a 11t joo chiat place on 1.11.2017. ^^

we are doing a lunch catering for family & bridesmaid etc for my daughter’s wedding.

restaurant told us though that catering is by a different halal kitchen at bedok.

anyhow we just tried the food since we were already there. 🙂

chilli padi

we were early at 6pm on a wednesday, so we were the first customers.

ayam bua keluak

the ayam bua keluak was good.

the chicken ordinary & not great (like i said about chicken dishes outside, they are invariably overcooked). the sauce was very good. 🙂

ngoh hiang

ngoh hiang was quite good.  though not my favourite. i can do without.

ikan selar bakar

ikan selar bakar was competent. nice chilli inside. nothing special.

sayur nangka – jackfruit dish

the sayur nangka – jackfruit dish quite interesting.

the prawns were mediocre, a waste of time.

the gravy though was very tasty. 🙂

mee siam

mee siam was below our expectation.

it is like a signature dish here, and we expected dry, very flavourful mee siam. but it was wet with gravy piled on it. still tasty ok, but not quite meeting our expectations.

chendol

the chendol looked great. the gula melaka was good, the coconut milk less so,

so NOT as flavourful as four seasons at lor 8 toa payoh. 🙂

S$59 for 3pax

3pax dinner include 3 chendols were $59, quite ok. of course we ordered not many dishes & mostly cheap ones.

durian chendol

the durian chendol looked especially alluring.

the durian paste was good, not like super, but anyway quite nice…only slight miss was the coconut milk, not so fragrant as four seasons chendol at lor 8 TPY.

c.h.e.f andy

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

our lunch at paradise dynasty

my OPS bro HC organised 4pax lunch at paradise dynasty on 31.10.2017. ^^

his S$50 voucher expires on 31.102017 so today is the last day.

i just returned on a red eye flight this morning from shanghai arriving at 6am. & WM still not back from KL. PK joined us today so made up 4pax. 🙂

xiaolongbao 小笼包

xiaolongbao 小笼包 was competent, skin, soup all ok.

radish pastry

radish pastry ok, not the most crispy or sweet radish i had.

spicy dumplings 红油抄手

spicy dumplings 红油抄手 was the usual good standard.

水煮鱼

水煮鱼 is my favourite dish. i don’t get to eat it much as not many like the dish.

the fish was i think the snakehead – loy her…like what they use for sliced fish beehoon or san lou horfun 三捞河粉.

some use pangasius which is the cheap vietnamese catfish (like the very cheap stall at foodgle hub NUS which also nice),

and some use 鲶鱼, also catfish. i don’t really know what is best.

水煮鱼

this one not bad. but kind of not much fish for 4pax. i ate maybe like 3 big slices.

水煮鱼

it was pretty good la…

夫妻肺片

夫妻肺片i don’t eat often either.

anyhow it was nothing special, ok competent…

赛螃蟹

WT ordered the 赛螃蟹.

it’s quite an expensive dish at S$12 or thereabout for just egg.

but it was pretty tasty, very smooth & especially with the vinegar taste..so maybe ok worth it…

土豆丝 potato strips

HC ordered the 土豆丝 potato strips. this one not as good as 东北胖妈 at smith street…no comparison actually..

string beans 四季豆

string beans 四季豆 was nice, also another expensive dish for simple vegetables.

wine dumplings 酒酿汤圆

we also had wine dumplings 酒酿汤圆. this a far cry from the really nice one we had at shenzhen subway station lunch place.

pumpkin cakes

pumpkin cakes were good.

red bean pancakes

red bean pancakes good too but this not my favourite dessert. it was crispy & the red bean paste good.

lunch was S$67 after S$50 voucher, so would have been S$127 for 4pax. needless to say with the $50 discount, S$67 for 4pax pretty good, not quite otherwise la..

c.h.e.f andy

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

Paradise Dynasty @ Ion Orchard level 4

roast suckling pig 

wife bought 5pax family dinner at man fu yuan on 26.10.2017. ^^

man fu yuan 

place was crowded.

amex love dining 50% discount voucher 

we had a amex love dining 50% discount voucher  expiring end oct2017, just right tiem to use it.

eldest daughter & JH were away in boston, so we had 5pax dinner.

roast suckling pig 

suckling pig is very good here.

we actually preferred the 南乳style where the meat is served together.

this one was served 片皮style with thinly sliced skin served with chinese pancake, similar to peking duck style.

roast suckling pig

anyhow we asked for the pig to be chopped up & served.

all of us had too much suckling pig. lol!

lychee salted egg oysters fritters

wife ordered a lychee salted egg oysters fritters.

the slated egg flavour & fritter was well done.

son did not like the lychee flavours.

also could not taste the oysters.

lychee salted egg oysters fritters 

overall not a favouirte dish for me. i could do w/o.

pepper beef

pepper beef was very tender.

wife & i actually not particularly favour these tenderised beef chinese style.

anyhow the dish was pretty well done & tasty as well.

pepper beef 

so it was an ok dish for me.

tofu dish

the tofu dish with enoki mushrooms was tasty, very good broth.

tofu dish 

the tofu itself was not the best, nice crispy skin but inside not the sweet & very smooth teture.

xo fried rice 

we were advised to order the chef special xo fried rice S$32. not sure what different it was c/w the fried rice in the main menu, also a signature dish here.

didn’t taste any spicy xo flavours…the server said they charged S$8 for xo sauce, so that was why we ordered this.

nice flavourful fried rice, not particularly like the best i had…

birthday peaches 寿桃

the restaurant provided lotus paste birthday peaches 莲蓉寿桃.

dinner for 5pax including the whole suckling pig was S$240nett after 0% discounts. pretty good considering that the whole suckling pig alone was S$268 w/o discounts.

the other food were ok, but nothing special..

anyway avery nice enjoyable dinner with family….

birthday cake

we decided to come home for the birthday cake cutting celebration.

c.h.e.f andy

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