Very Cheap French Fare @ Bistro Du Vin on 18Nov2013

Posted on November 19, 2013 by chefquak

200g 200-day australian grain-fed char-grilled ribeye

3-course set lunch menu include coffee

update = wow, had even better deal at bistro du vin zion road on 20.12.2013!

our dining quartet decided to take advantage of maybank 1 for 1 set lunch promotion & dined at bistro du vin on 18.11.2013. the usual price for a 3-course set lunch including coffee was S$30pax. the menu had quite wide choices. there were couple items like pan-seared foie gras & 200day grain fed ribeye that required supplement – quite reasonable unlike some places where 1 in 2 items required supplement, however the supplement were separately billed & not entitled to the 50% discount. 🙂

baked camembert with apples, bacon, sourdough

foie gras ravioli

leek & potato soup with deep fried oysters

rabbit terrine

seafood bouillabaise

duck confit & lamb sausage

beef short ribs stewed in beer

i love leek & potato soup (& especially this one came with 2 kaki furai – japanese breaded oysters). however i was distracted by the rabbit terrine & ordered that. it was good, tasty, competent. i was happy with it. 🙂

1 friend ordered the leek & potato soup which came with 2 deep-fried oysters & was good as expected.

1 friend ordered the foie gras ravioli (the pink sauce didn’t look great or very appetizing to me like the beautiful pumpkin ravioli at al borgo did, but i think it tasted fine). the other ordered the baked camembert with sour dough. it looked ok but my friend said it was not as good as the other bistro du vin outlet at great world city.

for the main course, i ordered the beef ribs stewed in beer. again it was competent & the mash too, though in comparison my own spanish beef ribs was better because i had a very sweet & tasty vegetable ratatouille to match/balance the fork tender beef ribs whereas this one was very beefy & robust.

1 friend had the duck confit. he thought the black sheep cafe’s was better. 1 had the seafood bouillabaise with fish, clams, mussels, prawns. she said the fish was not great. anyway, bouillabaise & duck confit not my favourite. the smartest among us ordered the 200g 200-day australian grain-fed char-grilled ribeye – a S$10 supplement with no discount.it was ok really for the quality meat. i could smell the steak when it was served, & i had a small piece & it was excellent. 🙂

petit pot chocolate with magdaleine

creme brulee

caramelised apple crumble, roasted apple ice cream

for dessert, i & another friend had the caramelised apple & raisin crumble with roasted apple ice cream. it was good, though it would please the eye better served on a dessert plate or long dessert dish. 1 friend had creme brulee which was recommended by the waiter & which she obviously enjoyed. the other had chocolate madaleine. the madaleine texture looked dense. i was about to say the ones at esso station looked better but my friend beat me to it. so this dessert was not good. 🙂 i had cuppaccino & my other friends had coffee.

overall, at normal S$30pax for 3-course set lunch including coffee, the food was competent enough & i didn’t consider it expensive. with maybank 1 for 1 discounts, the lunch was S$15pax (excluding the supplement) with 2 free wine for 4pax, well you could not get that at a hawker centre or coffee shop. so it was very cheap & great value.

c/w au jardin which served a S$45pax 3-course set lunch include coffee (there was also a S$65pax menu), which was also having the maybank 1 for 1 promotion including wine, i would return to au jardin (which i was to happy to pay full price at other time) rather than bistro du vin. the latter was competent & average whereas au jardin was fine dining in both food & presentation (& of course quite different ambience). eg my lamb saddle was exquisite, even better than many good lamb racks i had before.

on the service, bistro du vin was ok. the young male server was quite knowledgeable & responsive & answered my several questions on menu items & selection. 1 of my dining companion had poor opinion of the service though because he did not offer the wine to us automatically but only when asked & he replied that most people did not take wine during lunch. the attitude i think was ok, but maybe the training on managing customers was lacking here. but overall, the service again was competent & in my opinion rather better than many similar places.

au jardin’s service was of course much better. the staff were much better trained & professional, but then it was a different class restaurant so not apt comparison. 1 younger au jardin male staff though appeared to be not so great in his service attitude.

c.h.e.f andy

Curry Miso Mulligatawny Soup

Posted on November 18, 2013 by chefquak

curry miso mulligatawny soup

as part of a japan themed dinner for my friends, was contemplating adding a soup. miso soup didn’t quite make it there. i made ok cream of mushrooms & cream of potato soup. the best soup i made was the basque seafood soup. it was very good if tedious boiling prawn shells for 2-3hrs. anyway they didn’t quite fit the theme.

so i was working on the miso theme with the seafood, and came up with a curry miso. i googled & found a few curry miso recipe & also looked at mulligatawny (an indian soup i love) recipe, and finally put together my own seafood curry miso mulligatawny soup. & very pleasing to say, it came out wonderful! 🙂

curry miso mulligatawny soup

for the soup, i chopped 2 shallots and had ready 3 cloves minced garlic, sliced 1 yellow onion & diced 1 large carrot. as i did not have ready stock, i needed the onion & carrot to flavour the soup base. was deciding whether to add potatoes which would add both sweetness & bulk, but decided to add rice later for bulk & mulligatawny texture so drop the potato.

with 2 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat, i fried the shallots & minced garlic, added curry leaves & 2 teaspoon curry powder, and added the sliced onion & carrots & coated them with the curry powder & quickly added water. i also added 1/2 teaspoon tumeric for the added colour. i mixed in 2 tablespoon of miso paste & 1 teaspoon of sugar & let the saucepan content boiled over low heat for 1 hr, adding water as required, to get the vegetable sweetness into the soup. decided to sieve the soup rather then blend the content (may try blending next time). i then added 1/4 cup rice & boiled for 20 more minutes. i added a little salt & found the right taste i liked.

for the seafood, i had 10 large frozen shelled mussels from QB Food, 1 large squid (removed red skin & cross-sliced the squid), and 5 large prawns. i heat 20g butter on a flat non-stick skillet on high heat, and added the prawns, and seared them on all sides. then i added the squid & stir-fried until the squid curled up. i turned heat to low & remove the nicely flavoured prawns & squid so they were not overcooked. i then added the mussels & stir-fried for very short time & then added some soup, simmered & quickly removed the mussels. these were then put aside till serving. i de-glazed the skillet & returned the content to the saucepan.

(for this time, i did not add flour or heavy cream or coconut milk but may experiment with those next time).

when ready to serve, put the prawn, squid & mussels in each bowl & added the boiling soup over them. voila! 🙂 & bon appetit!

c.h.e.f. andy

Ingredients:

soup base

2 shallots chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
1 yellow onion slice
1 large carrot diced
2 tsp curry powder
1 stalk curry leaves (20)
2 tbsp miso paste
1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tsp sugar
1/4cup rice

seafood

1 large squid (remove skin & cross-cut)
10 mussels
8 large prawns (de-veined)

Directions:

for the soup – chop 2 shallots, 3 cloves minced garlic, slice 1 yellow onion & dice 1 large carrot. fry shallots & minced garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan & add curry leaves & 2 teaspoon curry powder. add the sliced onions & carrots & coat them with curry powder & quickly add water. add 1/2 teaspoon tumeric for colour. mix in 2 tablespoon of miso paste & 1 teaspoon of sugar & let the saucepan content boiled over low heat for 1 hr, adding water as required, to get the vegetable sweetness into the soup. sieve the soup. add 1/4 cup rice & boiled for 20 more minutes. add a little salt to taste.
for the seafood – lightly season the prawn & squid (separately) with salt & pepper. heat 20g butter on a flat non-stick skillet on high heat. add the prawns, and sear them on all sides. then add the squid & stir-fry until the squid curled up. turn heat to low & remove the nicely flavoured prawns & squid so they are not overcooked. add the mussels & stir-fry for very short time & then add some soup, simmered & quickly removed the mussels. put aside. deglaze skillet (with the soup) & return content to the saucepan.
when ready to serve, put the prawn, squid & mussels in each bowl & added the boiling soup over them.

Superb Lunch Kaiseki @ Kuriya Dining on 16Nov2013

Posted on November 17, 2013 by chefquak

tokusen (特选) sashimi moriawase=chutoro, akaebi, mirugai, uni wrapped with tai

had a most enjoyable lunch kaiseki at kuriya dining @ great world city with my wife on saturday 16.11.2013. they served an excellent daily S$58 lunch kaiseki (there was also a S$48 option which has sushi instead of sashimi). 🙂

this lunch was even better than the S$138 kaiseki dinner on 4.6.2013 i had here! the only caveat is that as the menu changes monthly, some months’ menu maybe more attractive than others, so it makes sense to check the website menu. for this day everything was par excellence!

november lunch kaiseki menu

sensai (前菜)=fish liver, chestnut, pumpkin jelly, reef squid, mushroom

angler fish liver

chutoro,mirugai(geoduck) in foreground

sashimi moriawase =maguro, kampachi, sake

akaebi (red prawn) head

grilled prawn & fish with superb truffle sauce

simmered cod in plum sauce

the first course, sensai (前菜) consisted of angler fish liver, chestnut, pumpkin jelly, reef squid, mushroom. angler fish (ugliest in the world?) liver was such a fine sublime dish, simply delish! the other items – bigfin reef squid etc were all good too. 🙂

the sashimi moriawase (maguron, sake, kampachi) was very good, sweet & fresh. for 1 set we topped up S$20 for the sashimi & got an exquisite tokusen (特选) sashimi moriawase with chutoro, akaebi, mirugai, uni wrapped with tai (top photo). this was super good value upgrade. the akaebi was the size of botan ebi (or bigger for this one) but not as sweet. we asked for the head to be deepfried. it was excellent every time. perhaps next time we would ask for aburi (torched) chutoro. 🙂

the grilled prawn & fish were good if ordinary but the truffle sauce was super.

the simmered cod with plum sauce was another par excellence dish. sweet, firm cod with slight sour sauce, the best! 🙂

chirashi don set (ikura, sake, tai)

dessert=macaron,fruits & vanilla ice cream

& after so many quality dishes we got a very nice chirashi don (with loads of ikura, sake & tai) to finish off. this lunch was so gooood!

i always wonder why japanese cuisine had such a wide menu & yet almost no dessert, like only fruits & ice cream & maybe jelly…my impression is all japanese dessert are tea dessert of the red bean kind, and the best dessert in tokyo, shinjuku etc are all the western dessert which the japanese do so well, maybe better than most western places.

anyhow we had a good combination of western dessert – a macaron with vanilla ice cream (instead of jam), fruits & 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream).

this an excellent lunch menu that i would return for everytime. c/w keyaki’s weekend S$60pax brunch mini kaiseki, i would consider both the S$58pax menu & the upgrade S$78pax menu at kuriya dining a much better offering. 🙂

c.h.e.f. andy

Nikujaga=Japanese Braised Beef with Potatoes

Posted on November 15, 2013 by chefquak

nikujaga = japanese braised beef brisket

was planning for a japanese theme dinner next month for friends & looking up recipes. i do a good miso belly pork & nobu miso cod currently, and my pan-fried angus or wagyu steak is a crowd favourite. so was thinking to add a braised beef starter & reading up the nikujaga (japanese braised beef & potatoes) recipe which used brisket or beef ribs, and the equivalent korean galbi jim recipe. 🙂 another dish i thought of adding was karei no nitsuke (simmered flatfish). that would make it a good 5-course dinner.

nikujaga = japanese braised beef brisket

i had a 350g beef brisket in the freezer which i had intended to try out hong kong styled clear beef brisket soup (清汤牛腩) but had not started. & i had the other ingredients in the kitchen so this was an easy dish to prepare & cook. 🙂

i cleaned & diced the brisket to 1in pieces, and diced the carrot,potato, sliced the yellow onions & cut the bunch of spring onions in 2in stalks + slices for garnishing. i also sliced a 1in ginger & had 2 teaspoon minced garlic ready. for the braising sauce, i mixed the mirin, sake, light soy sauce & white sugar in a bowl.

i added 1 tablespoon oil to a dutch oven & added ginger, garlic & the diced brisket to lightly brown over medium heat, then added the braising sauce + water (can use chicken or vege stock) to cover the beef, and brought to boil. i transferred to an induction heater & set to 200W (which was enough to simmer & not boil off the water too quickly). i braised for 1.5hrs & added the carrot, potato & spring onion stalks, and braised for a further 3/4hrs, so total time about21/4hrs. reduced the liquids to get a more intense flavour but enough not to dry up. when the potatoes broke when pressed against the wall of the dutch oven, the braise was ready. i garnished with sliced green onions & served.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

350g beef brsikets
1 large carrot (diced 1in pieces)
1 large potato (diced 1 in pieces)
1 large onion (sliced)
few stalks of spring onions (cut 2in pieces + sliced for garnishing)
1in ginger (sliced)
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp cooking sake
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp white sugar

Directions:

prepare – clean & dice the brisket to 1in pieces, and dice the carrot,potato, slice the yellow onions & cut the bunch of spring onions in 2in stalks + slices for garnishing. slice a 1in ginger & have 2 teaspoon minced garlic ready. for the braising sauce, mix the mirin, sake, light soy sauce & white sugar in a bowl.
cook – add 1 tablespoon oil to a dutch oven & add ginger, garlic & the diced brisket to lightly brown over medium heat, then add the braising sauce + water (can use chicken or vege stock) to cover the beef and bring to boil. transfer to an induction heater & set to 200W (enough to simmer & not boil off the water too quickly). keep braising for 1.5hrs & add carrot, potato & spring onion stalks, and braise for a further 3/4hrs, so total time about 2 & 1/4hrs. reduce the liquids to get a more intense flavour but maintain enough not to dry up. when the potatoes break when pressed against the wall of the dutch oven, the braise is ready to serve. garnish with sliced spring onion.

Best Value Top Quality Lunch @ Au Jardin on 14Nov2013

Posted on November 15, 2013 by chefquak

mud crab potato salad, caviar & truffle

NB=i also had the maybank 1 for 1 set lunch at bistro du vin @ 1 scotts road a few day later. 🙂

had 1 of the best value lunch with top quality food & good servings at au jardin on 14.11.2013. 🙂

had a few degustation dinners at au jardin quite many years ago. they were the best. 🙂 the set lunches were more affordable, and though i didn’t go often, i enjoyed them at full prices when i did. so 50% discount would be a real steal! 🙂

menu decouverte

grilled angus ribeye & gratin potatoes

macha with citrus mousse & ice cream

chocolate fondant

we decided to order 2 menu decouverte (discovery) & 2 menu tradition. i chose the latter as i do rather good beef myself at home so tried lamb saddle instead.

the mud crab truffle (top photo) looked fabulous with huge truffle servings & judging from my friends’ exclamations, jolly good! i tried a piece of truffle, but didn’t feel it had much flavour though.

white winter truffle = the price of gold!

anyhow the server told us this white winter truffle was the best c/w other seasons, and it was actually white but oxidised & shrank in the fridge as time passed, so they had to use up quickly enough. this was supposedly the price of gold=priciest food in the world. sure didn’t feel like it for this serving size. 🙂

both my friends picked the grilled ribeye, medium & medium well. sure looked good!

the chocolate fondant (lava cake) & macha mousse & ice cream looked wonderful too.

menu tradition

braised escargot, quill eggs, chorizo, truffle

panfried red snapper, tomberry tomatoes

grilled lamb saddle, olive puree

frozen expresso bombe

popcorn caramelsauce ice crea

petit four

for menu tradition, both of us took the braised escagot with chorizo. escagot was good but not my favourite, more gentle & fine c/w canned top shells. i not much into the herb esacarot style but like the gratin version at dozo, so thought i tried out the braised version. i loved the chorizo, very “pang”=fragrant.

for the mains, my friend’s panfried red snapper looked fabulous, beautifully pan seared to golden. my lamb saddle was par excellence, best i tried! 🙂 quite interesting the miniature tomberries!

dessert were great too. mine was caramel sauce & ice cream with popcorn, my friend had the bombe, which was frozen chocolate cake with curd drizzled over & milk froth.

the petit four (means little oven) macarons was not great, far too sweet, though the yellow ones with lemon flavour combined well in taste & moderated the sweetness. 🙂

the price of lunch with maybank 1 for 1 promo was S$22.50++pax for menu tradition & S$32.5++pax for menu decouverte, nothing less than a steal! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Good Teochew Zi Char @ Mu Liang Zai Liang Kee on 12Nov2013

Posted on November 13, 2013 by chefquak

braised duck & tau kua

6 of us had teochew zi char at muliang zai liang kee on 12.11.2013. few of us started a hawker & zi char tour some months back. it was mostly touch & go. the zi char at kok sen @ keong siak street was very good. woh hup @ hong lim was quite poor it was not worth a post!

mu liang zai liang kee is located along the same row of shophouses along havelock road at the opposite end of g7 liangkee. it is owned by the 5th son of ng bak liang (so 木亮仔=son of bak liang). you can read the story of the 3 liang kee here.

we had a very enjoyable dinner, true tecohew comfort food, mostly good standard & tasty & at very affordable prices, w/o service & gst. we had 8 dishes adding up to S$136, about S$22+pax nett. 🙂

ter kar tan – pork trotters jelly (猪脚冻)

hae chor （虾枣）& liver roll (肝花)

deep-fried tofu with minced pork (金牌豆腐)

yellow chives with prawns

chilli crayfish

orh nee (芋泥)

the pork trotters jelly (猪脚冻) was just ok, competent. imperial treasure, crystal jade & chui huay lim versions were much better. it was cheap though, a large portion for S$10.

the hae chor (虾枣) & liver roll (肝花) were quite good, no much different from other teochew restaurants.

the braised sliced duck was surprisingly good. i did not expect much as many teochew restaurant like huat kee had very average (or poor) braised duck, and the braised goose we had recently at chui huay lim was poor c/w with this duck. still i very much prefer eating the style of braised duck like the 1/2 duck for S$28 at imperial treasure c/w this tiny plate of sliced duck for S$18. that was just my personal taste preference though.

the deep-fried tofu with minced pork (金牌豆腐) was excellent, equal to that at kok sen.

the orh nerng or oyster egg was an average & passable dish (passable in both senses – not failed OR can skip). like good teochews the few of us still preferred the sticky orh luar version with sweet potato flour at hawker centres.

the yellow chives with prawns (S$18) came with 7 large prawns. the prawns were large, fresh & springy, so it was not a bad prawn dish. it was though a bad yellow chives dish, no wok hae & swimming in sauce. it should be much dryer with strong wok hae flavour. 🙂

the crayfish (S$28) i did not consider a well done dish (though some of my diner friends were obviously relishing it). i preferred the ah orh version of teochew crayfish with yellow onions & egg. the crayfish itself were plump, bouncy & tasty. not quite sure what chilli it was, not sambal & not really chilli crab chilli, though it did go well with the steamed buns.

the orh nee (芋泥) was good too – another pleasant surprise!

overall it was a good dinner for S$22nett. will be back again!

c.h.e.f andy

Meepok Tar @ Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim at Bedok Simpang on 12Nov2013

Posted on November 12, 2013 by chefquak

jalan tua kong lau lim meepok tar

was watching nadal vs djokovic ATP World Tour Finals at friend’s place at 4am. nadal lost in straight sets even with the support of 3 ardent fans. 🙂 anyway he had a good year after being out for 7 months from injury.

it was 6.30am early morning on 12.11.2013. we decided to go bedok simpang for breakfast. so it had to be meepok tar at jalan tua kong lau lim. according to my friend, this was from the original stall. 🙂

jalan tua kong lau lim meepok tar

meepok tar

on this day it was a bit salty. the guy must have added a bit more fish sauce & usual loads of chilli. love the chilli. still, for me overall, it did not disappoint. meepok was enough qq (al dente), fish balls were sweet, and there were lots of minced pork & quite fatty ones & 3 la pok (deepfried lard) which i took 2. the fish cake & lean pork added to the overall experience. no prawn. but chilli was still the most important.

was it better than the jalan tua kong stall at 6th avenue? in fact i thought the 6th avenue one was better overall though perhaps this fishball was better! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Omakase @ Hachi on 9Nov2013

Posted on November 11, 2013 by chefquak

excellent kobachi (小钵) -amuse bouche

we had an immensely satisfying omakase dinner for 3pax at hachi on 9.11.2013. 🙂

omakase is like a chef’s table. there is no menu & the chef dishes out the freshest ingredients of the day. generally it is done like a kaiseki course dinner. at hachi we were served a 12-course autumn-theme dinner. the restaurant asked whether we had diet restrictions, as was customary. we of course ate anything & everything..haha. 🙂

the first dish was an excellent kobachi like an amuse bouche. i can’t really remember what it was except for the slice of japanese persimon sticking out. 🙂

sensai (前菜) platter – tofu, ginko nuts, a momiji (maple) flour cake. chestnut etc

sashimi moriawase (shima aji, hirame, hotate, kampachi)

raw oyster

sensai (前菜) platter was lovely – tofu, ginko nuts, chestnut & a momiji (maple) flour cake etc befitting the occasion.

next was a dobin mushi (teapot soup) which was simple & nice. didn’t take a photo though!

the sashimi moriawase consisting of shima aji, hirame, hotate, kampachi was excellent, very fresh & sweet. 🙂

we also had a very large plump juicy oyster. very good indeed!

hamachi kama (fish cheeks)

steamed crabmeat, tofu, seaweed, melon dish

simmered crabmeat, tofu, seaweed, melon dish

ohmi wagyu rare

hokkaido tomatoes

light noodles with tempura batter

next up was the hamachi kama (fish cheeks). this was among the best for this evening. i don’t order kama at japanese restaurants because it is usually quite a large helping & not everyone likes it. for this evening though it was excellent, 1 of the best kama i had, very well marinated, sweet (not too sweet) & tasty. we all liked it. 🙂

next was a simmered dish of crabmeat, tofu, seaweed, melon etc, delicate & tasty.

following that we were served ohmi wagyu (ohmi is 1 of the top 3 kuroge wagyu after matsuzaka & kobe) – the highlight of the evening. it was very flavourful & a nice rare. after that we had hokkaido tomatoes. they were super, sweet & refreshing. these are now served in many restaurants in Hong Kong & Singapore & xiyan served them as a starter dish in their rather expensive course meals.

to round off the meal, we had, in place of the usual gohan set (rice & pickles), a light noodle with some tempura batter. it was very satisfying. after that we had a nice macha ice cream. 🙂

the price of the omakase was S$118pax. it was very good in quality of cooking & ingredients & also quantity. it was certainly a much better deal c/w the S$138pax kaiseki at kuriya dining & the S$170pax kaiseki at keyaki. c/w mikuni at 50% FAR discounts and Andy’s kaiseki (in jest only la! haha), mikuni was still the better deal. still hachi was an excellent alternative for good japanese kaiseki. will certainly be back. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Second 55ers Homecooked 11-course Dinner Buffet on 7Nov2013

Posted on November 9, 2013 by chefquak

See privacy & perspectives.

this the second RI 55ers homecooked dinner before 2013 runs out. the first RI 55ers dinner was on 5.5.2013. 🙂

27pax attended. 2 had to leave earlier, so did not manage to get in the group photo (though we could have had the cake & photo done earlier).

one friend brought a very nice cake for the 3 november birthday boys & the 55ers, wonderful chocolate & a nice biscuit base with contrasting texture. it was an excellent cake. that reminded me that another friend’s sister made excellent cakes (incredible camera cake & cupcakes during his 30yr wedding anniversary dinner last year! btw that dinner was better organised than most young couples’ weddings). we should order from mongstirs next time.

let the party begin – makan time! 🙂

thai prawn tanhoon appetizer

beer can chicken

teochew briased duck

braised egg, tau kua, tau pok

we had 11 dishes.

#1 the thai tanhoon by my domestic helper was good as always – tasty, spicy, tangy, just the right amount of chilli padi, lime & shallots.

#2 the teochew braised duck was 1 of my best (it was also very good the last 55ers dinner on 5.5.2013 though i did struggle a bit couple other times including cutting my fingers for the 1st & only time preparing meals). it was very “pang” ie flavourful & meat was tender & not “june” ie tough.

#3 the “pang” braising sauce was put to full use with the braised egg, tau kua, tau pok.

#4 the beer can chicken was i guess ok, tasty, but nothing special. the chicken was brined in sugar & little salt for 24hrs, rubbed with oyster sauce, & with herbs & garlic slices pushed under the skin. & roasted for 40mins “standing” on a 100plus can. this way of roasting enable all round browning (almost la!) w/o need to turn over the chicken.

miso belly pork

nonya curry chicken

steamed black bean pork ribs

chilli sotong

steamed red garoupa HK style

blanched HK kailan with shitake

high heat dry wok garlic prawns

#5 the miso belly pork was inspired by a lunch at jason atherton’s pollen @ gardens by the bay. i was doing a good nobu miso cod & decided to use the same 3-day marinade recipe, and the char siew method (oven slow low temp cooking immersed in miso marinade so retaining the juices & no drying out + high temp broiling). the meat was moist (as seen in the photos, just like the duck & chicken were moist) & tender & the miso flavour was excellent.

#6 nonya curry chicken was my consistently good dish, made w/o curry powder directly using a self-blended spice mix recipe, and of course unhealthy coconut milk, and so very fragrant in smell & taste. i love this curry.

the other dishes (plus #1 thai tanhoon) were ably done by my domestic helper.

#7 chilli sotong was excellent – a craving inducing dish.

#8 the steamed pork ribs looked so wonderful in the photo & was tasty with tender bite.

# 9 steamed red garoupa HK style was always good, & at 20% restaurant prices.

#10 blanched HK kailan was a good accompaniment after all the meat dishes. 🙂

#11 the last was my dry wok garlic prawns. wok needed to be dry & on open high heat to get charred flavour (so cannot cover as condensation would result in steaming the prawns). fish sauce is the chief ingredient to create the flavour & wok hae under high heat. prawns de-veined but not shelled so would bake in shell & not overcook & also not salty with reduced contact with fish sauce. 🙂

all fun moments come to a close. so this post is for memories, till the next get-together. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Protected: 2nd 55ers Homecooked 11-course Dinner Buffet on 7Nov2013

Posted on November 9, 2013 by chefquak

Very Good Wanton Noodles @ First Centre Serangoon Avenue 4 on 6Nov2013

Posted on November 8, 2013 by chefquak

wanton noodles

went to first centre @ serangoon avenue 4 to install thinkware fxd 900 car cam dvr. had to kill time (about 1.5hrs+) & no place to go so had to while away at the small kopitiam with just 3 makan stalls + drinks.

5 tasty wantons & soup

wanton noodles

tauyou fried noodles, ngoh hiam & fish cake

the S$3 wanton noodles turned out surprisingly good! 🙂 there were so many pieces of char siew & they were juicy & tasty. PLUS 5 wantons & very tasty, with the soup too. & the noodles the usual qq (al dente). A really great find! and a wanton noodles i will go if in the vicinity, like the 1 i like at tembeling road (unlike bakuteh & curry chicken noodles, wanton noodles & bakchormee i like but won’t drive out of the way just to eat).

the kopitiam tables were continuously packed with workers working there. while having my noodles, i saw some indian workers taking the tauyou fried noodles which looked good. wanton noodles couldn’t take up 1.5hrs+ idling time, so while very slowly seeping kopi-c gosong tilor, i decided to try the S$1 noodles topped with ngoh hiam & fish cake (total S$3). the noodles were quite good, but really this something i could skip.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Teochew Dishes @ Chui Huay Lim on 4Nov2013

Posted on November 6, 2013 by chefquak

a friend & fundonate partner bought 5pax lunch @ chui huay lim restaurant on 4.11.2013.

chui huay lim is a club with history – all 168years! it has been called a “teochew gentlemen club” or to us a teochew towkay club. 🙂

anyway the restaurant is part of the jumbo group, which has also acquired ng ah sio bakuteh (黄亚细肉骨茶), which now has an aircon branch located on level 1, which chui huay lim restaurant is also located. 🙂 i tried a few very good set dinner promotions in the rooms with karaoke set in 2012 not long after the restaurant started, they had chefs & servers from shantou. the food was generally good though not better than the other good teochew restaurants in singapore.

teochew braised goose

crispy sea cucumber in brown sauce

steamed red garoupa with chye poh

we had the ter ka tan (猪脚冻) pork trotter jelly – top photo. it was good here as usual – flavourful, nicely set & presented. i had not been here for maybe 1 year, it used to be harder to get braised goose (i had duck the last few times here), however this time there was no problem & my friend ordered the goose. i must say it was “underwhelming”. i prefer braised duck or goose to be served with little sauce & not drenched in them & most important is the “pang” flavour. this goose was to me quite average, & the few times i cooked braised duck (though i was not 100% consistent & made mistakes), my duck was more “pang” than this “wet” goose.

the crispy cucumber with mushroom & brocoli was excellent, both taste & texture with excellent brown braising sauce. it was not better than what i had at tunglok signature @ central though. the prawn rolls & liver rolls were ok, i guess competent (ordinary?).

the red garoupa (very large one almost 1 kg) with chye poh (salted dried radish) was excellent! very fresh, tasty, great sauce & chye poh condiments. 🙂

jumbo was having an amex promotion where you get a S$50 voucher for every S$100 spent, and a S$50 voucher can be redeemed next round for every S$100 spent. the bill came to S$230, so my friend was able to redeem S$100 & paid S$130. w/o voucher redemption lunch was S$46pax net. i guess it was not too ex but not cheap either. i will probably come again as i have the jumbo card & some jumbo $ to redeem before they expire. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good Dinner @ Fukuichi Level 2 Triple One on 30Oct2013

Posted on November 3, 2013 by chefquak

good bento S$40

very good friend of mine insisted on buying me birthday dinner. i had many meals already last few days so suggested crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao etc. he would have none of it. he wanted to go nandaman or keyaki. i was not keen for him to spend money at those places (nandaman i didn’t want to go at all, and i would only go for nice sunday brunch mini kaiseki at keyaki & very occasionally for kaiseki dinner depending on what was served on the menu). i told him if he was buying me dinner he should at least listen to what i wanted, but he just waived away & said when i made those suggestions, it was to be discounted & not to be listened to..hahaha. 🙂 anyway the compromise was fukuichi. 🙂

Fukuichi was located at level 2 of triple one. we arranged to meet at 8pm on 30.10.2013 as he had to finish a phone conference. i was having repeated problems with my dell pc even though it was only 1.5yrs into a 3yr warranty & the motherboard had already changed once. i had to make 3 factory image restore and wasted away hours. that was the last straw & i decided to get a mac. i arrived 20mins early & walked over to epicentre @ 313 just across the road. good side trip & i kind of decided on which mac i wanted. 🙂

fukuichi @ triple one level 2

kobachi – complimentary chopped tuna appetizer

salad with ponzu dressing

bento (sashimi, sushi, maki)

kani tofu S$6

beef hobayaki S$38

beef hobayaki S$38

we decided to order a bento each. my friend was not satisfied & insisted to order a sake (he was evidently in greater birthday mood than i & took 90% of the sake as i told him he would) & beef hobayaki S$38. i ordered a S$6 kani tofu to share as i read about it & wanted to try.

we were served a complimentary kobachi to get started – a small dish with chopped tuna. this was tasty, a good appetizer. the bento also came with a salad, simple cut cabbage that was very refreshing & enjoyable with the ponzu dressing. the kani tofu (basically pitan tofu with crabmeat) was good, tasty though i thought the one with tobiko at hokkaido sushi was better.

the bento was good quality. the sashimi (maguro, ika, sake) were all very sweet. the sushi & maki were competent. the pan-fried salmon was good, very tasty. the tempura were above average. 🙂

the beef (aussie) hobayaki(朴叶烧) with shitake mushrooms was quite good. i first came across this preparation at takayama. the local hida beef (飞弹牛) was an excellent wagyu, and was served on a magnolia leaf (朴叶). i would rate this beef as equal to that served at dozo, not as good quality as that served at the clan. 🙂

in all, a very enjoyable dinner. though we meet often, we had very good chat before calling it quits for the night.

c.h.e.f andy

Another Wonderful Lunch @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 30Oct2013

Posted on November 2, 2013 by chefquak

razor clams S$10.50 each

a good friend bought me an excellent lunch at tunglok signature @ orchard parade on 30.10.2013. according to the service staff, they wanted to promote their set menu hence they offered palate discounts only for set menus on weekends (i had an excellent dinner set here recently on 19.10.2013), this was a weekday, we could only do ala carte to have the discounts. 🙂

lie tong – S$14 for 1/2 pot serves 3-4pax

star garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs S$38

lobster in 2 ways S$32 for 1/2 lobster

ala carte was good too. 🙂

we ordered the razor clams. this was steamed with the usual minced garlic. the sauce looked a bit darker than light soy sauce. the taste was good, and the bite was almost there though my friend felt it was still a wee bit tough. so it wasn’t perfect but still pretty good. btw, i also did a good steamed razor clam in garlic oil myself. 🙂

the lie tong as usual was super! 🙂 the 1/2 pot was enough for 4pax & we had 2 bowls each.

the star garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs were ok but missing the very evident wok hae, & the fish was not as firm & sweet as the ones i had recently at tunglok signature branch @ central.

the lobster in 2 ways – the flour gratin part was flavourful & the other was sweet & watermelon refreshing. 🙂 still, it was not quite worth S$32pax & both my friend & i would go with lobster steamed with superior sauce (上汤局) anytime. 🙂

durian puree in coconut S$12

aloe vera with lime sorbet S$6

testtube juice – 5 fruits

for dessert my friend ordered the durian puree in coconut. i tried a teaspoon of the duran. it was excellent! i had the aloe vera with lime sorbet. it was very good too. i love it! 🙂 we also had some complimentary 5 juices in a test tube. 🙂

it was a very enjoyable lunch! the cost came to S$96 for 2 after 50% palate discounts. they only charged S$1.50pax for tea. we had pu er & tea was good tea too. they should see me around more often.

c.h.e.f andy

Dinner with Brother & Sister @ Chao Yue Xuan on 28Oct2013

Posted on November 1, 2013 by chefquak

braised abalone, fish maw & brocoli

another quick update – went back for the S$38pax groupon 7-course set @ chao yue xuan wth my brother & sister on 28.10.2013. food was pretty much the same as the memorable lunch i had with 4 friends on 21.8.2013. most dishes were still good, especially the soup, abalone & kurobuta. this time however, the lobster was much below par. 🙂

chicken salad with goma sauce

star garoupa fillet in beer soup

steamed 1/2lobster in superior sauce

pan-fried kurobuta pork

tau kee & spinach

yeefu noodles

the chicken salad looked pretty, was quite good though kind of heavy & sesame sauce a bit overpowering.

the soup was good, though not better than a good lie tong.

the abalone was excellent, good in taste & bite accompanied by the defining brown braising sauce. 🙂

the kurobuta was tasty & my brother liked it especially.

the 1/2 lobster though was a tremendous let down. the meat was not bouncy – seemed not live & overcooked (something that don’t happen much these days with all the controlled kitchen environment). this really took away the shine from this set – look at the corresponding photo of the lobster when i had it here on 21.8.2013.

the vege & noodles were run of the mill & i didn’t take the green bean dessert of the day included in the set. overall, the set was poorer in quality c/w what i had here previously though menu items were same. i guess it was still very good value at S$38nett (chao yue xuan & ah yat though charged S$2.40pax for tea & peanuts whether or not you take them, & the tea was quite ok).

but price aside, the poorer quality overall made it less “wow”and just another good value above average set. so i would choose to go back to tunglok signature for the lobster & seafood set with palate 50% weekend discounts even though that cost a bit more.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Brunch Mini Kaiseki @ Keyaki (quick update) on 27Oct2013

Posted on October 31, 2013 by chefquak

teriyaki cod

(we had a superb S$58 november lunch kaiseki @ kuriya dining on 16.11.2013 & the food was much better than this).

a quick update. last had excellent brunch here on 18.8.2013. everything was good as before. the mini kaiseki brunch was truly good quality & great value. thumbs up! 🙂

kobachi 小钵 – some pickled radish

sake

sashimi moriawase

good tempura moriawase

aussie beef teppanyaki

kagoshima pork – better than beef!

maki

kuro goma ice-cream

menu items same as before. sashimi (kajiki, sake, maguro) were good quality – sweet & fresh! cahwanmushi was very good – very smooth & tasty! tempura also was among the good ones. the teriyaki cod was the best – good helping & really nice! i must try this at home! 🙂

the teppanyaki beef tenderloin rare was good, but the kagoshima pork was better! 🙂

& we had 3 pieces of maki. nice too.

we asked, & they let us changed to black sesame ice cream, but the macha ice cream was good here too! 🙂

for S$60++pax, it was really very good value for the quality of food. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Expensive Average Dinner Poor Service @ Cherry Gardens on 26Oct2013

Posted on October 29, 2013 by chefquak

braised abalone & tofu

was looking for a place for my birthday dinner with family. comparing the set menus between cherry garden at oriental & peach blossom at marina mandarin, cherry garden’s came up tops PLUS they have 15% discount on set menus. we had not gone to cherry gardens for many years & the last we were there the weekend ala carte buffet lunch was pretty good, the ambience was good too, we chose the S$88pax menu with 15% discount. 🙂

cherry gardens restaurant @ mandarin oriental hotel

7-course orchid menu

small starter dish – jellyfish & topshell

roast duck, roast pork & char siew appetizer

sweet soup seafood soup

braised abalone & tofu

prawns done 2 ways

fish fillet with tofu

rice with black sesame, garlic

杨支甘露 & lime sorbet

the small starter dish (like japanese kobachi) of jelly fish with sliced top shell was ok(looked pretty on photo). they called it amuse bouche but hardly qualified,,haha. 🙂

the first course roast combination of roast duck, roast pork & char siew was very average or perhaps below average,

the second course sweet & sour seafood soup was an excellent dish, just slightly sour, enough of trademark peppery taste, and a very tasty soup & pleasant to the eye as well, much better than most places, and something i would enjoy though its not my favourite soup like most lie tong were. 🙂

the third course of braised abalone with deep-fried beancurd was par excellence. the abalone was tasty & had great bite, and the braising sauce was super, like in all good braising dishes – abalones, sea cucumber or goose webs. the beancurd was excellent as well. 🙂

the next 2 courses though were very average for this quality of restaurant. individual serving & prawns in 2 ways did not make it fine dining (the deep-fried prawn was done wasabi prawn style but with sweet & sauce) and they did not come out better than or as good as a good zi char stall. i think a wasabi prawn like the excellent ones i just had at tunglok signature would be far better. & the fish fritter with tofu hardly fit the fine palate. kok sen zi char would do better for these 2 dishes.

the black sesame crabmeat fried rice was an unique, interesting dish & quite nice & tasty. 🙂

the dessert, the usual 杨支甘露 served with lime sorbet, was good. 🙂

overall rather surprisingly, my recent excellent dinner tunglok signature @ central was so much better than this – taste-wise the sea cucumber was superb & as good if not better than the abalone here, and all the other dishes were better!

overall the food, ambience etc was quite pleasant & enjoyable, the service though was very average for this class of restaurants, made worse by the attitude of the restaurant manager. we asked for carpark redemption and was first told only valet parking could be redeemed. we don’t usually valet park however it was jam packed that evening & we did valet park (S$15). the server came back with our valet parking chip which was signed over & i asked “so is parking free?” first she said “you pay S$15” but when i asked her to ask the manager she came back after some time & said it was free. as she obviously had difficulty speaking & understanding english as we were leaving the restaurant i asked a second time the reception lady (maybe filipino). she understood but she had no idea so i asked her to call the restaurant manager. it was a small place & i could see the manager taking an inordinately long time to come over after adjusting tableware etc for an empty table (quite unnecessarily). and when he came, he flashed an artificial smile and made an incredibly senseless comment “ö…did you dine at the restaurant?” when he was the one who helped usher us in when we arrived. he was no help at all, the staff were good in attitude poor in language & training & the manager needed to take lessons from his staff on service attitude & how to nicely cheerfully reassure customers & make warm friendly buddy gestures.

hope it was one off..anyway it mattered not as customer would just vote with their feet. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Kaiseki Dinner (Below Par) @ Taisyoike Ryokan at Kamikochi on 14 &15Oct2013

Posted on October 27, 2013 by chefquak

1st kaiseki dinner at taisyoike ryokan 14.10.2013

we made a last minute change to our itinerary, dropping unazuki (would have required a rushed scenic rail journey through the kuroge gorge) & realising that we didn’t need too many days at the alpine route, picked kamikochi (上高地) which was an excellent choice. 🙂

we wanted to catch the 1020am direct bus from matsumoto to kaimikochi to arrive at our taisyoike (大正池) ryokan bus stop (which was right outside the ryokan) at 12pmon 14.10.2013. hence we planned the journey to arrive at matsumoto in the late afternoon of 13.10.2013.

with that we managed to cover the entire easy 14km 4hr+ walk all the way to myojin-ike (明神池) pond & back to hotel in time for a nice bath & kaiseki dinner.

the ryokan service was EXCELLENT. first we booked directly with the ryokan at 14000yen pax for 2nights. but then my wife saw there was a 10% discount if we had made the booking via http://www.kamikochi.org/special-offers & quoting the website. i called the ryokan & they gave us the 10% discount anyway so it was 12600yen pax & 25200yen for 1 night. will talk about the service again later. 🙂

we had the western room with attached bath & toilet so back to the usual ryokan routine. the yu 湯 (japanese for hot water ie onsen baths) was small c/w green-tateyama & most ryokans we had been previously (at hokkaido, tohoku, arashiyama, tateyama, hakone etc) but it was ok.

the kaiseki dinner though was a huge let-down, way below par!

kaiseki menu for 14.10.2013

though we could not read japanese, the menu had looked decent enough like most kaisekis we had. but ingredients & quality were just not there.

sashimi moriawase

prawn,tofu, yam & roll

iwana shioyaki

ham wrapped in leaves over hotpate

pan-fried beef

japanese grapes

the sashimi were just average (those from supermarket were fresher & sweeter). the zensai was ok.the yam & sausage items were ok. the iwana shioyaki (岩鱼盐烧) was quite good i guess but not much our kind of food. the meatball with soup was ok. the duck again non-descript. the ham on hot plate (they seemed to like to wrap meat in leaf over a heated plate) was much ado about nothing. the beef was quite poor really, not tasty & probably cooked at wrong temperature w/o proper browning & maillard reaction ring. at least the grapes were nice japanese grapes – sweet with a bit of wine flavour – & squeezed right out of the skin. 🙂

in all, a rather poor dinner, despite so many items. c/w many jap dining places in Singapore! nothing like the kaiseki we had come to know.

we were wondering what we might get the next day – & it was actually worse.

kaiseki dinner on 15.10.2013

kaiseki menu for 15.10.2013

cured salmon & sayori

vege & tofu nabe

there was nothing to be said about the second night kaiseki dinner on 15.10.2013. only the cured salmon & sayori (flying fish) was good. the iwana 岩鱼was back this time in a miso paste grill. the beef was back this time a greater disaster – never had beef with batter like pork, fish or lamb cutlet (of course there is beef wellington but that’s quite different a pastry & not a batter).

taisyoike ryokan @ kamikochi

well, kamikochi is such a lovely place, walking aorund the lake enjoying the reflections at taisyoike pond, looking at the mist on the still active yakedate & hiking round the lake to kappa bridge & myojin-ike. the ryokan room & bath were ok & the service was excellent. they came to inform us during 15.10.2013 dinner about typhoon approaching tokyo on the day of our departure 16.10.2013 & likelihood that morning shinkansen originating from tokyo would be cancelled. on the morning when we had to wait opposite the hotel to catch the bus coming from kamikochi terminal about 10 minutes away, they brought us 2 umbrellas and told us we could leave them on the bus stand when we boarded the bus. 🙂

so some gain some loss. however we still felt mostly loss as japan’s service is legendary & so is the ryokan room, bath & food, and for this trip, the good food we had were all from kyoto & matsumoto restaurants & not from the ryokans, except perhaps (ironically) the (non-ryokan) mingshuku senjusou. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

My Favourite Ramen @ Hanamaruken(花丸轩) Dotonbori Osaka on 21May2013

Posted on October 25, 2013 by chefquak

pork soft bones ramen at hanamaru dotonbori osaka

pork soft bones ramen at hanamaruken dotonbori osaka

was posting my recent ramen experience at toyama black (富山ブラック) by menya iroha at ramen village (拉麺小路) at level 10 kyoto station, and got motivated to look up my dotonbori photos during my may2013 trip with my sister.

we visited this stall, hanamaruken ramen (花丸轩) at dotonbori osaka on 21.5.2013. it is my favourite & only ramen that i really want to eat. 🙂

hanamaruken dotonbori osaka

the kitchen – hanamaruken dotonbori osaka

pork soft bones ramen at hanamaruken dotonbori osaka

they served the ramen with a 10″ (maybe 12″) long pork soft bones which had been cooked & flavoured for don’t know how many hours the taste & texture was just sublime! 🙂 of course there were the scallion, nori (seaweed), & you can get your own water, pickled ginger & 1 hard-boiled egg for every bowl of ramen you ordered.

see the youtube video of the wondeful bowl of ramen here.

being the carnivore i am, 2 slices of thin chashu are ok for me but a 10″ long pork soft bones infused with all the supreme flavours was about my only motivation to devour 1 large bowl of carbs…but of course it was about taste & texture contrast, so carbs was quite welcome together with the pork. 🙂

i will take this w/o fail everytime i am in osaka. other food can wait…haha. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Ramen Toyama Black (富山ブラック) & Greentea Jelly @ Ramen Village L10 Kyoto Station on 9.10.2013

Posted on October 25, 2013 by chefquak

ramen - tomiyama black (富山ブラック) from menya iroha

ramen – toyama black (富山ブラック) from menya iroha

i don’t take ramen much in singapore. think they are very ex like S$14++. 🙂

during my recent tateyama alpine route trip, i had ramen at the ramen village (拉麺小路) at level 10 kyoto station on 9.10.2013, the day i arrived at kyoto. there were like 15 stallsto choose from & we shared a 800yen (S$9++) at toyama black (富山ブラック) stall by menya iroha.

ramen – toyama black (富山ブラック) from menya iroha

seriously eating ramen

tomiyama black (富山ブラック) ramen stall by menya iroha

toyama black (富山ブラック) ramen stall by menya iroha

ramen village (拉麺小路) at level 10 kyoto station

the ramen & broth were excellent very tasty! & so was the chashu & the egg which was tasty even though the yolk was not runny (didn’t have to!). 🙂 still my personal favourite ramen was at hanamaruken ramen (花丸轩) at dotonbori osaka that served a 10″ softbone, i being the carnivore. 🙂

greentea jelly mochi dessert at L10 ramen village kyoto station

we also had the cheap version about 550yen greentea parfait (jelly & mochi) at a stall there. just for convenience. it was not really cheap as you could get the 900yen or 1000yen versions at kiyomizu or kawaramachi which had the soft brown mochi dusted with powder & macha tea.

c.h.e.f andy

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