Matsuo Sushi Revisited - Chirashi Set

My omakase at Matsuo has left me with happy memories.Revisited Matsuo on a wet wet Monday - although it was noon, it was empty. Though it did fill up later when the rain got lighter.

The chirashi lunch set (available Mondays and Fridays, $15++) came with tuna, hamachi, salmon, cooked and raw prawn, scallop, mekajiki, raw squid and cooked octopus. Of course, not forgetting their signature unagi tamago. Along with the purple and yellow pickles and a generous amount of roe.

Along with the set comes Miso soup with a prawn head, and chawanmushi (with crab, prawn and unagi). They serve watermelon for dessert, and green tea is complimentary. Great place for lunch if you're nearby. Though the parking will swipe $1.60 off your cashcard for the first hour.

Saves the queueing and stress of queueing outside Wasabi Tei - the ambience here is 1000x better (and somehow it feels nice and clean), and you'll never get scolded by the chef :p

I'm going to try Nara next!

Matsuo Sushi
1 Goldhill Plaza
#01-17 Goldhill Plaza
Tel: 6356 2603

: is that annalisa in the backgroud of the picture with the masala tea? :)
: wm you're so powerful how could you tell it's her!!
lol wm is very powerful indeed! I nearly thought it was fish (but it isnt):p

Ananda Bhavan Restaurant

Although I dislike Chinese vegeterian food to the core cos of all their mock meats and fried beehoon, I quite like vegeterian cusine. Especially if it's Indian cos they whip up such nice dishes that make you forget you're eating vegeterian. Ananda Bhavan is a 100% vegeterian restaurant, and inside the restaurant, one whole side of the wall is dedicated to information on why being vegeterian is better than being an omnivore. I've walked past this place quite a few times, when my family was crazy about the 24hr shopping at Mustafa Centre. It's an airconditioned restaurant, and looks a bit like a fast food chain - you have to order at a counter, and collect your food from another counter.

I had the Paper Mysoore Masala Thosai ($4.50), which I ordered wrongly - I actually told the lady at the counter that I didn't want anything spicy. Dunno how I ended up with the extremely spicy thosai. I like the condiments that they gave too, my favourite being the whitish one, which is some non-spicy coconut thing. The thosai is really huge, and is spilling over the tray. It's filled with potatoes cooked with lots of spice. The mysoore masala thosai also comes in a a non-spicy version, which is essentially the same thing without the spicey sauce.
Thairul Vadi (sp? not too sure about the name either) which was what the lady at the counter recommended when I told her my dish was too hot so I was ordering another. I think it's $3.50 if I'm not wrong. Or it might have been $2.80? I can't find my receipt :/ Anyway, the yoghurt was thick and cooling, and there were little bits of grated ginger and carrots, including some herbs. Though I didn't quite like the texture of the cold vadi (there's a deep fried version which looked extremely tempting, but the lady told me it's spicy). My Iced Masala Tea ($2.80), which I couldn't really taste since my tongue was on fire :( But I'll definitely want to come back and eat the Kashimiri naan (sp?) and cottage cheese vegetable dish that Julie has been raving about!

Apart from my wrong order, the lady at the counter was extremely helpful (especially since we were pointing madly and asking what was this and that and being slow in ordering). Best of all, the place is cool, clean and brightly lit. And the prices are extremely reasonable - I'll definitely drop by again to try more vegeterian food :)

Plus, there's this almond drink thing that I want to try - it's yellow and thick and looks really interesting - too bad I wasn't feeling that adventerous that day.

Ananda Bhavan Restaurant
95 Syed Alwi Road

Tel 62979522
Opposite Mustafa, along the side road

Rider's Cafe - Before the price increase

My sister's hilarious tshirt! Im v jealous I want a tshirt like that too!

Haiz heard from ice that Rider's Cafe menu prices has been inversely proportional to the COE.

Prices quoted in this entry may not be the same as current prices cos my post, as usual, is outdated :(3 thick and fluffy pancakes for $6.95++, sadly it's 10 bucks now.
The pancakes are the extremely thick kind, and are prettily presented in a stack with colourful berries, and warm maple syrup on the side. I'll definitely have no objections paying the 7bucks for 3 thick pancakes, but definitely not 10 bucks. I'll rather go to Macs where I can have happy childhood memories of their thin mass produced pancakes which I think taste great anyway.

On the topic of Macdonalds, my fave commercial is the rocking hot cakes (can't find it anywhere) but its about 3 hotcakes singing this cute song and dancing around and looking yummy. The jingle goes something like this "When you wake up, to the happy sound, yada-yada-ya, yada-ya-ya-ya! The rockin' hotcakes are coming to town..."

Avocado prawn salad ($12.95++) is a colourful salad - I can just imagine all the antioxidants from the mangoes and vitamin E from the avocados zooming into my skin. The grilled prawns are delicious and are lightly marinated so the yummy prawn taste comes through clearly. Best of all, the salad has a mixture of vinegrette dressing, as well as a bit of creamy dressing, so it's the best of both worlds. Prawn Portobello Salad ($14.95++) with garlic prawns, juicy portobello and some creamy sauce. As you can probably tell by now, my other family members are v healthy (compared to me).
Rider's Cafe

51 Fairways Drive
Singapore 286965
Opened from 8am to 10pm, Tues to Sundays
Go to their website for directions

Akashi Vivocity

I saw this in the Guardian magazine which came with Thursday's newspaper. It's super cute right? Looks like a ball! So I went to vivo with Jane (cos got Guardian and we wanted to shop around)but the Guardian there didn't have! Haiz!
And my mum went to Raffles City Guardian today, saw the thing and she didnt get it for me!!! Argh!! Oh well, I shall go down tmr (or later today) myself and get it. V fun to look and laugh at it cos its so cute and ugly!

Cos we were in Vivocity, and feeling extremely hungry and uninspired, we gravitated towards Akashi. It's oyster season now, as well as hamachi (I think salmon too!) season (cos all the fishes are storing yummy fish oils for the cold cold winter, so it's the best time to eat them!). The oysters are from Japan and costs 8 bucks for two, and it's extremely fresh. No gritty taste at all. Ahhh I wanna eat another oyster!!

No prizes for guessing which set I had - of course I had the nigiri chasoba set. Can't get enough of the cha soba (even though I can make it myself, Akashi's one tastes better, probably cos I buy the $2 one from Daiso ^-^).
For lunch, my set costs $16++, which is pretty worth it imho since it comes with some sushi, salad and watermelon. I think it costs $20++ for dinner. I hate the stupid price difference, makes me feel like I'm being cheated when I eat dinner there.

Perhaps because for lunch, they give edamame starter and charge you $4? This is the extremely expensive Akashi negitoro maki. I ate this around 6 months ago, just to see whats the difference between a $4.50 negitoro maki (from Sakuraya Fishmart) and a $22 one from Akashi. Actually, the only difference I can tell is that the Akashi one has roasted sesame seeds inside, and perhaps the rice is nicer?Somehow, the $17.50 difference is lost on me. Never again am I going to spend $22 on negitoromaki. Perhaps they use a better part of the tuna? But toro is toro, and is not otoro. If not, it'll be negi-otoro or negi-chutoro maki?

Akashi Japanese Restaurant
1 Harbourfront Walk
#B2-07/08/09 Vivocity
Tel 63769972
Btw Vivo has the best carpark ever! I like free parking! :D:D:D Plus, it's out of CBD!

Korean Cold Noodles

This is a reply to passerby's question: I want to ask if u wld recommend korean cold noodles?

I've never eaten Korean Cold Noodles in Singapore, but I've tried it in DPRK. According to this (English) magazine I bought there (because I saw the article on their food), there are four famous dishes from Pyongyang - namely the Taedonggang mullet soup, Pyongyang raengmyon, Pyongnang onban and Mung-bean pancake.

When I travel, I like to run around and try the local food (and see the supermarkets/markets cos that's where the locals get their food from - super interesting to see what kind of local produce and brands they have there).

Here's an exerpt from the above magazine (Democratic People's Republic of Korea No. 624 Juche 97 2008, Issue 6):

Raengmyon (cold noodle) is made from buckwheat flour. It is charazterized by its material, broth, mince, rolling and containers. It is more refreshing, delicious, tartish and taster than other buckwheat noodles because it uses radishes pickled in salt water and meat soup.

Brass bowls or trays, its containers, stimulate the appetite of eaters.

A little broth and noodle are put into a bowl. Kimchi, meat, egg, pear, cucumber, and also shredded green onions and red peppers are placed on noodle and then the remaining broth is put into the bowl.

Tasty and nice-looking, Pyongyang raengmyon has been widely known as an excellent, dish, representing Korean noodles.

Most things in DPRK are strictly regulated and rationed, and you can't just walk into any restaurant and buy a meal. The locals and foreigners have different stores and restaurants. So I had my noodles at this tourist restaurant. The noodles are sold in 100g portions. I think the pricing was quite reasonable though I can't remember the exact price there.

It's really delicious, and comes inside this brass bowl. The waitress will stir in some red sauce and vinegar to give it more flavour. The noodles have a very nice texture - chewy and tangy, and they look a bit like brown tang hoon. The crunchy pear adds to the interesting texture. There's also some pine nuts inside. The soup is is slightly sourish, and the dish is very light (no oil at all) and refreshing.

Actually, it was quite a pity we could only eat this on one of the last days, simply because it wasn't available anywhere else. I would have loved to eat this more, but then again, all the food in DPRK is so strictly rationed, I bet I'll eat up their month's supply of food (and feel really guilty cos they have so little food).

Anyway, the only place I know of which sells (authentic looking) Korean cold noodles in Sgp is Ju Shing Jung Restaurant. The picture of the cold noodles in the lunch set looks exactly like what I ate, though I've never tried it myself.

Anyone with recommendation on where to eat cold korean noodles please leave a comment! I feel like eating Korean cold noodles too!

Nanbantei

Today was such a happy day - zoomed out after lesson for yummy food - the Kopitiam being cloased is a great excuse ^-^

I've only found out this year that Far East Plaza is a treasure trove for great food at even better prices - why didn't I realize sooner - all those Sushi Tei days could have been substituted for all these other choices! The four of us are boring and generic people and we took the Obento set. It's a very affordable $12.50++ (around 14 bucks after taxes) and comes with 5 sticks yakitori. There was chicken pieces and leek, chicken balls, quail eggs, pork roll with this leaf (that always comes with sushi I think it starts with an S) and pork+asparagus.

What I like about the bento is that they 'dress' the rice up with marinated minced chicken, mushrooms and seaweed. And not to forget the healthy crunchy salad and pickles.
For people who don't eat pork, they very kindly give 2 no-pork alternative skewers at no extra charge. Today, they gave mushroom stuffed with chicken and unagi (very juicy) + leek skewers - I think its even nicer than the original version with pork - maybe next time I go I'll ask for a no pork version :D

Best of all, the lunch set comes with a daily dessert, which was mochi and red beans. Although it's a really simple (and small) dessert, it ended the meal on a high note. Plus, green tea here is complimentary :D

The last order for lunch is at 2.15pm and the restaurant closes at 2.30pm. The salmon shioyaki set is only $10 bucks - I saw the chef grilling the salmon and it looks huge. I'm going to be coming here more often - the lunch was so good (and affordable) and I'm very hungry now! :(

Beats my Tori Q hands down - but I'll still eat Tori Q when I'm desperate :P

Great place for an affordable lunch, but I think dinner's very ex according to other online reviews. Call to book cos the place is really small :)

Nanbantei Japanese Restaurant

14 Scotts Road

#05-132 Far East Plaza

Tel: 6733 5666

Chiara Ristorante

A whole hoard of us went to Chiara Restaurant for a lazy Saturday lunch. I like how the whole Mohamed Sultan feels like on weekends - feels like I'm in another country. Restaurant bread that we had to request for - olive bread with with juicy olives (yummy! I like black olives) and star skewers.

For starter, I tried the shrimp cocktail with toasted bread. I like anything with cocktail sauce, so I'm not a good gauge for this.
Tuna Bruschetta looked quite good, but I didn't feel like eating tuna that day, and the Soup of the day was Cream of Asparagus - good sized portion of soup, but average.
They have the option of adding $8++ for Pan seared foie gras with almond ravioli and Apple Jus, but I was being stingy so I didn't eat it.
For the main, I had the Roasted Lamb Chop with Gremolata Baby Potatoes and Tomato Confit. The portion is absolutely minuscule. I hate small things. Especially if baby potatoeS - how can they give only TWO baby potatoes. Such an unsatisfying meal! Seriously, don't ever get the lamb chops it's the tiniest portion ever - should be classified as kids' sized. How can you feed people 2 pieces of anorexic lamb chops????!!!!! Plus 1/5th of it is fats :(

It's completely un-worth it and I think if you ever go there you should eat the Wagyu Beef (Involtinis of Wagyu Beef with Mashed Potatoes) or perhaps the Fish of the day (even though I didn't see it, how can it be tinier than the lamb chop?) I was pretty annoyed with my meal cos I paid $28 nett and I all I had for the mains was a lousy tiny lamb chop. Seriously, lamb chop isn't as ex as wagyu!!

The Chocolate mouse with Marinated Strawberries failed to redeem the meal (for me at least). It's pretty sweet and creamy, and the chocolate taste doesn't come through. I'm craving for the chocolate mousse from Koko black now (it's the bestest chocolate mousse I've tasted, though it's only in Australia I think). The panna cotta with fruit salad is pretty mediocre - nothing to rave about.

Oh well I suppose you're paying for the ambience. But give me high tea in a hotel anytime - for $29 Dining Room @ Sheraton has high tea buffet, which looks tons more impressive than this lousy lunch I had.

*Btw Claire & Kevin tell me that dinner here is very good (they're always correct about gd food :P) but I'm very sian to try this place again. Oh wells next time if I can't think of anything else to eat for dinner...

Chiara Ristorante
80 Mohamed Sultan Rd
#01-03 The Pier at Robertson
Singapore 239013
Tel 62388817

Chiara Restaurant serves a 3 course set lunch (starter, main, dessert) from 12-2.30pm.

Ghim Moh 九江 Roast Meat

One of the few rice dishes that I like (other than sushi and fried rice) is the Roast Meat from Ghim Moh. They roast their own meats every day, and the husband and wife pair are very pleasant - not like those nasty nazi hawkers. They don't purposely dwaddle just to get a long que (or keep their long que long -like the horrible Clementi Popiah lady).

Personally, I don't like the roasted pork (with the crackling skin and layers of fat), so I usually get the char siew and duck rice ($3.50), or duck rice ($4).

The Shao La Fan is probably one of the best ones in the area, and the que gets really long during lunch time. I dont' know why I never ate it that much in JC but I did eat it quite a bit after that. Actually, I don't know why I even like this shao la fan cos I don't even eat the duck skin. But I like the sweet gravy that comes with it.

The stall is located in the middle (same row as the famous char kway teow) and its name starts with 九江 (red and white sign).

Raffles Creamery

After Gunther's, we wanted to walk over to Tom's Palatte (cos I haven't been there and everyone has been raving about it to me). Fortunately, ice saved us from the long trek in the sweltering heat by informing us that it was closed for the week. But since we were dying for ice cream, we walked over to Raffles Creamery, which was the nearest ice cream place to Purvis Street.
What I like about this place is that they have an insanely huge amount of flavours. For ice creams, the list goes something like this: macadamia nut caramel, hazelnut frappuccino, sicilian pistachio, gianduya kitkat, tahitian vanilla, dulche leche , rocky road, dark chocolate, white chocolate creme de cacao, pina colada, green tea, kalamansi frozen yoghurt, apricot, mango swirl, fresh strawberry, coconut cream, coconut sweet corn, thai tea.

They also have lots of sherbets: Singapore sling, lemon&lime, forest berry, soursop, ginger&lychee, pink guava, marbled cherry...

They also do the ice cream chef's blending thing, but the flavours I chose were all wrong and couldn't be blended nicely. I had the dulche leche, lychee& ginger (because I've hardly see ginger ice cream), and pink guava. 2 sherberts cos it was such a hot day.

I've never eaten a real pink guava fruit before - the closest I've came to eating a pink guava fruit is by drinking fruit tree's pink guava juice drink. I don't know why they don't have pink guava in Singapore? The pink guava has the slightly grainy feel of fresh guava, and has an intense guava flavour.

The ginger and lychee was very refreshing and light, and it wasn't too sweet either. The spicy ginger went very well with the sweetish lychee. I can't wait for some ice cream place to start making ginger ice cream.

Dulche leche (the Spanish equivalent for caramellized condensed milk) had vanilla beans in it and wasn't as creamy as I expected it to be, which was fine cos I was pretty full from my lunch already.
The ice cream is really pricey (as expected) but then again, it still can't beat Haagen Daz's extremely expensive single scoops. Looks like I won't really be coming back here unless Tom's Palatte is closed.

1 scoop $4.90/ with 1 or 2 condiments $5.90
2 scoops $8.10/ with 1 or 2 condiments $8.90
3 scoops $10.90/ with 1 or 2 condiments $11.60
additional condiments at $0.60 each



Raffles Creamery
1 Beach Road
Raffles Hotel
Tel: 6337 1886

Gunther's

Finally, I've gone to the restaurant that I have been wanting to try for eons already - Gunther's has been on the top of my restaurant wish list for really very long, for at least 20 weeks! We had a set lunch ($38++) each, and an additional scallop to share(cos we were tempted by the daily special tray).

The appetiser I ate was the Smoked Scottish salmon, with warm blini and classic garnish. Blini is a pancake-like thing, and the smoked salmon came with a (small) dollop of cream (with brandy I think?) and shaved egg.

My brother had the Carpaccio of Wagyu beef Tartare style (top left).

On the right, is our extremely expensive scallop, dressed extravagantly in caviar, blood orange segments and balsamic vinegar glaze. They also helped us split the scallop into 2 portions since we were sharing.

They bring out a tray of their daily specials (mostly seafood) which comprises of Hokkaido Scallops, Mussles (can't rem from where), a live lobster, rabbit etc etc to temp people like me into ordering more than we intend to :P Cos it just looks so yummy and fresh and irresistible.

Chef's Creation of the day, which was Kurobuta Pork (loin I think?) with braised endives and mashed potato. This is probably the best non-fatty pork I've eaten (Iggy's Kurobuta pork cheek is delectable but it's really fatty!) It's incredibly well done - the pork is sliced pretty thinly, and yet with every bite, lovely juices will spurt out. Best of all, there's completely no porky smell.
The other main course we had was the Warm Anel-hair pasta, tomatoes and grilled bacon. I really can't remember why we chose this over the panfried threadfin with Dijonnaise sauce :( Of course, the pasta was al dente, but I didn't like the bacon bits cos they were very fatty, though the sauce was pretty good.
Dessert of the Day was the highlight - They served a mixed berry frozen yoghurt, which was very smooth, creamy and slightly sourish, like how I like my yoghurt to taste like.

It was also a highlight because they served an extra portion of mini desserts to round off the wonderful dining experience. My first time eating Valrhona Chocolates in their pure form and canelés (the black things).

I want to go back to eat the chocolate rabbit! It's rabbit hind foot cooked in a Valrhona chocolate sauce - sounds so interesting :D

The most amusing part of my dining experience: While calling to book, my brother thought that we got the answering machine - but after the 2nd call, he realized that it was actually a real person answering the phone. Imagine what the guy must be thinking, cos my brother was very audibly that he got the answering machine, even though it was noon and the restaurant should be open!

it's 5 stars so yummy Im definitely coming back! Ahh Im going to drool all overy my keyboard!

Gunther's Modern French Dining

36 Purvis Street

Singapore

Tel: 63 388 955

SL II Muffins

My brother bought back a half dozen box of muffins. Though I'm not a big fan of muffins, it's pretty good especially when eaten (partially) warm and fresh. It's also very affordable - 6 pieces of muffin for $6, and it's a regular full sized muffin too! Mrs Fields is seriously ripping people off! Flavours that I tried were blueberry, banana (yum!), almond, raisin, chocolate chip and walnut. I liked the banana best because of the mushy chunks of banana in it. Almond is pretty good too. All the muffins were incredibly moist. Even though there wasn't lots and lots of topping/ingredients (which were mostly limited to the top), for $1 per muffin, it's a steal.

The brand keeps making me think of SK II...

505 Beach Road

#01-97

Golden Mile Food Centre

Singapore 119583

Tel 62950830

6 Raffles Boulevard

#04-101/102 Marina Food Lost, Marina Square, Stall 13

Singapore 039594

Tel 63380178

Block 138 Tampines St 11

#01-114

Spore 521138

Tel 67819928

Snow Ice

This is the snow ice from Ang Mo Kio hub basement. The place is really a madhouse during weekends - it's as crowded as town, just tt the shops there are not as pricey.

Snow ice is this incredible dessert (one of my fave cheap-er cold desserts, apart from Mr Bean ice cream and those pushcart ice cream vendors) and it's really hard to find. There used to be one at Chompchomp and at Queensway, but they all closed down :(

Snow ice is like shaved ice, just that its milkey and flavoured, and doesn't have those sharp jagged edges like normal shaved ice. Really nice to eat and it is melt-in-the-mouth and cold and sweet.

This strawberry snow ice with fresh strawberry and syrup cost me $3.90, but they do a syrup topping one (no fresh fruits) for $2.90.
Another flavour that I really like is the Taiwanese Blackberry with milk ice - I really dunno what a taiwanese blackberry is, but it's this little pokey thing which looks a bit like blueberry but is more sourish. Yum!

Fish & Co

The first Fish & Co opened in PS when I was still in Secondary school (argh sound like a lao ah mah already!). Now, there's so many Fish and Co chains popping up everywhere. I boycotted fish&co for quite a while, because I encountered alot of shitty service in their various branches.


For example, there was a time when they refused to give us (table for 4) some more tartare sauce, saying that it was limited to one per table, even though all 4 of us ordered fish and chips, as well as them being really slow and messing up our orders on various occasions.The last time I went to Fish & Co (at Novena) I had the set lunch of fish and chips, and ended up feeling very oily and that all the oil in the fish will zoom straight to my cronary arteries.
Anyway, the best dish here is probably the Seafood Platter for 2 ($45++) because it's a very substantial amount of seafood. 2 large prawns per person, 2 scallops, lots and lots of squid (chew until very tired), and a grilled fish fillet with cream sauce as well as their signature butter rice. They're pretty flexible and allowed us to change the fries to more rice, and the fries to salad (we ordered 2 seafood platters for 2).

Topping up $5.50 gives you a soup of the day (seafood chowder, pretty ok and a bit too creamy) as well as a drink (passionfruit soda, alot of other choices). Pretty good I must say. Exceeded my (low) expectations.

Reminiscence of my sec sch days... gosh I sound super old (but I'm NOT!!!!)