Sushi Mitsuya Lunch

Sushi Mitsuya is now my to-go place whenever I have the luxury of having lunch out (which is fortunately or unfortunately, not a very common occasion). I think the sushi lunch set is awesome - for $70 nett, you'll get 8 pieces of sushi, prepared right in front of you. That's in addition to 2 appetizers, a soup and a dessert. I have yet to try dinner, but after my experience at Sushi Ichi, I have decided that my tastebuds are suited to sushi meals not >$100, and I can't seem to appreciate the sushi enough to justify the cost.

I've been here for about 4 times for lunch, and it has been consistently good. The season has just changed, so here's what I had for lunch about 2 weeks back. Out of the 8 pieces of sushi, one is usually a lean tuna (can't expect otoro with that kind of lunch price), usually a 4-6 piece maki at the end. I usually get to try about 2 new and 'interesting' fishes per lunch, and the other 4 will usually be a 'mainstream' fish.

I don't eat raw prawn, so I always let the sushi chef know of my dietary restriction. (Along with not having any yuzu brushings on my sushi, or any other forms of citrus fruits).

 Starter was baby sardines with grated daikon

 Prawn and carrot salad with pumpkin sauce

Ika (Squid)
I used to dislike raw squid cos it always tastes rubbery and hard and too chewy. However, eating a good quality squid can make all the difference. It is very smooth, firm and not too chewy. I liked how they cut all the ridges on the squid too. Makes it look like a pine cone.

This was a pinfish (not sure if I got it correct) with some salt on top. It's a non-oily fish

One of my favourite sushis of the day - kawahagi, which is also known as a 'filefish'.
It is served with its own liver (the creamy thing) on top. I've never tried this fish before, and boy, was it delicious. The liver was light and creamy - imagine something like foie gras, but a lite version of that. Which made the blander tasting flesh more interesting.
Go to this link if you're interested to see what the kawahagi looks like.

Katsuo (bonito). It was so red and meaty I thought it was a akami (lean tuna) - but do note the grated ginger and sliced spring onion on the side. This version wasn't seared, and was very meaty and delicious.

Hamachi (yellow tail) sushi. It was a very thick and fatty slice of hamachi, probably one of the best I've eaten. Can't compare to those from the average sushi chain.

Akami (lean tuna)

Ikura sushi (salmon roe)
Extremely fresh, and each salty bubble of roe will pop in your mouth. Whenever I eat this sushi I think of the starting scenes from Finding Nemo.

Anago (sea eel) Osaka Boxed-style
This was the first time I've seen this style of sushi. Pretty interesting, especially since the rice isn't your usual plain sushi rice.

Soup - clear soup with tofu fishcake.

Katsuo (bonito) maki
I thought this was negitoro maki when I saw it but atlas, it wasn't! Then again, I like how the meaty bonito reminds me of tuna.

Autumn fruits - sweet and crunchy perssimon and melon sherbert.

This is the barachirashi, for those people who can't have the luxury of having a piece-by-piece sushi lunch. I would still highly recommend the sushi set. For $70 it's really a steal.

Btw, I always thought that Harada-san spoke with a queer accent (not the typical Japanese accent) but I've finally figured out why! He sounds exactly like a Hong Konger when he speaks English.

Disclaimer here: I have yet to try Shinji, which, according to all the other online reviews, is Singapore's best sushi restaurant. I shall aim to try it one day...

Sushi Mitsuya
60 Tras Street
#01-10 Singapore 078999
Tel 64382608
*Do call for reservations as seating is limited.

Dury Lane

 Do you know the muffin man?

 We didn't try any muffins (I was too stuffed but they have interesting flavours like Milo and Matcha! and it's pay as you wish - most people give $2). But we did try the salted caramel and chocolate tart. Looks unassuming but it tastes much better than it looks ($4). And yes, we did eat the dishes in this order :p

The Salmon baked eggs ($12) came with spinach, home made baked beans and cheese, and a toasted piece of bread. The baked beans were firm, not like the soggy canned ones, and not so sugary sweet either. We added a side of avocado for $2. Makes you wonder why you're paying nearly $20 elsewhere for smoked salmon.

 The Chicken Avocado sandwich ($8) with yogurt mint sauce looked very unassuming, but it was my favourite dish of the day. Crusty ciabatta bread stuffed with chunks of juicy chicken (tastes vaguely like tandoori), with creamy avocado and crunchy greens.

 The Big 94 ($14) - equivalent of the biggest breakfast on brunch menus - comes with eggs, sausage, mushrooms, honey cured bacon, baked beans and toast. Note that the sausage is made of beef. I liked the tomato relish at the side. And the bacon was pretty interesting cos it was crispy and sweet. Eggs were nicely poached (seems like it's a rarity at most cafes these days).

The Cloud 9 ($10) was 2 pieces of fluffy pancakes, berry compote and poached pear. The pancakes are the thicker kind, but not too cakey so I quite liked them. Comes with honey too.

The reviews online are very very mixed - and I actually took the risk of organizing brunch here cos the prices were really attractive, plus they took reservations. I'm glad to say that the risk was worth taking, and I'd be back for more.

I really like this little cafe cos the food is cheap, taste wise it's average or slightly above average, service is warm and friendly and the whole cafe feels really cosy and down to earth.

I personally feel that brunch food can only reach a certain standard, and I feel very reluctant to part with my money especially when the mains are >$20, bordering on just below $30 or about $30 after you add in the taxes and service charge. It's not a cut of meat you're paying for.  Oh well, some of you might disagree with me, but that's my current stance for brunch food. I'll rather spend my money on a good sushi lunch.

Dury Lane
94 Tanjong Pagar Road
S 088515
Tel 62226698

Symmetry

Pardon for the lack of updates - the last 2 weeks were ________ .  Finally had the time for a breather today.

So we decided to do brunch on Saturday when everyone was free - a sure sign that age is catching up with you is when you can meet your friends at 10am on a Saturday morning, even when you're not working. When I was still studying, I used to not wake up before 1230 on a Saturday and will luxuriate in my bed the whole morning.

Anyway, this Symmetry is annoyingly hard to find. I trudged up and down two cemetries before I finally realized that Jalan Kubor was sliced into two by Victoria Street! And it's on the side which has more civillization... But it was a blessing in disguise as the carpark on that part was free;)

 Hot chocolate with roasted mini marshmellows

 Happy cookie is going to be eaten

 Prawn Popcorn ($14), which were like prawn balls (with the flour and seasonings), similar texture to chicken karaage. I was hoping that the prawn would be either whole or more chunky.

 The Big Breakfast ($24)
Chicken cheese sausage with a snappy casing, lots of mushrooms, maple glaze bacon, creamy scrambled eggs, roasted tomato and brioche. Comes with their special berry butter (on the top right hand corner). It's pretty filling, so I'd recommend sharing this if you want to try their desserts.

 Sausage Ragout ($23)
Ok I can't remember the name of this dish but after poking around google images, I think it's the sausage ragout. It's lots of chopped sausage with a tomato based sauce and 2 poached eggs on top.

 Brioche Pan Perdu ($15++)
Fancy french toast - the brioche was nice and butter, with generous lashings of maple syrup, topped with poached fruit. Of course, the ice cream topping it off can't hurt either.

We had the Yakult mixer - who doesn't enjoy Yakult? I really like the taste, and here, it's jazzed up with a bit of alcohol and lime shavings (not my fave but I just left them at the side) and as an apertif after a filling brunch. I suppose that you'll be ingesting some good bacteria while you're at it (not sure if the alcohol denatures the bacteria though).

Symmetry is immensely popular - lots of people participating in Singapore's un-official sport of queueing - what's more they had to stand outside in the heat :X

Foodwise - well, it's good, but maybe not good enough to drag myself out of bed at 9am again, or to pay the same amount of money for it. I think some other brunch places do a pretty reasonable breakfast for much less. Plus it isn't fantastically near my house, and I've been feeling lazy to travel to far off places these days.

Symmetry Cafe
9 Jalan Kubor
#01-01 
S199206
Tel 62919901

Saveur

Another outdated post, but it's too good to not blog about. 

Savour has been opened for quite a while now and I never had the chance to try their outlet at Purvis street - cos it's very far away and I refuse to trudge all the way there and stand in a queue. I saw one of the local food shows featuring it - and their mission is to provide affordable good French food in Singapore. 

So when we were rejected by the Sushi bar (booked full, so full that they refused to take takeaway orders), we went to Savour, where they had a more reasonable queue (about 15 min). 

The mushroom cappuchino ($4.90) came with lots of froth. The portion is probably 2/3 a normal soup portion but I'm not complaining. Taste wise, it's pretty good not like the watered down thin kind.  

Garden salad ($4.90) - personally, I won't order this cos it sounds boring. There's some quail eggs, hazelnuts, olives, tomatoes and cheese on top so it's pretty worth the price, I suppose. But if you need to reach your daily quota of 4-5 servings of fruits and vegetables, go ahead.

Saveur's Pasta ($4.90) - signature pasta with chilli oil, konbu, sakura ebi and minced pork sauce.
My holy grail for similar dry pasta dishes has to be Gunther's truffle konbu angelhair pasta with caviar. Absolutely to die for. But I haven't tried it for a really long time! And the other one is Iggy's sakura ebi cappellini.
This one is pretty good, but I felt that the Konbu could be a bit stronger. Otherwise, for $4.90, I'm not complaining.

 I cannot not order this Foie Gras ($9.90) - for me, pan seared foie gras is one of my all time favourite French foods. Iit's pan seared withe apple-infused port wine and vanilla bean, served with crunchy apples. It's a small portion but worth the $9.90. And it's well done with a crispy exterior and wobbly smooth innards.

 Duck leg confit ($10.90) wtih mashed potato, sauteed shitake mushroom. Not bad, with the crispy duck skin and soft meat which falls away from the bone. But I was more impressed by the fish.

Pan seared sea bass, diced saute potato with crabmeat, French beans and caper vinaigrette ($14.90)
I was particularly impressed by the fish - the skin was crispy and lightly salted, and the flesh was flakey, moist and fresh.

They also have beef short ribs ($14.90), pork belly ($10.90) as other affordable alternatives.
They do have 'premium' items such as beef tenderloin ($24.90) and cod ($24.90) which we didn't try - cheapskate in me wants to get a bigger bang for my buck.

Service is good - enthusiastic young crew but then there were a few hiccups along the way. They forgot about our orders for quite a while - but gave us a complimentary bread bowl while we waited for the food. Saveur also serves complimentary water - for a restaurant with such value for money prices, I'm impressed that they offer water too.

My two cents worth - go for the cheaper dishes - I think with such value for money dishes, there's no use going to eat a fancy steak or expensive fish. I also like their motto - quality yet affordable French food for the masses.

Saveur
14 Scotts Road
Far east Plaza #01-07B Singapore 228213

Poulet

This is a way outdated post - just dug it up from the recesses of my blog - and since I've already watermarked the photos, I shall just blog about it. (Not sure if they've increased the prices, but these are the prices I found online)

The Salad de Paris ($9.80++) cranberry, tomato, black olives, avocado, pine nuts in a light French dressing was not bad - well dressed, light and refreshing.

Granny's Chicken Salad ($9.80++), which isn't really a salad (in local terms) considering that it has only 4 leaves and 4 tomato halves. The shredded chicken was combined with crunchy granny smith apples, capers and mayonnaise. Taste wise it's not bad (because of the sweetness from the raisins and apples) but I doubt this whole thing has even 1 serving of vegetables.

Iberico Pork Belly ($15.80++) was not bad - very tender and soft, served with leek confit and mustard.

The Braised Duck Leg ($15.80++) - braised in a rich red wine sauce (very tasty) with cranberries and glazed onions.

Their classic poulet chicken ($15.80)  - was very underwhelming. In fact, it reminds me vaguely of the western lunch I get at work. Slightly more moist and tender, but I won't be trying it again (the other mains are much better). The creamy mushroom chardonnay sauce is a bit jelak by the end of the meal. The chicken is brined for half a day and then slow roasted to get it's caramel brown colour. Very average only. For the same price, please try the other dishes instead.

I really liked the banana bread pudding (with a scoop of vanilla ice cream). If you don't like moist mushy desserts, this is definitely not for you - it's very moist, lots of soggy bananas and rather sweet. Ice cream was ok-ish, not like the awesome vanilla bean kind (like Marmalade Pantry's).

Price wise, it's quite affordable - mains are about $20 after taxes/service charge and they're pretty substantial and filling. It's getting rarer and rarer to find affordable food - the going rate for a simple dish of eggs benedict at most popular cafes is now around $20, so considering that these dishes are made from solid meat, it's a pretty good deal.

However, they do not serve water, so you'll have to buy bottled water. Thumbs down for that.

I suppose that this is a much better alternative to Nandos (which I really dont' like) if you're hankering for some chicken (though it's not Halal certified), and  price wise its comparable to Nandos. I won't mind getting the banana bread pudding again.

I tried Poulet at the Great World City outlet, but it's taking over Singapore with lots and lots of outlets.

Poulet outlets are at:
Bugis
Chinatown Point
Vivocity
Bedok Mall
Jurong Point
Raffles City
West Gate

Kaiho Sushi

Kaiho sushi has lots of good reviews online, but I found the food very average and pricey when we went there. It's located in the very sleepy Cuppage Plaza, and is a very dim, small restaurant.

Read numerous reviews that their aburi rolls were good, so we had a sampling of the more popular ones. 

A variety of califonia aburi roll, tuna, soft shell crab etc. It's not bad, but for the price (about $12++ per roll) I'd rather go to the Sushi Bar (my new fave mid range Japanese restaurant, I've forsaken Itacho already... and I haven't back to Ryoshi Sushi cos it's so darn far away).

More rolls - we tried quite 4 variations, all doused in lots of mayo, cheese +/- roe. They're good, but not mind blowing or the kind that would make you feel like coming back for your next meal. 

 Sashimi platter - no doubt it was fresh but for the price and portion, you can do much better elsewhere.

 Aburi salmon - not bad tastewise cos it was fatty salmon with all the delicious oils melting into the rice below, but for $5 a piece, I'd suggest that you head over to the sushi bar.

Other than the scallop which we all liked and demolished in a few slurps, the rest was very unremarkable, unmemorable and pricey. I'd suggest going over to the Sushi bar for your (cheaper) aburi sushi fix, or to Ryoshi sushi or Itacho for sushi.

Kaiho Sushi
5 Koek Road
#03-01 Cuppage Plaza
Singapore 228796
Telephone 67381315
Closed Mondays