Sushi Jiro @ Siglap

Part 2 of DH's birthday celebrations were held at Sushi Jiro, a quaint little restaurant near our place at Siglap. It's run by a Japanese chef who married a Singaporean lady and decided to relocate to Singapore.


One thing interesting about this little place is that it serves seasonal specials which are typically found in more high end restaurants. This is mentaiko (spicy codfish roe), which is really an acquired taste. DH likes this a lot, and can eat it presented in various ways. I do like this, but would prefer it to be cooked, like mentaiko pasta, mentaiko tofu or grilled mentaiko.


We ordered edamame beans for SGD6 cos Cutie likes them...


But he very sweetly offers them to me first.


This is rather interesting - Ankimo in Ponzu (monkfish liver in vinegary ponzu sauce). Again, not something that one would usually find in ordinary japanese places. The last time I ate this was at Inagiku (we haven't gone there in awile cos our Feed at Raffles card has expired, sigh). It is very smooth, and rich, almost like eating a slab of meaty butter... taste-wise, I would liken it to foie gras, but the ponzu helps to cut the richness, and give it a tangy lift.


Another unique offering - Shirako in Ponzu (codfish milt in vinegary sauce). This white curdy thing is considered a supreme delicacy by Japanese, available only during the winter months. It is actually rather tasteless, and absorbs the taste of the ponzu. Rather, it is the unique texture of the shirako which makes it so sublime. It is soft, creamy, a little custardlike, yet rather delicate. Interesting.


The beef sukiyaki was a large pot, and we asked that they cooked the beef for us... Although I think it would have been nicer to serve us the raw beef slices, we didnt want to have the gas stove cooker on the table with 2 kids around. The sukiyaki was served with 2 raw eggs, which DH used as a dipping sauce. MIL and I both avoided the raw egg... I am a little afraid of eating raw egg, even though I eat raw fish. Is that silly? DH says it makes the beef silkier and smoother.


The grilled hamachi (yellowtail) cheek was truly delicious. It was clearly very fresh as it tasted very sweet, and it was grilled just right, with the fish skin slightly crispy and the flesh soft and yielding. Very very nice.


Our premium omakase sushi set... with all our favourites, uni (sea urchin), toro maki (bluefin tuna belly), anago (sea eel), akagai (ark shell) etc. This plate costs GD80, which really isn't cheap.


DH's birthday mochi, with a candle on top! Cutie sings Happy Birthday so enthusiastically, the waitress pops in to investigate.


Sweetie loves birthday celebrations too! She happily joins in the clapping, but maybe she doesnt really understand the commotion...

Imperial Treasure Restaurant, Crowne Plaza Hotel at Terminal 3

I've always thought that Imperial Treasure was a very nice restaurant, serving up very exquisite and classy traditional Chinese delicacies.

So, when we made reservations to come here, I had high expectations... and the outlet at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Terminal 3, didn't disappoint. Everything about this restaurant really impressed me, from food standard, to service, to decor, all were excellent.

We tried the roast pork which was crispy and piping hot... There was a rather thick layer of fat under the crispy skin though, so that may not be too well-received. DS does a very good roast pork, totally home-made (her trick is to use lemon juice to dry out the skin, and then poke holes in the skin using a fork...) but it is very painstaking and is a true labour of love.

We also had braised goose wings and goose webs, but I forgot to take a picture.

Drunken prawns... very succulent and fresh. The herbal soup was so delicious, I had to slurp it all up.

The squid in salted egg yolk was also superb, a divine pairing of tastes and textures.

An individual serving of sea cucumber and mushroom for each of us. Also excellent, because the gravy was delicious and both the mushroom and sea cucumber were a substantial serving.


This dish, we got tricked. I thought it was kai lan with fish slices, and ordered it, but when it arrived, it wasn't fish slices but slices of fish cake. Aiyah!

Ee Fu Noodles, because it is a birthday, we had to have noodles to symbolise long life. This one was fried with spicy XO sauce and scallop. Very good.

Dessert we shared: Glutinous rice dumplings (Tang Yuen) in crushed peanuts,
and mango pomelo sago dessert.





DS bought 2 tiramisu cups and had the waitress bring them over with candles for the 2 birthday boys - DH and Cutie. Cutie loves blowing out the candles.


Happy Birthday to my 2 dearies.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone for their kind birthday wishes.

Thanks particularly to Wei, Mia, Chandelier, Ice and Fen, for being so sweet.

I really do have lots to give thanks for. :)

Obolo Chocolate Cheesecake

Happy birthday to Chocolate Reindeer!

This blog is 2 years old!

If you look back at my earlier posts, you will find that this blog was started on my birthday...

Thanks to DS and my family, who surprised me by sending a hamper with beautiful flowers, balloons and a chocolate cheesecake to my home..


Yummy cake, it was dense and rich and smooth, and not too sweet. Very very nice.


Thanks to DF,DM, DS, DBiL and DB for loving me so much!

PS: the cake is from Obolo, a boutique de patisserie (which means pastry boutique in French) in Joo Chiat... It serves all kinds of gourmet desserts and specialises in very classy, very exquisite cheesecakes like the Guanaja Chocolate Cheesecake that DS ordered. The Guanaja Chocolate Cheesecake is a luscious dark chocolate cheesecake made with premium cheese and Valrohna (wow!) 70% dark chocolate, studded with dark chocolate chunks, topped with chocolate macarons. MMMMM.... Thanks DS!

Beef and Beef

DH recently discovered this beef place which sells excellent grades of beef, so we have been eating lots of it..

He bought this sliced beef karubi for our hotplate dinner... it's called full blood blackmore wagyu beef. It supposed to be beef 100% Japanese black cows without any other breed introduced to its bloodlines (therefore full blood)with a marbling grade of 9+, the highest possible grade.



400 g of this beef cost DH $170. Just look at the beautiful marbling.




It smelt soooo good as it sizzled on the hotplate... You dont need to cook it for too long... and then it just melts in your mouth... ooh delicious.



Yums.

LUNCH AT HOME

DH also bought some USDA grain fed aged ribeye home... at about $40 for a slab of 200g, this was cheaper than the grade 9 wagyu.

It tasted very good, very beefy, if you get what I mean.


The guys at the shop can marinate and season the meat for you too. DH chose salt and pepper so that we could truly appreciate the natural taste of the beef. Eaten with a simple salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing, it was a hearty and filling meal.



Thanks to my cute chef.


CUTIE

Time really flies, Cutie is now almost 3 (he turns 3 at the end of this month), so we have decided to send him to school...



Look at Cutie in his uniform!



He shows me the caterpillar he coloured at school... and it says I love mummy on the top right hand corner.


My little boy is growing up!

SWEETIE

Sweetie is also growing well. She is happy and cheerful... and we are really thankful for this new addition to our family.




Cutie loves his sister, and is always trying hug her, kiss her and/or make her laugh. Here they are together. My pride and joy.