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...

Blooie's @ Siglap, Durians and Cutie

Blooie's @ Siglap

This place is amazing. It has survived despite the odds - it's tucked away in the middle of a residential area, with no visible signposts, it's pretty far from the main road, and it's surrounded by car repair workshops.

DH and I both ended work early and decided to have a quick paktor date. We originally wanted to go the the NUSS Guildhouse, but since that was at Suntec and we figured the traffic would get heavy by the time we left Suntec (not to mention ERP charges), we decided on a place a little closer to home.

When we arrived about 6pm, there were already a number of other tables occupied. Wow. where do they come from?

I like this place because it really doesn't seem like a place you would find in Singapore. It's quite homey.. rather dark, with wooden furniture, and more expat clients than local clients. We both think it's like one of those places in Bali, but not the high class type... more like the beach-side type.

We decided to get some drinks and some finger food...
This is DH's choice - Nachos with cheese, guacamole, salsa and chili con carne (SGD12.50). DH likes cheese nachos, he always orders this in the movies. This came out warm and crispy. Not too bad. I preferred dipping the nachos in the cold and slightly spicy salsa, rather than the hot chili con carne. This way it's more refreshing. The chili con carne tasted rather heavy.

My choice of stuffed jalapeno peppers (SGD8.50 for 6 pieces) - DH didn't touch this at all. He remembers from past experience that this can get very spicy, with the burning sensation lasting on the tongue for a long time. I ate one whole, then cheated by only nibbled on the outside and cheese stuffing. Sort of like, how I eat the chili yong tow foo thing.. I only eat the fish stuffing and leave the chili behind...

Anyway, I would still order this again, because it's quite interesting, and I do like the spicy crispy cheesy thing.


DH washed it all down with a pint of Hoegaarden (SGD12?) - There are happy hour prices from 4pm to 8 pm, but Hoegaarden, being a premium lager, isn't on happy hour pricing.

Cheers!

(Tell you a secret, there was another photo I took of DH, drinking from the glass, which looked really funny... but DH, now also known as the Board of Censorship), said he didn't like the photo and didn't want me to put it up on the blog.... then, he gave this mock, long-suffering, "I am so poor thing" sigh... and said, "but I know you will put it up anyway!" haha... therefore in a gesture of good faith, I decided not to put that photo up.... YET!)

DURIANS @ HOME

Durian season is at its peak, and the durians are fantastic. I've been eating durians every week! And the durians are getting better and better.

Usually, my family buys the durians which cost SGD10 each, or the 3 for SGD20 type - and those already taste very nice.

Last week, we decided to splurge and try a Mao Shan Wang (a highly coveted variety of durian, which is supposed to be creamy, and bittersweet) last week for SGD17 per kg (it was good sized durian so I paid SGD35 for 1 durian). It was very nice and distinctive tasting. Not like the 10 dollar type. It seemed to have more depth of flavour (sweet, then bitter, then sweet again) and definitely it was a lot more creamy. We also bought 4 more durians, the 10 dollar type, just to compare. The 10 dollar ones were very nice too, sweet and fleshy. So if you are not a durian connossieur or if you are not very discerning, I would think the 10 dollar ones are good enough.

Then, yesterday, DH's uncle (thanks very much!), brought 6 Mao Shan Wang durians from Malaysia for us.

It had the distinctive star at the bottom of the durian, so yup, definitely Mao Shan Wang.

We opened them all and tried every one, but of course we couldn't finish them. There are still some in the fridge for dessert tonight!

They were all big and yellow and creamy and smooth and very sweet, with relatively flat seeds. This one was particularly creamy.... like ice cream!

Each durian was a good shape and size, which yielded lots of plump durian seeds.

Yummy!

CUTIE!

Cutie...

He is such a happy child... very good natured, very loving... such a joy to have around.



He is very close to his Daddy, and whenever DH is doing something (like surfing the net or reading the papers), he would snuggle up close and peer inquisitively at whatever DH is looking at.

More photographic evidence of Cutie snuggling up to Daddy.

He's very pleased to have taken over DH's laptop...

My 2 darling boys, still fooling around with the laptop.... it's time for bed!

Ok, one last picture.... SMILE!

Don't they look adorable? (OK OK, Cutie probably looks more adorable... )

Werner's Oven @ Upper East Coast Road

Werner's Oven has been around for quite a while. It serves hearty German fare, in a little cosy setting, without any frills or stuffy waiters. Recently they refurbished the place, so it's more spacious and airy. They also have their own parking space in front of the eatery, so it's quite convenient.

This is the pan-fried camembert with cranberry sauce (SGD8) . Crispy crust of breadcrumbs and all melty on the inside, it was quite a delight to eat. The cranberry sauce was slightly tart, which provided a good accompaniment to the cheese.


DH's main of farmer sausage with saurkraut and potato salad (SGD18.50). I think it has lost a bit of its edge, sadly. The sausage was not as spicy or snappy as it used to be which probably means more filler ingredients like flour? The potato salad used to be better too, with hard boiled eggs, potato and green apple. They omitted the eggs here. Wonder why, eggs aren't expensive.

My main of pork knuckle with saurkraut and mashed potato (SGD19.50), however, was as good as ever. The large and meaty chunk of knuckle was crispy all over, not a bit too hard or too charred. PERFECT. There were lots of gelatinous bits between the skin and meat, providing me with lots of chewing pleasure (stop saying it's fat ok, it's cartilage!). The saurkraut was just right, although I found quite a lot of bacon bits in it, rendering it as unhealthy as my pork knuckle. The mashed potato was smooth and creamy, thereby evidencing the addition of a healthy amount of cream and butter.

NOT the healthiest of meals, I would admit.

132 Mee Pok @ east coast road

Now, this stall is pretty famous, and one has to queue for at least 40 minutes to get a bowl of this delicious mee pok.

I sometimes wonder if one finds the food so delicious only because of the inordinate wait, which causes one to be ravenous by the time the food arrives. And as we all know, when one is hungry, everything tastes good.

Well, this fish ball mee pok dry was excellent, with the right amount of chili, sauce and lard (with the crunchy lard bits too). Generous portions of fish ball, prawns, pork slices all tossed together with the al dente noodles (SGD3, 4 or 5). It tasted good even though it was tar pow (ie brought back home in a takeaway bag, rather than eaten fresh at the stall). Mee Pok, a type of flat noodle, is best eaten dry methinks, as it goes well with the sauce that is ladled on it.

It is pretty good, but I don't think I would like to queue for it myself.

You know, I still think that the best fish ball mee pok (dry with little bit of chili) is at the hawker stall downstairs from my Por Por (maternal grandmother)'s flat at Commonwealth Crescent. I can't even remember what it tastes like now, but I sure remember enjoying every moment of eating it with my Por Por. She would give me extra fish balls from her own bowl, and blow on my mee pok to make sure it wasn't too hot for me. I can't eat fish ball mee pok dry without thinking of Por Por.