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.

Canele @ Robertson Quay

I've heard a lot about Canele, it being a Les Amis restaurant and all... but I have never been there...

So, since we were in the vicinity, I made DH promise to take me there for dessert... after our lunch at Chiara... My rationale was, I didn't know how long we would have to wait for our next date... with 2 kids, it is a little hard to find time for ourselves.. so we better take this opportunity. My reasoning proved correct, as we have not gone out for another date since then.

DH ordered the Canele specialty Le Royale. It was rich and chocolatey... Very very decadent.



Doesn't he look pleased with his order?


I was still hungry... (what can I say, I am eating for 2 now!) so I ordered their recommended baked rice (with bolognese and egg).



It was ok, but not fantastic. I don't think I would order it again.

After that, I was in a rush to go home... cos I missed the little ones...

Cutie is getting more mature, as you can tell from this photo. He is now an elder brother... so he carries himself with more dignity, I would say. This was during the F1 racing week... and there were some bumper cars for children to ride, and be F1 drivers too. Yes, my Cutie is growing up!


And... here is Sweetie, at 2 months... She is growing well, and see, she can sit up already.. At the risk of sounding trite.. doesn't Sweetie look sweet? :)

Chiara @ Robertson Quay

DH and I had our first real date about 2 months after Sweetie was born... Thanks to Por Por who kindly agreed to babysit on short notice!

We went to Chiara at Robertson Quay, and it was a newly opened restaurant, without much hype... I was surprised to find that, after I ate there, many reviews of this restaurant then popped up... in the Straits Times, Business Times etc... So Funny! That day, I bumped into fellow foodblogger, The Skinny Epicurean after my meal... and later, when I went home and read her latest blog post, realised that she had also just eaten at Chiara! Super coincidence!

Our complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I liked the little olives that they also provided... DH loves olives...


As you can tell, we are really glad to have some couple time to ourselves!


The food here is really nice and affordable, we both went for the set lunch, which had very nice stuff, and it cost us only about 28 each.

DH had to top up a bit more for his starter of foie gras... but it was still very affordable. The foie gras was nice.. and I stole quite a bit of his portion. I dont know how come there are bubbles on the dish though, don't ask me why.




My starter of beef carpaccio came with mushrooms, shaved parmesan cheese and rocket - all my favourites - with a very refreshing dressing (I think it was tangy yet slightly sweet). I was very happy.


I had a main of gnocchi with veal ragout... a tad salty but nice nevertheless. The gnocchi had a nice chewy texture and wasn't too floury. My only gripe was that the portion was too small.. I am sure it wouldnt have been enough for a guy with a normal appetite...


DH had the tagliatelle carbonara. The cream sauce was nice, but the pasta was overdone and not al dente. DH didnt mind though and didnt send it back.

DH chose their typical Italian dessert of tiramisu, which was nice too, not too sweet or heavy, but with a lingering coffee fragrance. Portion again a little small.


My dessert of panna cotta came topped with refreshing berries and other fruit. This panna cotta's texture was just right, not stodgy, not too light. The fruit were a perfect complement to the panna cotta. I gobbled this up very quickly, and wished there was more.

All in all, I was very happy to be here, and I really enjoyed my short date with DH. I am looking forward to the next one... which hasn't happened yet!

Cupcakes by Cupcake Divinity

Thanks for being patient, whilst I go MIA for a while...

For Sweetie's first month party, we ordered cupcakes from home-baker Cupcake Divinity.



See how pretty the cupcakes are!



I opted for a girly theme of butterflies, flowers, strawberries, ladybugs and assorted pink baby things like booties and bibs.

Taste-wise, the cupcakes were not as nice as those from Little House of Dreams... they were less moist, and were a little too sweet for me. However, I think they looked very much prettier... I like the butterflies!

Sweetie is growing up well, and she is a very cheerful and happy baby. We are very lucky!

Shin Kushiya @ Vivocity

This was eaten before I went on maternity leave...

I was very hungry!

This is the set that I ordered... pretty good value for SGD 20 I think.

Here is a close up... I was supposed to have a grilled prawn, but I wasn't keen so I substituted for the quail's egg. I've substituted for chicken balls before too. I think they are quite flexible about this, which is quite nice.


The flavoured salt that they provided... plum salt and curry salt. Not really necessary since the skewers were tasty enough.

The Foie Gras skewers with sliced apple... Oishi! Quite decadent really, and pretty big portions.. Not cheap though. I think it is about 9 dollars per skewer.


The beef skewers were tasty too. Loved it.


The salmon belly always tastes good..


This one, was recommended by a friend and it was not bad indeed. Pork wrapped with shiso leaf and seaweed.


I was so stuffed by the end of the meal... and my wallet was much emptier...