Food Bloggers' Dinner @ Le Papilon

Ooh, my first Food Bloggers' dinner! I didn't know what to expect.



I wasn't even sure if I qualified to attend, to be honest, since I only started blogging so recently. (In fact, I was quite sure no one would know who I was, and I would therefore be extremely embarrassed. But surprise! There was at least 1 person who did read this blog, and all this time, I thought I only had 2 readers ! Now I realise, I have 3!! Thanks Mia dearie!).


Well, there was great food, great company and great fun. DH and Cutie had a good time too.



And we were so lucky! We received a set of Italian cooking spoons... Perfect! Cutie was all tired out, so here he is, sleeping in my arms.



Hokkaido Scallop Carpaccio and Barracuda Fish Mousse with Miso Cream. It was an interesting and harmonious blend of flavours, textures and colours.

Jasmine Tea Perfumed Duck Consomme made with Fiji Water, Foie Gras Tortellini. This seemed like a very interesting dish. What a clever way to present foie gras. This would indeed be a burst of flavour, theoretically. However, I think the proportion of foie gras to pasta skin was a little unbalanced, so I only tasted tortellini, not the foie gras. (I would also add that, this could be my fault as I arrived late, and maybe the chef thought that I wouldn't be coming so didn't cater for another portion of foie gras?)

Escargot with Herb-Garlic Butter on Button Mushroom GratineeParsley Oil and Arugula Salad. Enjoyed this very much. Again, a clever juxtaposition of flavours and textures - with the spongy mushroom, chewy escargot and slightly crunchy garlic.

Rigatoni tossed in Crustacean Oil, Tiger Prawn, Shaved Bottarga and Parmesan Cheese. Sorry for the poor photo. This was my favourite. Delicious and tasty morsels of pasta which were perfectly al dente.

Char-Grilled King George Whiting Fillet with Toasted Mustard Seeds andSaffron Tomato Sauce. This was very good as well. It was fragrant and tender. I liked how the chef decided to char-grill the fish. It really added oomph to this delicate dish. And, it looks so pretty!

Palate-cleansing raspberry sorbet. Chef ran out of blood orange sorbet, boo hoo. This was good nevertheless.

Slow-Cooked Oxtail in Feuille de Brik Parcel with Truffle Butter and Jus Gras. My other favourite of the evening. How creative. I was expecting oxtail with a bone in the centre, but I barely recognised this. Is it really oxtail? Yes it is! Tender, sinewy oxtail wrapped in phyllo pastry, thereby rendering it totally different from what I am accustomed to. I liked the addition of the pastry which added a light yet interesting crunch. Very clever.

Passionfruit Symphony Souffle, Macaroon (with passionfruit mousse inbetween) and Creme Brulee. Sorry for the bad lighting. I liked the souffle best, as it was light and airy. The creme brulee was a little too piquant and the mousse was a little too stodgy. The souffle however was a masterpiece. And see how beautifully it is presented in a passionfruit skin.

I am glad to have met these other food bloggers, and I can't wait for the next one Colin!

Osaka Gastronomy Part 3

The day before we left Osaka, we asked the hotel concierge for recommendations on where we could get good okonomiyaki (Osaka is where okonomiyaki originated, after all!).

So we arrived at Yukari, a popular okonomiyaki restaurant.

We ordered 3 of their specialities, which they promplty cooked for us on the hotplates in front of us.

LEFT: seafood okonomiyaki with prawns and scallops.

MIDDLE: okonomiyaki with spring onions and an egg in the centre.

RIGHT: okonomiyaki with mentaiko seasoning and grated wild mountain yam.

MIL and I both liked the one on the right best. Texture wise, all were about the same, but the mentaiko added a twist to the flavour of the okonomiyaki, and the wild mountain yam (aka wai san) had an interesting crunchy yet slippery texture, which added a unique dimension to this dish.

We later walked down the street and had huge ice cream cones each. DH had a double scoop of macha!

Osaka Gastronomy Part 2

Most of the time, when we are having dinner, one of us would be trying to feed / entertain Cutie. For this meal, Cutie already had his dinner (in the hotel), so he joined us at the table, and was very well-behaved. The nice people at the restaurant gave Cutie a crab hat, which looked very nice on him, wouldn't you agree?

Cutie spent his time flirting with the baby girl at hte next table... I think she was quite taken with him really...

So, with Cutie well occupied, we managed to take photos of this meal, which we all (with the exception of one) thoroughly enjoyed.

This restaurant in Dotonburi, Osaka was a crab speciality restaurant. We ordered the crab kaiseki set, so every dish had crab in it. And oh boy was it delicious.

This beautiful crab platter had different parts of the crab, with different dips. This was an interesting dish because it paired cooked and raw crab with different complementary things like mentaiko (spicy codfish roe).

This was king crab sashimi, served in its shell and with a little wasabi. It was very nice and unbelievably sweet.

This cold crab was also delicious. I think it's already cooked. And it was so so sweet. Eaten with a squeeze of lemon, it was fantastic.

This was cooked crab, served hot and a slice of lemon. The chawanmushi, was cooked with crab, and it was delicious. It was sweet and tasty and wobbly. One of the best chawanmushi I've eaten. Crab just adds extra sweetness to the chawanmushi.

This is baked cheese with crab. It was served piping hot, and it was... delicious. The cheese was a little crusty on the outside and was smooth and savoury on the inside, with additional surprising chunks of crab.

This crab tempura was next. It was a nice portion, not too heavy.

crab sushi next. All fresh crab.

This was delicious. It came in a nicely sized pot -steamed rice with crab. We lifted the wooden cover and ooh, the heady aroma of crab was heavenly.

Crab miso soup to clear the palate.

And dessert was very lovely. Vanilla ice cream with macha poured over it. Sort of like a japanese affogato (affogato is an italian dessert, where expresso coffee is poured over vanilla ice cream). It was good macha with a bitter edge, so it was a lovely dessert that was not too sweet.

delicious and memorable. Thanks for the recommendation, AA!

Kinara @ East Coast Road

Some competition heating up here in East Coast Road.



Just 2 doors away from Chat Masala, is Kinara. The decor is more traditional, with wooden carvings, metal cups, and even a big wooden swing outside.



Let's see how this place measures up, foodwise.



DH ordered a leg of lamb (SGD36 for half portion). It was expensive I think for so little meat. It was tender, but too salty.

This was mushroom methi (SGD12). Also too salty.

The naans were fantastic though. Freshly baked, and served piping hot. They were chewy and delicious. SGD2 each or SGD 6 for a basket of 4 different types of naan.

Hai Tien Lo, Pan Pacific Hotel

Pardon the poor pictures, the lighting was bad in such a posh restaurant.



We were here celebrating DM's birthday so DH chose a lavish set fitting the occasion.



Just a few highlights:



This was braised home-made tofu with bird's nest. It was delicious. Although a waste to use the bird's nest this way. It was, as you would imagine, rather tasteless by itself and absorbed the flavours of the braising stock. White fungus would have done the same job.

This is lobster in a very rich crab roe gravy. It was delicious, but by this time we were really stuffed.

We also had foie gras and lamb etc.

yum.

Cutie really enjoyed himself... He loved having Por Por's birthday cake in front of him... He wanted to blow the candle... and kept giggling when we said... wait, wait for Por Por to blow...

Akashi @ Tanglin Shopping Centre

This was seriously the best meal that I have had in a long long while - in terms of food quality and in terms of company. Thanks very much Mr C!

I didn't want to be rude, so I refrained from taking photos initially... and then really regretted not commemorating this fantastic meal with a gushing blog post.

Here's the menu:

1. amuse bouche: braised swordfish with miso paste

2. grilled shellfish with mentaiko paste (in shell)

3. sashimi - otoro, salmon, hamachi and surf clam

4. grilled pufferfish strips with tobikko mayo

5. shellfish in a huge shell done 2 ways - sashimi and grilled

6. grilled beef short ribs

7. fried whole fish

8. otoro sushi

and so I couldn't stand it any longer and had to take some photos... pardon my rudeness guys.

The most indulgent chawanmushi I have ever had in my life. Chawanmushi with sharks' fin. oooh, delicious. Slippery wobbly chawanmushi paired with combs of sharks' fin.

Then we had clam miso soup, with rice in it. Sort of like teochew seafood porridge. It was very sweet because of all the yummy clam juices.

Platter of Japanese fruits - which were very sweet. I find Japanese fruits somehow a lot sweeter. Wonder how they do it.Thanks TL for introducing this drink to me. Shoju (plum wine) with soda water. Very refreshing!

Anniversary!

Last month, DH and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. It has been an eventful 3 years, and we did have much to celebrate and give thanks for.

DH, he was so sweet! He custom-made a diamond tennis bracelet and diamond dangly earrings for me. *touched*

On the day itself, we both took the day off work and booked a room at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

We watched a movie (Harry Potter), and then we went for afternoon drinks at the Suntec City Guildhouse.

It was fun! We had 3 martinis each. The bar snacks they provided were so good, spicy and crispy bits of large ikan bilis. Be careful you don't bite into a large chili instead.

The red one is cranberry and the other is a lychee martini. SGD19 for 3.

We shared chicken wings (SGD6.90), not bad but rather ordinary.

And we also had these escargot in herb butter (SGD10), which were quite good for the price we paid.

On the whole we had lots of fun. We also went for foot massages, picked up Cutie from Por Por's house, crashed out at Pan Pac.

Then had a lovely lunch at Pan Pac's Italian restaurant -Zambuca.

My main of squid ink risotto with lobster and other seafood (scallops, I think) (SGD39) was a feast for the eyes and palate. The risotto was al dente and had the right amount of bite, and the seafood was fresh and succulent.

DH's perch wrapped in foil was so easy to do, I really don't think it should have cost SGD39. It was good, tender and sweet.

It was a lovely celebration, I had a really good time.

Tokyo Gastronomy

In Tokyo, we had several very good meals, especially our kaiseki dinner set on our last night at Keio Plaza Hotel. Our lunch the next day, at another Japanese restaurant in the same hotel, was also excellent. However, as we were taking turns to look after Cutie, we didn't have a chance to take any photos.

Ramen, about SGD 10. On our first night, we met up with DH's cousin and his lovely girlfriend. They brought us to Kabukicho for ramen. This place is a favourite with Bryan-san and Mariko-san as the soup stock is super thick, almost like a gravy. The egg was of course fantastic (in fact all the eggs we had in Japan were like this, soft boiled, with a core of perfect yolk).

We met another lovely couple, Sean's colleague and his Japanese wife, for lunch. It was a late lunch because they kindly brought us to the JR station to change our passes.

This place was at the 6th floor of Isetan, where all the restaurants were, and it's called Rosan.

We ordered 2 of this sushi platter, costing about SGD 80 each (JPY63,000). It was the premium sushi platter, and while it was good, we have had better the last time we were in Japan.

We then walked downstairs to the food hall in B1 of Isetan. How cute! they had these watermelons in such adorable shapes! I understand that they grow these things in sturdy paper boxes or something...

Osaka Opportunities Part 1

well my friends, Japan in summer is HOT. Not just sticky, uncomfortable hot (that's Singapore). Japan was unbearably, unbelievably, devastatingly, swelteringly hot.

In fact, on some days, it hit 43 degrees celsius and set a new record-breaking high in Osaka for the first time in 73 years. People died of heatstroke whilst I was there.

So here are some tips to keep cool despite the burning heat, from the Cool Cutie himself:

(1) Drink lots of water

Look! Cutie likes his new bottle!

It's really easy to dehydrate and get heatstroke cos the hot weather makes you feel like not eating anything.

Buy an nice bottle in a cheery colour and remember to keep drinking from it (by the way, we lost the bottle, left it in the hotel in Tokyo, sigh).


(2) Stay in the shade, dress cool

Cutie and his new Japanese girlfriend

Best to avoid the sun in the afternoons, and to just wait it out in the shade.

Dress cool, like Cutie here. Light, cotton singlet and shorts are best for this heat.

It would be great if you can find a nice Japanese girl to keep you company as you wait... :) which of course Cutie had no problem doing (he takes after his charming ol' dad, this boy!).

(3) Eat lots of ice cream

Taking a bite of ice cream...

Japanese ice cream is great, really creamy and smooth. I think it's cos they take really good care of their cows. Here, their Kobe cows drink beer and listen to classical music, you know. So I bet even their ordinary cows lead much better lives than cows elsewhere.

Tasting... contemplating...

DH loved their macha (green tea) ice cream. It was smooth and creamy and had a fragrance not found in green tea ice cream here. They use premium Japanese green tea here, whereas elsewhere, the green tea is sourced from other countries like Vietnam or China. The macha had a slight bitter edge that is found in good green tea.

Verdict: He likes it!!

Here, Cutie is eating peach and vanilla ice cream (white peach is in season right now!) made from fresh peach. It was very refreshing, and the peach flavour was sweet and light (a bit like Yami yoghurt... if you can imagine... but much much better).

Marche @ level 3 Vivocity

It is a nice place for a quick lunch, especially since it is just opposite the gym.
However I do think its food is overpriced. The tomato soup, although tangy and tasty, cost SGD3.90, which I really do not think is justified.
This is a savoury crepe (SGD7.90 to SGD8.50). If you try this, I would suggest you go for the ham and cheese, or the ham and mushrooms. I tried both and found them pretty good. However, I once tried the smoked salmon and spinach one, and found it too fishy and therefore unfresh. It isn't that well-patronised compared to the other food outlets in Vivocity, given that it is tucked in a more obscure corner of the 3rd floor. I would thus say that the turnover of its food may not be as quick as it ought to be.

Lunch from Seah Imm Hawker Centre

This very very refreshing drink is ice-blended soursop. It is sweet and cool and is a delicious treat on a sweltering day. It costs only SGD2, and is really worth the money. You can drink it all up through the straw and not have to fiddle with seeds.

I used to like the duck stall. But strangely, this time, it didn't appeal to me. Somehow, it didn't taste fresh and the duck gizzard and liver distinctly smelt odd. For SGD3.50, I wouldn't complain, but I don't think I am returning.

Aston's @ East Coast Road

This place has been pretty well reviewed by floggers (food bloggers). It also always has a perpetual queue of diners waiting outside every single time I walk or drive by.

So I practically forced DH to come with me to Aston's one night. Although it was 9 pm there was STILL a QUEUE.

Fine, we wait. And then I realise, hey, there were empty seats in the place! and then I further realise, actually, the queue is for the diners to place their orders at the counter, and then we are quickly ushered indoors to take a seat. So, actually, the queuing time is only 10 minutes or so! Hmmm, but it gives other people the (false?) impression that this place is so packed that there is a long line of people who are prepared to wait for their dinner. Very clever gimmick.

The food, is very reasonably priced. You can get a meal for about 7-8 dollars, and your pasta even comes with free soup.

The steak was very much like Ponderosa's. Not surprising, considering that the chef did come from the now defunct Ponderosa's.

The steak was quite a big portion for SGD12.90. It was decently juicy, with a nice side of crispy onion rings. Avoid the watered down salty sauce on the side at all costs. At the end of the day, I'd rate this meal only a 6 upon 10.

It wasn't spectacular and honestly I don't see what the hype is about. Maybe we didn't order the right thing?

sliced fish ban mian @ Food Junction Harbourfront Centre

After a grueling gym session (no it wasn't that grueling really, it just sounds better when I say that, rather than admit that I went to the gym because I got a free pass for 1 week and didn't want to waste it), I wanted to have a healthy meal.

So sliced fish ban mian sounded very healthy to me. Interestingly it came in a steamboat pot, with a burning white piece of wax placed in the centre to keep this thing hot. Not bad. It wasn't too salty, and it was not too MSG-laden (I didn't have a terrible thirst after, but I figure all food court stalls add a little bit of MSG to their food). It was really quite tasty and comforting, all for SGD4.50.

Apologies

Indeed, I published my last post more than 1 month ago.

That is terrible, and I believe, I have lost whatever little readership I used to have, including DH, not that he was a very avid supporter in any case. (thanks Mom and Sissy for your unwavering support though!).

So, I do hope to update soon, especially since I really had quite a number of delicious meals in recent times.

However, work beckons, and I am afraid my blogging will have to take a backseat.

Sorry!

As a gesture of my contriteness, I will forego my previously very closely guarded privacy and show you a picture of my Cutie in a restaurant while we were waiting to eat.

TV Marathon

Wow, last night, I watched Channel 5 from 10 pm to 2 am!

I love crime thrillers, or so I discovered last night. And last night appeared to be a crime thriller fest.

CSI - this show caught my attention at first because it was about a 6 year old boy called Jesse Matthews who was abducted from a playground. It's every mother's nightmare. As a mother of a young child, I can identify with this theme and so I was reeled in. As the plot unfolded, I was held captive by the many twists and turns in the plot.

So this mom claims her son was abducted. Poor thing, since her husband died in military service 4 years ago. Then an eye witness claims that a man in a blue baseball hat seemed particularly interested in the boy. Then the neighbour says the boy always leaves toys around, and that the mother killed his dog 4 years ago for barking at her son and digging in her yard. Then the investigators realise that she was not on speaking terms with her in laws, a retired Colonel and his wife. According to the Colonel, she blamed him for her husband's death. At the funeral the Colonel gave the boy a toy soldier, and she lashed out at them and never spoke to them again.

Then, the child is spotted with a man in a baseball cap and his wife in a petrol station. The alert shop assistant delays them and the police arrive and arrest them. The child appears not to recognise Mrs Matthews and cries out for the abductors. The abductors provide proof that the child is their son, with photos and DNA. Mrs Matthews insists that the child is her son. The photos of herself and Jesse that she provides shows that they are doctored from photos that she had surreptitiously taken of the other child. So what happened 4 years ago?

Turns out, she was suffering from post partum depression, taking strong anti-psychosis medication. Her husband dies, and she has a violent argument with her in-laws at the funeral. When she gets home, she poisons her own son, thinking that she would rather he die now than to grow up and die in a battlefield. She buried the child in her own backyard and killed the neighbour's dog when he tried to dig up the decomposed remains. For the past 4 years, she has been meticulously creating a fantasy world of kids' toys and drawings, as though the son was alive.

Scary huh? This episode seems to have been inspired by ancient Greek mythology - Medea, who was the wife of Jason (who hunted the ram with the golden fleece). She too killed her own children, partly in retaliation when Jason abandons her and partly because she would rather they die by her own hand than by others'.


Criminal Minds II
7 girls had been kidnapped, abused, mutilated, and left to die in the woods. A tape of their torture is always sent to the police. The police noticed a trend in the modus operandi. Another girl is again kidnapped and they are now trying to solve the mystery before before another girl is harmed.

They believe it has to be a team of at least 2 working together. One stronger, one weaker. One smarter and more aggressive, one a submissive follower.

They narrowed it down to Joey, the quiet ex-convict, who repairs cars, because the victims' cars are always meticulously stripped apart and the parts sold. When they try to arrest Joey, he kills himself. The other guy, his cellmate, was away at work when the police visited his home. His dimunitive blonde wife appears not to know anything when the police arrive. Whilst the police wait for this guy to return home from work they ask the wife to leave as they may want to question him.

He doesn't turn up and so they go back to the police station, when the wife arrives with a badly bruised face. She says he beat her up, he is violent. She says that she believes he may have something to do with the murders.

The guy gets arrested and brought in. He refuses to say anything. They bring the wife in, who talks to him and manages to get him to confess and say where the girl is located.

Then, one of the investigators notices that this guy has a troubled history, abandoned by his mother, low intellectual ability, hard to think of him as an aggressor really. Then, another one views the torture tapes and hears a female voice in the background. They look at the tape of the wife talking to her husband and notices that he is the one avoiding her gaze whereas she is steadily looking at him. She also doesn't appear scared by the gruesome photos of the girls in the room. They notice that she was giving him non-verbal cues on what to say and when to say it. They realise that the main culprit is her! But when they look for her, she had left. They track her down to a cabin in the woods, and rescue the girl. Turns out that she was abused by her father and brother as a child, and when she tried to seek help, her mother turns on her and said she was lying.

Ooh, another scary show, and again a similar theme of the perceived hapless female victim turning out to be the villain.