Takumi Tokyo

DH and I don't really have time for each other these days. He is busy studying for a major exam, and well, I have my hands full with a day job and 2 kids.

However, we have made time to have lunch with each other... and I have enjoyed both occasions immensely.

I feel very loved when we lunch together. And although our conversations are now a lot more mundane, it feels a little bit like we are dating again.

So, today we went to Takumi Tokyo. It is a relatively new Japanese restaurant next to Prive. The dinner sets range from $100, $200 and $300. Fortunately their lunch sets are less exorbitant. My ladies set lunch was $30-ish and so was DH's set lunch.



My starter, which had quite a variety. I liked the slices of sashimi, though small they were fresh. There was a refreshing tofu salad with sesame dressing and a marinated seaweed with salmon roe. Lovely start.


DH chose to add $10 or $12 for a sashimi starter. His portions were slightly more generous, and there were 2 slices of air dried japanese beef.


Then the 2nd course of zaru udon, cold and nicely refreshing. And a gratin of sorts. I cannot remember what it was, but I think DH liked it.



My main of miso cod. Portion a little on the tiny side, but it is a "ladies" set after all. I am not considered a dainty lady with feminine appetites, you see.

Dessert was a sesame ice cream, I think.

And there is free flow of soft drinks with the set.

On the whole, quite enjoyable... I would go again. DH thinks it's a little overpriced, for the servings.

I miss DH already.

The French Kitchen @ Central Mall

The French Kitchen @ 7 Magazine Road #01-03, Central Mall.

I will come right out and say it: I LOVED my dining experience at the French Kitchen.

Maybe because it is a new restaurant opening in the bleak times of recession, maybe because it is located in an area which is getting really quiet, maybe because we were lucky they really liked us. Whatever it was, I have to say, we enjoyed everything about our lunch - the food, the service, everything.

First there was complimentary bread (we had wholegrain and raisin when we were there) served with butter and with pork rillette. The bread was warm and fresh and constantly replenished.



Then our complimentary amuse bouche of salmon rillette, served with a crispy parmesan cheese cracker. Which was tasty and had a nice aroma and texture.

The set lunch ($36) had a choice of 3 different entrees and mains, and a choice of 2 desserts. Between the 3 of us, we ordered everything. And tried each other's plates. All for the sake of good journalism.


My fantastic starter of terrine de foie gras et cochon - kurobuta pork cheek and duck liver terrine. It was creamy and smooth, yet with some contrasting meaty texture from the pork. It was perfectly executed. And it was a thick and generous serving too.


PL's starter of bisque de homard - traditional lobster bisque with tiger prawn beignet and leek custard was a visual delight. Crispy battered prawns with soup served separately. It was rich and velvety smooth and fragrant. Yums.

PC ordered Macedoine de legumes aux truffes - mixed organic winter vegetables with poached egg and black truffle essence. It was nice, crunchy fresh and sweet vegetables with a poached (but not runny) egg. No photo, but you can imagine.


PL's main of sea bass and scallop. She liked it best of all the 3 mains. I thought it was nice and fresh.


But my fave main was PC's chargrilled agnus beef with boulangere potato. It was delicious. Just delicious. The potatoes came separately, bubbling in a small pot, covered with a creamy sauce.


My main of crispy duck breast with cocobean mijote and sun dried tomatoes. I thought it was just a tad heavy on the sauce and the salt. But the sundried tomatoes helped a lot in cutting through it all. I think it is just me though, because I am sure DH would have loved the tasty flavours.


Both PC and PL ordered the citron - organic lemon with melon granita and creme chantilly and home made madeleine . They both enjoyed it a lot and PL said she liked her dessert best.


I liked my order of dark chocolate creme brulee with vanilla ice cream. It was excellent. Served warm, with a crispy torched crust and smooth creamy interior, contrasting nicely with my vanilla ice cream, I was in dessert heaven.


Can you see, from our happy faces, how we enjoyed our meal? I love my girlfriends... I always enjoy lunching with these 2 sweeties.

I have to add, that the service was excellent, and truly memorable. Chef Jean-Charles (formerly from Raffles Grill) personally came over to our table to greet us and ask us whether we enjoyed our food. He even made time to say goodbye to us as we left. Restaurant Manager Jan was affable and friendly and made us feel very at home. When he realised we were trying to get a cab, he spontaneously went to the road and tried to flag us one!! How's that??

And, guess what, we just received a thank you email from Jan and Jean-Charles! Have you ever received a follow up email from a restaurant before? This is certainly the first time for PL and I. Kudos to the French Kitchen team. I am sure we will be back!


Kids at CNY

On the home front, Cutie has settled very well into school and loves school days. He is always clamouring to go to school and even when we want to keep him home (because of a slight runny nose) he refused.


This was the CNY celebration at school. They got to do a lo hei, a traditional salad, that is tossed for good luck.


They got to play with bubbles outdoors...


Can you see him enjoying himself?


And the children performed a Chinese New Year song for parents.


He sang so well! Every word in the song was perfectly enunciated, every action was perfectly timed. I am so so proud of him. *beam*


And this is Cutie taking Sweetie on a ride on his motor scooter. I think Sweetie had fun. She laughed a lot.

Oh, and in other news, DH and I have instituted a time out corner. Where Cutie is made to stand and reflect on the things that he shouldnt have done.


So there he is. He is being timed out for doing something naughty. He does look rather morose, doesn't he?

Blogging??

Seem to have lost interest in blogging somehow.


Facebook is more fun.

And with 2 babies, I don't always have time to do both.


But, we're still having fun!

Phung Thien Nhan

Today I read something in the local news that made me cry.

Nhan is a 2 year old who had been abandoned in a forest by his unwed teenage mom. To me, a mom abandoning a helpless child is already unfathomable and needlessly cruel.

But that was not all. She left the baby in a forest infested by wild dogs and other animals. A helpless, innocent baby.

What happened next breaks my heart. A wild animal came and ate up the boy's right leg and other organs. Villagers found the baby bleeding, shivering and covered with biting ants.

WHY? It is so inhumane, so senseless.

From the pictures, the boy appears to be lively, intelligent, handsome. I feel so so sorry for the terrible ordeal he has had to endure, and the pain that he continues to suffer.



I have decided to donate to this boy's welfare fund.



If you would like to do the same, please go to this website for details.

Jap Curry Meals

Raku Ninja @ Republic Plaza #B1-07

I went to meet a friend at Raffles Place and we ended up at the basement of republic plaza, which had lots of stuff to eat. we initially intended to go for a paper pot, but I was tempted when I saw some other diners eat this...


The curry udon was insipid, with the curry more like a watery gravy instead. The tempura were hard, although not oily.

Verdict: Give it a miss, there are loads of better places around here.


Japan Gourmet Town @ Vivocity #01-157


PL and I came to this place on my first day back at work. This restaurant opened when I was on maternity leave so I hadnt eaten here yet.

When I realised it was part of a chain restaurant, which included the ubiquitous Ajisen ramen, I was rather hesitant because I was never a fan of Ajisen... but since we were already here, we decided to give it a shot.


I ordered their highly recommended moonlight okonomiyaki to share, but I wasnt impressed. The okonomiyaki was hard and tasteless. I wasn't expecting the okonomiyaki that I had in Osaka, but this really missed the mark by miles. I think Nanjya Monjya's version is still the best.


My tempura prawn curry rice was boring. The curry tasted of local curry powder, and was not at all like Japanese curry, which should taste sweet with the generous addition of carrots and onions.

Verdict: not good enough.

Sage @ Mohd Sultan Rd

Of course, I have heard quite a bit about Sage, about chef Jusman So and his restaurant manager wife Kimberly. Most food bloggers know this place, since a bloggers dinner was organised here a few years back when Jusman was just starting the restaurant. Now he has clearly perfected his art, honed his skills, and opened a bigger place to cater to the growing crowds.

Well, I have always liked Husband and Wife restaurant pairings (think Emmanuel and Edina of St Pierre, Julien and Edith of St Julien) so, I decided to give this place a shot for lunch (open only Wed to Fri for lunch, every day for dinner).

There were many choices for their very affordable lunch set (SGD38 for 3 courses, SGD45 for 4 courses), and all looked so yummy that I really had a tough time deciding.


My starter of veal rillette and sauteed onion. It was delicious, and a very ample serving. I loved it. What a good way to start a meal... and it was a precursor to more delicious offerings.


The other starter that tempted me was the crab salad in tomato consomme. SK kindly agreed to order it so that I could sample some of it. Very very delicious. It was a little crunchy, very savoury, yums.


My main of duck confit. It came in a pool of gravy and I didnt know what to think of that, since a good duck confit should have a crispy skin, and a murky pool of soup isnt going to help right? Well, the gravy was a mustard dressing, which was super delicious and goes very very well with the duck. The duck itself was done perfectly, with crispy skin and tender meat. I was waiting to find a piece of dry meat, but it was so perfectly cooked!


My yummy dessert - a cheese platter. Most places would ask for an additional sum for cheese to be served, but over here it was part of the set. I loved everything that was served. My favourite was the 1st and the 2nd. Forgot what they were called. But the last 2 were quite strong though.

I wanna come here again! If only they serve lunch on weekends, then I can bring DH here.

Xmas Party

A few of us girls decided to have a Christmas party for the kids, and well, although there were some moms who had to pull out in the end, we managed to have 4 families get together, and 4 kids to share in this party.


E brought this beautiful gingerbread house which was gorgeous! Tasted delicious too. Delicately spiced with cinnamon and ginger, it was fragrant and chewy.


A wonderful spread of goodies.


My contribution!

Rakuichi @ Dempsey

I brought the kids to the Botanic Gardens for a morning outing... and DH joined us for lunch and we decided to go to Dempsey.

Cutie adjourned to Go-Go Bambini's for playtime, and DH, Sweetie and I went to eat some lunch. We decided to try Rakuichi. It seemed a bit pricey but it was Dempsey after all... everything is a little pricey.

Oh, but the lunch sets were actually quite affordable. I think our sets were about $30 to $40 each.


We started with some skewers: pork belly and beef tongue. Both were so good! The pork belly was savoury, sweet, slightly smokey, very tender (and fatty!). It wasn't cheap but it was so good, I am still salivating at the thought of this one. The beef tongue was sliced thickly, unlike most other places. This was unusual, but still tasted good because it was cooked just right. The texture of the meat was still slightly chewy. I loved these.


DH took the sashimi and sushi set, which he shared with me. All were quite nice, but nothing particularly memorable.


My set was the grilled set - with soft shell crab, unagi and hamachi cheek. All were good and I think my set was nicer than DH's... and cheaper too.

DH liked the hamachi cheek best of everything we tried that day. I liked the pork belly best. Portions were substantial enough to satisfy us both.


We were eached served sesame ice cream as our dessert. It was lovely, one of the nicest I have ever tried. It was delicious, not too sweet, fragrant and nutty.


We brought Sweetie with us to the restaurant. Sweetie didn't eat anything, but she sure brightened up the whole restaurant with her megawatt smile! :)

Happy Birthday Cutie

Cutie turned 3 in November, and we had a vehicle-themed birthday cake for him and his friends.

I think it was a lovely party. And Cutie sure enjoyed it too.

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...