Showing posts with label Japanese Cuisine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese Cuisine. Show all posts
27 Dec 2013
Ramen Champion - Getting worse?
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| Before I begin typing this post, I was already questioning myself why the heck I choose to eat the same bowl of ramen the third time? The first time I randomly tried (out of the other outlets), I fell for it. The lovely thick and slightly flat noodles in the salty-savory broth with additional 3 huge spoonful of finely chopped garlic was so addictive. The second time I ate, it was less satisfying but still delicious. This time, I was utterly disappointed with this same type of ramen, but of far-fetched standard. The molten centred eggs were still acceptable but not the broth. There was an obvious layer on the surface (definitely oil), and the broth was rather bland and tasteless. What did I just paid for? |
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| My friend was searching for a bowl of ramen with spicy broth and the picture of Buta God Tonkotse Ramen caught his attention. The flaring red broth from all that chili flakes or spices prevented me from trying. He was thoroughly enjoying both his ramen, as well as the feeling of perspiring non-stop throughout his meal. So not my meaning/sort of enjoyment. |
7 Dec 2013
En Jap Grill and Bar Skewer Buffet - Grilled delicacies
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| To celebrate my Mum's birthday, I suggested treating her to a buffet. Despite being out of the way, I picked En Jap Grill and Bar as the venue, which was located at UE Square. The place had a relaxing vibe and the restaurant was conducive and easy for conversation. Picking a buffet meal to celebrate my mum's birthday was quite a horrible choice as she hardly eat much! (My brother and I felt that we were wasting our money...) It was my second visit and having the skewer buffet here, which made me experienced enough to know what to order in plentiful or in minimum. Click here to read about my first visit! |
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| The platter of fresh sashimi, average thickness, for 4 of us. (One time order only) There were no fishy smell at all and I hoped I could have free flow of them! |
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| Salad with thinly sliced pork! I hoped they were more generous with the pork slices as we did not want to order another serving of salad just for it. |
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| Basically all the skewers were grilled on the spot and could be seen through the glass panel that separates the diners and the cooks. I felt that the open concept kitchen definitely made the cooks more stress! There were hits and misses and the quality were not exactly consistent. Our favourites were obviously the grilled beef (not shown here), scallops and salmon skewers as they were simply delicious with natural juices emitting from them. |
14 Nov 2013
Hifumi - Celebrating a birthday
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| Meeting out and gathering as a group would happen less occasionally nowadays since each of us have our own lifestyle and work commitments to concentrate on. The only thing that would pull us together would be a special occasion such as a birthday or a public holiday like Christmas which would be approaching real soon! Anyway, we were still procrastinating on where should we have our dinner that day. I ended up recommending Hifumi since they have the concept of free flow appetizer when you ordered a main course. I just love the feel of Jap display... |
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| I love capturing simple images of minimalist objects such as this unique shape bowl containing my chawanmushi. I was utterly stunned by its silky smooth texture, although the bottom half felt kind of powdery. |
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| Among all the appetizers available, this was our favorite! Glazed with sugary sweetness, these sweet potato fries were so addictive that we shared a rather huge serving! |
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| Let me show you guys the 4 main courses which we ordered! Random tossing of unagi, salmon, prawns, egg, cucumber and roes! Just the colours itself was so attractive! |
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| Thick but slightly dry pork cutlet embedded among moist and fluffy eggs! My second time having this dish! My first visit can be found here! |
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| Swirly melted cheese fusing with Japanese curry rice! The surface definitely looked like it was torched (char parts spotted). |
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| Rather spicy curry chicken with vegetables fusion! Something which I would not have ordered... |
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| Happy birthday!!! So many people were staring at us while we took pictures as we were making a hell lot of noises (laughter) at a cafe. We were having fun among ourselves that those stares were oblivious to us, LOL! |
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| Posing with our printed polariod shots! The group shot was a tough one as we tried not to waste any films or els someone would be angry... |
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| Had many shots but these were the best 3! |
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| Cheers! |
7 Sept 2013
Rakuzen - A Jap dinner with mum!
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| My mum and I were already starving and I was on a verge of having stomach cramps due to excessive hunger. It was already 7+ and we still have not eaten our dinner! I seriously disliked the feeling of starvation but I still led my mum all the way from Suntec City to Millenia Walk, believing that there would be yummy food existing around that area. I was right! There were quite a couple of restaurants in there as well as hidden around the bends. My mums choose Rakuzen, which I had in mind since I had cravings for Japanese food. The place was rather quiet and dimly lit, so I felt my eyelids getting heavier every moment. I shake myself up, trying to enjoy the peaceful ambiance and the beautifully designed furnishing around me. |
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| My mum ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen which looked like an ordinary bowl of ramen. (Instant noodles would be more liked it.) How do you actually present a bowl of ramen to look more appetizing? Tough one I supposed. Despite the non-attractive presentation, the soup base was really superb! It was soothingly light and the umami flavor was irresistible. My mum really enjoyed her ramen but the greatest disappointment was that the Tonkotsu Ramen here had no Tonkotsu in it. Therefore, it was basically a plain bowl with only some vegetables to go with! |
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| As for me, I had a craving for sashimi but wanted something more filling. So I ended up picking the Sakura Chirashi Don - Mixed sashimi over japanese vinegared rice. Pardon me as I really could not tell if the sashimi were fresh all because I did not get a satisfying feel after consuming them. All I knew was that there were no traces of any fishy smell emitting from them. The prickled ginger slices were unusually good with mild pungentness. I guessed the pink sugar I left behind was sakura sugar as I did not like additional artificial sweetness in my don. On the whole, the price tag was something I should consider before stepping into any Japanese restaurant, which my mum would be oblivious to. |
31 Jul 2013
Tonkutsu King Four Seasons - Artificial beauty blossoming
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| The moment I stepped into Tonkutsu King Four Seasons, I almost went OMG aloud. I was awed and impressed with the effort involved to furnish the restaurant into so Japanese-like. Artificially beautiful cherry blossom hanging along the walls, round lanterns, wall paintings as well as the open kitchen concept made me felt like I was entering a ramen outlet in Japan. |
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| An urge to risk, I ordered the Japanese green tea cola to try as it was a rare beverage option in Singapore and it was my first time coming across one. Upon reading the label, I realised that the brand was from Tonkutsu King itself. Fizzy and tasting like an ordinary can of cola, except that the colour was more towards the darker tone of olive green. |
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| My friend's bowl of 'Autumn' arrived with colour so vibrant that it reminded me of the season's departing leaves. The bright warning colour was a mix of spices and meat cuddled into an orb, slowing diffusing its fieriness across the umami broth. A mouthful of soup was already too much for me to handle and I was thankful that this bowl was not my choice! Not to forget, there were free flow of hard boiled egg and marinated beansprouts (just like Ramen Keisuke Tori King) to bring down the heat. |
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| My 'Summer' arrived shortly after my friend's 'Autumn' and the colour contrast reassured me that I would not have to sweat over my meal. Unlike Autumn, Summer's broth was intensified by a lovely load of mushroomy bits which emitted an unforgettable earthly taste. I felt like I was eating a high class 'bak chor mee' (minced meat noodles) with springy and relatively medium-hard noodles. As for the char shu, it was towards the leaner side with minimal fats, posing a slight challenge for a lazy person like me to chew. On the whole, I would definitely be back to try out the other seasons! |
8 Jul 2013
Marugoto Shokudou Ramen - A place so off the radar
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Marugoto Shokudou is located at Ang Mo Kio Central, in an isolated building where
K-box is. Although that location was pretty off the radar for people who are not
frequent amk wanderers, it was surprisingly packed that night. After browsing the
menu for quite some time, my mum decided to try the Katsu Chicken Ramen. I
always start describing the ramen by its broth, and it sure was slightly thick (even
you could tell just by looking at the picture) and had the pleasing umami taste.
(I accepted the fact that it was natural to be slightly salty for ramen broth.) As for
the chunky katsu chicken, the crispiness was certainly there but due to the thickness
of the batter, it was being dragged down. My mum went to the extend of partially
removing some 'crisp' off those cutlets!
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As for my Tokyo Shoyu Ramen, the broth definitely tasted the same as my mum's
ramen. I had cravings for fatty pork belly that day and my wish was granted. (I meant
over granted in a way.) I had 2 pieces of really thick and extremely fatty, slightly
chewy pork belly sinking halfway in my broth. The meat to fats proportion was
interestingly about 1 : 3 ! So not good for people on a low-fat diet. Despite being
on the pricey side, the overall bowl of ramen tasted unique on its own. However, I
would need to reconsider before coming back for my second round.
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