Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Chikuwa Tei

Finally. At Chikuwa Tei for the famous chirashizushi.




The Chirashi is served with the thickest slices of sashimi I have ever seen. I am a sashimi lover so seeing this got me too darn excited and for ~$25, damm value-for-money.
They were also similarly generous with their chawamushi, more ingredients than egg. 

Food here is homely and very reasonably priced. Items like the chicken teriyaki set were about $15 but honestly, I wont have eyes for anything but the chirashi.
Served by very cute aunties. 
I like this place. Can be crowded so do make reservations.






                                                               9 Mohamed Sultan Road
#01-01Singapore 238969
T: 6738 9395





Saturday, July 27, 2013

Savour 2013


First time attending Savour, the Gourmet festival at the F1 Pit building and boy was it fun! This is going to become one of my staple yearly events. (Yes I know this was like 4 months ago, I am slow).

Drank and ate way too much. 

The cheese section at Jasons was the bomb. About 100 types of cheese just laid out for all to sample. Cheese lovers heaven, I was in a cheese coma after taking a "walk" around. Add the free samples of sausages, steak, wine, biscuits, fruits and you will be able to get a very full meal just walking around.


We postponed our trip to the Gourmet Village till after we did the lap around the Gourmet market and could only manage 2 dishes (damm you hot weather!) 


Kobe rib with foie gras sauce (Steller at 1-altitude) and pork belly with onsen egg (Key stone restaurant). Both were pretty darn tasty, esp that gooey egg.



Fresh sashimi (only $18!) at Jasons


Melt in your mouth pork belly from Balzac 



Cant wait for the next one!

Friday, July 26, 2013

Bobby's

Popped into this place at Chjimes on a Friday night simply because we were too lazy to queue anywhere else.

The food was surprisingly decent (I guess we shouldnt judge a place by its empty booths)


Bobby's pizza, topped with bbq pork and cheese was gooey good. The best kind of pizza to go with beer


Moving on to more bar food, buffalo wings sauced generously. Nothing is sadder than a plate of sauce-less buffalo wings. Seriously.

Pork ribs sandwich. We would have enjoyed it if we had this on its own but this was an inferior version of the pizza on top. Same filling but just more bread.


Bobby's Bistro
#B1-03 Chjimes 30 Victoria Street
6337 5477

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Tampopo


Obsessed with Chirashi dons lately, its been my go-to order everytime I am in a Japanese restaurant. Whats not to like about fresh fish sitting on top a bed of sushi rice mmm



This one is from Tampopo, one of my usual lunch places. It was nicely done but could do with more fish (only one slice each!) , so value-for-money it was not. Been eating tons of chirashi dons lately so adding a separate label for them.



Will never leave Tampopo without getting one of their chiffon cheese cakes. So good and surprisingly light!


Tampopo
#01-23/24 Liang Court
177 River Valley Road
63383186

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Revisit: Mikuni


Back at my favorite Japanese restaurant! Why do I love it? Food is consistently good, excellent service and huge variety. Unfortunately, only somewhat affordable because of my FAR card.

Started off with a lovely bottle of Sake, very sweet and fragrant. Taking a picture for future reference


We get to pick which cups we would like to use :)

Some of the highlights of the meal :

 Sashimi  plate - fresh and super colorful. The tuna and scallop in particular were excellent.


We ordered a couple of rolls, the best was the Salmon Skin (crispy skin + avocado + cream cheese)






Melt in your mouth Wagyu beef. Orgasmically good, a must order. Look at the cross-section of the meat!


Paired with foie gras. This was the best foie gras I have ever eaten; perfectly good and sinfully rich. 


The cutest desert ever.  Chocolate 'soil' and strawberry ice cream


With the tiniest tomatoes (how is it even possible?)






Mikuni 
Fairmont Singapore Level 3
80 Bras Basah Road
64316156




Friday, July 19, 2013

Arbite






If you are craving for a huge plate of breakfast food, do head down to Arbite. The Arbite breakfast platter really hit the spot. Rich creamy scrambled eggs with the works (sausage, bacon, mushrooms, baked beans, tomatoes and little cute hash balls), topped with brioche and butter. One good plate of food I must say.

Something more savory would be the Croque Madam, a sandwich stuffed with parma ham and brie (I love brie!), topped with a poached egg. Gooey egg yolk + the salty ham and creamy cheese = damm excellent combo.

Great food and at very reasonable prices. Will be back for more. 




Arbite
66A Serangoon Garden Way
6287 0430

Monday, July 15, 2013

Jollibee


We couldnt pass off a chance to taste the famous Jollibee during our stop-over at Manila. Definitely not going to queue for an hour in Singapore just for fast food.


Verdict? I thought it was over-rated. It was decent fried-chicken, quite similar to KFC but probably less oily. Jollibee has more unusual sides, this 2 piece platter came with rice (which I didnt really touch, probably more suitable for bigger eaters?). Will prefer Popeyes any other day.


Friday, July 12, 2013

Boracay Travel Diary Pt 3


A quick round up of my remaining Boracay photos






Amazing view of the entire island from the top of the viewing tower (we atv-ed to the tower)
I can never get enough of clear blue skies, the sun and that gorgeous sparkling sea





Headed to Talipapa where you can purchase fresh seafood from the wet market and ask the neighbouring restaurants to cook them for you. A bit of a touristy place I must admit but the seafood was very fresh and delicious. The oysters were darn cheap, 1kg for $2.50! In total, we spent about $120 for 7, including a couple of crabs, fishes and squid.  Remember to bargain.






Our last dinner at Dos Mestizos, a pretty decent Spanish restaurant along White Beach. The main draw was the tapas buffet! All you can eat meatballs, Spanish omelette, shrimp and about 10 other dishes.
Their squid ink paella was pretty good too.



Ended the night with some fire-dancing show and listening to the most amazing, heart-melting, sigh inducing voice at the Bom Bom Bar. This is a reggae bar with awesome atmosphere; audience singing and dancing along, a hilarious (and extremely talented band). We regretted only discovering this place on our last night.

Night life in Boracay is awesome. You will be spoilt for choices given the sheer number of bars and pubs lining white beach. Speckled along the beach are also various sources of entertainment including fire-dancing, people selling various lighted (and dancing) merchandise, entrepreneur-ing  youngsters building the most magnificent sand sculptures  (they charge if you want to get a picture!)



Boracay was a most beautiful and magical experience. Will definitely be back.

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Boracay Travel Diary Pt 2



Boracay has one of the most beautiful sunsets/sunrises I have ever seen. In my travels, only 2 sights have taken my breathe away, the view at Cabo de Roca Portugal and now this, sunset in Boracay.



I have never seen so many vibrant colors in the sky (no filter!) and coupled with the lazy sailing boats in the background, it was like watching a painting come to life. No wonder people started setting up their tripods on the beach at 4.45pm.


The sun rise was equally lovely. Sun rise and sun set are generally earlier than Singapore so remember to wake up extra early!


There were so many things to do in Boracay that we were forced to really prioritize (or end up totally broke). Some of the things we did included

parasailing, helmet diving, ATV etc etc




These activities are peddled by touts on White Beach; do 'shop' around for the best prices and alway always bargain. In fact, go crazy slashing prices and once you have settled on a seller, purchase all your activities from him. Demand aggregation is the way to go. We were introduced to our "guide" Charlie by a friendly cafe owner; we got a pretty good deal + Charlie even brought us around



And you cant leave Boracay without a trip to the famous Ariel's Point.  $50 for a trip buys you return boat ride, bbq lunch, activities such as snorkling, canoeing, UNLIMITED beer and the opportunity to do something crazy - cliff dive.

There are basically 5 dive points - 2m,3m,5m,10m,15m. So pick the one your most comfortable with and go for it. 








 Even if your not into cliff diving, its still worth a trip for the gorgeous view and the chance to hang out with a bunch of slightly high tourists, all egging and cheering the people standing on the edge of the dive board. You only live once.