All posts tagged: Japanese

Nabehide Japanese Hotpot Dining @ Alexandra Road

Nabehide Japanese Hotpot, above established eatery Gyukaku, was a surprise find through Palate, where members can get 50% off if 2 of us dine. So, on a Friday night, we were glad to find a new healthy hotpot restaurant that was quiet and spacious for us to have a good chat. Nabehide Japanese Hotpot is a colonial building almost a century cold, right outside Anchorpoint (opposite Queensway and IKEA).  Because the building is so old, no fire is allowed, so the owner and management took effort to import all the heating equipment (cast iron pots using charcoal to heat) from Japan that allows for quick and clean heating without fire. This means the quality meats can heat slowly and be kept warm, rather than being overheated quickly. However, the heat spreads out quickly and evenly, which makes the heating rim on the table warm but not hot, so you don’t have to afraid of burning yourself on the sides while cooking. Nabehide is born out of a need to serve the folks who are looking for …

Saboten Signature @ Changi Airport Terminal 1

When we first saw “voted top 7 in the world in 2013” sign outside of Signature Saboten, I thought it was a marketing gimmick. But I’m really glad we tried Saboten as it turned out pretty exquisite! We had sets ranging from $20-30, including salmon and pork. All the sets come with free flow cabbage, rice and miso soup (which had real pork inside!!) My set was the Signature combo ($30) that came with a 150g Pork tonkatsu, small tenderloin, small croquette and small side salad. The tonkatsu, though fried deeply, was juicy and soft. Glad for this surprise find. Probably the best and most exquisite tonkatsu in Singapore. — Saboten Signature @ Changi Airport Terminal 1 Address: #03-21, View Mall Central, Terminal 1 Changi Airport Phone: 62149504 Hours: Daily, 07:00 – 23:00

Sushi Saito @ Tokyo, Japan

Sushi Saito ranks in the tops of my favourite meals in my lifetime so far, alongside L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Taipei and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. Sushi Saito is a three Michelin star Japanese cuisine restaurant known for its sushi. It is quite hard to locate, hence I have attached a map below. It is in a very unassuming building right opposite the American Embassy, but the hunt is worth it! Unfortunately, because this meal is >2 years ago, I cannot remember all the details of the dishes, but the freshness of the seafood and their perfect balance with the amount of rice lingers in my mind till today. There were 2 lunch sets – 12 pieces or 18 pieces. You only pick the number of pieces and not the individual type of sushi. Ok, and wait for this…… this tuna belly was so fatty and soft, it tasted almost like red meat. AMAZING. I still remember how it tasted till today after >2 years! 🙂 It isn’t easy to make a reservation as …

Yomenya Goemon @ Star Vista

Tried out Yomenya Goemon @ Star Vista with an old friend for lunch, and found the lunch sets decent at $15.90 per set, which included a salad, soup and pasta main (fusion Japanese Italian) We had the Cheese Yasai Pasta and Chicken in Wafu Sauce Pasta. Though not hand made, I found the pasta cooked well al dente style, with good sauce. Another decent lunch spot in the Biopolis/Star Vista area though I find Long Black Cafe more value and quality for the same price.

Santoro@Hinoki Japanese Restaurant @ China Square Central

N picked a secret restaurant to bring me on my birthday, and when we reached Santoro@Hinoki, I was like……. wait a minute, this is my friend’s dad’s restaurant! And the head chef, (Santoro) Li Kwok Wing who has 40 years of Japanese cuisine experience, who is my friend’s dad, just won the Washoku World Challenge 2013 Grand Prize on December 8, 2013. His winning dish was “Japanese Pumpkin under Snow” (Secchou Kabochia, 雪中蒸しかぼちゃ) which beat many dishes from chefs around the world! So exciting to have a Singaporean win this global Washoku competition!! The first dish Hubbubu picked was the the Chef’s Recommendation for 2 persons – Tokusen Sashimi 特選刺身盛り合わせ ($110). The sashimi is extremely fresh! Every type of sashimi had its natural sweetness emanating with every bite. The fish slices were so firm, it tasted like meat. Among the platter, my favourites were the explosive flavourful roe and tuna served with vinaigrette and spring onions with such strong natural flavours, it tasted like tuna tartare.  With the quality of the sashimi, Santoro@Hinoki has dethroned Chikuwatei as my …

Hashi Japanese Restaurant @ Bukit Pasoh

Hashi is part of the TRE Group, who also owns Oso Ristorante, Gaia Ristorante & Bar and Absinthe Restaurant, and opened in May 2013. Hashi is helmed by ex-Nobu Australia head chef, Tadashi Takahashi. Hashi (means chopsticks in Japanese) is atas fine dining that serves exquisite authentic simple Japanese food. Tip: Restaurant Week is a good time to try out at $55/pax for 3 course dinner, considering their usual Kaiseki 5 course Lunch Menu is already $80! I liked the decor of Hashi – very minimal, elegant zen feel juxtaposed to Oso’s darker complex ambience. The sake bar structure reminded me of chopsticks (Hashi), and I loved the details of the rolls of kimono fabric leaning against the wall connecting the sushi bar to the inner seating area (that can seat up to 80 diners). First up, Appetizer – Cold Soba and Mixed Salad with Yuzu dressing and  Sashimi (3 kinds of seasonal sashimi) The Cold Soba was refreshing. The sashimi was good no doubt, but not as fresh and sweet as my favourite sashimi/chirashi dons as my best-value-and-freshness-for-money …

Sushi Airways 寿司航空 Sushi Bar @ Kampong Glam area

Wanted to meet a long time friend for catchup and she wanted Japanese, so decided to try out Sushi Airways! It can be a tad hard to find as it is on the second floor, so this is the shot of it from across the street to make life easier for you guys who want to try it out. Sushi Airways is a Japanese restaurant and sushi bar crafted after the interiors of an aircraft cabin. It can be a bit tacky looking especially with the service staff dressed as air stewardesses, but Theme Restaurants (click to see some bizarre concepts like prison themed restaurants) are big hits in Japan and I must recognize this place for the creative concept! Furthermore, Sushi Airways offers affordable set lunches and has an extensive ala carte selection of fresh seafood flown in four times a week from Japan. Tempted by the very good food photography in the menu, I ordered the Airways Baru Chirashi Sushi set ($15) with chopped salmon sashimi, tuna sashimi and hotate. The ingredients were chopped with …

Mori Japanese Restaurant @ Pakchong, Thailand

Read about this mysterious Japanese restaurant along a river, and also looks and taste authentic Japanese, so we decided to check out Mori before heading the Airport from Khaoyai. To be frank, this place was very hard to find because there is no proper site or address, so have already pinned it at the bottom of this article on googlemaps so you can use your GPS if you want to visit! We had a simple quick meal as we were rushing to the airport. The sashimi is imported from Japan and Norway – recommended as it’s super value for money for its freshness. We also tried the beef and tonkatsu set lunch and both tasted authentic Japanese and was around SGD$10-$12 per set. Agedashi Tofu was soft and fresh. The only dish I would not recommend is the chawanmushi. It was overcooked so rather than being soft and wobbly, it was rather rubbery. Also, do not ask for mayonnaise; it is neither like the Western nor Japanese mayo but more like diluted, sour cream. But overall, …

The Side of Thailand More People Should See

Having worked and lived in Bangkok for a short period of time from 2009-2010, I had the privilege of exploring some of the interesting sites around Bangkok such as Ampawa and Ayutthaya. Among them, Khao Yai left the deepest impression because of the 13 degreesC night (yup, you read it right – it does get so cool especially from Nov-Jan at night), which is very rare cool weather in this part of the world near the equator. I also recalled European looking architecture with vineyards so Khaoyai is a short getaway to feel far from our Asian roots. So when we had a chance 3 weeks ago to plan a short trip over the long weekend, I decided to re-visit Khaoyai and also introduce N to this beautiful province of Thailand. Khaoyai is a beautiful mountaineous province, 2.5 hours drive from Bangkok, and is a popular short weekend getaway spot among Bangkok city folks to switch gears over a slow weekend. For me, I hardly repeat my eating and travel spots as I want to …