Another lunch at Japanese Restaurant Suju

We sat at the other side of Suju today. Light came from the sun instead of the lamp.

Their beef hayashi was listed in a separate front portion of the menu. I wonder if that meant anything. Anyway, it was good. I detected a good bit of red wine and also tomatoes in the stew. The flavour was robust and texture creamy even though most of that hayashi was beef. I liked this.

There was a tori karaage teishoku on the specials list. It was the same specials list that was available the last time we were here. This was possibly the first time we've ordered a tori karaage set. Or a tori karaage anything. Ever. One of those things up there don't belong. Guess which?

Time's up. It's the egg which we added on to be stirred into the hot rice and eaten. Instead of shoyu, they added fermented soy bean for that aroma and bit of saltiness. This added a richness to the rice. 

The tori karaage? It was good. Fried to a crisp exterior without excessive oil while the meat of the chicken was tender and moist. Strange that this isn't on the regular menu.

Clinton St. Baking Company : The sugar bacon burger and a slice of cherry pie

Guess what? I liked this sugar bacon burger from Clinton Street Baking Company. Rather quietly unassuming with no hype; and of course I wished that there was a bit more of that blue cheese to go along, but this was tastier than I had been expecting. They got the medium doneness for the patty spot on and the seasoning was just right that all the beefiness could be tasted. Even through that bit of blue cheese and sweet bacon. Speaking of which, their sugar bacon is pretty much like bak kwa which also means, blue cheese works with bak kwa!

The apple pie which we saw previously was no longer around, but they had cherry pie. The one that's supposed to put a smile on your face ten miles wide and bring a tear to your eye. The fillings were pretty tart, but that kinda worked out since I didn't need anything that was more sweet.

A martabak from JTown Cafe

I've been meaning to check out this shop (#B1-04/05, Midpoint Orchard, 220 Orchard Road) for their martabak manis - an Indonesian sweet pancake which is quite similar to the Chinese styled peanut pancakes commonly known as ban chang kueh. This was their campur option which had a sprinkle of ground peanuts, shredded cheese, some butter (or perhaps margarine) and chocolate rice. The martabak was made on order - so that freshness spoke some for the moist and springy texture. Yes, it was both sweet and a little salty. Wouldn't mind dropping by once in a while for one of these. Perhaps another time with their bakmie.

Another lunch at Kaiho Sushi

It's been a while since the last time at Kaiho. Their anago don seems to have been taken off the lunch menu. We ordered some hotategai and uni while waiting for their slower than usual table service. A little bit of extras above their regular lunch items. Both were pretty good.

A tonkatsu sandwich from Hoshino Coffee

Hoshino Coffee (#01-651 Suntec City Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard, tel : +65 6836 9881) is probably the only Japanese coffee place where I actually remember enjoying their coffee. They have a tonkatsu sandwich - which featured freshly fried crisp pork cutlet with a crunch and I liked that they didn't overdo the tonkatsu sauce.

Chinatown Special, Chinatown Food Centre

Dad used to tell me that he had heard that the owner/cook of this stall (#02-12 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) used to come from a hotel kitchen. But I read that it was just a restaurant, not from a hotel. The first time I had heard that was back in the day when the stall was located at People’s Park Food Centre where we had a fairly regular ritual of fried rice along with guo tie from Tian Jin Fong Kee nearby on Saturdays. Back in the day when most people still worked Saturdays and we’d meet dad after his work for family lunch. And strangely like that dumpling stall, we stopped patronizing at a certain point and never really came back again until many many years later.

Monday one for one burgers at Medzs

Medzs (#01-01 Clifford Centre, 24 Raffles Place, tel : +65 6536 1917) has certainly transformed itself. Gone is the Mediterranean theme which was really the basis for their name. With the exception of their slogans and perhaps grudgingly, the decor - there wasn't much that was Mediterranean anymore. The menu has been whittled down into a somewhat generic western with a smudge of faux American Italian. Did the management change?

This current bar/restaurant setup does one for one burgers on Mondays and that applies as long as you get a regular priced alcoholic beverage. The selection for drinks wasn't much nor did I find very appealing, so I picked the cheapest - a San Miguel Light just to qualify for those burgers. It doesn't come with fries for this particular deal.

Verdict? That USDA brisket and chuck patty was not bad at all. The surprising thing about it was, these burgers were much better built than those I've had recently. Well, the brioche was barely holding up past half the burger, but it held. There was American cheese, a couple of rashers of bacon, pickles, thick cut tomatoes and onions; all of which could be tasted and worked as a burger. Kudos for not killing it with too much sauce. The bottom line was nothing fancy but it came together decently. Shame on Butchers Club and their dry aged BA blend they're so proud of. I'd take this over them. 

Ginza Kushi Katsu, Paragon

From what little I could gather, this shop (#B1-47 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6262 1304 ) is a kushikatsu joint that also specializes in gyu katsu. Armed with the notion that their gyu katsu is the first of its kind in this country. I would beg to differ. The difference between the first and any runner ups is an eternity because there can only be one first. So these guys aren't even close.

An aburi-ed foie gras and toro don from Maguro Donya Miura Misakikou Sushi & Dining

This was simply indulgence from our friendly blue fin tuna specialist. Torched slice toro, minced toro and foie gras. And some truffle soy sauce. Need I even say more? I just realized after taking the photo that there was just so much pink, even on the little sakura prints on the bowl.

A cheese dosai from Komala's

This was originally supposed to be a stop for some masala tea, but ended up with more than just tea. Along came this cheese dosai which was from the main shop down in Little India (330-332 Serangoon Road); apparently not available from their deli outposts which understandably has a much smaller menu. I remember not being so impressed with their dosai previously but today was kinda nice. Crispy at the edges, the salty cheese to go along and a nice warm sambar. Maybe I should drop by this location for tea more often and see what else is good.

A nasi goreng kampung from Dahlia Cafe

Hmmm...I succumbed after seeing numerous people getting a plate of this nasi goreng kampung. It didn't taste as good as I had imagined. The rice was a little too greasy and the sambal used for the frying was so weak that I needed their sambal belachan and the pickled green chilli to make it a better eat. Those ikan bilis were also salty without being fragrant and I thought they were a little too hard. I'll stick to their nasi goreng ayam if I ever come back.

Fruit juice mee siam from Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa

In spite of the name Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa (#02-66 Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, Blk 531A Upper Cross Street), this stall is also rather well known for their mee siam. A fruit juice mee siam - unique even as a local dish by local standards. The lady proprietor had suddenly become very loquacious at my asking about what fruits were used. After artfully (somewhat) dodging the question with something about not using tamarind (the traditional ingredient for the tangy/sour element) and something about onions, she proceeded with how they had purchased their crayfish fresh every morning and that quality of their ingredient was of the utmost importance to them which adds to the cost and blah blah blah. I don't think they were keen on sharing their secret

But I liked it. An accurate word to describe the broth would be fruity. It was tangy like most mee siam with just a light warmth from the chilli. But that tangy element was just different. Maybe less sharp and more refreshing. I'm not too sure. Liked it enough that I finished up to the last drop.

A first visit to Tampopo this year

It's been a while since the last time. This was a quick dinner. One of the items that wasn't around the last time we were here was the Sakura tori paitan ramen. There was a mini-bowl option which was really perfect if you wanted to test drive for flavour. It turned out to be good. I'm getting the regular bowl the next time. Broth was creamy, savoury and had a hint of yuzu. Marutama it seems has a real competitor now.

There was an expensive seasonal menu premium barachirashi which had crab legs and little blobs of uni amongst the usual suspects. The rice was unfortunately not vinegared. But one cannot argue against the generosity of the seafood they piled on top of the bowl. The quantity of those seafood was at least that of the rice.

Tampopo's negitoro don is an old favourite of ours. Seems like it will remain an old favourite still in the foreseeable future. The price of the bowl has gone up by about a dollar since I last remember.

But look at the amount of chopped toro versus the rice. Though I remember a time when there was a lot more negi to go along with the tuna. In retrospect, the ones from the past did seem like they were also fattier than the ones they served today.