Wasabi Tei, Far East Plaza

If I ever had to make a call on the quintessence of form without finesse in Japanese food, Wasabi Tei (14 Scotts Road, #05-70 Far East Plaza, tel : 62388216) would probably be it. There is very little of, if at all that can be associated with the elegance that one would associate with the traditional vein of Japanese cuisine here. Frills are virtually non existence and presentation takes no precedence. But the food was actually pretty decent with all things considered. While it's far from being beyond reproach, it was not half bad at all. Doesn't really look it at a glance. One comes to this hole in the wall place to get their bellies filled and leaves.

 

Everyone got served an otoshi which consisted mainly of what I was educated to be simmered hijiki seaweed and bits of chicken. The seaweed reminded me a little bit of a pickled tea leaf salad I once had. While it didn't appear to be very much, the starter was quite flavourful in a savoury sweet manner and I thought it was quite good.

 

I would simply describe the mixed sashimi here was generously portioned, thick sliced and straight to the point. We got the usual suspects of sake, hamachi, mekajiki, maguro and a fat piece of hotate sliced into two. They're as you can see them, literal slices of meat with little, if any style on the knifework. The slices of fish were chilled, firm and quite fresh tasting.

 

The uni gunkans were unfortunately not one of the better ones I've had. It did look a little suspicious on delivery especially when one was already toppled and both were barely (badly) wrapped. The sea urchin did look slightly mushy and while the taste wasn't as bad as what my nagging suspicion had indicated, it didn't quite put a smile on my face neither.

 

This was surprisingly, one of the better tasting unagi makis I've had. Certainly not the best looking one, but the grill scorched aroma was very evident on the still crisp caramelized skin of the eels. I suspected that the extra char was how it was intended to be done since I did look a little more so than usual, but it was really quite nice. I'll need a revisit opinion on the unagis.

 

The chirashi bento was quite similar to the sashimi platter - on rice. Plus a little bit of ikura, a crabstick and no scallop. Not much else to be said about them that I haven't already mentioned, but my parting comment would be that the salmon they served was actually not bad too. Good as in a way of having definitive fat that slicked my soya sauce with grease. Caveat lector : do mind their little in house rules they have for their customers though.

D is for....

Damned long wait for food! Maybe it was the stuffy and sweltering humidity coupled with the heat that made the waiting time less bearable. The kitchen did look very much to me like they took their time about their business which while is their prerogative, kinda makes me think twice about coming back again. D is for deliberate.


Getting back on track, Big D does do an awesome kurobuta pork loin. In honesty, this is the first time I'm having such a large piece of grilled Berkshire black pig. The resulting piece of meat doesn't score much of points in the department of tenderness, but hey, that didn't really matter. There was enough juices still left on the moderately fatty insides after the exterior was seared with a very commendable char that came with the accompanying char fragrance which I though was a big factor contributing to what made this pork loin good. D is for delicious. Such was the focus of the centerpiece very other thing else on the plate fell on the sideline. I felt like I was eating steak. D is for dandy.


The sambal buah keluah as I have discovered, was a dish that took a minute to prepare despite all the waiting time. It was as simple as scooping that black puree out from somewhere onto a plate with rice and some salsa on the side. This stuff is good like rendang, being heavy on the coconut flavor and paired with spiciness and sweet. Certainly doesn't taste like the buah keluah I've had before but it was all good. It would have been great if they had done a better job out of the rice which was anything but soft and fluffy.

And finally, D is for Damien. Damien D'Silva. Who wasn't around in the kitchen the whole time I was there. So wassup with those wannabes crooning his name everytime you talk about his food eh? Give some credit to the rest of the staff, especially that guy who was sweating it out at the grill working on the pig.

Going down on Victoria......Street

The initial plan was to get some dinner at the food centre beside Allson Hotel. Since I had to be in that vicinity, I couldn't resist making my way back to Benten Cafe and grabbing their blue cheese and honey pizza again. I really wanted to know if the pizza was going to be as good as the first time round and if it was truly a place I could reliably (loosely used here) come back for more in the future.


Fortunately, the pizza was almost as good as the last visit. There were definitely little difference. The blue cheese toppings felt marginally less generous but that still meant that there was quite a bit of it. Today, the honey was given in a separate jug and there was definitely more going around than the previous time where it could barely be tasted. The stinky blue cheese and honey paired up just like best of friends. For a selfish reason, I hope this place doesn't close down so that I can always come back for this pizza whenever I feel like it.

Moving forward into the second part, there was a stall call Victoria Street Bak Kut Teh. I wasn't thinking of bak kut teh at all since I remembered seeing that they had an assorted variety of items for kuey chap. Those were what I actually had in mind. In the end, it was a plate of assorted items, some tau kee (bean curd skins) and a bowl of peppery pig stomach soup which was generously filled with boiled garlic. The pieces of pig stomach were stewed for so long that they were not chewy anymore. Certain pieces looked like they were on the verge of disintegration. Soup tasted peppery and flat. I don't know if this place was famous or good but I probably wouldn't be coming back. There was nothing very special about them all, but I suppose they did an adequate the job of just filling up.

Yoshimaru Ramen Bar, Holland Village

Pretty sure that I will come back here (31 Lorong Liput in Holland Village, 6463-3132) again. Maybe even soon. Reason was their ramen left an impression. Which was a good thing considering that there have been quite a few ramen shops opening up in the recent years and they're starting to look the same. Coupled with veteran ramen shops, we actually do have quite a number option. Do feel that they need to distinct themselves.

Here's a bowl of their moridakusan ramen which is Yoshimaru's version of "the works". Including a tiny dollop of mentaiko was a waste since nothing of it could be tasted once everything got mixed. Enjoyed their tasty tonkotsu broth which wasn't as salty and greasy as I imagined. In their moderation, intentional or not, it turned out to be good. The thin and firm noodles was the other thing that I liked. Was never much of a fan of the soft and curly types. These ones almost reminded me of the first time I ate at Ajisen many years back when they were still decent. 

There's also tan tan mian which featured a nutty and spicy broth that left me wanting more. I'm wondering if there was any peanut butter involved in the soup.

Didn't enjoy their charshu don which featured charshu that tasted like preserved pork cubes. Reminded me of mei cai kou rou when eaten with takana. Definitely had better.

Mietta's, Arab Street

Angelo Sanelli, formerly of Michaelangelo's and current captain of this culinary ship known as Mietta's (126 Arab Street, tel: 6396 5493) reminds me of a man sized dwarf. Big boned, bearded, gruffy facade and probably a nice guy at heart behind his serious appearances as he makes his rounds about. Executive chef Dennis Sim on the other hand, exudes the personality of a man of the kitchen. I say that because his chef's coat isn't snowy white like what many are wont to romanticize and it actually has food stains. And the first words from the man were to enquire if the food was fine and to explain why was what which way. Impressions.

Before I go into the more interesting topic of the food, I'd like to extend my thanks to fatpig for organizing dinner (again!) and for the arrangement of the interesting starter of blueberry gnocchi with braised venison in a red wine, bitter chocolate jus which was something dredged up and out from days back in Zambuca. That was probably not the only residual item that was plated since the carpaccio di manzo did look quite the same as well from the chef's former restaurant.


Honestly, the starters didn't leave too deep of an impression and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to feel strongly about them. But perhaps, I had wanted to be pleasantly surprised. For starters (pun intended), the venison as explained didn't have enough marinate time and in all likelyhood didn't have as much flavor as the chef had intended. Chocolate sauce wasn't as interesting as it sounded and compounded on that, the only flavor of the blueberries came from the bits of the fruit. I must say that the portions were rather generous. The beef capaccio arrived in portions too dainty and I could have sworn that I tasted lemongrass even though nothing like that was described to be in it. One could say, underwhelmed.


The mains, on the other spectrum of impressions were very commendable. We had an excellent foie gras risotto with porcini, which I think should have been renamed because each mouthful of that rice was infused with a robust taste of the mushroom. Foie gras really stood second place in the department of flavor and second place didn't position itself with as much proximity to the first as I would have preferred. But that would just be me. The rack of lamb which was crusted with "coffee soil" was just awesome. The only revelation from the chef on what made the coffee soil were coffee and cocoa which were probably the reasons for the burnt caramelized aroma of the crust. The sweet and savory rich flavors of the sauce that didn't threaten the moderate gaminess of the lamb were smile inducingly impressive on my part. It was a tad pricey for a rack of lamb on that note, but it also made me want to eat them again.


Desserts weren't too spectacular for me so I'll only be on top of the items which I thought were the better ones. The more memorable being the tiramisu which was probably one of the better ones I've enjoyed outside of home made ones and something that was call orange, orange and more orange. From what I can remember, a shot of blood orange jelly and mandarin sorbet atop a crepe and I remember hearing Grand Marnier in the description. What worked for that was pretty much the appeal of a clear citrus flavor at the end of dinner.

Golden Rooster at Clementi

Wow, this is quite nice. Another place that has been around for ages and this was probably my first time eating here. I've been trying to make a trip down to this chicken stall (Blk 450 Clementi Central, #01-305, S120450) for quite a while after being told about them, but it never really happened until today and I'm pretty impressed. By both the the tenderness of the generously portioned barbequed chicken and the speed at which the stall dishes out orders. For $4.50 it was a good deal and I was told that it used to cost less for the same amount. They have a pretty good chilli sauce on the side that had some kick as well. For a few dollars more, one could also just get the whole chicken which was quite a lot of meat. Me thinks I'll be back again quite soon for more now that it's not so far away from the workplace.