Hakata Nihon Ryori, Mohd Sultan Road

I think this was one of those places (33, Mohd Sultan Road #01-03, S23897, tel : 6836 1039) that has been around. One of the many that I've seen or passed by but never gotten myself to step in. Until now. That was after a tip off about the Kyushu styled food that they serve and a chance for me to try their tonkotsu ramen. The ramen was edible though not one of the better rendition we've tried. A word of advice - don't pick the seats at the bar. The counter radiates heat from the refrigeration unit and it could get uncomfortably warm after a while.

I was intrigued by the uni to ama ebi don, but the uni was disappointing. It wasn't much chilled and a little too stiff as well. Flavour of the sea urchin didn't quite get through. In short, it was a failed uni test for me. The sweet ama ebi was fortunately decent but wasn't good enough enough to save the donburi.

Here's their tonkotsu ramen. Liked these straight Hakata style noodles. The sliced chashu were small and were not the type that would dissolve your mouth. Actually, those charshu tasted like sliced pork in lor mee. At $10, it was also one of the cheaper bowls around.

I like them potato no mentai yakis. Basically sliced potatoes with a layer of mentaiko mayo and grilled (or baked?). We were told that they took a while to prepare and that we might have to wait a little but it was actually served before the other items. This wasn't just a flavouring if you're wondering. The potato slices were covered with enough mentaiko that you could discern the fish roe.

All in all, the food wasn't too bad despite the poor show of the uni. There was quite a variety on menu that I can see myself coming back.

Wasabi Tei : cooked food edition

Dare I say that the unagi don from Wasabi Tei was actually not bad in spite of the charred appearances. I thought that I detected a little bit of that greasy fattiness underneath the grilled skin of the eel. Not much can really be to the quality of eels locally, but I guess there are some places that do serve a pretty decent non-Japanese import of those fishes and this was one; in generous portions and a warm bowl of sticky rice to boot.

The unagi nigiris did surprise me a little since I wasn't expecting them to be so large. As expected though, they weren't much to look at, but the sizes were nothing one can complain about. The rice at the bottom barely held the weight of the grilled eels on top.

I generally don't hold much hopes for gyudons since I've never really had any that was really worth remembering apart from the savoury rendition at Yoshinoya which was surprisingly quite addictive. Pity that they're just another chain that takes no pride in what they serve  charging quite a bit and delivering pathetic portions. Wasabi Tei's rendition was nothing short of comfort food with sliced beef. Well blended were the flavours of the thinly sliced strips of sautéed onions and bits of garlic that worked really well with their salty sauce and greasy thin slices of cow on top of the warm rice. Again, it's form over finesse in generous quantities. Did I mention that they have a mushroomy tasting chawanmushi that's loaded with Shimeiji mushrooms too?

Ichibantei, Robertson Quay

I think I'm becoming a fan of tan tan mian. This was a hiyashi tan tan mian from Ichibantei (60 Robertson Quay, #01-04 The Quayside, tel : 6733 3923) and it is probably making itself into the top of my list for cold ramen with its robust savoury sweet and spicy sesame gravy and springy noodles. Not that there were any others in that list apart from the cold ramen at Noodle House Ken which was as good if not better in its own refreshing way. The generous toppings of ground meat added to the textural chewiness. There was also a pretty decent tonkotsu ramen in the house that came with the usual milky pork bone broth, tender sliced chashu and egg. Sadly, the order of oyster kakis was disappointing. They were shrivelled and dry as compared to fat and juicy. I've passed by this place on countless occasions and only sometimes wondering if there was anything good about them. If not for today, that cycle would probably have continued.

Bontá unplugged

Unplugged because most of the things here aren't from the menu and the after dinner was graced with the company of the Chef Luca Pezzera. Where casual dialogue evolved around prices of Japanese produce, how he likes otoro and not uni, the real faces of restaurants in Italy and quite a number of other things which will not by discretion, go beyond the dinner table. Chef Luca is apparent quite conversant with the local slang judging from expressions like "ok lah", "I tell you one thing ah", or "very expensive leh" that arose in the midst of his candour. This visit also represents a re-acquaintance to the food at Bontá, recalling that it didn’t leave deep impressions previously. Opinions were rather different this time round, but then again, there’s also the stuff that one doesn’t usually get since they’re seasonal. Still, one can get a feel of straightforward and down to earth cooking that doesn't reek of fancy schmancy.

The first starter was a pair of steamed or poached German white asparaguses blanketed by a sunny side up with shaven Parmigiano Reggiano. I though it was a appropriately warm in a refreshing way. The crunchy asparagus which were also a little juicy. Cheese and eggs sealed the deal for me. Nothing overly complicated but a warm and pleasant opener. I just found out that white asparagus are grown in the dark today.

Asparaguses were followed by sliced Parma ham and chilled melon pieces drizzled with something sweet that tasted like honey. And something else. I couldn't really identify. Again, nothing over the top.

Pasta was good. There's truffle cheese sauce and with more freshly shaven summer truffles. What I liked about this was that the cheese in the sauce was outstanding yet not overwhelming as to mask gentler truffle flavour. Comfort food.

Secondi piatti was a seafood duo of tuna and scampi. I was for red meat but since it's all decided by the chef, you get surprised sometimes. The outstanding items were the sweet scampi and roasted garlic. There was almost none of the pungence associated with garlic and the bulbs were slightly sweetish and crunchy. The tuna wasn't really my thing. It was still juicy even though it was a little hard. There was rosemary which I don't normally enjoy. Would have been great if there was more scampi.

Dessert was a molten chocolate cake with rum and raisin ice cream. Not much to say about this.

Seletar Grill & Pub, Singapore Flying Club

This was my first visit to Seletar Grill (140B Piccadilly, Singapore Flying Club, tel: 6482 0244) and I've managed to get my name up on the level 30 wall of fame for their spicy chicken wings. It didn't taste good, I do not recommend them at all and I did it for the cheap thrill of having my name up on a piece of paper up their wall of fame after enduring the tongue and lip blistering venom which makes those wings look absolutely toxic. Not to mention the fuzzy feeling in my stomach after that...... 

The silver lining of this visit was the prime rib on the menu which I was admittedly skeptical about initially. After little persuasion, I took the plunge and this turned out to be a good call. And a good thing it was too that I decided on medium instead of the usual medium rare since it probably would have been a little to rare for my liking. The boned in prime rib was tender, juicy full of beefy goodness coupled with a healthy amount of fats for texture and flavour. Not forgetting the nicely browned surface as well. Honestly surprised at something like this in an out of the way shack. It's tough luck for me that this place is so damned inaccessible.

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.