Etna 2013

It seems that Etna has scoped downwards their rather extensive menu, reducing the once rather staggering options to less than half. Of the casualties that were involved, one is a risotto that I really liked.

There was burrata available so we got one. The creamy cheese was nicely chilled along with the vine ripened tomatoes. The wait staff tried to convince us that the accompanying Parma ham would melt in the mouth. She probably hasn't had much of them herself. Haha...

There's a new risotto on menu done with Castelmagno cheese and Barolo reduction. T'was not bad there. The fortified wine reduction was pretty viscous and sweet, playing off the savoury and creamy rice.

Also something that we hadn't taken note of before, their ba chor mee of home made semolina ciriole with sausages, porcini and truffle paste. This was very good. Served piping hot, the texture of the noodles were quite spot on for fresh pasta. Their cream sauce was clinging nicely onto them. I can see us having this again. 

And our favourite dessert from Etna. Not that they have that much to choose from, but the pistachios made the difference.

Food stall lunch at Takashimaya

This was basically lunching by munching through the food stalls set up just outside of the supermarket at Takashimaya. There were actually too much things that we would have wanted to eat, so we ended up getting stuff from just a couple of vendors.

The first stall we happened by was selling mentaiko. The people at the stall were doing sandwiches on crust removed white bread that were lightly toasted. And then two thick pats of butter along with a spread of mentaiko that they were selling. It, was awesome.

The other siren serenade that reeled us in was the GroXer Inc booth that was selling some Japanese products. That included Joshu wagyu and gyu from the Gunma prefecture.

We were informed that Joshu gyu is a branding for what is known as F1 beef, meat that is derived from a cross breed between a wagyu bull and a dairy cow. The progeny benefits from the genetic inheritance from the parent resulting in tenderness and good marbling characteristics in its own. 

Convinced by the charming hostess trying to sell us stuff (lol!) and that the stall was also manned by Tadashi Takahashi from Hashi, we buckled for a wagyu steak don which was excellent. It was a bit of coin dropped in for that bento, but the fragrant caramelization from meat which largely dissolved on the tongue with great flavor made it worth it. In fact, we thought well enough of it that we went back.

This time, it was for their F1 gyu don, with their delicious sukiyaki styled sauce and sauce infused tofu. The meat was cooked upon order and the marbling looked so good that we had initially mistaken it for wagyu. The flavor was sublime and texture, ethereal. Paired with the piping hot rice, tofu and sweet shreds of onion. 

With little room left, we managed to squeeze a small order of braised intestines as sides from the nearby booth selling Taiwanese food. Good stuff too.

A beef stew with rice from Pecori

I think these guys are either still fiddling with their menu or are rotating some of their non core dishes for variety. I remember seeing seafood and curry pilaf on menu and today (yet again after another grocery spree), we got ourselves something described as brown beef sauce with beef gristles. Which was essentially their beef stew from more sinewy cuts.

I actually liked it. It was simple and comforting with sufficient beefy flavour infused into the broth. An appropriate amount of time was apparently spent simmering the seemingly random cuts of meat that in spite of the gristles, it was all acceptably tender and tasty. Altogether a very pleasant change from the heavier omu rice options that they normally have and definitely an alternative to the declining mentaiko cream rice which of late seems more cream than mentaiko.

Fu Xiang Chicken Rice : Single Serving Edition

So here's it. Chicken rice with the works crammed into a single serving plate. Looks good there, hell yes? I ought to give their boiled chicken a go the next time.

Ebi katsu season is back in Saboten again

Those panko crusted deep fried chunky shrimp cakes are back on limited time at Saboten. Get them before they're gone. 

Beng Kee Wanton Noodle, Whampoa Drive Makan Place

With another dash of oblivious-ity, I had never taken note of this particular wanton noodle stall (#01-22, Whampoa Drive Makan Place Block 91, 91 Whampoa Drive) even though it was strategically located between a couple of my favourite stalls down at Whampoa Food Centre. Speaking of which, I've just discovered that it has been renamed to Whampoa Drive Makan Place. Seriously?

This was a spinach noodle option with deep fried dumplings. What I liked about it was that the dumplings were fried upon order, allowing it to remain freshly crisp. On top of that, there wasn't any excessive oil that was soaked onto the skin which was stuffed generously with lean minced pork and some shrimp.  Not so big on flavour there but it was satisfyingly meaty and crispy. The noodles were well timed in the boiler, tossed in their light sauce with chilli, didn't clump and had a decent bite. Nothing mind blowing to be found here but a decent plate good for everyday (even though the portions were a little small). Which is actually not as easy a thing to find as it sounds these days.