Xi Yan Shaw, Shaw Center

This restaurant (1 Scotts Road, Shaw Centre, #03-12/13, tel  : +65 6733 3476) was obviously an offshoot of the private kitchen down at Craig Road. I visited that Xi Yan some years ago, didn't think very much of them then. Apparently, some or all of the dishes that they have on menu at this casual dining branch of the restaurant are signature dishes from the private kitchen. Seems to be a whole lotta  signature dishes for a private kitchen to have.

I have mixed impressions of this one.

That's the radish pizza with XO sauce. XO sauce was nice, the "pizza" was okay. Didn't think so much of it and will not be ordering it again the next time. But on the bright side, it also means that there will be a next time!

Their sake dongpo rou was not bad too. Actually, I liked the sweet preserved mustard greens much more than the pork belly. This is stuff that will make you eat loads of white rice.

Spinach with three eggs was competent if ordinary. The garlic needs to boil for a longer duration so that it softens up nicely and more century egg would be nice.

Xi Yan obviously hasn't escaped the need to start using truffle in their dishes as well, so here's their black truffle and Yunnan ham fried rice. Having Yunnan ham was a little more than a marketing gimmick since none of that bodied aroma nor texture gets through with these tiny shreds. It would have worked almost as well with good old salted fish. As for the truffle component, there's definitely better around.

That's the deep fried fish with shrimp paste in a pomelo and water chestnut salad. I had this previously from the private kitchen which was served as a whole fish rather than just cuts of the fillet. I couldn't tell what kind of fish this was.

I remember liking their salad/sauce that they used because it was such an excellent blend of citruses with onions and pomelo. This time round, I noticed that there was also lot of sugars going on too to balance off the tangy elements. Still excellent, but the fish itself didn't taste very good. The meat was crumbly and thin with little to no flavour. I'm pretty sure I'd order this again in a heartbeat, but the quality of the fish would have nothing to do with the decision.

Ginseng and chicken soup. Not bad. Don't mind drinking this again.

We liked their tan tan mian. Nicely nutty flavour from the sauce and ground peanuts along with generous portion of minced meat in firm noodles with bite. I couldn't really ask for much more out of this dish.

Some salted yolk prawn with pumpkin. The salted yolk crust was garlicky. Pretty good, but the prawns were of just average quality. And I suppose I like the those pumpkins to stay in the steamer for a longer period so that the crunch in the texture goes away.

These are fried meat patties with salted fish and diced water chestnuts. Not bad at all. Really. I thought the browning was sufficient and well done.

Dessert was kind of a let down. It says lychee ice cream and osmanthus wine. I could only taste the lychee. I always feel it's bad form for a restaurant to list something in the ingredients and not put them in or don't use enough of it that the person eating it can actually taste them.

Teppei Syokudo, Takashimaya Food Hall

scallop kaisen don

salmon & ikura don

So this is the takeaway shop from Teppei right smack in town serving up their shoyu marinated kaisen/barachirashi donburi. Often claimed to be the place to go to if one doesn't want to endure the reservation for Teppei or the queue at Hana Hana. I guess that the main difference with these takeaways are that it doesn't come with piping hot rice like how it is served in their proper sit downs. Or furikake when those generous chunks of seafood run out.

Tanuki Raw, Orchard Central

I have heard of Tanuki Raw (#02-03 Orchard Central, 181 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6636 5949) from their association with Standing Sushi Bar which I've never been too. Had never been interested because I've always assumed that since they're both bar and a kitchen and if they're as affordable as they say, neither of which has got to be good. Besides, they're doing a contemporary slash bastardised slash Americanised form of Japanese food. Which is pretty much everywhere so I didn't find them compelling.

Long story short, we heard numerous mentions about their truffle yakiniku don going for an affordable $14.80 at lunch and decided to give it a go. Presentation aside, this was actually pretty good. Though I had expected those short rib to be pan seared instead of just being aburi-ed. I would not mind coming back to eat that again. Oh, I finally figured out that those fox like things lurking at the entrances are actually the tanuki.

Boneless Chicken Rice near Yishun MRT

I hadn't eaten at this coffee shop for quite a while and didn't realise that the chicken rice stall had changed. This one was so much better than the previous. Their boiled chicken was tender and smooth and frankly, deboning the bird usually scores points with me. There was that sprinkle of deep fried garlic bits to differentiate from the usual stalls. 

Their beady rice was decent if not extraordinary. Works with their garlicky chilli sauce. This was one competent stall which while doesn't rank in the top of my list, made good eating if one had the craving. Which is actually saying something considering that there are literally tonnes of chicken rice shops in the country. And oh yes, they threw in a complimentary bowl of peanut and chicken soup as well. Very drinkable stuff compared to what many pass off as soup.

This shop is located just a minute's walk away from the train station (Yishun St. 72, Blk 744, S-11 Coffeeshop).  By the way, the stall is really just called 'boneless chicken rice'. Watch out for the queue.

Rosita's Deluxe @ Meatsmith

This was a pop up cheeseburger and beer event seemingly by the folks from Cajun Kings & Meat Smith. I did spy David Pynt of Burnt Ends out in the back rubbing shoulders near the kitchen. Anywayyys, those cheeseburgers that they did were actually pretty decent stuff. They had used two slices of different cheeses for good measure (I can't tell what kind) and their juice filled, well salted and crusty patties etched with char was properly treated and delicious. Very much like how it was done in Butchers Club Burgers. I'm not sure how often are these things happening, but I think they've gotten things done right. Much better than that Wildfire Kitchen place at that.

Nakajima Suisan Grilled Fish, Takashimaya Food Hall

tuna cheek shioyaki

gindara teriyaki

This was a lot better than I had expected. I've always seen this grilled fish teishoku shop (#B2-01-1, Takashimaya Food Hall, 391A Orchard Rd) at the corner with their relentless queue and never understood why that was. So today, we finally found out it is because they offer one of the best valued quality grilled fish meals in town. The cod that they served was smooth, tender and flaked off beautifully by the grain and their tuna cheeks grilled with salt was such a pleasure that I'd be hard pressed not to order it again the next time.