The mirin saba set and a bowl of oden from Nakajima Suisan

I rather liked this fish. It was a little sweet and didn't have much bones. Even though almost every neighbouring table had a saba shioyaki which looked a lot bigger and much more moist. I was just wondering if there was any reason why this mirin glazed fish was smaller.

Their oden was pedestrian. Not that it was bad nor were we having great expectations, but there was nothing in particular I would look forward to so I guess it's a first and a last.

The Diamond Jim Brady now with bone in

After 12 long years, USDA beef with bone in is finally back at our shores! Here's the bone in prime rib from Lawry's. Needless to say, we enjoyed it as we usually did. Today's cut of the rib felt much heftier than I had expected. Just as I was wondering if the Diamond Jim-bo had shrunk, this bone in slab proved me wrong. I wasn't referring to the additional weight or volume from that bone, it felt like there was a lot more meat as well. But, I'm not complaining. Just thinking aloud - why is the creamed spinach sometimes on the side and sometimes on a separate dish?

Meatless at Artichoke

lotus root - honey roasted, marmite, pistachio dukka, siracha yoghurt

babaganoush - smoked eggplant, sesame, yoghurt, pomegranate molasses teriyaki

fried brussels sprouts - almonds, pomegranate, cabbage, mint, labneh ranch

falafel lettuce cups - big mac sauce, butterhead cups, tomato ezme, jalapenos, grated haloumi

The food at Artichoke has always been complex. Boldly going where none has gone before at least in the local context. Adventurous yet grounded without pretension. It's face has varied textures - of crunch, crisp, chewiness, gelatinous, gooey, creamy and possibly more married with heat, spice, sweetness, savoriness, smokiness, sour and probably others that I cannot recall. Each different dish a qualification of different combination of the mentioned adjectives. Very often, more than a handful of those at each at time. This was a dinner with no meat items. I'll just save the individual descriptions and let the pictures talk.

By the way, that watermelon beer didn't taste like it had watermelon.

Braised duck noodles at Yishun 645

Came across this place (Blk 645 Yishun St. 61) by chance a week ago and have returned once since. I guess I was pleasantly surprised since I'm usually not much into braised duck noodles - especially ones with the regular yellow noodles. These noodles didn't have the lingering taste of alkali. Coupled with some braised fallopian tubes and egg, it made a satisfying breakfast.

Maguro Donya Miura Misakikou Sushi & Dining, Suntec City

The name of this restaurant (#03-314, Suntec City North Wing, 3 Temasek Boulevard, tel : +65 66845054) was certainly more than a mouthful. Sixteen syllables is no laughing matter. I've read that they're apparently a collaboration in part done between Maguro Donya and ANA; the latter forms the part of the partnership that supports the flying in of fresh whole hon maguro - or blue fin tuna. So yes, they are a tuna specialist restaurant and that was pretty much what piqued my interest. 

That's their Hon Maguro Megumi Trio, a teishoku set which featured akami, chutoro and kama yakimono. The latter of which was described as cheek, but is actually the collar of the fish. Their maguro was of good quality. The grilled collar had all the moisture and oils sealed in by the crisp browned surface. The grey meat was my favourite part. I'd come back just for this alone.

And since we were already here, we ordered their hon maguro otoro don. Which was sublime like how fatty otoro can be, bolstered with lightly vinegared rice. 

While it was really quite affordable for blue fin tuna at lunch prices, I couldn't say that it was cheap or anywhere close to cheap. In fact, one could lunch at a nice Japanese restaurant for the amount you would be paying. Albeit with no bluefin tuna involved.

Vegetarian couscous and falafel from Ikea's cafeteria

We hadn't seen this on the menu before and decided to see if they were any good. Actually, I kinda liked the couscous. While those falafel (it's more like a spiced potato vegetable ball than one that's made of chickpea) weren't exactly the type that I liked, I'm pretty sure I might eat this again the next time I need to get food here considering that there really isn't so much to choose from at Ikea.