Fukusen, Hotel Clover

Got tipped off about this place from a little bird. Location is hidden from plain sight, but not exactly hidden within Hotel Clover (#01-02, 33 Jalan Sultan, tel : +65 6291 4818). At a glance, Fukusen looks like another run of the mill generalist for Japanese food with the run of the mill array of dishes ranging from kushiyaki, yakimono, sushi, sashimi, salads, various teishoku and you get the point. 

They could probably be just that. I was specifically recommended the uni don and we also tried the foie gras hotate don. Both were good. Bursts of flavours coming from the shoyu marinated yolk, foie gras, tsukemono and ikura. I don't know if their other stuff is worth coming for but these sure were.

More weekend-ery at Huber's

Lunch at the bistro before a trip into the butcher/deli/supermarket. I just realized that these guys have an automated queue system that calls you when your table is ready.

They have a pretty nice French onion soup. Savoury from the broth and sweetness from the onions.

Burger was okay. The flavour from the meat wasn't so intense. While it wasn't memorable that I would be telling myself I gotta come back for it, I couldn't complain. The gruyere got lost in everything. Everything meaning the brioche, bacon, beef and the sweet caramelized onions.

Meatloaf was amazing with the egg, spinach and mash. Together. By the way, I really liked their creamy mash.

A custard cream dessert where the custard was buried by the flavours of the compote/jam thingy.

Brunch at Geylang Serai Market

That above a kacang pool from Kacang Pool Mustafa (#02-142 Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre, 1 Geylang Serai). The dish, which originates from the Middle Eastern foul medames, is made with stewed/mashed fava beans. The dish was a little less viscous than I was expecting but that didn't stop it from rocking with those excellent fried eggs/chopped onions & chillis and some pepper. Something comforting warm and spicy for the morning.

Geylang Briyani (#02-146) does a kickass briyani kambeng (mutton). Lightweight and flavoursome grainy basmati rice paired with tender curried mutton, dalcha and achar on the side. This stall sells only briyani and the only decision to be made is ayam (chicken, curried), ayam goreng (fried chicken) and kambeng. I'm definitely heading back for more these someday.

And some gandos for the closure to the most important meal of the day.

Niku Kappo, ION Orchard

Watami has thrown in the towel at the basement of ION for whatever reasons. The current tenant which has taken over is Niku Kappo (#B3-23 ION Orchard, tel : +65 6509 9366) - brought in from Tsujiki in the land of the rising sun by…*Dave Lombardo drumroll*…Watami! Apparently another one of those first in the world outside of Japan kind of places.

Lots of beef options here and their niku nabe seems to be central to their offerings.

The thing that Niku Kappo does which isn't so common is niku sushi. Meat sushi of the wagyu variety served raw or torched in various styles. The wagyu uni gunkan and the wagyu rossini (the one with foie gras and truffle) are the tastier ones. The rest of the meat that wasn't aburi-ed weren't particularly outstanding even though the wagyu toro was fat marbled and supposed to be flavourful.

This was their yaki tetsu Kobe. A shiro miso based niku nabe. One gets to choose the type of beef used and this was their Akagi wagyu option

The ingredients were brought to the table and cooked by the server.

The beef and negi are first seared.

Then set aside.

The first portions that were served included the caramelized negi and a little of the Akagi wagyu. We were told that the yellow stuff in the bowl is a tamago sauce - something to downplay the intensity from the shiro miso.

The rest of the ingredients are simmered in the shiro miso and what I think might have been dashi.

The remaining miso after we were done with the nabe was made into a sauce with egg.

Which is then ladled onto the rice that comes with the order of their niku nabe.

Taste Affair, Amoy Street Food Centre

This stall (#02-128 Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road) is by Joshua Khoo, one half of the duo behind Saveur/Saveur Art. Apparently these couple of guys are no longer related to that Saveur Group they had created and are currently treading their own beaten paths. 

The food's pretty easy to figure out. A few meat/ingredient options to choose from and then a choice of either flavoured (saffron) rice or capellini. This was shrimp and chorizo with capellini. Plenty of umami going round from the bits of kombu, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, tobiko, chorizo and mushrooms underscored by a luxuriant coating of their soft poached egg. But a particular edge seemed missing from all the flavours.

I don't mind coming back to try their sake butter clams.

Zion Riverside Food Centre

For some reasons, I seldom eat here (70 Zion Road). This food centre is a landmark, albeit a small one, with a decent variety of local eats. While I'm pretty sure I've been here before at some point in the past, I don't remember when was the last time.

Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway (Stall 26) was something that was recommended. I heard these guys used to be a legend half a century ago but I couldn't taste the fish sauce or chai por in their chai tau kuey. The current guy running the stall is the son of the original owner. 

I suppose a little bland would be an appropriate description but it didn't taste bad. By the way, the way to place an order for their carrot cake would simply be to point at what you want from the pictures.

No 18 Zion Road Fried Kway Teow (Stall 17) always has a queue as far as I can remember. A lot of people come here for this particular stall. The noodles were sweet, peppered with bits of fried lard and a little wet. I prefer something that's dryer. It's not bad but unless I get a serious craving for char kuey teow, I'm not queueing for this again.

The pleasant surprise was Soon Lee Pig Organ's Soup (Stall 13). These guys are a little different from the regular pig organ's soup stall. The dark speckles that you see in the soup are fried bits of garlic which lends their aroma to the soup. Don't know of anyone else that does that. The broth also doesn't inherit much sour from the kiam chye - which is normally not the case for most pig organ soup. The flavour profile is hence not the usual. With some pepper, this bowl kicks ass.

Soon Lee's soup includes tender thin slices of pork belly. This is mention worthy because most stalls that also have sliced pork belly in their soup tends to also mean rubbery pork belly.