Sanma shioyaki from Kuro Maguro

Here's more grilled sanma, this time from Kuro Maguro. It was one of the seasonal items off the regular menu that had been described as pike. Little had I known that it was Pacific saury - also known as mackerel pike. With the fish in season, I guess that made sense. I seem to be developing a taste for these and fate it seems is steering things my way.

How was that? Presentation aside, the main difference between this and the recent one from Nakajima Suisan was that the fish here seemed to have been gutted and cleaned of innards. So while it was equally tasty, this lacked that bittersweet portions which are a characteristic of such fishes. The skin was also heavily salted to the point that it had to be eaten with rice. Fish was done in the broiler rather than a grill. Not forgetting that it was also more than twice the price of the fish at Nakajima Suisan. In comparison, it's kinda pricey.

A sanma shioyaki set from Nakajima Suisan

I believe sanma is in season at this time of the year so I took the opportunity to get one of the sanma shioyaki teishoku from Nakajima Suisan. I was a little surprised at how delicious it was even though pretty much everything I've had from them had been good. The fish was hot, tender and juicy even. Juices that were were oozing out of the meat as I picked up the first strips off the fish with my chopstick. And wow, those sweet bitter innards they had in there were so good. I'm wondering if these are equally as good when they're out of season.

db Bistro & Oyster Bar, Marina Bay Sands

db Bistro (#B1-48, The Shoppes at Marina Bay, 2 Bayfront Avenue, tel : +65 6688 8525), eponymously abbreviated after Daniel Boulud has been in MBS since about 2011. The restaurant was previously called db Bistro Moderne but has been renamed to db Bistro & Oyster Bar because they now have a...*Mike Portnoy drumroll*......an oyster bar. American influenced French bistro food they say.

Bread was baguette with a heavy rosemary and olive focaccia.

Chopped salad was delicious with macadamia nuts, roasted beets and apples. The pungent goat cheese brought it all together with its creaminess.

We had a steak tartare of USDS prime sirloin which the restaurant prepared at tableside. We could indicate how spicy we wanted it but we went with the mid range just to see how it was like. In retrospect, I thought I wouldn't mind trying something that was more spicy. Not that this was bad. On the contrary, this was quite nice. But I couldn't help but to feel that the flavours were a little muted than what I was expecting in comparison with say something from Le Bistrot du Sommelier or La Cabane. 

This was a Mediterranean sea bass, a la plancha I think with variations of cauliflower - pickled and roasted, raw and puréed . One of the variation was in fact broccoli. Lol. The fish was nicely done with the prerequisite crisp skin along with tender yet firm flesh. Not that I had expected anything less for what they were charging. What I really liked though was the caper and raisin salsa thingy that they had on top of the fish. It was a new sweet and sour flavour profile that I haven't had before and I thought it was great. I'd come back just for this

Blue Jasmine, Park Hotel Farrer Park

If there's anything we excel in, it's in taking affordable food from any culture, dressing it up and driving them upmarket. Blue Jasmine (Level 5, Park Hotel Farrer Park, 10 Farrer Park Station Road, tel : +65 6824 8851) serves Thai food. Southern and perhaps a bit of Central Thai that wouldn't be out of place in the streets that's all dressed up for a nice restaurant and prices to match. 

We ordered a curry stingray. It's a tamarind curry with a pretty robust flavour of fish sauce and a nice tangy heat. Unfortunately that stingray didn't taste like it was fresh meat. The texture was odd and certain parts even tasted like there was ammonia. That from what I understand either means the seafood is past it's prime or just simply bad preparation.

They serve a passable yum mamuang, or also commonly referred to as Thai mango salad.  Not bad, but nothing that'll leave me dreaming about coming back.

What's outstanding was their crab curry. Curry that was rich in coconut and nicely flavoured with the crustacean.

There was a buffet going on in the restaurant with a small spread. It's not a hundred percent Thai there but their pandan chiffon cake was nice with their pandan mousse. There's a live station where some Thai dude was making crisp pan fried seafood pancake with shrimps and squids. That was delicious. There's pretty good mango sticky rice too. 

I'm kinda torn about how I feel about this place. The stingray was a dud, which was not acceptable. But the restaurant was not entirely without redemptive qualities. Also at prices like these, I'm happier eating at Sawadee Thai or Gin Kao.

Pig's head, steaks and affogato at Le Bistrot du Sommelier

We stuck to the staples this time round at Le Bistrot du Sommelier.

Which included pig's head terrine.

Their reliable onglet.

And steak tartare.

Seeing that they serve coffee and have vanilla ice cream for their other desserts, we asked if they could do an affogato which they obliged. Woohoo! The question is, would this be an Italian dessert in a French bistro or is that a French affogato?

Back at Boon Tong Kee Little Gourmet

It's been quite a long while since I was last here (425 River Valley Road). Ten and a half years. This place hasn't changed much at all. Which implies that these guys must be doing something right to still be relevant. Looking at back then has been epiphanic on how things are different now. But none of that rabbit hole today! 

I've never noticed this previously but the chicken here is plated and served chopped up with nothing else but the pickled vegetables on the side. The soy sauce is then poured onto the chicken at the table. There's no sesame oil. Rice was pretty decent and their chilli was serviceable if not fantastic. Bird's respectably tender but there are better out there.  

These fellas will never be in the same leagues as Sin Kee or Hua Kee but I suppose I'm glad they're still a pretty reliable source to turn to. The fact that they do late hours helps.