Revisiting Hokkaido Izakaya

We came back to see if Hokkaido Izakaya have had any kind of updates to their food. Apparently apart from the seasonal items which seemed to be just a small selection, not much has changed.

This time round, scallop liver sashimi was available. We ordered some. Thy were pretty good. There was some natural sweetness from the meat which paired nicely with the sesame oil and salt dip it was accompanied with.

Tomatoes were nice too. Firm, fresh and sliced up with a sprinkle of salt and some mayo to smoothen the flavours. 

Their chilled chawanmushi with snow crab didn't look like the picture in the menu which showed a little mound of crab meat. This looked like it had a pinch of it. There were more flavours coming in from the bursts of the ikura.

The waitress sold us their yanaginomai yaki (known as yellow rockfish on the menu) claiming that it was good. The fish was a little small and had meat that was more crumbly rather than the ideal firm flakiness. Sure it was tender but there was not so much flavours going on beyond all the salt on the skin. Maybe this simply wasn't my kind of grilled fish.

Warm potato salad was actually pretty good because of the smoked egg they mashed in it. I could understand why this was a popular item.

Here's a supposed bowl of asari boiled in sake and dashi. I'm not sure if I could taste anything from the latter two ingredients in the broth. Maybe only a little bit of clams which made it quite a disappointment. The clams were tasty though.

We ordered their salmon milk miso nabe again.

Still nice like I remember it. A milky broth with cheesy and miso flavours that eventually will be sweetened by the vegetables that accompanied it. I wouldn't recommend for the salmon to be cooked all the way through. Those slices definitely would have been over cooked by the time the greens are sufficiently wilted.

Fish and Fries and Chocolate Pie from McD

Hit the brakes for a moment y'all. I know, McDonalds. The widely and maybe globally reviled/adulated pair of golden arches mascot-ed by a clown that’s equally as horrifying as Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgard. In fact ol Ron could be worse. Sunken deep into various recesses of generations, our childhoods - that us the weak ones still subconsciously subscribe to what it hands out.

So today's the launch of McD's fish and fries here. Slightly stiff battered frozen fish with just a little of what I thought might have been a hint of garlic and lightly salted. Meat was predictably a little dry. So if anyone's wondering, this isn't gonna dethrone Long John Silver's also frozen fish. Not that those were good in the first place but maybe their batter is a little better. First and last.

The chocolate pie is apparently talked about. Viral even as some grapevines on the web described after it was launched in Korea (and Bangkok and Japan) earlier in the year. It's not bad for a fried pie with the same crust as the regular apple variety. Not as sweet as the fudge that they used in their sundaes. It's pretty much as they described with the hot gooey chocolate lava. That chocolate was actually a little better than what I thought it might have been. I honestly wouldn't mind it again but it's not exactly going to get me any cravings. 

A lunch at Bedrock

It wasn't two weeks back when we were just at Bedrock. Good feelings brought us back. For lunch.

There's lobster bisque at lunch. Highly recommend to mix that chive cream into the bisque as it mellows those robust crustacean flavours down a notch for a noticeably smoother finish. I couldn't ask for more but a splash of brandy for this.

There's a fascinatingly textured double cheese burger that they do at lunch too. The texture came from the buttered buns studded with seeds, some crusty beef patties and gooey cheese. 

To disclaim a comparison I'm about to make, this isn't one for the burger purist because there's definitely distractions like that tasty barbeque sauce which they did not overdo. I'm liking that deliciously salty and milky Monterey Jack which worked. Both beef patties were thin but they were also nicely charred and flavoured. Believe it or not, I liked this much better than Burger Joint.

And for something that's a little more lightweight, barramundi. Menu says it's baked. Fish was delicious. The accompanying smoky tomato jam was good too.

Too bad dessert was a let down. This stout and toffee pudding was a little chewy and felt like it was microwaved. It's got nothing on those from PS Cafe which are probably also microwaved.

Mee kia from Khin Kee Fishball

So I decided to try the mee kia this time round. Gotten a larger bowl which wasn't by far much larger but they did give more fishballs. The noodles were not great. I had even asked for more chilli and vinegar and apparently, there's only so much flavour that can be gotten from the condiment mix from this stall. It was certainly not as spicy nor as vinegar-y as I would have liked. So I suppose that the star item from Khin Khee would be their fried fish cakes. Don't miss those.

Kra Pow Thai Restaurant, Far East Plaza

There's been a bit of buzz regarding this Thai restaurant (#03-26/27 Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road, tel : +65 6734 1946) lately so we decided we'd come over to check it out. And we were kinda glad we did. 

There's a decent yam mamuang there. I prefer the one from Thai Gold Food for the finer shreds of mango but this wasn't too bad. The usual kaleidoscopic pungent salty fish sauce, heat from the chillis, sour from the mango and a bit of sharpness from the onions. And if you're like me, additional crushed peanuts for that nuttiness and texture along with some sweetness from the sugar. Portions were a little smaller than what I had been expecting though.

Their pad kee mao seems to be the popular item here. We could certainly understand why with their rendition that had a light savoury sauce spiked with some heat from the peppers that's coated over the rice noodles. Addictive.

Stir fried kailan (or what the menu calls Thai kale) with garlic and oyster sauce was also nicely done. The vegetable was well cooked while retaining a good crunch.

The only thing we didn't take to was their vegetable spring rolls. We had expected more fillings of vegetables in proportion to all the crunch on the fried skin. It got a little tiring after a couple of pieces.

We had some khao moo yang. Decent, but my mind immediately reach back to the ones we had just outside Central World a couple of years or so back which was better. Unfortunately, I don't think that stall's still around anymore after the recent clearing of the street food vendors from the city centre in Bangkok.

And for good measure, we ordered their steamed sea bass with lime and chilli. Sans cilantro. The quality of the fish was pretty darn good here. While it wasn't as spicy and lime-y as some of those we've had before in Bangkok, this was still a very decent and enjoyable steamed fish. The tender yet firm and flaky texture was outstanding.

Pasta Brava 2018

The last time we were here was a couple of years back. I remember commenting about how the restaurant doesn't change. Apparently, things have changed since. Some things have been taken off and some new stuff seemed to have been added. I'm not sure if it was all for the better.

Finally got to try their scallop gratin which was done with a tomato bechamel sauce. Not bad.

These guys do a competent spaghetti vongole. Nice plump clams and a healthy dose of garlic along with flavours that are absorbed into the noodles. One can also customize the level of spiciness. But the portions were kinda small. Even though it's under the primi piatti section of the menu, I don't think any restaurant these days actually serves in those portions unless they're specifically spelled (and priced) on the menu.  

What I was looking forward to was their tenderloin with chocolate and red wine sauce. I thought this was still good. A nicely paired balance of richness from both the chocolate and the wine. While prices didn't go up very much over the years, the portions felt smaller. Noticeably.

After lamenting over the puny portions, we decided to follow up with their stracci. Came with scallops and prawns. Prawns tasted like it was frozen. Something that felt out of place with the rest of the dish. The green pepper and saffron cream sauce was nice though. Creamy and light with seafood-y flavours. Again the portions felt undersized.

Had previously never realized that they had a limoncello cake with key lime mousse before so we thought we'd try it. Tasted just like most lemon torte with a disappointing key lime mousse that added very little to the cake.

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not sure if the change at Pasta Brava was for the better. If these portions are a permanent feature, I don't think I'll be eager to come back.