Keria Japanese Restaurant : shīfūdo to yasai?

Eating at Keria is generally pricey. But we've always walked out of the place satisfied.

While this might have looked like a sashimi moriawase, it wasn't. Or maybe it could have been. The part that might have been were the kanpachi which was delicious, hotate which were nice-but-we've-had-better and the tai which I really liked. Moriawase-ish I suppose. Those shime saba and those Hokkaido oysters were separate orders. It did look prettier served together.

The sashimi were followed by freshly fried ebi tempura.

And then a mini uni and ikura don. These two never gets old.

Our regular order of the mentaiko cabbage which was umami brininess from the roe paired with the sweetness of the vegetable kissed by a light smokiness. The texture was tender with a soft crunchiness.

We liked those Hokkaido oysters enough that we got seconds. Fat oysters which were a mouthful and superb with the ponzu.

Kafe UTU, Jiak Chuan Road

It must have cost quite a few pretty pennies for the renovations at Kafe UTU (12 Jiak Chuan Road, tel : +65 6996 3937). The interior was smart and contained elements that bespoke an ethnic chic sophistry. Artful like the greyscale portraits that lined the wall across the bar showcasing facets of beauty. Unfortunately, we had been watching Jordan Peele's Us earlier in the day so those portraits looked kinda sinister.

Food's African inspired; my not so spidey senses tells me so. Or perhaps it was the web that did. By admission of the host, the recipes used have been tailored for the people of this region. 

The starter that caught our attention was the lamb's hearts. Sliced thin and cooked pink, it was very much enhanced by their delicious chimichuri and those fragrant pink peppercorns together with beet puree. Very nice combination.

Goat curry was also delicious. The spices and the heat was invigorating. The flavour felt a bit more refined than the one from Lime House just a stone's throw away. If I had to pick a preferred one, I wouldn't because both were nice in their own ways.

This was their Liberian peanut chicken stew. As the name might have conveyed, it was nutty. The smoked fish that was used in it came through, imparting its flavour. Also spicy and creamy with less heat than the goat curry. We basically scraped both bowls clean of almost every drop.

As someone who enjoys traipsing the culinary landscape in Little India, I thought the flavours here were different in little ways yet similar in many. At least that was true of what we ate. Not as exotic as I hoped for.

Their basmati coconut rice deserved mention. It's good stuff. Better than what many locals pass off as nasi lemak. Beats Crave hands down. The only other that was possibly was good was the basmati nasi lemak from the defunct Island Cafe.

Ta Lu Prawn Noodles (大路蝦麵), China Square

I'm a little confused by the address of this place. A number of them I came across online don't seem to be the correct one. Anyways, it's at China Square right next to Wong Dae Bak. These guys do old school styled prawn noodles. This was the $10 bowl, dry with chilli and mee pok.

Added fried lard (self service) and their cut red chillis. Not bad altogether. The texture of the noodles aren't the firmest but I couldn't complain. While their broth didn't quite come up to the league of the ones from Blanco Court Prawn Mee, it also wasn't half bad. I'm not against coming back.

Trio of pork from 38 Curry Rice

While '2 Become 1' have recently evolved into a duo of headlines that have represented the Spice Girls - in particular between two specific members, somewhere out in the far east - 2 have become 3. Curried pork, pork chop and braised pig skin.

More sushi-ing at Sushi Shiki Hanamaru

Here's us back to the fast food sushi place at Hokkaido Marche.

We didn't get uni the last time. In spite of their slightly mushed up appearances, these sea urchin gunkans were pretty good. 

Bintoro. Albacore tuna which was pretty similar tasting to the regular toro that we normally get.

Maitake slightly roasted with a pinch of salt. This was a good. A mouthful of maitake intensity with vinegared rice. Would get more of them if they were still available the next time. 

Engawa aburi-ed with a shoyu glaze. Nice and melty.

More taraba fundoshi.

Hamachi which was pretty fatty. Nice.

More shoyu marinated sujiko, more bursts of oceanic saltiness...

Nice melty chutoro as well. They might not look as pretty from the visual marbling but the flavour was there.

Nanban ebi. Sweet little shrimps.

Hotate aburi-ed with shoyu glaze. Delicious.

Tamago sand. Chilled. I thought this might have been better warm.

We got some kani miso gunkan. The kani miso did not fail us.

Minced toro with takuan.

And aburi salmon with mayo. Guilty pleasures.

Gyu & Tori, Paragon

I wouldn't wish this sandwich on my enemies. Wait, maybe I would......

This was bad. Waste of money. Should have picked up the signs from the bunch of shifty uninterested eyes that manned the counter.  

Wagyu fat melts around 25-30 degrees Celsius. That's why it "melts in your mouth" when it's in your mouth. I had to rip the meat from this premium Wagyu katsu with my teeth and fork because nothing melted in my mouth. We gave up after half the sandwich. Meat was tough and didn't have much flavour. Those mac & cheese on the side with nacho cheese sauce tasted better than the sandwich.