Another October in Keria Japanese Restaurant

Have I mentioned that the zephyrs of autumn have been sweeping us through the doors of Keria? It happened again. Those rolling winds!

Today's otoshi was cold grilled chicken with onions. Not one of the better otoshi they have.

Shirako ponzu's on the menu. The chilled milt was creamy and refreshingly delicious with the ponzu.

We had reserved a portion of sudachi soba for tonight. The chilled tsuyu was smoky from the bonito with a refreshing citrus from the sudachi.

So good that we drained it.

Thinly sliced gyutan stir fried with sweet young leeks. This was one of those times when the meat was both chewy and enjoyable at the same time.

We had an order of saikyo buri.

And matsutake tai gohan. The mushrooms were much tastier grilled like the last time. Didn't impart much flavour cooked this way. Tai was firm and tender. We saved the ponzu from the shirako and added them to portions of the rice.

There was pudding on the board. Ordered it out of curiosity. Did not expect pre-packaged dessert.

Tasted eggy and had burnt sugar syrup at the bottom.

Hammee's, Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre

I've been wanting to visit Hammee's (#02-93 Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre, 31 Commonwealth Crescent) for quite a while but never made it until today. I'm glad we did and I hope these guys set the bar for local burger standards moving forward. At this point of time, no one's gonna be beating them at the flavour & cost game. Hammee's is tasty and affordable. The future me might come back to read this and check if it's still true at whatever point future me might be.  

The burger is not perfect. One can definitely nitpick if they wanted to. But I'm not going there because I ultimately think it's a pretty good quality to cost here in a no nonsense cheese burger. Constructed with coarse ground beef (I hear it's their blend of chuck, brisket, and short rib), delicious salty and melty cheese and some bacon on a....well, I don't know what buns are those but it's nice. Burger fundamentals gotten rock solid and I hope they only move forward from here.

Red wine risotto, cold cuts and carbonara at CiBO

Came by for a late dinner at CiBO. This was our first time ordering their salumi. Prosciutto cotto, prosciutto di Parma, salami and some mortadella. It's okay-ish. 2it & drink has a much better board just across the road at Valley Point.

The real reason why we came today was for their red wine risotto which was a board special. It's also okay-ish. Very discernible flavour from the wine and I could see lashings of olive oil which I couldn't taste. I had been imagining something along the lines of the Amarone one from the defunct Perbacco but it's a different wine and I was truthfully expecting too much.

Got curious about their carbonara because they didn't mention cream. It's okay-ish as well. Would like a bit more cheese and this definitely lacks pepper. But the dryness from the lack of cream and smokiness was nice while the noodles were properly firm. 

Salmon butter aburi meshi from Kuro Maguro

This bowl from Kuro Maguro was good that I inhaled it in short order. Yes it was relatively straightforward bowl of sliced salmon topped with butter and put over a torch on sushi rice. I did add a couple of splashes of shoyu but that was all it needed.

Smiths : blue cheese dip and scampi

It's been a while since we were last at Smiths. What got me this time round was their blue cheese dip which I was sure they never had previously. For a dollar fifty.

So haddock and chips it was with that blue cheese dip. The blue cheese flavour was light. Still identifiable as blue cheese though and I'm pretty sure it wasn't meant to taste like a block of Stilton since it was something to go with their fried fish. 

We had been curious about the scampi and chips for a while so we finally got about to trying it. Those breaded scampi tasted like a cross between scallops and shrimp. Flavour was good actually but at $26 for only ten pieces, it was bloody expensive. Not getting them again.

Ah Lock & Co., Tanjong Pagar Centre

This stall (#B2-22/23/24 Tanjong Pagar Centre, 7 Wallich Street, tel : +65 8826 0244) which is located just next to Chalong serves what appears to be Hakka style rice bowls/noodles and ban chang kueh. Or min chiang kueh. Whichever you were schooled to call these pancakes. 

I might come back to try their rice bowls someday. Was looking for something less substantial so I got their matcha pancake with anko. Not bad. Could taste both the green tea and red bean flavours. The pancakes were a little dense and the fillings could do with a bit more generosity. 

I'm wont to compare these things to Granny's Pancake at Whampoa because those are superb. Superb meaning thick, light, wobbly and have generous fillings.

There's butter kopi on the menu. This one tasted odd. There was a thickness which I could detect but that thickness with very little coffee flavour. Not as nice as Heap Seng Leong.