Spicy mazesoba and tori karaage from Menya Kokoro

We came back to Menya Kokoro because we kinda liked some of the stuff that we have had previously. Like their mentai ebi mazesoba, beef mazedon or cold pork yuzu hiyashi. What we did not expect was that none of those were available on menu anymore.

Can you believe that?

So I ended up with their spicy mazesoba. Which was a good thing because I liked it. Liked how savoury and umami it was with a heat that built up in short order from a warmth to something that was spicy but not excessively so. The heat didn't leave me with burning lips or tongue so none of that numbing sensations that would rob you of flavour.

The delicious intensity from the flavours called for some rice to go with the remaining minced meat and sauce.

Tried their "muscular" looking tori karaage. Liked it. These karaage were larger than most but not the size of those at The Public Izakaya. Couldn't taste any of the ginger marinade so that's a plus for me. The shell of these molecularly agitated fried chicken were crisp, sealing steaming hot meat and juices that were just waiting to spill forth.

Kim Kitchen Braised Duck, Beo Crescent Food Centre

I did not notice Kim Kitchen Braise Duck (#01-82 Beo Cresecent Food Centre, 38A Beo Crescent) until recent months. I'm pretty sure they weren't around before so they've gotta be new or relatively so. Anyways, what I found interesting was that it was run by a young looking couple but the food looked like it wouldn't have been out of place from a generation back or two.

It's mostly braised duck and kuey chap items. Noticed that they have minced meat noodles which were kinda uniquely their rendition unlike regular ba chor mee. Tar pow-ed it once and decided to eat at the stall this time round. They ran out of char siew and replaced the noodles with braised pork belly. Added an egg, some pig skin and pig intestines. It's not bad at all. While I prefer a more savoury recipe for these in general, I didn't mind that their herbal/spice mix was also little sweet. The braising liquid had infused very well especially for those intestines. Soup had a surprisingly bitter base. Noodles weren't incompetently soggy or clumpy.

Baristarted

We knew that Baristart Coffee had food other than coffee and sweets. Didn't get a chance at those until recently. I'm kinda impressed/surprised that they actually featured a Tajima wagyu gyutan teishoku on their menu. Who would have thought? 

That gyutan teishoku was pretty decent. Came with tsukemono, a clear oxtail soup, some vegetable/kombu thing and rice from Hokkaido. The latter wasn't so special after we've gotten so acquainted with Suju, but no comparison will be made here. The gyutan was thinly sliced, tender and chewy. The more one chewed, the more flavours came forth. 

Tried their shiso pesto seafood pasta. Liked their perky shiso flavour of the pesto which was pretty much how I imagined it would taste like. The seafood that they had used was was pretty good quality and the spaghetti was of impeccable doneness. 

I liked how the flavour from the espresso came through their espresso tonic. But at $7.50, it was pretty expensive.

Cheetos in sesame bagel from Two Men Bagel House

This was Cheetos from Two Men Bagel House with honey baked ham, Black Forest ham, Comte, Brie, some onion jam of theirs and lemon kewpie. I liked this. I would have liked it better if the ham was evenly stacked rather than how they laid it in which caused them to keep slipping out from each bite. Loved that I could taste the Brie. And it was good with and without Sriracha!

Though I did feel that their bagel seemed like it has shrunk a bit.

だってばよ

You better believe it! White truffle beer. Picked this up from citysuper in Hong Kong early this year. There was a pretty distinct truffle flavour. Brew's a little sour-ish. I did get this for the novelty of it.

Another year end dinner at Keria Japanese Restaurant

So we found ourselves back at Keria at the year's end again.

Otoshi's shredded chicken and pumpkin.

Some very good tasting Hokkaido oysters were in season. So good.

We had some smoky bacon.

I've already said enough of their smoky mentaiko cabbage so I'll be leaving it at that.

This was the first time we were having ramen here. A niku ramen with sliced beef in a shoyu broth. Pretty salty and it's easy to tell these guys aren't the experts from how refined the broth tasted.

We've also had their gyutan previously.

Yup, beef curry with katsu again.