Akashi at Paragon 12 years later...

It's been a long time since we've last eaten at Akashi at Paragon. The Japanese restaurant scene has evolved much in that time. We came here because we saw some new items they have on Oddle. Those items aren't on their dine in menu at this point but you could still order them at the higher online prices.

We ordered a bunch of stuff and didn't go omakase like the old days. The first item that was served was their fish skin truffle maki. It's okay and tasted exactly like how it looked. Would have been better if the fish skin had better crispiness. Semi interesting. I can't help but feel that it's a contemporary local thing. But outstanding it wasn't.

The next item that was served was their yakiniku wagyu maki. That's the picture from their site. Looks like it's crusted with furikake.

The real thing only had some sesame seeds. In the rice were thinly sliced gyu and onions. I couldn't tell that they were specifically wagyu. It's actually nice eaten with the onsen tamago dip. Those brown stuff with the tamago was beef jus. Rich and savoury once they were mixed up.

  

Pull the trigger to splurge on their monaka caviar. In between the wafers were minced toro, quail eggs and caviar. I don't know what kind for the latter. It's not bad but I didn't think that it was worth paying $35.80 a pop.

I've never had teriyaki lamb chops because that's not the way I thought I would like them. Akashi did pretty good teriyaki lamb chops. Was won over by the nice fatty lamb-y flavour from the meat and a respectable fragrance from sufficient char.

Didn't remember them having pork gyoza on the menu before. Their pork gyozas looked like it had an awesome crusty skin but there wasn't any crisp to the texture at all. They were a little soft. But didn't taste bad though. I kinda liked it.

Grilled sweet potato was disappointing. We were told it would take a while. We didn't wait for very long. At least not as long as how Kazu would normally make us wait. These weren't even hot when they were served. I wanted to say that they were lukewarm but they couldn't even melt butter. Didn't have the aroma from the potatoes I was expecting and wasn't very sweet to boot. #disappointment

Megamen from Brothers Ramen

Noticed that there were a few Japanese dudes that came in early at Brothers Ramen. All of them had ordered the same thing. Their Megamen. Which was also what I came back to for after having the dry bowl the last time.

The only difference I could discern was that this regular Megamen bowl had more broth and the dry bowl has nori and ajitama. Dry one it is for me in the future then.

M&M

  

What have we here? Milo and McSpicy it seems. Heh! I got inspired to do this after watching a local YouTube channel featuring people eating stuff for 3 days with Milo. I thought to myself, why not? Spicy-chocolate-stuff isn't exactly novelty and we know that it works. Chocolate with meat? Been there. Done that. Rinsed and repeated.

Didn't taste bad at all. In fact, I kinda liked it. With those portions of Milo powder, I'm still tasting mostly McSpicy so that kinda gives you an idea of how much heat it packs. There's a little chocolate sweetness - nothing disruptive. Maybe I need to add more next time but I'm afraid I'll make a McMess eating it.

Jia Ji Mei Shi (佳记美食), Chinatown Food Centre

I've had food from Jia Ji (#02-166 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) a few times. They are a pretty decent stall serving what could be construed as traditional Chinese breakfast in this country. Some people swear by them. There'll be others that claim that the food's overrated or had been better in the past. Me? I don't know. I don't eat them very often. But I like their steamed yam cake (芋头糕) with the sweet sauce. It leaves an aftertaste that I like. 

The other thing I don't mind from them are their chee cheong fun. Sometimes I like them sauced and sometimes, the clean tasting combination of soy sauce and sesame oil is good enough. Luncheon meat and fried eggs are bonuses to add that extra oomph for the breakfast.

Hua Kee Chicken Rice has changed!

I joined the queue because it was short. Didn't see the signs until it was my turn to order that I realized that the people running the stall were different. It was at that point when my mind reached back *cues echoes of flashback of what had been previously mentioned about the same management running Margaret Drive Chicken Rice and Hua Kee*. Dots connected again. Drawing another outline.

To be honest, it wasn't half bad. It was different though, in a way that wasn't immediately as impressive as before. The rice didn't quite get the ratio of flavour and lightness the way it was previously and they were definitely more greasy. Otherwise, the chicken and livers that I had gotten were competently tender. 

Hei Lun Shi Tang (黑輪食堂), Queensway Shopping Centre

I've heard about this shop selling Taiwanese styled lu rou fan (卤肉饭) sequestered in the second storey of Queensway Shopping Centre (#02-47, 1 Queensway). Decided to check them out since I was nearby. Now I haven't tried any of these in Taiwan so I haven't a frame of reference for comparison except some bowls I've had ages ago at Lai Lai and the defunct Peng Lai Ge. If anyone hasn't noticed, the ones here were served in a metal bento box.

What did I think of it? It's not a bad eat. I had imagined the minced meat gravy to be a lot more flavourful for something that supposedly contained much pork and fat with spices though. Liked the salted vegetables on the side which was appetizing. As a whole, I haven't any complains. Wouldn't mind eating it again. If I can resist the force from Janggut downstairs that is.