Dry Teriyaki Ramen from Ajisen

This wasn't as good as it looked on the menu and I should have known better. But now I can tell myself that I've tried and that I didn't avoid it based on prejudice on my part. The noodles were much softer than those previous bowls I had with the soup. Bottom of the bowl was filled with diluted teriyaki sauce which didn't do much to help. The sogginess as I am guessing, was probably due to the noodles being soaked in the sauce for overly long. The chicken had soggy skin instead of crispy ones and was devoid of fragrance. Looks like it's only soup ramen (which also sees falling standards like many other places over time) for me at Ajisen now.

Ayam Penyet House, 67 Beach Road

This place was actually a basement unit at the junction of Beach Road and Middle Road (#B1-01/02). From the posters on the wall at the entrance, it appeared that they had been featured on television. This shop was better than the one I tried at Chong Pang. There were sides like tempeh, kang kong and tauhu goreng instead of just a cherry tomato and a stick of cucumber. It seems that differet franchise outlets have different serving standards. The Chong Pang version was served with chicken rice while this came with plain white rice. There was a slathering of crispy crumbs which was really a bonus. Curiosity drove me to try the beef version of the dish (at $6) which the menu described as steak. Yeah, right.....! Well, it came as I expected - a dry hunk of beef.

That was the smashed beef. Didn't look like much. Sambal was delicious. This one gave a helluva kick (the kind that sent prickling sensation up your scalp). While it was spicy and sweet, it was more spicy than sweet.


Apart from the dry-ish meat, I've had to admit this was quite tasty. That was also helped by the exceptional sambal. It's so good that I wanted to ask for more.

Oxtail and squid in black

If you're wondering from the title, this is what it is. Squid ink sauce linguine with oxtail and baby squids and it comes from Miss Clarity. This was pretty good, although the al dente factor of the pasta does need some work. With that done plus a bit of polish on the presentation, we're looking at some competition for Garibaldi across the road. Seriously, I think so. I'll be back again another day.

A return to Cafe de Amigo

This return to Cafe de Amigo was triggered by the availability of Argentinian beef tenderloin. Heads up from Recentrunes. I've never had Argentinian beef before so curiosity got me. The previous visit gave me mixed feelings about the place. While the food was on the whole quite decent, with hits and misses, the prices were a little high. Service felt like it came from automatons.

lobster bisque ($9.50)

I'm generally wary of lobster bisque. At this price point that is. Apart from an impressive rendition from Coachman Inn which I've had about half my life ago the only other one I liked enough to remember was the one from Morton's. Cafe de Amigo seems to have whipped up a pretty delicious rendition of the bisque. Albeit not as robust in flavor as the two places that I've just mentioned. Still, this was a pleasant surprise. It was rich and buttery and there were generous portions of lobster meat.

escargot ragout ($16.50)

The escargot ragout turn out to be very savory starter. It's basically escargots housed in mini choux puffs with garlic cream sauce, topped with chopped almond. There was quite abit of the sauce sauce which while was pretty good, became overwhelming after a while. Drowning out most of what could be tasted of the snails. I'm not complaining. I enjoyed this. And the remaining sauces was good on bread as well.

Argentinian beef tenderloin 200g ($36)

This char roasted filet was the highlight of lunch for me. I wasn't really sure what to expect out of Argentinian beef, but it turns out that it wasn't very different from other beef which I've had. Not quite what I was expecting after reading about it. What I enjoyed about the steak was the juicy tenderness. The succulence was remarkable. The steak was accompanied by sides of fries, boiled vegetables and a cream peppercorn sauce.

filet of leng fish

sliced duck breast ($25.50)

I'm don't know what leng fish is, but it tasted quite ordinary. The duck breast was a little more interesting. Done medium with a prune sauce of sorts and accompanied by some potato croquette and poached spinach. The meat was however a little dry and flat tasting.  That prune sauce did help out there.


Their apple pie seems to have shrunk a little from the last visit, but it was still good. In fact, this time round, I think it got a little better. Freshly made, sliced apples on top of a light buttery crust which was good with the vanilla ice cream.

This trip was worth it for the beef I imagine. It's too bad it won't be available for much longer. One more week I hear. I felt better about Cafe de Amigo this time round, but still can't shake the feeling that they're still pricey.

The Heart of Everything

Woohoo! It's been a long time since I've bought CDs. HMV tempted this morning by playing it and I succumbed. Long live Sharon Den Adel!!!

Counterstrike at Kazu

The title of this post meant that I struck Kazu again. Reservations were made at approximately 2.30pm and we were told that there were only seats at the counter left on a Thursday night. Being seated at the counter also meant that I get to gawk at the sizzling grill, see what comes off the grill and get to ask about what I cannot identify.


It was inevitable for me, having eaten at both Kazu and Kushigin to make comparisons on their food since their focus were both on charcoal grills. After tonight, Kazu remains the undisputed king because, it edged Kushigin out in terms of quality and beats them hands down in variety. I lamented over the loss of the short neck clams and anglerfish liver from their menu which I had originally intended to make home in my stomach tonight. The crab and pumpkin croquette had also been replaced by the crab and corn.

pumpkin with chicken miso

This was a minced chicken in miso sauce over cooked pumpkin. Nothing fancy but if you like pumpkin, it's kind nice.

oyster rice (seasonal)

This was basically rice infused with oyster flavour and some bits of vegetables. The portions were quite small, so it didn't fill up very much. Tasted a lot like yam rice. My only gripe with this was that there were very little real oysters. I counted only one. Would have been good to have a couple more in there. This wasn't featured on the menu as it's seasonal.

beef tongue

mushroom in pork belly

tuna with miso

squid tentacles

chicken hearts

minced chicken in japanese pepper

forgotten fish with miso

stuffed lotus root

apple and pork

bacon with prawn and scallop

Amazing stuff. The scallops and prawns were deceptively juicy as with all the other grills in this place.

foie gras of course

shishamo

Did I say deceptively juicy before? Here's another one.

lamb chop

Kazu serves a mean lamb chop. This topped the one I had at Kushigin which I had thought was pretty damned good already. Sizzling hot meat, fat wrapped with char marks and pink juicy meat near the bone, one would be surprised at how many other places that serve lamb don't do lamb chops this good.

japanese sweet potato

These grilled sweet potatoes were delicious. Even more so with the butter which you could rub over and let melt into the potato which was already nicely flavoured. I ended up eating the whole thing, skin and all.

bbq tiramisu

This seems to be a signature tiramisu of Kazu. The reason as explained by the server why it was called bbq tiramisu was because the top of the mascarpone was scorched to create a bit of char before the cocoa powder is sprinkled on the surface. The result was a smoky fragrance that paired with the bitter (and choke inducing) cocoa and the sweet mascapone cream.

the score cup