Koh Grill & Sushi Bar, Wisma Atria

I have never eaten at this restaurant before because I couldn't make myself join the queue. Hence this was a first visit to Koh Grill (#04-21 Wisma Atria Shopping Centre, 435 Orchard Road, tel : +65 9180 3805). But years ago, this establishment was known as Hamoru Japanese Restaurant and they used to be located at the Food Republic at Suntec City. I've had that and so yes, I've had that shiok maki before.

Koh is home grown Japanese, somewhat like Akashi with differences. There's a more casual vibe. Not a place for Japanese food snobs because you're not getting that kind of quality nor skill here. This is the sort of place that one goes to eat stuff that one cannot get a "proper" Japanese joints because those are far too traditional/serious skilled and not localized. Generally not for Japanophilic food adventurers but who's to say eh? 

Koh Grill is known for their maki rolls though.

That's the pitan maki. A roll topped with diced century egg, a rich chilled century egg sauce and tobiko. For people who like century eggs and I rather enjoyed this.

Koh's shiok maki is iconic. A contemporary maki stuffed with unagi, draped with salmon, generously slathered with mayo (I think it's just mayo but I cannot be sure) enhanced by an aburi.  Seem to remember it feeling more shiok in the past when I popped them in my mouth. But maybe my taste has evolved since.

As the name of the restaurant implies, one can get grills. That's the foie gras on a stick. Pretty good, but it costed a bit more than Kazu. That means it's expensive here for the quality and quantity.

We tried the lamb yaki out of curiosity. That little rib of meat costed as much as a larger rib of lamb at Kazu. Didn't taste half as good. Admittedly, it was a fairly tasty marinated protein that was nicely grilled and chopped to bits but I couldn't really tell what meat it was. 

This where I re-emphasise on the restaurant being localized because such treatment of lamb is carried down from the previous generation(s). They marinate lamb to death because they think everyone dislikes their natural flavour.

This defeats the purpose of ordering lamb, no?

That's cod with a tobiko mayo crust. If that could be described as a crust since it wasn't very crusty. It actually tasted pretty good but the meat was a pretty thin and ragged for a fish like cod.

Here's their gyu yaki. To be fair, this wasn't doused with excessive seasoning. Just some salt and pepper which they got right. On the other hand, this was also one of the least beefy tasting beef I've had. And a little sinewy. So while it wasn't a third as good as the wafu steak from Tampopo, we paid almost as much.

Fill-a-Pita revisited

I realised that Fill-a-Pita falls under the tripartite of labels that I don't make use of individually very often. Which are for the mediterranean, middle eastern and vegetarian food. It could be argued that there is probably not much in those combination of options here that have gotten my interest. So I guess that a this revisit symbolises a new hope for a class of cuisine that doesn't get very much attention in spite of their big flavours.

So today, we came back to try their light citrusy hummus and chomped on a pita filled with those delicious spice fava beans and tahini. Lots of red cabbage for the crunch to marry with the aromatic spices that really kept the texture from becoming mushy and boring and there was also a special on the board - koshari rice. A Friday special it seemed. Rice, macaroni, lentils and fried onion with a spicy tomato sauce. Textures of grains and starch with heat. I'm not familiar with them, but the bags of flavour from those humble ingredients screamed street food. Awesomely delicious.

Arnold's Fried Chicken, Yishun Golden Village

Man, these were still as good as I remember them. Crisp seasoned skin on the surface and tender meat underneath. They (51 Yishun Central 1, #01-04) even have their own fried chicken rice these days. Before anyone knocks them off, the rice was actually pretty good. There was a balance of aromas from both garlic and ginger infused into them and I surprised myself by inhaling till the last grain even though I have an aversion to ginger.  

Liang Kee Teochew Restaurant, Whampoa West

Great food coming from this old school Teochew restaurant (#01-27, 34 Whampoa West, tel : +65 6297 7789). There were quite a number of dishes that sounded appealing tand we simply couldn't try them all in a single seating, including the usual favourites that most people can't steer away from. 

These cold crabs were very good. Chilled, firm and sweet flesh underneath the soft shell along with the rich crab liver.

Don't they remind of a scene from Aliens?

Chilled pork aspic which is one of the favourites that I had mentioned. These jellied odds and ends of pork were served on a bed of ice cubes. Tasted pretty decent, but I thought the flavour came through better if they were slightly less chilled. They were also not as spiced up as the ones from Ban Heng.

That's the oyster omelette.

And the fat juicy oysters underneath.

Liang Kee is apparently known for their sambal crayfish. I haven't had good Chinese sambal in quite a while and these here were pretty tasty. One of those gravies that would make one consume copious amounts of rice. And to top it off, the crayfish were plump and fresh. Easily stripped off their shell.

The starch was their hor fun stir fried with cai por. This was quite good too. If you are into wok hei, this has plenty of it.

Dessert was even more starch. Orh nee (yam paste) with pumpkin and ginko nuts. Not bad.

Fill-a-Pita, Shenton Way

This was good. I'm going just say it up front that I enjoyed everything we've tried so far here from Fill-a-Pita (#01-02 Shenton House, 3 Shenton Way, tel : +65 9835 1446) on the first visit. From the heavyweight falafel filled pitas, mouth watering spiced fava beans with tahini to the salty halloumi cheese (also in pita). I had actually stumbled upon their existence by chance through Hungry Ang Mo. Total happenstance and long live Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Here's also a thumbs up to the very affable Mark Ruffalo-esque proprietor of the shop.

I'm not so familiar with some of these stuff here, but the falafel tasted more bean-y rather than chick pea-y here. Very delicious and hefty stuff that sticks. And having halloumi cheese my friends, are the closest thing that one can get to eating bacon without actually eating meat. That came with their invigoratingly spicy house made sauce which was right up my alley. It's just too bad for me that I'm almost never near this locale.

And yes, we got a couple of sweet dates for desserts at the end too.

Burger Up, Yishun Golden Village

Burger Up's a rather new shop (51 Yishun Central 1, #01-03 Yishun Ten Complex) that took over the space that Wendy's left behind. That was certainly good riddance. If I had to describe what this current joint was, I guess it'll be local fast food? With an electronic ordering kiosk that allows a modicum of customisation for your meal that prints out an order chit for payment & collection and subsequently notifies you when your order is ready by flashing the chit number on the display screens around the restaurant. 

Here's their beef patty and rice meal. Mine came with puny coleslaw (with diced canned pineapples) and a hot chocolate (tasted like Swiss Miss). The meat was basically a well done (technically) and un-fancy disc of dry-ish fast food quality ground beef patty that had a nice chew - some gristles. It actually tasted beefy in its un-fancy kind of way. Rice was a ubiquitous butter garlic flavour.

This doesn't pretend to do more beyond a basic grab, eat and go plate of food. And it actually tasted better than Wendy's.