More from Sumiya Charcoal Grill

 

We liked Sumiya. They have rather attractive lunch sets that's not too hard on the wallet and the place is casual. Food is decent to boot so we came back. I don't get the izakaya vibe of the place at all. For a self styled izakaya, a large portion of the menu Sumiya seems to be raw food. Not that it's bad, but it feels confused.

The above on ice is aburi-ed sashimi of tuna head. It's from the menu specially for tuna parts, not the regular one. It's indicated as something that's limited to three servings, I'm not sure if that's per table or per day. This stuff was really nice. The meat was tender and oily; almost akin to otoro. The flavours of the tuna were present, but delicate.

Those skewers are tuna diaphragm. Never had them before, so we ordered them out of curiosity. The texture was soft and slightly chewy and it tasted like....well, tuna. And I think they forgot to salt.

That's kani miso with little crab legs served in the shell. This stuff is awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. To be tried to understand.

So this is something new, possibly on a limited run since it's not on the regular menu. An amaebi and uni don. With a splash of shoyu, the seafood on the vinegared rice became extra magical. We've definitely had better quality prawns and sea urchin but there's no point in comparison. This was what it was for what they charged. And it's definitely not mediocre in case anyone misunderstood.

Yep, didn't skip the bara kaisen don which many people seems to be ordering. For good reasons.

We got matcha flavoured mochi from the lunch sets today. Nice.

Saveur Art, ION Orchard

This place (2 Orchard Turn, #04-11, Ion Orchard, tel : +65 6634 1141) was brought to the world by the Saveur Group, the same people that did Saveur. The attribute that both restaurants have in common defines French styled quality cooking and affordability in the same sentence. What Saveur did for French bistro styled food, Saveur Art is doing for more progressive French/European styled cooking. In that respect, these guys are changing the game in the culinary field for us. Why so? It has redefined a new bar for entry level expectations for fine dining without the tablecloth and napkins.

The challenge of course is the juggle between affordability and quality. Which I think a good balance has been struck. YMMV.

There was even amuse bouche. Of a seaweed foam with rice crisps and potato broth which packed a rather respectable umami and nutty punch. Great start there.

This was the salmon confit starter which has the description 'marinated ikura, cauliflower, horseradish'. I'm generally not big on salmon but I was sold on this. The fish was sous-vide-ed into the state just between rare and cooked, tender yet firm and flaking nicely along the grains. The blob with leaves sticking out was the cauliflower. It's pureed of course.  

The other starter that left an impression was their 64 degree Celcius slow cooked egg and truffle. Featuring an ethereal truffle potato mousseline, roasted bits of hazel nuts for fragrance & texture along with browned butter. Hell this was nice. Yeah.  

Fish of the day. Braised red drum in a saffron broth and some ratatouille. And apparently also some charred octopus slices layered over the top which the menu didn't describe. Fish was excellent; tender and firm and flaky at the same time. I'm not good with describing the flavour, but I liked it. Almost licked the broth clean from the bowl. And this added encouragement towards something that I do not order very often.

And then some tender Mangalica pork belly with barley risotto. Pork belly was nicely done, but I think I liked the nutty tasting barley risotto much better with the mushroom and foie gras sauce Bordelaise.

This was some salted yolk cake. Rather dense, fairly flavoured with the egg. They had admitted that this was outsourced. Perhaps with the calibre that had created the rest of the food, they could consider sticking to just what they can make.

OmoteNashi Dining Gosso, Boat Quay

For a few moments after stepping in, I had though that OmoteNashi Dining Gosso (64 Boat Quay, tel : +65 6533 5152) had taken over Katanashi. The setup had been so similar and both places had just the same vibes. I could have sworn that I had seen similar faces.

maguro gohan

deep fried burdock

tsukune stuffed with cheese

tsukune

chicken hearts

chicken gizzards, yuzu pepper paste

chicken filet, yuzu mayo

eringi mushroom

40 second chicken liver

chicken thigh, leeks

omelette

While the setup felt familiar being izakaya styled with cheerful over the top greetings, it wasn't the same joint (but I wonder if it's the same people). The menu here had more focused offering, serving almost exclusively just chicken for the meats; grilled and otherwise. Their tsukune were pleasantly tender and juicy while the rest of the grills on sticks were competently done though not outstandingly so.  Note that this was probably the sort of place where one comes to kick back some post work drinks for a few relaxed hours with Japanese bar grub. 

There was a gimmicky grilled chicken liver on skewers which was served with a timer counting down from 40 seconds. Apparently, we were supposed to eat those livers before the timer goes off which signifies that they had been cooled down for too long and wouldn't have the optimal textures they had intended for them. I wasn't too sure if that had been of any real benefit at all since it really risked a scalded tongue.

Putu mayam & appam at Changi Terminal 3

These putu mayam were one of my favourite breakfast treats from the time I was a kid. Back then, our exposure to Indian food were quite limited beyond roti prata. Mum wasn't adventurous. But she liked this and so we were introduced to them. As a kid, we didn't ask too many questions about the putu mayam we had. We never cared who made them or if they were made fresh. We just ate them and absorbed our own glee.

Today, we seem too careful about the origins of what we eat. Well, some of us anyway. Most of the putu mayam that are sold are factory made. Mass produced and packed into plastic bags. The only time they come out is when a stall selling them picks them out for someone's order. The ones here were different. Each order sees the dough freshly pressed through a sieve into stringy pile and steamed before being served. They tasted good.

This was the princess appam from the same stall. Appams are pancakes of fermented rice flour and coconut milk that's moist in the middle and crispy on the edges. This princess version seemed to be lacking in that sour tinge from the batter. However the edges were crispy with ghee. And in the middle is a beaten egg with a slice of melted cheese. Also eaten with grated coconut and sugar.

Wildfire Kitchen + Bar, Evans Road

I wanted to describe this place (26 Evans Road, tel : +65 6734 2080) as nice. But after a moment's ponder, it's not nice. It's looks just like any other establishments opened up in recent years that everyone's labelling "hipster". So it is in the context of this place and time - just another. What drove me here though was the theme of burgers and steaks in a casual environment with beer. That up there was Sankt Gallen orange chocolate stout. Yes, there was that orange at the front that morphs somewhat into a bitter chocolate. Apparently, they're a Japanese brew. Interesting....

Wildfire does various burgers to cover various bases. The regular varieties don't have pedigree stated on board but the more expensive ones are their full blood Blackmore wagyu burger and another that features dry aged Hunter Valley Angus beef. I had the former, thought it was quite nicely build with a 180g patty enveloped with melted cheddar, butterhead lettuce, some gherkins and caramelized onions. All between nicely browned brioche which was sturdy enough to hold the meat and juices. Honestly, I didn't care very much about the their "Signature Master Sauce". It just tasted like mayo and this setup honestly, works with no sauce. 

But I don't know if they knew that.

The meat was nice, coarse minced and had an odd aged aroma. But the balance of the flavours didn't quite work out ideally for me. There was too little sear and salt to support the meat. Maybe they didn't like their customers leaving with a carcinogenic cholesterol spike, but it certainly downplayed specifically, any quality to the meat that they had used.

As I was finishing up the last of this, I was reminiscing the "Travis" burger and the other from Butchers Club Burgers, both of which I felt kicked more proverbial ass.

I had been expecting to be impressed by their Blackmore Wagyu minute steak. It was a little more than minute, and the doneness was well over the medium rare that we requested for. Honestly, I have no idea what cut is a minute steak, but I intelligently hypothesise that it's not one of those with sufficient fat in the meat to bring out the wagyu-ness? It tasted like a very nice piece of char grilled beef, albeit overcooked. Absolutely lacks that trademark flavour though.

Nice? Yes. But not impressive. And certainly speaks of how slip shod things are when you actually bother to boast the pedigree of your meats to and yet, failing to cook it properly to request.

Bochinche, Martin Road

sea bream ceviche, tiger’s milk and sweet potato

Provoleta, almonds and honey

Argentinian grass fed rib eye 400g

Been wanting to visit Bochinche (22 Martin Road #02-01, tel : +65 6235 4990) for some time already and for some reasons, it's always been a case of out of mind from out of sight. 

As with the previous experiences at Salta with Argentine beef, the meat yielded noticeably less flavour than that what we're used to with the Australian/New Zealand/USDA imports. So while I didn't mind this , I'm not such a big fan. Especially when the bone marrow sauce on the side which was suppose to help was unimpressive to say the least. Their creamed spinach which looked like it was some spinach & cheese (in line with mac & cheese) was nicely done underneath the toasted cheese, flavoured by a hit of nutmeg. 

What we felt were more interesting were their ceviche and their Provoleta cheese. The former was lively with the citrus of limes on the firm but tender texture of the fish. All refreshingly chilled. The only bummer was the cilantro/coriander. What I'll definitely order again the next time would be their Provoleta cheese - rocked with it's milky saltiness, sweetness from the honey and the fragrance of the toasted almond shards.