Goodbye 2010: Loved & Missed

2010 was dedicated to my future career.

I spent the first 6 months working in a pastry kitchen, next 4 months preparing for school, last 2 months settling into school. It was one rollercoaster year for me but i hope where i am now is a joyful decision.

Being away for 2 months, i truly learnt

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

It does. I missed all the food & people i love (or once loved).

The New York dining scene is no doubt many levels ahead & fed me with fabulous nosh but nothing beats memories of home. Here's my round-up of favorites from Singapore...

Favorite Restaurant:

OTTO Ristorante

Me, my Egg Tagliolini & Chef Pavanello in the background..

I need not dwell more because the word is awesome (see 2009 appraisals). Awesome breads, awesome pastas, awesome Chef, awesome service for 2 years in the running. They do a delicious Blue-swimmer Crab Scrambled Egg with white truffle shavings that i love. One of the best places to splurge for your annual white gold.

Favorite Starter:

Sage's Mushroom Cappuccino

One soup etched deep in my mind (and tastebuds) is Sage's Mushroom Cappuccino with truffled scrambled egg. I've had many excellent soups but nothing comes close to the nirvana this takes me to. Smooth, full-bodied fungi flavor with the perfect balance of creaminess. Flawless execution.

Favorite Main Course:

Ember's Chilean Sea Bass

Some things don't change with time. Take for instance, Ember's signature dishes and my unwavering faithfulness to one of them. Pan-roasted Chilean Seabass with mushroom bacon ragout & yuzu truffle sauce. Possible disappointment rate: 2% (..when the portion is too small)

Favourite Restaurant Dessert:

Gattopardo's Citrus Cream

I'd never imagine a modest-sounding Citrus Cream with vanilla crumble & chocolate sorbet would blow me away like this one. In every mouthful the zest-lifted cream blended spotlessly with the buttery crumble crisps and divine chocolate chills.

Top 5 Favorite Japanese:

#1 Shinji

Tiny sushi killers.

Sitting by Shinji's sushi counter dawns an invisible oppressive force upon me. Chef is king & the game is in his hands. I'll carefully observe his every move and obediently consume any creation he places on my sushi stand, as long as they come out from his adept palms.

The room temperature fish leans on the warm side after being pressed onto your sushi, and is remarkably good. They offer some rarer sightings like Kuruma-ebi, Kinmedai, Nihama and ends it off with a decent japanese dessert. Keep popping but watch your wallets. I'm a Shinji fan.

#2 Aoki

Mazechirashi Lunch. Arguably the best rendition on our island.

Not all Chirashis are created equal. A premium bowl of Chirashi does not necessarily depend on premium sashimi. It requires premium effort. Some restaurants dunk the most unworthy parts of fish into your bowl, and attempt sliding away with some processed wasabi & convenient slices of omelette, or none. When a few chefs walk the extra mile, the difference is obvious.

Aoki's medley of sashimi truly defines assortment and carries occasional surprises with it (smile for insanely fatty otoro sometimes!). What sets them notches above the rest is the ala-minute preparation: diced-to-order sashimi, optimally soaked in soy marinade and drained before being scattered over quality rice. Bits of marinated mushroom & kanpyo loiter among the rice while delicious castella tamago cubes blanket over. Finished with Ikura and blobs of Uni without fail. Lunch fit for a king.

Who ever overfills uni like that? (:

Here's my tiny secret: Occasionally i reward myself with a Sushi Omakase here. Chef Wai pretty much understands my idea of sushi heaven and i can safely entrust him to give me the freshest on hand. Sometimes he runs out of ideas and asks, "Would you like to pick the last 2?". My answer comes out like a mantra.... oooo-neee (uni) please.

I'll usually receive my fatty otoro without request, which i so adore for its immoderate ratio of fats. He once did a dual-version (raw & aburi-ed) and i clearly saw why toro should be eaten unaltered for maximum pleasure. They serve two species of Uni (my ultimate fave!)- hokkaido bafun & kyushu uni. My advice: go for Bafun.

They also serve a neat awabi nigiri, which unlike tough ones elsewhere, is slow-cooked 5x more tender then topped with a tasty liver sauce (he adds a squeeze of truffle oil for me too). Or imagine Shiro Ebi Gunkan crowned with a heap of creamy uni. Shiokness.

#3 Shiraishi

This place Dad & I crossed paths with magically kept us drawn in for more. Chef Shiraishi is a joy to watch. His slow & steady approach has taken him a long way through. You can literally feel the passion for sushi-making in him as you observe how he meticulously slices (almost) every sashimi and molds nigiris personally. The sushi may not be my #1 but this place certainly holds alot of Daddy-&-me memories.

My usual order is the Chouchin Bento: a heavenly combination of quality Chirashi with seasonal cooked items. My favorite gindara is permanently part of it.

One must-try here is the Usuyaki Tamago. Unlike Castella & Dashi Maki Tamago which propels toward dense and eggy, this traditional edomae-style egg is light-as-a-souffle cheesecake. The result of a tedious and time-consuming process of blending fishpaste with egg, then slow-cooking over a very low flame. Few chefs are making it now and I'm still on the hunt for more.

#4 Tatsuya

Finger-sized sushis topped with silky, flawlessly-clinging raw fish are a hit with regulars. Even the tamagoyaki alone satisfys me.

#5 Nogawa

Chef Kevin serves up a mean range of traditional sushi using seasonal fish. And beware, his sushis & affability can be addictive.

Top 3 Favorite Cake/Desserts:

#1 Sticky Date Toffee Pudding, Marmalade Pantry

Softness, sweet spikes, vanillary licks. Drown in saccharine rush.

#2 Warm Ginger Pudding, P.S. Cafe

Ginger+Dessert was never a well-loved combination until P.S. made them right. A dense, warm fibrous pudding floats on lovely Earl grey creme anglaise and a creamy vanilla bean icecream finish. Melt down and dig in.

#3 Strawberry Tofu Chiffon Cake, Patisserie Glace

Moistness is key.

Favorite Bread:

#1 Raisin Cream Cheese Buns, Barcook Bakery

My addiction. I can rise early, take a train down to Chinatown, queue up for ONE piping hot fluffy bun, savor it in 5 bites, rejoin the queue for another *repeats cycle*. That's the Barcook Power.

#2 Otto Ristorante's Breads

Odd but true, restaurant bread baskets mean a great deal to me. Otto is an exemplary example. In the past i was faithfully enthralled by their Onion Focaccia. Today, i drown in the charm of almost every variety they serve: still wonderful Onion Focaccia, nice crusty Olive Bread and cushiony Walnut Bread. 15 slices easily downed.

Favorite Ice Creams:

#1 Apple Pie Ice Cream, Tom's Palette

My self-control disappears when i meet good icecream. And Tom's Palette's petite sizes do me no deed. Chronos & Eunice constantly churns out outstanding tubs of icecream injected with familiar yet wacky flavors (think Salty Yuzu to Wasabi Lime to Salted Egg Yolk).. Apple Pie is my perpetual fave among all.

Their creations, attitude and passion deserve a salute.

#2 Blueberry Bonanza & Strawberry Supreme, Ice3 Cafe

What draws me to Ice3 at least once a week?

1) Freshly-made waffles. The best ever.

2) Comforting icecreams

3) Perfect supper chill-out ambience

Favorite Almost-Daily Reliance:

Yami Yogurt

Natural medium/large cup with diced papaya or pumpkin seeds. Anytime.

Favorite Dim Sum:

Royal China

High-class outlook with quality Dim Sum. The amazingly soft fluffy dough of their Char Siew Bao is difficult to mimic. Blue is just the right color for them... the Tiffany of the Dim Sum World.

Favorite Hawker Stall:

Punggol Nasi Lemak

Nostalgic dinners. Nasi Lemak as a child, Nasi Lemak as a teenager, Nasi Lemak as a young adult. My very-predictable plate includes sambal okra, sotong balls, otah and/or deep-fried wantons. Now they've become suppers too.

Have a blessed & awesome 2011 everyone!

Besotted.

how much i love thee.

.

.

.

.

.

where else but thou?

Now thy favourite place for sushi.

Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant

22 Scotts Road

Goodwood Park Hotel

6887 4598

Botan: For the Ravenous

There are generally two kinds of restaurants.

One, the fine-dining where you pay hefty prices for a tasteful experience. Two, the unpretentious who renders hearty homey food and send you leaving like a happy kid. Botan belongs to the second.

Familiar to the office crowd, Botan is most notorious for dishing out overly generous portions. Their Chirashi Don ($25) is arguably the most liberally filled chirashi in town and sure to fill even the hungriest diner.

Never underestimate how far this bowl can take you.

Uncovering the sashimi garden, some fresh some not so, i found morsels of hamachi, maguro, ebi, kani and fat-gleaming salmon (orange-to-white ratio hovering around 2:3?) over a crazily compact bed of rice. Oily fish is love and i rarely dismiss excessive fats. A spoonful of tobikko (flying fish roe) and some sweet pink cod floss contributes to enliven the dish.

But before you proceed into your rice, i suggest you have the chawanmushi first. Their silky, clean-tasting steamed egg custard with shiitake, fishcake & chicken met expectations and felt strikingly homey.

While nearing chirashi-completion, a realization struck me... Where was my tamagoyaki? If memory didn't fail me i recall having some tamago during my previous visit. After prodding the waitress, she returned with 2 omelette rectangles & then directed my attention towards the sushi chef... who gave two apologetic nods for his busy lunch-hour negligence. How mannerly.

Omg this was superb stuff. The meticulously layered sponge was baby soft like never before & finished off with a tiny smack of savouriness... nice!

The Botan Set ($25) consisted of sashimi, tempura, fried tofu, chicken and a compartment of random items. For those who like a variety.

Although Botan clearly lacks the poise & finesse of top-players like Aoki & Tatsuya, this is one place i would head for the heartiest honest japanese fare, or whenever a massive yen calls.

The comfort derived here is one of a kind.

P.S. It is really easy to miss Botan's obscure signboard so do look out!

Botan Japanese Restaurant

36 Pekin Street

#01-01 Far East Square

6536 4404

Aoki: My Sushi Haven

Aoki is perfection. Aoki is love.

Lunch at Aoki was sooooo good that i almost refused to leave my seat. Fine excellence aptly defines Chef Aoki's masterly finesse and it would be a total misdeed not to extol their virtues.

"tofu" otoshi

Superb sashimi and sushi wasn't the only coup; all that little thoughtful notches and details made them a clear cut above the rest. How nice to have individually unique tea cups and shoyu jars!

Lunch kick-started with a dainty gelatinous otoshi bearing a starchy aftertaste, subsequently washed off by salad greens.

salad with soy vinaigrette

Mazechirashi ($35)

If there is one dish a fervent japfoodie would eat and instantaneously nail as his prospective last meal, this stupendous Mazechirashi could be it. Sushi rice entirely buried under hordes of fresh toppings simply too many to count. There's an assortment of cubed raw fish, delicious castella tamago, lots of ikura, nibs of sweet uni (YUM) and miscellaneous minuscules scented with endearing yuzu touches. At the end of it, you've flown to Chirashi heaven~

Nigiri Sushi Jyo-sen ($30)

Nigiri execution was equally pristine. My eyes lit upon first bite... Soft supple sashimi draped over a clump of sweet vinegared rice. Precisely sliced. Meticulously molded. Ideal rice-to-fish ratio. Utterly complying. Pop one in & you're yearning for another.

I enjoyed chutoro & hamachi and doubly loved the lustrous hon maguro along with rubs of wasabi heat. Also swooped on those tamagoyaki darlings so neatly stuffed & strapped up in seaweed belts. Everyone should know by now tamagoyaki is a testament to the kitchen's skills and i dare say Aoki's sweet delicate omelette reigns over all the countless reels i've consumed. Simply top-notch!

One amazement level down was ikura gunkan, classic tekka & kappa makis which can't go wrong at Aoki-standard; followed by ika and one unduly cooked shrimp both too tough to chew.

my 2 favorites from the platter, tamago so loved.

Pair those premiums with a briney prawnhead-bobbing miso soup, especially crunchy pickles and Aoki-san's freshly grated wasabi and you completely win me over. You just did.

Dessert Trio

Dessert trio shows how an ardent kitchen would travel the extra mile to impress. No watermelons! My lovely tray comprised of a tiny sakura icecream, crystal clear ume wine jelly and a pleasing milk pudding laced with brown sugar syrup. Nothing too huge to feel queasy about.

Off food, i was engaged in Chef Aoki's dexterous slicing and assembling performance a mere armlength away. Highly captivating.

I'm convinced i just had my best japanese meal ever.

Aoki Restaurant

1 Scotts Road

#02-17 Shaw Centre

6333 8015

Rakuzen

Sometime before the exams, i joined Sistafood, myfoodsirens & J2k3 for a lunch at Rakuzen. Its always nice meeting new faces (:

welcome a new Canon EOS user!

Rakuzen is another middling japanese restaurant under the Sushi Tei group. The menu embraced full Sushi Tei aura, except slightly more inventive and pricey.

Salmon Sashimi ($10)

The first salmon sashimi slice i hoisted was especially thick, more like a wedge than slice. Beautiful radiant color, lacklustre substance.. it just fell short of the creamy content i yearned.

Atsuyaki Tamago ($6)

Without qualms i called for Atsuyaki Tamago as though Cupid was lurking... am falling prey to his flirtatious winks all the time! Mr. Rakuzen Tamagoyaki bore a likable puffy body but was desperately in need of a flavor boost.

Stamina Roll ($8)

Spider Roll ($8)

From a list of hilariously-named sushi rolls (think Dai-Dai), the sisters picked the Stamina Roll (eel & avocado maki) and Spider Roll (soft-shell crab maki) as our mains. Both were prosaic but if you ask me, i'll say go for Unagi.

Renkon Natto ($8)

Once acridly bitten at Hokkaido, twice shy, i thought i would shun natto permanently. It's characteristic smell and stringy spiderweb consistency is love-it-or-hate-it.... Until surprisingly, Rakuzen's Renkon Natto ($8) got me shovelling once more! The fermented soybeans are piled over simmered lotus root and conducively mild in taste.

Wanna try natto? Start here.

Maguro Yukke ($18)

Maguro Yukke clinched the heartthrob title that afternoon. The stack begins with creamy avocado, chopped tuna sashimi and bits of black beans topped with demi-glace and sesame seeds. A raw quail egg obediently binds the assemble together. They loved it. Value wise, i found $18++ too much to ask for those unfresh tuna.

It's been a hectic exam week and my congested CompactFlash is waiting to be emptied. Freedom is drawing near.. 9 more days to go woohoo!

Rakuzen

9 Raffles Boulevard

#02-14/19 Millenia Walk

Sushi Nogawa

First it was Italian

Then came French

Now, im craving Japanese ever-so-often. Love sashimeeeee!

Project Lure-Dad-to-Nogawa-using-rave-reviews was a success.

Nogawa should ring a bell in your head. For 31 years (since 1978!) they've long earned a reputation in fine Japanese cuisine, under the mighty hands of Chef Yoshio Nogawa. Even Mr President & MM Lee were patrons!

Apart from sashimi premiums they offer a range of wallet-friendly Don sets, including this Shake Don Dad had. A generous bowl of steamed rice scattered with scrambled tamago, cooked salmon flakes & salmon roe; a few of his favourite things. At $15 this is legibly a good run for money.

I went all out for Chirashi Sushi Misaki ($35) hoping for sashimi galore. Ordering Chirashi is exciting. Like a mystery dish. What you get is highly volatile, depending on the day's fresh catch & chef's discretion, so never assume replicas.

Over here, the sashimi & miscellanies are separated instead of having the works crammed altogether. There was top-notch ikura, tamago that required more seasoning, unagi, kani sticks, pink cod floss, and a super tasty brown compote. Over soft mushy rice.

Salmon, hamachi, amaebi & a tiny piece of scallop fresh and good allocated on my sashimi plate.

The set also comes with a small chawanmushi and distasteful cube of gelatinous konnyaku. The latter was ewwwwww.... totally repelling. But nothing bugged me more than subpar rice in any chirashi.

Sliced melons to conclude our sets.

Standalone i have no aversions to Nogawa's fine quality. The cooked set lunches are extremely satiating and value-for-money. Pity was, they lacked the kind of awe which Tatsuya prompts...

Sushi Kaiseki Nogawa

100 Orchard Road

#03-25 Concorde Hotel

6732 2911