tatsuya

We were supposed to go to Wasabi-Tei but changed our minds and decided to try out Tatsuya which had raving reviews. We ordered a bento set, a gindara, and sake (salmon) sashimi.
The bento is not supposed to come with california roll, but we decided not to have the unajyu and opted to change it to a california roll instead.

The california roll was not bad. Normal japanese rice taste of vinegar but is not very sweet. Somehow the rice here is very sweet. I'm not sure how they cooked the rice, but you know how when you chew on rice for a considerable period of time they start to digest and start tasting sweet? That's how it tasted, coupled with the vinegared taste of course. It probably sounds disgusting, but it is really quite good. The sweetness instantly erupts when you put it in your mouth and lingers long after you have swallowed.

Sharon thinks it is one of the best california rolls she has eaten. I don't think it is that good, but it is quite good, frankly. The avocado was very creamy, the tobiko burst into frenzied raptures when bitten into, the rice was an immaculate balance of acetous and sweet. It was definitely pleasurable. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say it is the most outstanding one I have tried. I'm certainly not about to run down the roads proclaiming Tatsuya as the King of california rolls.

The chawanmushi is very unique indeed. It is very soft, very smooth, very eggy and very tart. Yes you read right, tart! There is a distinct yuzu taste to it. That added an interesting dimension to a very traditional dish. I quite liked it. I thought it was refreshing and well, nippy.

However, this chawanmushi had no other ingredients added whatsoever so I got a bit bored of the taste. The yuzu was unable to sustain my interest for very long. As much as Sharon likes yuzu, she thought that this was a corruption of chawanmushi and did not like this at all.

Their tuna looked amazing. So thick and succulent. However, we did not like this. It was limp and very fishy. Then again, we're not big fans of maguro anyway. Somehow, we like tuna belly but not tuna sashimi. To me, it has a very metallic taste about it and I don't like it. So maybe maguro-fans will like this?

I thought the Salmon Sashimi was not bad. It was fresh and firm to the bite. However, compared to Akashi? It's a long long long way off. I don't know why, but Akashi's Salmon sashimi is simply out of this world. It's in a whole different league of its own. Akashi's other stuff are not that great but their salmon sashimi is darn freaking good. I have never had anything like that before.

Ok, I digress, back to Tatsuya. Their salmon sashimi was good, but it was not THAT good. It was definitely better than what you would get from sushi-tei, but I don't think the discrepancy is that great to command that wide a price gap.

Tai (sea bream/red snapper) sashimi. I did not like this. I thought it was limp (and not just cos it was sliced so thinly) and not very fresh.

Mekajiki (Swordfish) Sashimi. Sharon liked it, she thought it was very good and comparable to Akashi (though Akashi is better). In her own words "u know how when u eat swordfish, coz its a firmer fish, wen u bite into it.. there's a slight crunch to it? and lk the 'juice' comes out from the meat? this was lk that... just that akashi's is better"

The cod was flavourful. The seasoning was quite marvellous. Sharon found it too salty for her liking, which I found odd, cos I'm usually the one more sensitive to extremely salty food. Towards the end, her tastebuds could no longer handle the excessive sodium and she could only eat two slivers of it.

The gindara was overcooked and much too tough. Fish is always difficult to cook. A minute less and it is slimy, a minute more and it's too tough. But this fish was obviously wayyy overdone. The charred skin was great, I loved the smoky taste, but the texture was verging on rubbery. This does not make me a happy girl.

All in all, Tatsuya was a complete disappointment. I think I would have enjoyed myself a lot better eating at Sushi-Tei for half the price. I can't believe we chose Tatsuya over Wasabi-Tei. Why why why?!

Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant

270 Orchard Road

#01-05

Park Hotel Orchard

meng kitchen

I live in the North and I find it so unfair that all the good food is anywhere but in the North. Everytime I want to find something to eat, there's nothing spectacular I will crave in the North. There is an absolute dearth of good food in the North. Hear me restauranteurs/food stalleurs.. Come save us Northies. Petrol is expensive, I don't want to travel half of Singapore to get a good fix.

Meng Kitchen is one of the best places in the North I would say. Their bak chor mee is extremely popular. Come here on a Sunday afternoon and expect to wait up till about an hour. It's not cheap too, at $4 a bowl. It is the Tai Hwa of the North. It's actually a far cry from Tai Hwa, but nonetheless, I think it is really quite good.

We decided to check out their fish soup and fishball noodles.

Their fish soup is very very peppery. They added so much pepper when you scrutinize the fish slices, you can see spots of pepper settled on them. I like pepper so I liked this. However, I do think that most people will find it too peppery.

The fish soup is also saltier and more savoury than most other fish soups. This is probably because they used a lot of MSG. (I couldn't stop drinking water when I got home.)

The fish was much too overcooked. It was tough and just bad. They added a lot of ginger in the soup to mask the fishy smell to no avail.

It is tasty, but only because of the abundance of MSG and pepper. This is merely average.

This is the fishball noodles. Sharon prefers the bak chor mee over the fishball meepok. The fishballs were not springy enough and a bit limp. I've had it before and I'm not sure if this is just an off-night. They are normally quite springy.

The chilli here is quite shiok. The balance of the vinegar to sauce was immaculate. You can still taste the vinegar but it was not overpowering. I found this very agreeable. Sharon only likes her noodles with vinegar here and at Tai Hwa. She thinks that the proportions at Tai Hwa and Meng Kitchen are just right. (Hence reaffirming my point that Meng Kitchen is Tai Hwa of the North)

The noodles were a bit overcooked for some reason. They were a bit soggy. They are normally perfectly Q. I guess the standard really differs from day to day. Catch them on a good day, and the noodles are perfect. Catch them on a not-so-good day and the standard dips dramatically. "dramatically, it's really dramatically lor" says Sharon.

I still think these noodles are good, just that we had it on a bad day. And the bak chor mee is a lot better than the fishball noodles so try that if you come to Meng Kitchen.

Meng Kitchen

246B Upper Thomson Road

"Where O Death, is thy Victory? where O Death is thy sting?"

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used
Put no difference in your tone,
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household world that it always was,
Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It it the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,
Just around the corner.
All is well.

Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)
Canon of St Paul's Cathedral

Our mind thinks of death.
Our heart thinks of life
Our soul thinks of Immortality.

sun moulin v. provence - the faceoff!

This is the official sun moulin v. provence faceoff. They have so many similar breads that we have taken it upon ourselves to find out which bakery is better.

Round 1: Cheese bun.

First up, the cheese mochi. The cheese mochi from Sun Moulin is very nice. It's not chewy, its very soft and its very palatable. There is considerably a lot more of that cheese taste in this one than Provence's brazilian cheese bun.

Nonetheless, the texture of Provence's brazilian cheese bun is clearly absent here. The beauty of Provence's bun is not only in its fantastic taste but it is so addictive because the texture is just that good. It is extremely crusty, extremely moist, extremely chewy. The Sun Moulin's version is nice but boring. It's enjoyable but not addictive. Provence, my friend is the real deal.

Round 1 goes to Provence.

Round 2: An Pan

The an pan at Sun Moulin is commendable. It's slightly coarse, not too sweet but still not as good as the an pan at Provence. The an pan at Provence is stronger-tasting and a lot more fragrant. Without even biting into it, one can already smell the an pan. That's how good the an pan there is. Perhaps it is also better at Provence because the an pan there is with skin. This obviously contributes to the granular texture and makes the taste better.

But the main reason why Provence wins this round is because the bread of the an pan at Provence is just simply too darn good. The bread there has a certain crusty, elastic bite around the edges and yet remains so awfully cushy and moist when you tear it apart. The bread at Sun Moulin is regrettably dry and bland. There was no 'pangness' to it, it tasted more like a sloppy combination of flour and water compared to Provence's conscientious baking efforts.

There is no doubt at all, that Provence wins hands down.

Round 2 goes to Provence.

Round 3: Wassant

Ok, this was not reviewed in our post about Provence, but we've tried it enough times to know what it tastes like. The wassant at Sun Moulin was definitely stronger tasting. The chocolate definitely shone through a lot more than the wassant at Provence. Truth be told, I think the taste of the chocolate wassant at Provence is a little too faint.

But the chocolate taste at Sun Moulin was not a nice rich chocolate taste. It tasted a lot like coco-crunch, the cheap-skate type of chocolate.

The main difference between Provence and Sun Moulin lies in the texture. While the cheese bun was soft at Sun Moulin and chewy at Provence, it was the complete opposite when it came to the wassant. The wassant was very crispy here. Yes, crispy. It was literally hard. You could break off the layers in crisp bits. I think they don't call it wassant at Sun Moulin. They call it a zebra croissant? This is crispy even by a croissant's standard. It was literally crunchy. But beneath that exterior lies a soft inside, that's very very moist. (I feel like I'm describing a person's character. But its true, the zebra croissant is a sensitive bun. Treat it with lots of TLC.) The wassant at Provence is unbelievably soft, like cloud. It's so light, so airy!

Sharon preferred the soft-like-cotton wassant at Provence. I was undecided. The Sun Moulin one is, to me, a lot more addictive. It tastes cheap, I'll admit that, but it's damn shiok to eat something so crispy and chocolatey (even if it tastes like deep-fried cheap chocolate).

Round 3 goes to.. no one, although if I were going for value for money, definitely Provence. Sun Moulin's is not exactly delicate but costs like 65c for a tiny tiny tiny piece.

Round 4: Custard roll

Now, the Sun Moulin one is EXCELLENT. EXCELLENT. EXCELLENT. The custard is one of the best I have ever had. It's so smooth, so milky.. I am not exaggerating when I say it is like silk. It really is like silk blanketing your tastebuds. Plush, delicious silk to boot. The custard's lushness tickles your tastebuds, its smooth (have I said smooth yet? oh but it's so smooth) milky sweetness enveloping and pampering the many sensory receptors till you're lulled into a place of just absolute bliss. It is so...luxurious.

When I first tasted it, I got super-excited, like a child drinking coke for the first time. It is that good.

Even Sharon agrees that their custard is out-of-this-world. I think I prefer the custard here because as much as I like the custard at Provence, it's a little too eggy for me; the same reason why I can't really appreciate custard baos. But this custard at Sun Moulin is like a cross between the milk pan and the custard roll. Shiokkk. Even that's not enough to describe it. Let me add a couple of Ks. SHIOkkkkkkkkk. That's more like it, with emphasis on the SHIO part too.

If there's any quarrel, its that the bread isn't very aromatic and its not very soft. But the custard is good.

Round 4: Sun Moulin

After 4 rounds, I conclude that the winner is Provence. Sun Moulin is a great bakery but Provence is just magnificent, too zai already. If there's one area where Sun Moulin can aim to improve, its the quality of their bread. Their fillings are not bad, but their bread isn't anything to shout about. It was a good match, nonetheless.

Sun Moulin
Isetan Scotts Basement 1
350 Orchard Road

royal copenhagen

We finally got down to going to Royal Copenhagen after talking about it for so long. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised by the dazzling array of cakes and pastries. Even a non-dessert person like me was excited. I am still excited.

Come on, don't you want to lick the screen? Check out that chocolate in the extreme right corner! I want to stick my thumb in it like Little Jack Horner..

We were here to check out the famous Royal Copenhagen scones. I used to hear Sharon go on and on about how wonderful these are. And boy do they look good. I was bumbling with excitement.

I was quite disappointed. The texture of the scone was very nice. It's nice, warm and dense.

But the taste left much to be desired. It was simply not fragrant. That buttery aroma and taste was sorely absent. It would have been so much nicer if they had used more (quality) butter; so that the scone crumbles beautifully and melts irresistably in your mouth. I don't mean, crumble as in disintegrate when you hold it.

I imagine the perfect scone to be somewhat resistant to pressure so that it does not end up in crushed crumbs the moment you hold it, but not so hard that you need to gnaw your way through it. The ideal scone holds up to pressure in your hand, succumbs suitably to a good bite and then the edges crumble, melt, dissolve, leavin good-sized (notice I didn't say tiny), near-crunchy morsels of buttery perfection. Oh sweet heavens.

You know, I can just imagine the way it should have been and it already makes me mad that the famous Royal Copenhagen scones are so ridiculously far off.

The jam was shockingly horrid. It tasted artificial and treacly. I rather they give me fairprice jam. Sharon explained that the jam used to be a lot better but they're probably trying to cut costs. The butter was not fragrant (again). 'Disappointment' is not even the word to be used here. Try 'aghast'.

We also ordered the Honey Date pudding because it sounded too good to miss out on. A Scandinavian dessert served with fresh fruits, homemade butterscotch sauce and fresh cream. Now, this was a different story altogether. I liked this one, and not just because it looks like something only found in paradise. I want to fly to Scandinavia right here right now.

To be honest, it was a bit dry. But the taste was oh-so-scrumptious! The honey and the butterscotch were delightful. In so many desserts, you taste the faint sweetness of the honey but you can't really taste the honey. In this one, you can literally smell the honey, savour the distinct honey taste, all while enjoying that marvellous butterscotch goodness too! Oh..top this power combination with cream as light as air.. You have got me going once, going twice, sold.

I really quite like the taste of this treasure. I like it so much I polished it off, and I'm not usually the one who finishes dessert. It's a pity its really quite dry. If they could improve on that, this would be a formidable dessert.

Sharon tells me that Marmalade Pantry has better sticky date pudding but I've never tried that one, but I will soon and let you know if it really is better.

Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge and Restaurant
Takashimaya Singapore Department Store
391 Orchard Road
Level 2
Singapore 238873

ThaiExpress

As with every restaurant with multiple branches, there will always be branches better than others. We like Sushi-Tei at Raffles City, Akashi at Orchard Parade Hotel, Canele at Robertson Quay, MacDonald's at Amk Ave 6...

When it comes to ThaiExpress, we like the one at Raffles City and the one at Holland V. The last time we were at Raffles City, service sucked so bad. They were understaffed, underexperienced, horrible.

We waited to be shown a table but there was no one to bring us to the table. So we stood there looking at an empty table, knowing that could be our seat but were not shown to the seat. We had to call the manager in, and tell him hey there's an empty table there, can we sit there? We had to show ourselves in!

Then, food took horribly long to come. I really mean HORRIBLY long. After half an hour, SOUP came. Not even the main dishes. And these stuff are already pre-prepared, the waiting time was simply crazy. We asked two different waiters to check on our orders. None came back to us. We had to push and push and push the waiters. We had to remind them to check a simple thing like how much we have ordered twice. Service was horrible. There wasn't even service recovery. Thank goodness the food was good.

The tomyum soup here is especially sweet. This was why we came back here, because we thought that this branch served better food. And the tomyum soup was really good. I ordered the tomyum soup with fish and glass noodles.

I eat a lot of chilli yes. This is not even all that I added.

This is the final product. I'm not kidding when I say I like chilli. This was one fiery tomyum soup. My tongue felt a bit numb after this.

But disregarding the chilli, the soup by itself is really better than the ones served other branches. It's very very sweet, the tomyum taste is a lot more intense and even without adding chilli, it has a bit of kick already. (If I don't add chilli I don't normally feel the kick) The taste is the same, just that it's more 'gao' here. This means that the proportion is exactly the same except that the cooks are more generous here?

The glass noodles were chewy and absorbed the robust soup to perfection. I still prefer the Korean type, which is thicker and chewier and absorbs the flavours better, but this will do.

The fish was a bit overdone and mushy but you're at ThaiExpress, you don't expect gourmet standard, do you? I don't.

Crayfish in red tomyum soup with glass noodles. We thought this would also be good at Raffles City. I did not like this. The crayfish was sadly overcooked and did not fall from its shell willingly. We had to pry it apart.

The cooks here really are heavy-handed with the sugar man. It's not just the clear tomyum soup, even this tomyum was sweet. This was too sweet. It tasted like mee siam. It even looks like mee siam. It's so thick too, it looked more like gravy/curry than soup. But other than that, Sharon enjoyed this.

Seems like not everything is better at this branch. For the crayfish in red tomyum (which is fiery and robust compared to the clear tomyum, as must have for chilli-lovers) go to the Holland V branch. It's good.

ThaiExpress
Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 North Bridge RoadB1-13/14
The Raffles MarketPlace
Singapore 179103

best kueh baulu/bahulu/balu

Anyone knows what it is actually called? I've heard so many names for it, I can't be sure anymore. I know it as Kueh Bahulu, Sharon knows it as Kueh Balu, we've seen some spell it as Kueh Baulu (combination).

The only confirmed syllables are 'kueh', 'ba' and 'lu'. (Sharon, this does not mean Kueh Balu is correct.) Anyone knows what the correct term is? Please tell us! For now, it's known as kueh B. to us.

So I was walking around People's Park Complex and decided to buy a bag home. I had no idea they would turn out to be the best I have eaten. Those I have had are usually very dehydrated inside and normally quite hard. I only eat these at Chinese New Year, maybe my family buys inferior goods?

These were wonderfully moist and soft. When I first held them in my hand, I gently squeezed them to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It was not hard! It was not crusty! I have never had kueh B. like these before. Excellent, excellent.

the canteen - but hardly canteen prices

I've always wanted to check out The Canteen. The crab mee pok always looks so inviting whenever I pass it. Today we finally made the effort to go down.

This canteen is anything but school canteen standard. They sell simple "canteen" food at very not canteen prices. Toast is a whopping $8.50.

You can tell it is upmarket just from the place itself. The decor is chic, clean and very tasteful. I particularly like this shot.

Even the ladles are lacquered beautifully. Their cutlery is top-quality, heavy and thick. Their spoons and their chopsticks are according to Sharon, "for giants". So this is Les Amis' canteens' standards, for those with "giant" wallets to match as well.Their serviettes are the thickest I've come across. It's like a napkin! It's even the size of a proper napkin. I almost wanted to ask them for the napkin dish to put the serviette on it. Yes, that IS paper. Atas is like that la. The kiamsiap gui in me wanted to bring some home.

XO sauce lao shu fen aka mee tai mak. I HATE mee tai mak. I have never ever ever liked it. But I decided to try it for the XO sauce.

It turned out really well. The mee tai mak is extremely smooth and not the inferior powdery type I used to eat in pre-primary. It literally glides down your throat. The texture was fabulous. Prepared to perfection I say.

The sauce was great. I thought that this dish was very unique. Extremely savoury and packed with a full-bodied punch. It was very satiating, the meat sauce was very fragrant, and the chilli was gratifying. The only thing is that towards the end, it got very oily and that took away from the pleasure of eating it, but as Sharon said, "without the oil how to make it pang?"

The crab mee pok. I was quite disappointed when it came because it looked so average.
It tasted average too, I actually think I prefer my $2.50 bak-chor-mee. Somehow crab doesn't do it for me when it comes to meepok. Only meat can. The soft-shell crab was aight. It was freshly-fried so when we bit into it, the oil spurted into our mouths. That was good. But other than that, aiiighhtttt..

I thought that the noodles were a bit soggy (but Sharon insists that it is because we let it sit for too long cos we were busy taking pictures). Aye, but whatever the case, it's really no big deal. Without the bak chor, the mee pok just doesn't hit home, it's just not shiok enough. Crab is just too... genteel for this.

I must add however, that as we got to the end of the meal, the mee pok started to grow on us. There was a lot more crab at the bottom and more sauce too. (But I sompa we mixed in the sauce evenly. We are both very particular about proper mixing when it comes to noodles.) Does it mean that they should be more generous with the sauce and the crab?

The meal came up to about $40 for 2 small mains (guys should not eat here). The most expensive "hawker" food I have had. I don't think I will be coming back here anytime soon, unless I 'zhong' 4d or something.

The Canteen by Les Amis

Shaw Centre

1 Scotts Rd

#02-10

Singapore 228208

canele - food porn ahead

Today is give-Les-Amis-money day. After a crazy expensive dinner at Canteen, we proceeded to Canele for their desserts. I think I still prefer the Robertson Quay branch but this was good too. Warning, foodporn alert!

No, we didn't have this, but this is my favourite cake. MMM..

The lighting was perfect tonight. All the photos required no touching up at all because they are so so so pretty. (not that we do a lot of touching up normally)

This is the Asiana, lychee mousse, yuzu jelly, almond crumble, lychee and raspberry. This is extremely sweet, nectarine-sweet. You can actually see the pretty layers all pieced together to form a splendid array of colours.

The almond taste is quite faint, but strong enough that you get a whiff of the almond with each morsel. This is nice, because I usually find almonds very overpowering. The yuzu jelly was very tart and contrasted nicely with the velvety, saccharine quality of the lychee mousse. The mousse was extremely sweet, extremely intense. This was nice only when eaten with the other layers. If you eat the mousse by itself, it is too sweet. Thank goodness the yuzu jelly and the almond crumble neutralised the candied mousse.

This is very nice, but I can't eat too much of it. It's so sweet I got sick of it after a while.

The macha - greentea mascapone mousse, chestnut cremuex, greantea biscuit, almond crumble.

Now, this is a must-have for green-tea lovers. The green tea flavour shines through the dessert. The mouse is fantastic. My first mouthful was just ecstastical. The mouse was so silky-smooth and literally dissolved in my mouth, that luscious green tea flavour spreading out over my tastebuds. Oh that mellow aroma, that understated sweetness.. I almost wanted to stand up and shout. But no, because I was honestly a bit awe-struck. I kept quiet for a second or two, looked up at Sharon and said plainly with a thumbs-up, "this is damn good man."

Again, you can see the gorgeous layers. I liked that this dessert was not cloying at all and very very light. The chestnut taste was subtly imbued, the crumble and biscuit brought differing and contrasting textures to the mouse. This was excellent.

The only thing is that after the Asiana, this dessert tasted really bland. After another bite of the Asiana, I couldn't taste the green tea again till I cleared my palate with a douse of water first.

What a pleasing macha dessert. Shally LOVES macha. Now you see, now you don't! This baby will be gone in a jiffy in front of Shally.

Canele is really my favourite dessert place. I've heard some bad stuff about it, but I don't get it. It's excellent, really. Very refined, top-notch, superb desserts in my view. But my favourite branch will still be the one at Robertson Quay.

Canelé Pâtisserie Chocolaterie
1 Scotts Road
#01-01A,
Shaw Centre
Singapore 228208