Tatsuya at Goodwood Hotel, Singapore revisited – More expensive and less (?) food

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aburi, ebi, fusion, fusion sushi, goodwood hotel, hotate, japanese, japanese restaurants, omakase, restaurant review, sanma, singapore, singapore omakase, singapore restaurants, tatsuya, uni

Tatsuya has always been one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in Singapore. So naturally it was one of my top choices when I dropped by for a visit in Singapore and thankfully got a counter seat as the place was packed. I opted again for the omakase as per my usual routine but I was quietly disappointed when the food came. The food quality is more or less the same, still delicious but the sushi was served in a platter instead of done up and served with care one by one. And there were more cooked courses than raw, we had a whole grilled sanma fish to share between us. While it was nice, I’ve always considered sanma to be an inexpensive fish. In previous visits, we were given a little uni/otoro/ikura rice bowl which was infinitely more divine. So I was doubly shocked when the bill came… up to SGD 847 for the both of us!

Previously the omakase sets come at SGD 280++ , but the bill would mean that the new cost of the omakase set is now SGD 400++ where it adds no additional value to the dining experience and where the food is not as appealing as it was when it was at SGD 280. What happened Tatsuya?!!! The least you could do if you charge more is to give us better food and a better dining experience! Don’t get me wrong, Tatsuya still serves quality food, service is still good and chef is very friendly. It’s just that we no longer get the traditional counter experience where the chef serves up his tantalizing morsels one by one reverently and works up a surprise for our palates here and there. Now it just feels like a normal restaurant…. at a more expensive price. I complained to my makan kaki who did the initial Tatsuya visit with me and she came back with a barrage of complaints. She’s probably not going back.

Not sure if I want to go back again either if this is what is to be expected. For SGD 400+ I could just go to Shinji. I think Aoki may be the better choice now compared to Tatsuya, I’ve visited it twice after the last review and will post up another review on it soon.

Photos from the last disappointing Tatsuya visit:-

Did not take photos of the sanma and the other cooked courses as I was so disappointed. At least we had some uni with the tai sashimi though! Some saving grace there.

In comparison, here’s a collage of some of the dishes from the initial trip and my previous review on Tatsuya.

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Kinki, Singapore

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aburi otoro, ambience, collyer quay, engawa, foie gras, fusion, hotate, japanese, japanese restaurant, kinki, Kinki sushi, Marina Bay Sands view, mbs view, otoro, restaurant review, scallops, sea urchin, singapore, sushi, tai, truffle, uni

Kinki Sushi remains one of my top favourite Japanese restaurants in Singapore. The setting is pretty casual and relaxed. Perfect to kick back after a day at work or if you just want something special for dinner.

The best part of this restaurant is that it overlooks this breathtaking view:

Its amazing isn’t it? There’s also a rooftop bar where you can have snacks and drinks but I haven’t checked it out. Was just there for the food 😉

They serve the usual very fresh sushi and the custom Kinki dishes which are amazing. I must warn you that the bill can get pretty steep depending on what you order. Check out the menu and the prices:-

http://www.kinki.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/Web-Kinki-Dinner+Lunch-Menu0211013.pdf

So I just had to try the Tai Carpaccio, something similar to what I had in Aoki. The taste is almost identical except that at Aoki they served the fish with shaved fresh truffles on top. At Kinki they just make this with truffle oil. Still delicious nevertheless and I love the way they presented this dish. The dish and the dark table gives a stark contrast in coloring. The fish is rendered translucent and looks like a work of art.

Not my best shot. I don’t know where my other pics went to. These pictures could have been better had I done something about the white balance but I was hoping to capture some sort of that dinner at dusk kind of look ;p

A bowl of expensive but divine sea urchin. It is indeed my ideal type of sea urchin: fresh, plump, not too firm, beautifully creamy and yet has some form to it (I hate sea urchins that come in pure mush form but then again I don’t like it when its too firm, there isn’t much flavour in those). A little soy sauce on the uni sashimi, place it onto some crisp seaweed and you’re all set to go!

The view… I just can’t get over it.  On top is the Engawa with sudachi zest. Very good balance of texture, firm and chewy yet it seems to have some fat in it to round the flavours all up. The slight torch and zest gives it a nice twist and a fresh tang to the very enjoyable bite of sushi.

Below the Engawa is the Otoro Aburi, seared fatty tuna. This was really good as well, the fat just melts away in your mouth while the seared top and, what I suspect is yuzu or some citrus, all helped to cut through all that buttery fatty piece of fish. It can get pretty cloying if you have too many pieces of fresh otoro, but the seared otoro is a whole different ball game.

And here is the first bomb (by bomb I mean it is the THE BEST) of the night: The pan-seared foie gras and Hokkaido scallop sushi

The seared foie gras and fresh scallop tastes so amazingly divine served like this! I suppose its because both ingredients are on the creamy tasting side, with the foie gras imparting a rich gamey depth to the sushi while the scallop lends it a light and briny ocean flavor. And then there’s that sauce, it just… ties everything up together in one delightful little parcel. Game Over.

Cholesterol for the night.

The Kinki Okonomiyaki was a surprise. To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from it but it was delicious as well. It’s got Hokkaido scallops, prawns, streaky bacon,sweet onions and buffalo mozzarella. Normally okonomiyaki is made up of batter, lots of cabbage, and other toppings topped with mayonnaise and bonito flakes. THIS okonomiyaki has a pastry base, the flaky pastry base that everybody loves and it remained crispy for a long time even with all the delicious toppings all laden on top. And the portion is generous, so if you’re not a fan of sushi, or are on a budget but would like to try out this place then this is the dish for you.

Lastly, my baked scallop in butter topped with sea urchin. This was the second bomb of the night. While my cousin thought this was a tad overcooked, I though it was cooked perfectly. It is definitely not rubbery and didn’t have much resistance when I cut through it. It remained succulent and retained all the flavors of a fresh scallop, soaked in a luscious butter and chive gravy. As if that weren’t enough they had to top it all off with a dollop of that beautiful sea urchin. I can’t even imagine how to describe it further. Heaven in a bite. This dish and the foie gras with scallop dish are my top faves of the night.

Pure bliss.

Finish off your evening with some goma ice cream and work off all that food with a walk with the MBS in full view. ❤

White truffle series part 3: Uni pasta with truffles

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fusion, ikura, italian, japanese, Pasta, sea urchin cream pasta, sea urchin cream sauce, sea urchin pasta, sea urchin pasta topped with white truffle, seafood, sinful meals, uni cream sauce pasta, uni cream sauce pasta with truffles, uni pasta, white truffle

Just another picture post as I’ve already done up a recipe on Uni pasta. 

The only difference is that this time I shaved tonnes of delicate, fragrant white truffle on top. Mmmm~

Don’t forget to be generous with the amount of sea urchin.

If you like, you could try dropping a couple of drops of truffle oil into the cream before tossing the pasta in.

Uni cream pasta (Sea Urchin)

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angel hair, butter, chives, cream, cream pasta, dinner, fusion, ikura, lunch, mains, Noodles, parmesan cheese, Pasta, prawns, salmon roe, sea urchin, shrimp, sinful, uni, uni cream pasta, uni pasta

Sea urchin roe is one of my favourite sashimi! So rich and creamy and briny <3. I tried  sea urchin pasta for the first time in Japan a few years back and it was amazing as well. And of course I had to try to make it myself, but I always feel heartsick at the thought of throwing all the expensive uni into pasta when I can just have it as sashimi and savour every single bit of it. That’s why on my first attempt at uni pasta, I just used a few bits (see the following 3 pictures).

I probably used a quarter of the package of uni. The box of uni in itself is already really small, so the uni flavour in the pasta wasn’t as prominent as I would have liked it. But the pictures were way better as I took them during the daytime, whereas my 2nd attempt photos were dependent on dim lighting =(.

Pleased to say that on the 2nd attempt, the pasta came out creamier and more luscious! I sacrificed the whole box this time… just for myself *guilt*. I also omitted the seaweed as it got in the way of the flavour of the pasta. It goes better with mentaiko pasta I think.

The recipe was adapted from http://www.eataduckimust.com/uni-pasta

Ingredients (For 1 greedy person)

• 1/2 cup thickened cream (the original recipe calls for 1 cup cream per person, you could just adjust accordingly. I’m just trying to make myself feel less guilty)
• 3 prawns shelled and deveined with tails on (Reserve the prawn shells and heads)
• 20g butter
• 1 package uni (sea urchin)
• 1 chilli padi, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 egg yolk
• chives for garnishing
• handful of parmesan cheese
• Angel hair/instant cook spaghetti or other pasta noodle of your choice
• Ikura (as much as you like)

• Melt the butter over low heat and add the prawn heads/shells in. Crush the prawn heads so that all the flavour comes out into the butter. Take the pan off the heat so that the butter doesn’t brown and continue crushing the shells.

• Pour the butter and shells into a sieve and squeeze out all the juices/butter into another pan (you’ll use this pan to make the cream sauce)

• Meanwhile, sear the prawns and set aside

• Throw in the chilli padi and the minced garlic into the pan with the prawn head butter and fry until the garlic turns golden. If you like, you can also add a little more butter.
• Add in the cream and bring to a simmer before switching it off. Don’t boil the cream.
• When the cream has cooled a little, pour into a blender. Your cream shouldn’t be hot as this would cook the uni and scramble the egg later. The uni needs to be soft, raw and creamy while the egg yolk needs to be silky.
• Save a few pieces of the uni for garnishing, and add the rest to the cream.

• Blend the uni and cream (just need to give it a few pulses) and pour the mixture back into the pan.
• Add the beaten egg yolk and stir it in.

• Add a tablespoon or so of parmesan cheese into the cream and heat the mixture up again (I’m guestimating here, adapt to your own tastes ;p) . Taste it and season with some salt. (I didn’t put pepper as I thought it might overpower the uni)
• Add in the freshly cooked pasta and mix it into the sauce. If you have strong wrists, toss the lot to combine.

• Dish out the pasta onto a serving plate, top with the prawns, raw uni, some chives, a bit more cheese and as much ikura as you like~

So silky and creamy and decadent 😉

Now that I’ve seen the amount of sea urchin, prawn head brains and cream that went into the dish, my heart is starting to palpitate at the sheer amount of cholesterol that went into this meal ;(

To the gym!

Truffles Part 1 – Carpaccio with trio of truffles

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black truffle, black winter truffle, canned truffles, carpaccio, carpaccio with trio of truffles, carpaccio with truffles, fusion, sashimi, starter, tai, truffle oil, truffles, white truffle oil

So I decided to indulge in my newfound love for truffles. I ordered two black winter truffles and it arrived today! Super excited. Its now stored in rice in my fridge, and accordingly I placed eggs in the same container just to maximize the use of the truffles. My fridge smells like truffles now mmmm.

This is a dish I had at Aoki, a japanese restaurant in Singapore, and its pretty easy to replicate. It is also foolproof and perfect as a starter. The chopped canned truffle adds a little bite to the dish and the fleur de sel not only makes the dish look aesthetically pleasing, it also gives a briny crunch to the fish that, on many levels, is so different from your ordinary table salt.

Will be putting up several truffle-themed posts, this is just the first 😉

They’re pretty big aren’t they?

Ingredients

1 tbsp Truffle oil

Tai (sea bream) sashimi grade sliced thinly

Fleur de sel

1 summer black truffle from a jar

Generous shavings from a fresh black winter truffle

Instructions

1) Chop up your summer truffle into little chunks. Don’t mince it too finely as we want some texture to this dish.

2) Arrange the fish on the plate

3) Sprinkle the chopped truffle on top of the fish and drizzle the truffle oil.

4) Add shavings of black winter truffle on top and season with fleur de sel.

Enjoy the heady rush of truffle!

Fried Pork on kimchi with rice

Tags

dinner, fried, fusion, Home Cooking, kimchi, pork, rice

 

I love reading up on food, it’s been a bad habit of mine ever since I was a kid. I’d dig out books on food in the library and spend my lunch breaks sitting and reading cook books or food in general. Why? It’s because I’m a glutton. I don’t know what I was in my previous life but I won’t be surprised if I often was hungry or just pure greedy back then.

One of my recent reads include this food manga called Oishinbo. It spans through several volumes and each volume would cover different topics, such as “Raw Fish, Sashimi” , “Vegetables”, “Rice”, “Izakaya” and so on so forth. In one of the volumes, I came across this dish where they fried breaded oysters and put it on top of kimchi and rice. It sounded strange but drool worthy enough. I love kimchi and love fried oysters or anything fried.

The thing that I didn’t really like was that I had to fry something if I were to try out this recipe. I’ve got this thing about using large quantities of oil, spluttering hot oil and stinking up my kitchen as well as my living room while frying. So I rarely deep-fry if I can help it. I only extend enough effort to fry simple things like eggs and vegetables but rarely anything else. So my frying skills are worse than my other cooking skills which are bad enough as it is already.

But the thought of fried meat and kimchi was just too alluring….

 

Ingredients (3-4 pax)

1. 750 gram of fatty meat (pork belly, fat cuts of pork meant for sweet and sour pork etc)
2. Panko Breadcrumbs (enough to coat the fatty meat in)
3. Plain flour (to coat the fatty meat)
4. 2 eggs, beaten
5. 1 tbsp soy sauce
6. A heaping tablespoon per person of Japanese Mayo
7. Kimchi
8. 3 tbsp chopped spring onions
9. Cooking oil

Cooking Instructions

1. Cut the meat into 1 inch chunks and marinate with the soy sauce. Set aside
2. Spread the panko onto a plate so it’s easier to coat the meat later. Do the same with the flour on another plate.
3. Coat each piece of meat with flour and shake off the excess before dunking it in the beaten eggs and lastly rolling it in breadcrumbs.
4. Heat up the oil and place the breaded meat in the pan, making sure that you don’t overcrowd the pan. I suppose you should deep fry it but I couldn’t bring myself to so I pan fried it instead.
5. When the meat turns golden brown on each side, remove from the pan and onto a small wire rack that will hold the meat. This is to drain out the oil. You could also put the fried meat onto some kitchen towel but it will cause the crunchy panko layer to become soggy faster.
6. Ladle rice into the bowls and add however much kimchi you like. Then top with your fried meat, mayo and lastly the spring onions.