Free the Robot (Singapore CBD)

Tags

CBD, healthy, quick meals, restaurant review, singapore

Ah the perennial go-to for lunch, for the working crowd in CBD. It serves up many  hearty meals, from morning breakfasts to satisfying lunches, even managing a decent cuppa. After all that, it transforms into a cocktail bar come nighttime. Free the Robot manages a pleasant, cozy ambience should you arrive before the lunch hour rush.

Said decent cuppa.

Salmon bowl with onsen egg, avocado and acar, it is wholesome, healthy and filling. The salmon is smoked, so beware if you’re not a smoked salmon fan. Otherwise this is a perfectly acceptable, even delicious, lunchtime meal.

Chicken and avocado sandwich. Tender slices of chicken, sandwiched with cheese and creamy slabs of avocado and slathered with pesto sauce. Griddled to perfection. Great combination of flavours.

I regret not taking a proper photo of their burgers, but this might be the only way to showcase the juiciness of their patties. Very good execution, sufficient sauce and topped with a fried egg. It is difficult to find decent burgers in Singapore, and thankfully this ticks the right boxes.

My absolute favourite however, is the crab pasta. Generous chunks of crab cooked in a fragrant tomato base sauce, topped with pine nuts and chives. I could eat this every week (every day would be a stretch for anyone!). It is also a tad spicy, which ties all the flavours together in a neat little bow. Lovely.

This is comfort eating; foods that we are all familiar with, with a dash of inspiration. Affordable eats to soothe the stress of the work day.

Free the Robot
118 Telok Ayer Street Singapore 068587 (Telok Ayer MRT)
Opening Hours: 8.30am – 4.30pm (Tues-Sat, closed Mon and Sun)

Burnt Ends, Singapore (One Michelin Star, 2018)

Tags

beef, burnt ends, caviar, charcoal grill, crab, date night, Michelin, michelin dining, Michelin star, pork, restaurant review, singapore, singapore restaurant review, special occasion, steak

How timely that I’m writing this as we learn that Burnt Ends has just received its first Michelin Star! I’ve gone twice so far. A couple of hits and a couple of misses. I’m usually seated at the counter; most of us are. In an open concept kitchen this usually is a treat. If you’re seated near the furnace end however, it could end up getting a tad too hot. In return, you get to see one of the chefs gingerly eking some bread and cheese or pulled pork into the fiery black furnace. And rapidly pulling back as if scalded. There was one poor young fellow who kept burning himself accidentally on the volcanic hot surface. In the middle there’s the prep area and behind them you’ll see shovels of red hot coal cooking up meat and seafood in various degrees. The name “Burnt ends” is apt indeed.

Once you’re seated, you’re given the menu and your friendly waiter will proceed to explain it to you. The service has been good both times so far.

Smoked quail egg topped with caviar. I’m not a fan of anything smoked, so I wouldn’t order this again. Caviar is good though. The smokiness overpowered the caviar so there wasn’t any point to this combination as neither did the other any good. At SGD 18, this was a thumbs down for me, a small bite and not a very good one.

Beef marmalade and house pickles. The cloyingly sweet beef rib “marmalade” is cleverly balanced with a slightly fresh zing of pickles. Slathered on top of a square of sourdough bread, this little appetizer packs a punch of flavour.

I prefer this over the Burnt Ends Sanger, I find the latter remarkably underwhelming, but if you like pork, give it a whirl as that is one of their signature dishes. They’re both tasty and carefully executed for sure, I’m just left wondering if I could get something similar to the Burnt Ends Sanger at some other burger place that serves sliders and the sort.

The Belly Chop, served with an apple and raspberry concoction. There’s sufficient flavour on the belly chop with enough singe and sear to its exterior. While it is soft, there is still some bite to the meat. I’m wondering if they could take it a step further and make the fat absolutely melt in the mouth. It has been done with char siew, perhaps it could be replicated here. Good pairing with the apple and raspberry nonetheless. Classic with a tiny twist.

This crab leg was not on the menu and we had to ask for it specifically. I’m not usually a fan of crab but this shut all my prejudices up so that I sat silent, picking at all remnants of the sweet flesh from the expertly broken shells. I’m absolutely certain that a big part of its charm was the unctuous drenching of the crab in garlic butter and caper sauce, topped with a smattering of chopped fresh parsley. Our ever-friendly waited suggested sourdough bread to mop up that beautiful sauce. I gladly accepted and a couple of minutes later, was happily tearing up a warm, floury loaf of first-class, quality sourdough bread and sopping up all that lovely sauce with it. Scrumptious.

And then the Blackmore’s striploin, which was better than some of the cheaper cuts that we tried previously. This had a far better marbling that was evident in the tenderness of the final cooked steak. Beautifully fatty, you will need to break this up with bites of the pleasantly tangy watercress salad that it came with. The salad is no garnish that’s for sure! I’d order it as is and still enjoy every bite. Simplicity at its finest.

Pricey it is, but the right dishes shine through and give heft to the brand. However, I think that they should step up their game since they now hold a one star. I believe they can go much further than this.

Address: 20 Teck Lim Road, Singapore 088391

Phone: +65 6224 3933

Coconut Club, Singapore

Tags

brunch, coconut club, dinner, lunch, nasi lemak, nostalgic, restaurant review, singapore, singapore restaurants

Hands down, the best nasi lemak in Singapore. It’s comparable if not better than the famed Village Park nasi lemak in KL, by virtue of its superior fried chicken and convenient location, nestled within Ann Siang hill. I would, however, give Village Park the edge for its sambal.

The coconut club adopts a no straw policy. A minor inconvenience that’s for sure but I believe it’s a good notion, whether or not they’re trying to skimp on the cost of plastic straws.

You’re given a basic nasi lemak option and the option of jazzing it up with additional items like more egg, extra chicken and the such. I can’t quite remember the drinks unfortunately, although I most likely went for the Milo. Nasi Lemak and Milo, what a winning combination!

I greedily opted for an extra fried egg and almost regretted it when the food arrived. Portions are generous when it comes to their exceptional nasi lemak, not that I’m complaining at all as I love my food.

The fried eggs are nicely browned just around the edges and yolks ooze a perfect molten gold. Fried chicken is seasoned well and manages to be a tantalizing crisp golden brown on the outside and all tender juiciness on the inside. Even the ikan bilis is crisp and crackling perfect, nudging away every memory of stale, chewy ikan bilis in lesser eateries. And what is nasi lemak without the full monty ? There’s a generous helping of peanuts and the usual side of cucumbers to help combat the spice of some very delightful sambal. It can get a tad spicy, so fair warning.

We ended the meal with a bowl of chendol each. The shaved ice is so fine it tastes like it belongs in the acclaimed powder snows of Niseko. However, I tend to mix my chendol up and stir it into a soup before I eat it, so the texture was unfortunately lost on me. I would have preferred more gula melaka and other toppings but this was a decent go.

One of my favourite haunts these days, should I decide to let loose and go on a binge!

4.5/5 for the nasi lemak!

Address: 6 Ann Siang Hill, Singapore 069787

Magosaburou, ION Orchard, Singapore

Tags

beef, best beef in Singapore, bibimbap, japanese beef, japanese restaurant review, kobe, magosaburou, marbling, restaurant review, rib eye, rib eye core, sashimi, sashimi salad, shin shin, singapore, singapore beef restaurants, singapore japanese beef, singapore restaurant review, sirloin, steak, sushi, tenderloin, tongue, wagyu

I never eat beef. It’s pretty obvious as my blog has never featured beef. However, I couldn’t resist the temptation anymore as I’ve seen (and smelt!) many a succulent beef dish! So I thought, if I were to try beef anyway, why not go for one of the better beef places in Singapore? Which led me to Magosaburou, I’ve seen pictures of it online and it planted the seed of temptation into my head T___T. I’ve gone back a couple of times since, so this post would include pictures from 2 or 3 visits. I must say though I loved it at the start…but it got a little disappointing in my last visit. In any case, I shall lay off beef for a while… since I don’t usually eat it, my body just isn’t used to it!

So here goes… the first visit:-Sashimi salad. The best sashimi salad I’ve ever had! The sashimi slices were generous and in thick slabs, it had tuna, salmon, scallop and ikura in it. The sauce seemed like a sort of ponzu/goma sauce but it was divine with the salad! I always order this when I go. The last visit though, the slices seemed smaller and thinner. I’m not sure if it’s my imagination but I hope they don’t skimp on the sashimi the next time!Beautiful, healthy and tastyBotan Ebi and Uni sashimi. The sashimi is fresh, the prawn still retained a little crunch before your teeth sinks into the creamy centre. And I should add that the botan ebi is of a good size and plump to boot, not some prawn wannabe melting into obscurity with its head half hanging/wilting off its body. So two thumbs up for this. The uni was delicious too, fresh and creamy. No complaints on the sashimi end for this post  We ordered a la carte beef from the menu. Kobe Wagyu, Kurimi and some thinly sliced tongue. I don’t know my beef cuts well so I don’t know what Kurimi is!  We also ordered some samgyeopsal (marinated pork belly). Needless to say, the beef was still the main star of the show.The beef is presented nicely on a platter, this is where you decide whether you want to cook it yourself or have the restaurant cook it for you. We chose to leave it to the pros. The cooking makes or breaks the beef, so since this was going to be an expensive meal, we’d rather not risk it!Foie Gras Cawanmushi… apparently the foie gras was in a more solid form than this but I didn’t notice as I was busy taking photos of the beef.So this is what tongue tastes like… its delicious! Slightly chewy with some resistance, but with lots of flavour in it.Then the kurimi. Its delicious as well, but there is very little fat or marbling in it so its a little tough. But hey, what would I know right? I have no benchmark to compare it to!Then this came along. There was just no competition, this was hands down the best cut of the night. Its the Kobe-Wagyu and it was the most tender, full-bodied, amazing depth and round flavoured meat I’ve ever tasted. Now I know why people scoff at me when I say I eat lamb instead of beef. I really didn’t know what I was missing. My two dining companions were in raptures as well, though one of them did say that I should try the beef in Japan as its even better than this! Certainly this is the best he has tried in Singapore though.We ordered a bibimbap as well. It came in a stone pot so it would be of the dolseot bibimbap variety. Again this was a first for me. I never order bibimbap when I’m at a Korean restaurant, I usually opt for Kimchi Jiggae instead. I think I became a bibimbap fan after having this! It had the perfect ratio of vegetables and meat to rice, and that crispy rice which came from the bottom of the pot adds such a pleasant crunch without being so hard you have to chew voraciously at it. All in all, a good bibimbap indeed!

These are photos from the second visit. We got greedy and ordered the mixed beef platter as well as some kobe beef which was on promotion. I think this was a way better choice than ordering a la carte as I didn’t know what I was ordering!

The mixed platter includes the Kurimi and shin shin but also has Rib eye, rib eye core and a nice tenderloin steak.And the kobe promotion included more rib eye cuts and sirloin.Rib eye was amazing… thin slices of marbled, tender beef. I can’t remember what this was… either the sirloin or the rib eye. Both were equally good and melted so charmingly in my mouth. 

In comparison the shin shin was just alright. The rib eye core was fantastic as wellI think this is the tenderloin steak, done medium well with a touch of pink in the middle. I reckoned this was pretty well cooked with a nice sear on the outside. Had enough bite to it and was bursting with beefy goodness.

I must say though, at this point I felt I had too much fat. I should have had some rice to go with it, just a few slices of this would have been enough with it.

The thinly sliced rib eye. Since its that thin you barely needed to chew it. The meat itself had a lot of that beautiful marbling it so it was so juicy and again, oh so very slightly pink, that I think that if I put it in my mouth it would have just slid easily into my throat

I think the following photos were from another visit. The mixed platter set included tomo sankaku in place of one of the other cuts of meat. I believe the platter is an assortment of the chef’s choice cuts. I highly recommend the mixed platter!

Here’s a very bad photo of the bibimbap. Yes we ordered it again, it seemed quite small the second time though. Still delicious.

I didn’t fancy the tomo sankaku very much. Had a little bit of a strong smell to it.

And in repetition to the meats already shown:-

Something to note, I ordered the maguro and otoro sushi in my last visit. It was nothing great, the fish slices were small and doesn’t taper off like the authentically Japanese sushi. It’s also thin and miserable looking. For the price, which was outrageously expensive, I feel pretty ripped off on the sushi. I’d advise not to go for the sushi at all.

Even without the overly priced sushi, the bill is usually pretty steep. I normally spend up to SGD 500 for 2-3 people. So to maximize the experience, go for the beef platter and/or sashimi salad and bibimbap and forget about the sushi.

Details of the restaurant is as below:-

Magosaburou

Address: 2 Orchard Turn #04-11A & 05-01 ION Orchard, 238801

Phone:6634 1411

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

Tags

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.

Kinki, Singapore

Tags

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. ❤

Aurora Salmon at Kuriya Fish Market, Great World City, Singapore

Tags

Aurora Salmon, fatty salmon, food tasting, japanese, Kuriya FIsh Market, Leroy Seafood Group, Norwegian Seafood council, premium salmon, review, salmon sashimi, sashimi, singapore

About a month ago I attended a food tasting event at Ichiban Boshi at Great World City. It’s a place I used to frequent pretty often until a year or two back. I had a couple of not so very pleasant experiences and have since tried to avoid going back. However they’ve just recently introduced something interesting called Aurora Salmon at the Kuriya Fish Market which is attached to the restaurant. It is a kind of premium sashimi-grade salmon from Norway brought in by the Leroy Seafood Group.

The name itself caught my interest, there’s just something whimsical and a tad bit mysterious about it, just like its namesake “Aurora”. This salmon is indeed farmed under the Northern Lights of the Arctic Circle in a pristine environment and optimal conditions so as to produce salmon with a higher fat content. I’ve tried wild salmon before as well, it is a much deeper orange and has less fat content which is perhaps why I prefer the farmed ones.

I have to be honest and state that my favourite fish to have as sashimi is the tuna. I rarely ever specifically order salmon sashimi unless it comes in a set or in one of those mixed sashimi dishes. But I thought I’d set my prejudice aside and give it a go.

Seeing all the food bloggers there and the variety of good cameras being used, I was embarrassed clicking away on my iPhone. My SLR is just not user friendly enough to snap food pictures at a close distance or I’m just not good enough to handle it correctly. Not all the pictures here are mine. I need a 35mm lens!!!

So here’s the lunch menu:

And here are the chefs preparing salmon sashimi for us. The fish is absolutely plump, shiny and beautiful.

     

So we all had a first taste of the salmon sashimi before we sat down to lunch. I first tried it with soy sauce, but the soy sauce had a sour tang to it that got in the way of the salmon so I tried it again later without the soy sauce.

I must say as far as salmon sashimi goes, this is good stuff. You may not realize it right away, and you may even need to taste test normal salmon sashimi against the aurora salmon sashimi to see the difference, but it is indeed smoother, fattier and more savoury than your normal salmon. And then later on you might not want to buy normal salmon anymore.

So here are a few more pictures into lunch. I’m not sure if they will be including this into the Ichiban Boshi menu, I only know that the Aurora Salmon is being sold in Kuriya Fish Market outlets. The salmon is flown fresh into Singapore within 2-3 days of harvesting so I’m feeling pretty confident about its freshness.

Aurora Salmon carpaccio salad. It’s all right as far as salads go but I think the salmon skin could do with some work.Aurora Salmon sashimi. More of this please.

Aurora Salmon Miso Soup. I’m not a fan of salmon cooked in soup, it is so much tastier fried, baked or as sashimi. If you prefer milder flavours then perhaps you might like this, but fish cooked in soup tends to get overcooked and have a tendency to get tough as a result.

My favorites, the salmon teriyaki and assorted sushi platter 😉 Anything with mentaiko and mayonnaise is a winner! XD I hope for less rice in the sushi platter next time though, there was way too much in terms of rice to fish ratio.     

As I was leaving, I was pleasantly surprised when they handed me some Aurora Salmon sashimi to take home. Best door gift ever!

Salmon sashimi for dinner then!!!While I still don’t order salmon sashimi at restaurants I find that I’m actually craving this Aurora salmon, in all its buttery and smooth finery. It’s perfect with hot rice.Definitely going back for more soon!

 

Home cooking

Tags

deep fried breaded prawns, ebi fry, ebi furai, eggs, fried vegeables, healthy, Home Cooking, malaysia, onion and egg omelette, pork cutlet, singapore, steamed fish, steamed tofu and minced pork, steamed tofu and pork, tonkatsu

 

Just a quick post on what I made for dinner the other day when my family came over to Singapore. Typical food that you’d get in a Malaysian/Singaporean home.

Steamed fish, tofu with minced pork, fried egg onion omelette, stir fried vegetables and something that veers towards Japanese cuisine, the fried pork cutlets and prawns (Tonkatsu and ebi furai).

 

My kitchen, with the deep fried tonkatsu on a cooling rack and the ebi fry bubbling in the hot oil.

Beautifully golden ebi fry. My first attempt at it, will put up posts on how to make the tonkatsu and the ebi fry. Both dishes use almost the same method of preparation and cooking though 😉

 

Whoops, this picture came out sideways. This is the tofu dish, but I think I went overboard with the minced pork topping. May need to put up a proper post on this dish too. It goes amazingly well with rice and healthy to boot.

Steamed barramundi fish with lots of spring onions and chinese parsley (cilantro).

 

Tatsuya, Goodwood Hotel Singapore

Tags

akami, anago, bonito, caviar, ebi, flounder, goodwood hotel, goodwood park hotel, halfbeak, ikura, japanese omakase, japanese pear, japanese singapore, kajiki, maguro, musk melon, omakase, omakase singapore, otoro, prawn, restaurant review, salmon, sayori, sea urchin, seaweed, singapore, singapore restaurant, sushi rice, tatsuya, tuna, uni, yuzu

*Edit: Updated Review on Tatsuya here

I’ve heard quite a bit about Tatsuya from friends, and as Japanese omakase is my not-so-secret crush I was pretty thrilled when my makan kaki suggested Tatsuya for dinner. We went after the recent renovation so I have no idea what it looked like before.

It is a good sized traditional Japanese restaurant located at Goodwood Park Hotel and offers counter seats where you can watch the chefs do their thing as well as table seats.

As far as omakase goes, the rates are similar to other omakase restaurants in Singapore. We went for the SGD 280++ omakase option and topped up a little for desserts.

Sat at the counter, always very educational and you’re left with a better idea of the skill level of the chef as well as the dedication they put into their food.

Now, so far I’ve only been to the really traditional types of Japanese omakase restaurants and I expected Tatsuya to be the same. However, I quickly realized how wrong I was. Yes indeed they do go about the traditional methods of preparation but they also favor the technique of “aburi” (flame-torching) alongside using modern twists in preparing the fresh seafood.

Here’s a beautiful carpaccio dish that serves as a good example to the delightful little surprises that they come up with at Tatsuya.

Beautiful is it not?

First up we each had a dish of ikura with some yuzu grated over the top. What makes this ikura stand out is that each roe is separate from the other. I’ve gotten so used to roes sticking and clumping together that this came as a bit of a surprise. A good one of course. Each individual sac was fresh and not at all slimy, bursting with briny goodness. 

Some dish that the chef was preparing for the other guests.

Next, we had some simmered mackerel (on the left) and monkfish liver (on the right). I love monkfish liver, but I’d gauge these two dishes as average. Perhaps I just prefer raw fish haha!

Above, some flounder topped with seaweed, uni and bonito. Great texture on the fish, a little bite, alongside the game changers, the toppings. While the uni topping was my favourite, the bonito came a close second.

Here we had a plate of half beak (sayori) sashimi with ginger and spring onions. Shiny skinned fish tend to smell a little stronger so ginger and spring onions are often used to balance out the smell. As the fish was fresh there was hardly any smell, while the ginger and spring onion only served to heighten the flavour of the fish. 

Once we were done with the sashimi, they whisked away the bones of the fish and deep fried it so that you can enjoy those too and nothing is wasted. 

The next offering: a plate of delectable, thick-cut sashimi

Akami remains my favorite. The fried ebi topped with caviar and yuzu was heavenly as well. Fantastic combination.

This is something we did not try as we both do not take beef. It looks good doesn’t it? The fat on the beef was just melting before our eyes as they torched it.

❤

Torched abalone with yuzu, I think they must have added some butter at some point. Tender and flavorful, but not as mind blowingly good as the one I had at the curb market in Sapporo .

*drools*

Above, an aburi toro. Meltingly soft and juicy, the fish went so well with the rice, daikon and spring onions with just a hint of smoke from the torched surface.

This is definitely a place that has got its rice right. Nice short grains of lightly vinegared rice.

Next up, aburi Kajiki (swordfish belly) which had a little more bite to it in comparison to the toro. While it doesn’t hold a flame to the toro, it holds its own ground pretty well too.

Aburi Kampachi belly topped with bonito flakes, nori and roast sesame seeds. Oh and yuzu of course. I love how Tatsuya manages to blend all these strong flavours together and never overpower the fish. The flavours all come together very harmoniously.

This? Party in my mouth! Aburi Ebi with mentaiko mayo topped with yuzu and lumpfish caviar. BEST COMBINATION EVER! Or rather perhaps I’m biased towards anything with mentaiko mayonnaise. Prawn is amazing with that mixture. When they torched this baby I could hear the mentaiko popping furiously as they cook. The sweet mayo, marinated mentaiko, half crunchy, half creamy ebi and caviar just took this dish to level heaven (yes I’m dramatizing food, I loved it that much)

This is yet another favorite! Hotate (scallop) and Foie gras lightly touched and topped with yuzu and er… tiny anchovies haha. I thought that the anchovies got in the way of the scallop and foie gras a little. It was divine nonetheless.

Rich heavy foie gras with the smooth clean and creamy taste of the scallops… mmm…

This is something I’m more familiar with, the conventional sushi as it is. Uni and ikura ❤ 

I remember asking for no eel at the start of the meal. I’m not sure why this came but I’m glad it did. It was nicely broiled and delicious.

Lastly, a really crunchy, simple roll that you just eat with your hands. Simple, no fuss, minimalistic yet really satisfying. Did I mention that the nori is fabulously crunchy?

Chef preparing hunks of beef

Beef on fire! It was sizzling and I found myself drooling over a meat I’ve only tried once or twice in my life and never crave for!

Ended the course with some fruits; a musk melon and japanese pear. As Japanese fruits go, these were extraordinary in flavour and texture as well.

We couldn’t resist…. ordered a yuzu sorbet and caramel ice cream. Refreshing end to a fantastic meal.

Tatsuya

ADDRESS

22 Scotts Road Goodwood Park Hotel Singapore 228221

(65) 6737-1160

Nox Dine in the dark – Beach Road, Singapore

Tags

beach road, darkness, dine in the dark, dining concept, dining experience, nox, restaurant review, singapore

There will only be these three pictures for this restaurant review, because well it’s quite obvious. How do I take photos in the dark?!!!

I’ve been looking forward to this though as it has been several months since I started searching for a “Dine in the dark” concept. When this restaurant finally opened in August 2013 I quickly made a reservation. It is situated at Beach road so you may want to consider taking a cab there. Lots of places to get drinks after the meal.

Upon entrance there’s nothing much to impress; the lounge decor is simple, almost scant. You’ll hang out here for perhaps 20 minutes or so while you start off the evening with an Amuse-Bouche, a bite of food to go with some drinks.

They will explain what the evening would hold for you and give you a teaser of their menu… which says absolutely nothing about what you will be having 😉 That’s the whole fun of it! You will be asked to keep away any light emitting devices in individual lockers. So no cell phones! It’s also not a good idea to wear expensive clothes/shoes jusssttt in case you spill something while fumbling in the dark. Of course if you take care, that won’t happen!

That’s my first drink of the evening. I also ordered a champagne to eat with dinner while my dinner partner ordered a beer to go with his. So once we were done with this and put our stuff away in the lockers, we were introduced to our waiter Rahamat for the night.

He is blind.

I find it commendable that the Nox employs blind waiters as it gives them employment opportunities. They are also the only ones who can do this job. How else do you serve tables in the dark!

So he gets us to form a train behind him, hands on his shoulders and you walk up the stairs, slowly up the red carpeted stairs into absolute darkness. He continues to lead you slowly to your table, and you can hear the other guests talking around you. When you reach your table he seats us one by one, guiding each of us to our seat before proceeding to explain the table format. Here’s where the fumbling begins! I felt around just to know where my utensils are, as well as my champagne and water.

Suddenly I just felt like all my senses were awakened and that I pay better attention to everything around me. The chatter, the clinks and the conversation I was having with my dinner partner. It was pretty amazing I think.

They first served the appetizers. There are four bowls of appetizers placed onto a wooden tray. I find that putting the bowl near your mouth and slurping the food from there is a better bet rather than trying to eat in a civilized manner. No one’s gonna see you anyway! And besides, there is no use in waiting for your eyes to adjust to the darkness because it is pitch black in there! The dinner conversation revolved around figuring out what we were eating, which is a whole topic by itself. Then you’d question if you actually knew what meat you were putting in your mouth? Chicken? Pork? I must have been sleep-eating all this while because I couldn’t figure it out.

The food was delicious though. From the 4 appetizers to the 4 mains and the 4 desserts, everything was well cooked and tasty. Of course I can’t describe it here otherwise that would be spoiling the fun for you. It doesn’t break the bank either. After we were done with desserts we just sat and talked. This is without the distractions of surroundings and phones. Purely just talking and concentrating on the conversation… that’s something I haven’t done in a really long time! See what smartphones have done to us! Nowadays we can’t even get through a conversation without someone picking up the phone and getting distracted with it T____T

I loved every second! Even when I was groping around for the food and despite all the food that got onto my chin, it was a magical experience in my opinion. I now have a deeper appreciation of my eyesight!

Once you’re done you call out your waiter’s name and he will guide you out and down the stairs into the light again. Back at the lounge you will be asked to guess the food you’ve eaten and only then will they reveal the pictures of the food and the full menu. I guessed some of it wrongly T_____T Shame on me lol!

I highly recommend this restaurant for both dining experience and the food, and would love to go back when they have changed their menu! Can’t wait in the meantime 😉

Details for Nox Dine in the dark:

+65 6298 0708

269 Beach Road Singapore 199546

http://www.noxdineinthedark.com/reservations/,