The Grand Aussie Tour

With some (okay, a lot) of time on our hands, Ed and I thought we would take a not-so-short trip to unwind, recharge and reflect. We contemplated numerous options - we ruled out Europe since we'll be heading in that direction next year for some work; we considered Alaska but got freaked out when we read that we'd have difficulty booking accommodation and especially renting a car if we hadn't already done so at least three months in advance; and we would have done a Grand South-East Asia trip if our friends did not remind us that we could always visit various parts of our neighbouring countries over many short trips given how accessible they were from Singapore. 

After much contemplation, and fighting our inner desire to go to the less travelled path, we chose Australia. Neither of us had been there much in our adult years. We thought we had plenty of time, but it turns out the two months was just enough to scrape the surface of the huge and beautiful country. We went there with certain expectations but had them surpassed and lapped, and achieved more than what we thought we would.

There are plenty of guide books and internet resources for places to spend the night in, things to see and food to eat in Australia. We found ourselves visiting Urbanspoon very often when deciding where to eat (nearby) for crowd-sourced reviews and ratings, and were recommended Beanhunter for the coffee-joint equivalent. They gave more up-to-date information such as the opening/closing hours or whether the standard of the food dropped. 

There were still a few things that really stood out to us. These were places we would certain return to in future when we visit Australia again. 

Perth - City

Eat: The Mushroom Pesto Papardelle at Cantina 663 (663 Beaufort Street) was sublime. It was packed full of flavour from the generous serving of mushrooms and pesto, which had plenty of flat-leaf parsley (one of my favourite herbs). I licked the plate clean. It helped that the restaurant had a really cool, laid-back vibe. We saw lots of pate going to other tables, which we would probably have ordered if the portion was not so gigantic. But what a happy problem.

Adelaide - Kangaroo Island and Barossa Valley

Clockwise from top left: Koala at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, Snake skin and Kookaburra at Radical Raptors, and Seals at Seal Bay Conservation Park

See: Kangaroo Island isn't teaming with kangaroos but there are plenty of wildlife to occupy your time. Just a short 45 minute ferry ride away from a jetty south of the city, it was definitely worth a journey down. 

Eat: There's something particularly gamey about the pork in Australia that made us avoid it. But when we were told that the pork belly at Cafe Y (Barossa Valley) was wood-fired and cooked over two days, Ed was intrigued and ordered it. I'm so glad he did because it was divinely tender with a delicately sweet glaze, and none of that gaminess. The manager, Elias, was also beyond hospitable and entertained us with stories of the resident geese and chicken. He also recommended getting some of the 20 year-old muscat from the Yaldara Estate just next door. We couldn't be happier with our purchase.

Melbourne - Phillip Island

See and Eat: Having had very little luck in previous fishing trips, we were slightly hesitant about going fishing for trout albeit at a farm (Rhyll Trout and Bush Tucker Farm). But they couldn't have made it easier with their indoor pond. We succumbed to the indoor experience after braving the winds (since this was in winter) for about half an hour with nary a bite. They helped with everything, even casting the line which was easier said than done. We couldn't even hook the live bait of earthworms! Overall, the experience was seamless, and the fish tasted incredibly sweet. But I couldn't help thinking how unlucky those two specific trout were that morning. 

Tasmania - Hobart and Launceston

Eat: On our first night in Tasmania, we decided to treat ourselves to a meal at Garagistes. We were incredibly fortunate to have entered early as the restaurant was almost fully booked. Sitting at the bar, we had a great view of the entire food preparation area. We could fully appreciate the precision required in the plating of each dish, and the effort put into ensuring the flavour of each component of the dish was exactly as intended. The service staff were also particularly attentive and hospitable.

See: The photo says it all. Just a short car ride away from the town, a breathtaking view awaits. If you're lucky, you may even see snow!

Stay: Relbia Lodge was a lucky find. While we usually stayed in the heart of town, I decided to take a risk with Relbia Lodge after seeing the stunning photos on their website. It turned out to be just a relaxing 15 minute relaxing drive away from town and a really stunning piece of property. The interior was very tastefully done and more importantly, had an incredibly well-equipped kitchenette. Our hosts, who stayed just up the road, also made sure we were comfortable while still respecting our privacy. 

Sydney

See: The Queen Victoria Building (QVB) is hard to miss amidst all the tall and cold buildings. It was such a great respite from the noise and rush of the streets; and a treasure trove of cafes and boutiques to browse at your own pace. The detail in the architecture is also worth a few moments of awe.  

Eat: With an incredibly high rating on Urbanspoon, and just a hop and a skip away from where we stayed, Buffalo Dining Club was an easy decision to make. We ordered their gnocchi and cacio e pepe. Both were flawless and left us both full but wanting more. This was definitely a place I would return to, despite the slightly curt service. 
We definitely enjoyed our time in Australia thoroughly, but after two months away from home and our two lovely cats, we were eager to stop living out of a luggage. And now we're home, and I could not be happier.  

Preview of South Africa

It has been incredibly surreal, these last 10 days. My dearest husband decided that he would plan our best vacation ever a.k.a. the honeymoon. South Africa is truly, as one of our friends put it, 'beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful...' Sitting at the balcony of the Birkenhead House, with a dreamily misty view of the waves crashing against the cliff, seagulls flying above, and the gentle warmth of the afternoon sun enrobing my calves, I (and I assume Ed too) simply could not ask for more.

But of course, South Africa has more than 'just' that to offer. We've travelled from Johannesburg to Pretoria, to Cape Town, Stellenbosch and now Hermanus. While it may sound tiring for what has only been ten days, I assure you it was not. During our stay in Stellenbosch alone, Ed and I have discovered salads that rank among our top five salads ever, a cup of hot chocolate with hazelnut that really deserves to be a dessert in itself, how awesome freshly (and well) shucked live oysters are, and our new favorite snack of dried beef/game called biltong. I fully intend to put together the top five (or ten) must eat/live places in South Africa just based on this short trip that I hope will not be our last. In the meantime, here's a little collage to whet your appetites.

Yuw Meng in Johor

Due to some problems with my laptop, the blogposts of the last couple of months (okay, probably longer) have only been about places/food when I had taken photos of those said places/food with my iPhone. Having just gotten my laptop fixed, I am now faced with a multi-lemma - which awesome food experience should I blog about first? There's this awesome dinner that revolved around a duck stuffed with turkey and chicken - an interesting adaptation of the often attempted Turducken at Christmas celebrations, a Penang trip where I discovered the wonderful eats at Kimberly Street and an incredibly light egg white batter for fish and chips that I found in Damien Pignolet's French cookbook, among many others. After possibly too much deliberation, I decided it would be a travesty not to first blog about this amazing eatery in our neighboring country that I had the fortune to visit in April this year.

A mere 45 minute car ride from Singapore, into a rather desolated place in Johor, Malaysia, is a small town called Kulai. And within Kulai, is an even smaller coffeeshop called Yuw Meng selling your usual tze char (see Wikipedia for definition of 'tze char') fare and then some. If exotic food is not up your alley, don't let the sight of a deep-fried squirrel on its menu scare you as I assure you the rest of its menu is more... sane. Fortunately, Ed and I were accompanied by 2 regular patrons who knew exactly what to order, and who had appetites as big as (if not bigger than) Ed's. With the smallest appetite in the group, I definitely gained the most out of this arrangement as we could order for four persons what would comfortably feed 8, to have a wide sampling of their food.

To start off the meal however, we had a glass of ice cold beer each, under our companions' insistence. It was, very simply, a bottle of Heineken, poured into small frosty glasses for each of us. Not being a fan of all types of beer, except when mixed with a little ginger beer for a shandy, I was initially unimpressed. That is until I took a sip. Beneath that simple presentation and thick beer head were tiny shards of beer icicles, creating the most amazing texture and sensation when drunk. My best guess at how they managed this is by super-freezing their glasses just before serving, perhaps with nitrogen. But it is difficult to imagine this roadside coffeeshop storing a couple of canisters of nitrogen in its kitchen.

In general, the food was excellent. Every dish well-executed, with all the wok hei we had hoped for in our meal. The picture above shows Ed's and my favourite dishes of the night. The dish of scallops, lotus root, celery, carrots, snowpeas and macadamia nuts were, very surprisingly, Ed's top dish. He eats his vegetables, but they almost always seem like an afterthought in our meals and an obligatory attempt at getting some fibre into our diet amidst the copious amounts of carbohydrates and protein. So to hear that he enjoyed that particular dish the most certainly caught me by surprise. I tried recreating the dish back home, and apart from the wok hei, I also couldn't re-engineer the incredible crunch of the thin slivers of lotus root.

As for the dish that stole my heart, it is difficult to decide whether it was the spicy fried cockles or the homemade tofu with century egg. Few know that I have a love affair with all sorts of molluscs, especially cockles. Of course, Ed knows. When he has laksa, he would selflessly order more cockles despite not really liking the taste, and fish out all the cockles out for me. So you can imagine my delight when our companions at Yuw Meng ordered a plate of cockles fried with a smattering of chopped bird's eye chilli. Each cockle, extraordinarily fresh and plump, carried a little sweetness and made the long queue at the Causeway (when Malaysia introduced a new fingerprinting system for all entering visitors) a distant memory.

But the homemade tofu was perfection. Served with quarters of century egg and sweet thai chilli sauce, and garnished with chopped spring onion, homemade tofu never tasted so good. If I wasn't already so stuffed by the time the dish arrived, I would have happily ordered another serving of that tofu all for myself.

The other also stellar dishes we had included fried hokkien mee, fried mee sua, steamed fish head, sharks' fin soup, black pepper crab, and fried pork spare ribs. (See below.) Without belabouring the point, the food was excellent and worth many return trips. We recently met up with one of our travel companions at that time, and my heart jumped with joy when he suggested organising another such trip soon.

Yuw Meng
44 Jalan Serulin 2
Taman Seri Kulai
81000 Kulai
Johor, Malaysia

For directions, click here.

Manhill Restaurant

Ed and I were on Sentosa yesterday morning and trawled the internet for places worth having lunch at on the island. We came across good reviews of places that were too expensive for our mood and bad reviews of places that fit our budget. While I was still flicking through pages of reviews on my iPhone (I finally got one!) in hopes of finding a suitable lunch venue, Ed excitedly recalled a restaurant called 'Manhill Restaurant', just down the road from the entrance to Sentosa, which he had always wanted to try. I brushed aside all instincts to stay on the island (since we would have to pay to enter the island in future) and decided to check out this place he had mentioned a few times before but never tried because of its elusive location.

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Armed with my iPhone's GPS - gone are the days of driving in endless circles - we confidently made our way to Manhill Restaurant. At the same time, I read online reviews of the restaurant and was thoroughly entertained by the vivid descriptions of the food posted by fans of the restaurant. By the time we found parking near the restaurant, we already knew which signature dishes we were going to order.

And so, despite not being incredibly hungry, Ed and I ordered 4 dishes - Paper-wrapped Chicken, Claypot Beef, Sambal Kangkong, Apple Soup (clockwise from top right) - and finished it! The dishes were unassuming, flavourful and flawlessly executed. Each dish was comforting to the last bite. Where it was meant to be juicy, it was. Where it was meant to be crunchy, it was. Where it was meant to be rich and gorgeously silky and perfumed with garlic and onions, it most certainly was! I was so bowled over from the meal that I have been spreading this wonderful treasure to colleagues and friends ever since.

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On the way home, Ed and I talked about the dishes we would order again (chicken, for sure) and other dishes we would want to try (pork ribs, eight treasures claypot) the next time we return. Considering how stuffed we were when we were having the conversation, that is certainly a very good sign.

[Update: We went back and the pork ribs are to die for. So are the prawns fried in black bean sauce.]

Manhill Restaurant

99 Pasir Panjang Road

Tel: 6474 6835

Woori Nara

Some of you have probably been there already, heck, there's even a Youtube video taken of in it. But I'm guessing most of you have never even heard of Lorong Kilat. I wouldn't have myself, if not for a dear friend and colleague who, like me, enjoys sharing her love for food with others and pointed me in that direction for some kickass deep fried chicken.

Who would have known that the Koreans would be the creators of such incredibly light, crunchy and delicious pieces of deep fried chicken? On our very first visit to Woori Nara, Ed and I ordered half a 'Volcano Yum Yum' chicken (ok, so their strength isn't in naming their dishes) and half a Soy Garlic chicken. We liked those very much, although we thought they might have overdid the sauce a little. Out of greed, we also ordered another serving of the 'Crispy and Mild' chicken and were henceforth sucked into the mystical world of Korean deep-fried chicken.

We have never looked back. Sure, we have tried other items on their menu which were generally decent, but getting our hands on some of their chicken is a must for every visit. It is also the place we think of whenever we have a deep fried chicken craving. I recommend wash it down with some refreshing rice drink (similar to our barley drink, except with rice - top picture) to complete your meal.

Woori-Nara Korean Restaurant
19 Lorong Kilat 01-02
Tel: 6464-9282.

Tea Bone Zen Mind Cafe

This place isn't one of my favourite places on earth to while away weekends. There isn't a small collection of books, especially not books with those cool, embossed covers. The grilled cuttlefish they serve is also rather tiring on the jaw.

It doesn't have incredible 'tea eggs' with still-runny egg yolks and just-set egg whites.

It doesn't have a wide selection of premium teas. I never order their Iced Pear Tea everytime I go there because its poached pear isn't the most yummy poached fruit ever.

You shouldn't try this place, ever. Really, don't bother. It is already crowded enough as it is.

Chinese mitten crabs

When I was in Shanghai last year for a dreaded work-trip, the only silver lining of the trip was one of the meals we had there that featured Chinese mitten crabs, more commonly known as hairy crabs. It was my first time having it, and I was fortunate a Shanghainese fluent in English was seated next to me and gave me some tips on the most efficient way to extract its sweet flesh and enjoy the abundant, uber-rich roe.

I had fallen in love with the elusive crab ever since and was elated when Ed spotted an advertisement in the newspaper for a hairy crab menu at Ah Yat Abalone Restaurant (Allson Hotel) and suggested we try it. We had one relatively large hairy crab - 250g - each, with plenty of roe. Like in Shanghai, they were served whole at our table. However, unlike in Shanghai, a waitress snipped each hairy crab into neat sections for us. The main body was snipped into two, while the skinny legs were separated into neat segments for us to push the meat out with even skinner chopsticks.

The roe was, as expected, incredibly creamy and unctuous. We savoured every little bit of the roe, and spent near to an hour ensuring the shell was stripped clean of every ounce of its delicately sweet flesh. Given its size, persons who consider eating normal Sri Lankan crabs a chore would certainly find eating hairy crabs too fussy.

Two of the other items on the menu - sharksfin soup with hairy crab roe, and abalone - were superb as well. I was pleasantly surprised that their sharksfin soup surpassed any of the other sharksfin soups I had tried even at restaurants specialising in sharksfin. And the abalone, well it was about three quarter the size of my palm and unbelievable sweet to the last bite.

Knowing how much hairy crabs cost in Shanghai, the price of SGD$168++ per person for a full hairy crab menu was quite alarming, but it was truly a spectacular meal.

Eating like a man

While I grudgingly admit my appetite is usually no different from any other Singaporean female (I hear Taiwanese and Japanese ladies have incredibly tiny appetites), I relish in being able to 'eat like a man'. This involves consuming vast quantities of food, a significant portion of which is of meat.

Occasionally, I find myself with an insatiable appetite, needing to eat every 3 or 4 hours, and always craving for something savoury. This is a great departure from my past self where I would happily start at the dessert station of buffet spreads - now, I may even skip the dessert! Whenever I crave for a huge hunk of meat, the uber tender steak at Hooha Cafe immediately comes to mind. Perfect grill marks adorn every piece of 1.5 inch thick steak. Every tenderloin, the epitome of tenderness. Happily, not many people have heard of them, but more on Hooha another time.

When I visited Magma with a couple of friends for dinner, I was having one of those massive meat cravings. The delightful service staff recommended the steak tartare, declaring that many of their diners have said theirs is the best. I snapped up the offer and could not wait to tuck in. The waiter wheeled in the raw mince with all the condiments on the side in pretty sauce jugs then went through evidently well-practiced moves of mixing the condiments with the raw mince then making quenelles out of the final product. Each quenelle was scooped onto a small square toast then served.

It was a dish meant to be shared as a starter, but I had it all. By myself. It had a good balance of flavours and texture, and remains one of the top few carnivorous dishes I'd choose whenever I have a massive meat craving. If not for the fact it is not easy to find, I would be having it far more often.

Happy Finds in Penang

When colleagues found out Ed and I were planning to visit Penang for 5 whole days, they thought we had lost our minds. They were nonetheless very helpful in recommending places to eat at and surrendered lists of great hawkers in Penang for each of the famous dishes - Assam Laksa, Chendol, Char Kway Teow, Kway Teow Teng, Pork Intestine Porridge, Hokkien Mee, Duck Soup Mee Sua... and the list goes on.

While we did manage to visit some, eating at Penang is similar to eating in Japan. Like my close friend, V, once endearingly said, "Throw stone also got good food." Though grateful for the recommendations, we would probably have had just as great an experience without them.

On top of eating fabulous hawker food at Gurney Drive or at random coffeeshops next to our hotel (top picture), we visited a couple of eateries recommended by bloggers were living in Penang. Possibly one of our favourite meals was in Hot Wok.

Stoked by an immense hunger that stemmed from being lost for almost an hour, we went ballistic over the menu and ordered much more than we should have ate - and then finished it anyway. The Otak (steamed, curried fish paste) and Tau Eu Bak (pork stewed in dark soy sauce) were sublime. I practically drenched my plate of rice in the deliciously savoury sauce.






Determined to walk off our incredibly heavy lunch, we wandered into smaller roads where we spotted siTigun, a 'bicycle pitstop cafe'. Like the other shops around the area, a lazy vibe oozed from its doorstep onto the five foot way and we were inexplicably drawn to its seats.

The cafe was charming with the couple of bicycles parked inside, a small fountain going on in the back of the shop, and a handful of colourful lanterns reflecting the midday sunlight. They had decent coffees, a small selection of snacks (so much for our plan to walk off our heavy lunch) and very helpful service staff. Because it was such a breath of fresh air among the other run-of-the-mill shops in the area, I absolutely fell in love with the place.



One of our last meals in Penang was in Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant & Bar just further down from Gurney Drive (10 mins by taxi). Having little experience with Bulgarian food, we ordered simply what sounded good. The menu was pretty extensive and we were torn among a couple of dishes. We finally settled on cod, a platter of meat and sausages, and some cheese-stuffed bacon skewers to share.

The sausages were decent and the cod a little too rich for me, but the stuffed bacon skewers floored my partner and I. Slightly crisped bacon with soft molten cheese, it was difficult to resist. If our mains weren't so filling, we would probably have ordered one more dish of that artery clogging stuff. 5 days might have been an unusual amount of time to spend in Penang as a tourist, but there was truly so much good food Ed and I wouldn't have minded hanging around for a day or two more.

Vintage Bulgaria Restaurant & Bar
1-E, Jalan Sg Kelian
Tanjung Bungah
Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +604-8981890

The View of Mount Fuji From Hakone

I mentioned in the previous post that we went to Hakone as well. Frankly, we would probably never have chosen to go to Hakone if not for the fact that it was recommended by various guidebooks if one wants to see Mount Fuji without having to actually go to the mountain itself.

We started out rather ambitious, thinking that if we had time to visit Mount Fuji, we would. Even more ambitious, we thought we could have a go at climbing the colossal creature for 'just' an hour upwards before turning back. Of course, the plan started crumbling the moment we reached Tokyo and ventured around the Ikebukuro region and spotted numerous eateries we wanted to try - we ended up attempting to 'restaurant-hop', eating only one or two dishes from each restaurant. There was simply insufficient time to explore the entire city, especially since we ventured out into Kyoto for a couple of days.

And so we decided to just go to Hakone, sneak a peek at Mount Fuji, then go back. But what was meant to be simply an afternoon at a park eating our Onigiri-s while gazing lovingly at Mount Fuji, turned into a full-day affair. Hakone had an inexplicable charm about it that made my companion and I a little reluctant to leave.

Walking out of the Hakone-Yumoto station, we simply ventured straight down the path, thinking that Mount Fuji would be so huge that it would be impossible to miss and visible from many points in Hakone. Of course, that was not true. Walking past a long row of shophouses, we thought this must be the way to wherever it was that one could see Mount Fuji since shops usually line strategic pathways.

I was most excited when we spotted a shop selling handmade rice crackers (aka Wang Wang biscuits) and couldn't resist a taste. Using our handy 'Yubisashi (pointing) sheet of expressions', we pointed to the Japanese translation of 'Is there a recommended dish?' and was immediately directed (more pointing) towards two types of rice crackers in the shop. We chose one of each, which were put into a brown paper bag, and went on our way.

Munching our deliciously savoury, crunchy biscuits, we soon found ourselves following 3 old ladies walking purposefully on a narrow strip of grass by the side of the road. Thinking they must have know a secret route none of the people in the crowd at the train station knew, we carried on along the path with them. That is, until we spotted signs of hot springs. And the old ladies disappeared.

Worn out and disappointed, we turned back and walked up the path leading to the row of shophouses again. Feeling like we needed a break from our tiring walk (yes, I can't believe we wanted to climb Mount Fuji), we went to the 2nd floor cafe of the first shop from the train station.

It was elegantly serene and all we needed to distract us from our disappointing trip so far. It also doubled up as a boutique for beautiful home accessories and clothes. Our iced tea and adorable red bean pancake (see inset) was yummy and comforting, and inspired me to want to set up a similar cafe of my own that would make people feel the way I felt at that time - at peace. After a good rest, we set off again with renewed resolve to look for Mount Fuji.

Consulting the tourist information centre, which we really should have done at the beginning, we were advised to take a Hakone Tokzan bus to Lake Hashi where they said was a viewing point for Mount Fuji and where there were sights to see. It cost us almost SGD$30 each for a return ticket on the bus, and considering we were running out of cash and no atm nor money changer in view, it was expensive.

But it was well worth it. Even the long winding journey was worth it.

Even if only for this.

The lake was beautiful, and... peaceful. But most importantly, at least to us, was the small Coffee and Sausage Restaurant we chanced upon that was run by two endearing old men in aprons. It was the sign that first caught our eye and curiosity. The cafe was quaint with some good smelling sausages and coffee. Having eaten a pancake a mere hour ago, we thought it would be best to share a hotdog.

It was one truly delicious hotdog. Everything was perfect - the slightly toasted soft buns, the juicy flavourful spicy sausage, wholegrain mustard and tomato ketchup. We couldn't have asked for more. It was truly fate that we alighted from the bus just steps away from this Coffee and Sausage Restaurant. If we were not already so stuffed, we would have eaten in and ordered more.

So our trip to Hakone was eventful, from taking the wrong path to finding awesome food. But what happened to trying to see Mount Fuji? Sadly, it was a cloudy day and Mount Fuji was out of sight from Hakone, no matter where we stood. With the hotdog and each other, standing at the edge of Lake Hashi however, I don't think we would be any more happy even with a view of Mount Fuji.

Kyoto Kaiseiki.. Not.

With the 7-day Japan Rail Pass, the world would truly be your oyster in Japan. At the drop of a hat, you could go to Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, Hakone... the possibilities are endless. Wanting to try an authentic Kaiseiki meal, and having set aside a small fortune before even having left Singapore, my companion and I took the JR train to Kyoto before the dust had even settled on our luggage in Tokyo.

Walking down the main shopping street in Kyoto, we were like kids in a candy store when we chanced upon a not-so-Japanese shop called Angers (we later found other outlets in Tokyo). Grabbed a whole bag of gifts for friends, family and self and was surprised by the paper-bag-within-plastic-bag-thing they had going. Slight drizzle apparently triggers this reaction from sales persons throughout Kyoto (and possibly Japan).

Admittedly, we didn't set aside enough time for Kyoto than she deserved. But it did not matter as long as we got to try a proper kaiseiki meal. We figured the main shopping street would have its fair share of restaurants serving kaiseiki meals and that we'd be able to kill 2 birds with a stone.

Alas, after much miscommunication (as should be expected since we didn't know their native language) we ended up waiting for an hour in a restaurant only to find out that their kaiseiki set meal in their menu wasn't available that day. I was utterly disappointed and on the verge of walking out.

Thankfully, my very patient companion made the best of the situation and ordered a slew of dishes from the standard menu instead, because every bite redeemed our experience. With every new dish, my spirits calmed down and tastebuds tingled with joy. Sashimi was great, so great we ordered another round of it. It was also the first encounter with uni for both of us and while I quite enjoyed it, my companion could do without it. One small happy find was the side of fresh shreds of ginger flower served with sashimi (which we encountered in one or two other places in Japan), in addition to the usual shredded daikon.

One of the most pleasant dishes in our meal was the beancurd dish. Famous for their soy products, the trio of beancurd was divine. Each was smooth and very... clean. For lack of a better word. Served in a small bamboo cup was a concoction of soft delicate sheets in pure soy milk. Other dishes we tried, all of which we enjoyed thoroughly, include grilled beef and ochazuke/bubuzuke (rice with green tea and fish broth).

The dessert looked perhaps, the least impressive of all the dishes. Green tea ice cream with Tanda black beans. However, it inspired me the most. I wanted to teleport home and replicate the green tea ice cream's flawless and milky texture, served with the sweet plump black beans. I was so infatuated, I bought 1 kg worth of Tanda black beans from The Bean Guy at Tsukiji Market.

Despite the mix-up at the beginning of our meal, we left very pleased with the outcome of the meal even though it meant I never got to try a kaiseiki meal. The manager was evidently apologetic for the miscommunication and overcompensated when tallying our bill. I would certainly be glad to revisit the restaurant, whose name I can only guess is Saryo Mina from the weblink on the name card, again.

Awesome Tokyo

On the flight back from Tokyo to Singapore, my travel companion and I marvelled at the amount we accomplished during our short 7 day break in Japan. The sheer amount we ate was enough to make us absolutely satisfied with the way the vacation went (and also fearful of the weighing machine of course), without even considering the sights along the way.

Very much has been written about Tokyo, and the places one just HAS to visit. In my preparation for this trip, I consulted Chubby Hubby's Tokyo Hot List, knowing that the places recommended would never disappoint. We would have tried all the recommendations if not for the limited time we had. Here's our little list of food/places we tried which includes those in CH's list:

One) Yakitori - Gingko Nut

I have always been rather averse to Gingko Nuts. If I do eat them, it could only be for one of two reasons - health purposes (I treat it like medication) or sheer accident. Oh wait, add to that the pure curiosity I had when my companion ordered it. Grilled over high heat and lightly salted, these gingko nuts were incredible. Not in the least bit bitter, it was even a little sweet!

Two) Park Hyatt Hotel - Sunday brunch at New York Grill
3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-Ku
Tel: +81 3 5322 1234

Located in the heart of Tokyo, the restaurant perched on the top of the hotel at the 52nd floor is encased in floor-to-ceiling glass windows allowing a fantastic view of the city below. The Sunday Brunch's appetisers and mains were decent, but do leave space for the dessert buffet or, like me, you'd be missing out on the best part of the meal. Reservations are highly encouraged - do request for window seats.

Three) Hida Beef
In my previous post, I mentioned briefly how I was unable to find Kobe beef in Tokyo (more specifically Ikebukuro) but was instead offered Hida beef. While it is not as rich or buttery as its counterpart in Kobe, Hida beef was also an excellent example of beef which I assume has similar breeding methods. The Hida beef sushi was sublime. It simply melted away and was well accentuated with a cube of tangy jelly among other things (we didn’t bother to ask what it was since the waitress, while helpful, was not in her element speaking English).

I can’t seem to find any information online on the breeding programme for cows from Hida. The search instead brought up a couple of other varieties of beef (some of which have apparently triumphed over the Kobe in some competitions) – Matsuzaka, Yonezawa, Lake Towada, Ishigaki, Yamagata.

Four) Cool Train Service
The novelty of beautifully packaged and very decent food on trains has not worn off despite having taken the Japan Rail train numerous times. The conscientious packaging, taking care of even your post-meal needs (wet towel and toothpick), made sure that neither function nor form was neglected. The styrofoam (my one gripe: not environmentally friendly) container that looked like wood was very hardy and very neatly separated the rice from the abundant side dishes. On a side note, it was rather amusing to see the service staff as well as train conductors bow before entering and after exiting every carriage.

Five) Sadaharu Aoki
A must-do we chose from Chubby Hubby’s Hot List, we fully agree with his judgement on the éclairs. The chocolate éclair we tried had a delectably smooth chocolate filling. We also had a bite-sized selection of cakes, our unanimous favourite being the-one-with-hazelnut (sorry, I was too engrossed to take down its name). Neatly wrapped cookies and financiers were also available and made great souvenirs for foodie-friends. We were not particularly pleased however with their compulsory drink order per person wishing to eat in, not especially since the drinks averaged an astounding SGD15.

Six) Hidemi Sugino
Kyobashi Daiei Building 3-6-17 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku
81-3-3538-6780
Thankfully, Hidemi Sugino’s cafe was more hospitable in that respect – no compulsory drink order. However, finding the shop was a challenge as it was in a small and non-descript alley. My companion and I had to resort to asking a passerby, who very patiently helped us by calling the shop and asking for directions. He seemed mighty amused that we were looking so desperately for a cake shop, and drew a very comprehensive map using a pink highlighter he took from his shirt pocket. When we arrived, I was slightly disappointed that they only had 4 varieties of cake left. We arrived only in the late morning, mind you. The cakes were supremely light, with a good balance of textures and flavours in each of them. All the walking (most of which was in the wrong direction) was well worth it.

Seven) La Bombance
Of the four gourmet experiences recommended by Chubby Hubby, we chose to try La Bombance because it sounded most exciting. Our dinner at La Bombance was fabulous. Though, it would have helped knowing exactly what we were eating. The menu was entirely in Japanese and the chef was only able to go so far as to say that what we were eating was a kind of vegetable or a kind of seafood. A friend later helped me decipher and menu and it seems that our first course was a soup with Tortoise(!!). Nonetheless, every item (except perhaps the curried aubergine mousse with tomato jelly which was a hit with my companion) was sublime. Service was pleasant, despite the language barrier, and presentation of food was elegantly simple. In fact, a pair of men sitting 2 seats away admired each course for a l.o.n.g t.i.m.e before tucking in. My companion and I, on the other hand, very unsophisticatedly lapped them and lapped up every morsel.

Eight) Tsukiji Market and Unforgettable Sashimi Place

We forced ourselves to wake up at the most unearthly hour in order to reach there at 445am, in time to fumble our way towards the big warehouse - where the action was at. The tuna auction was an absolute entertainment. Potential bidders were examining each tuna with a hooked prong, by thwacking the exposed end to extract some flesh. I saw some mashing of the flesh between fingertips. I saw close examinations of the flesh under a torchlight. Furious ringing of a bell indicated that an auction was about to commence. I was baffled, trying to figure out how the auctioneer determined the winner of each bid, but enjoyed the 'performance' nevertheless.

The rest of the market was full of yummy goodies that made us hungry even at 6am in the morning. It made me incredibly envious of the Japanese who have access to such fresh seafood. Some things made me cringe though - the battered and deep-fried crab that was still alive and frothing at the mouth (top left in photo above) - as well as the huge octopus eggs being hawked (bottom left).

The highlight of our visit to the Tsukiji Market was our wonderful find in a small back alley that led to a passway for huge containers of seafood. It was serendipity. After buying some Tanda black beans from The Bean Guy, we decided to turn around and ask him for a recommendation for a place to eat sashimi. He first went to the alley behind his shop then peeked his head out from around the corner, and waved his hand beckoning us to follow him. What we were led to was a small, 9 seater sashimi restaurant where we had sashimi that blew us away. I'll never look at Hotate (scallop) the same way again. Even the tamago sushi impressed us to no end.

We were understandably grateful to The Bean Guy for this superb recommendation and would strongly recommend anyone to visit this sashimi place if they're in the vicinity. Unfortunately, they do not have an English namecard, and all I could get is pictured in the top right hand corner of the photo above. I would suggest printing the picture out and asking for directions to the address at the market itself. What would also be useful is the Tsukiji Market calendar that indicates when the market closes.

Converted

Yes, that's right. I'm a convert. While I've always been happy to eat Japanese cuisine, I now aim to eat Japanese at least once a week. Thankfully my new office (yes I've changed jobs) is right next to Central, where there is no lack of ramen, sashimi and even hambagaa.

In between jobs, my companion and I grabbed the unbelieveably cheap flights (SGD500, all inclusive!) to Japan and bounced around for 7 days. 7 fulfilling and incredible days were spread out among Tokyo, Kyoto, Kobe, Hakone and Yokohama, though they were mostly short pitstops for a look-see. And of course some food.

One such pitstop was in Kobe - a last minute decision to go to the source of Kobe beef, made possible with the 7-day Japan Rail Pass that allowed unlimited access to any part of Japan. We probably wouldn't have chosen to do so if not for the fact that our virtually non-existent Japanese led us to a restaurant in Tokyo that specialised in what we thought was Kobe beef, that we eventually found was Hida beef. We were just unbelieveably unlucky in finding a restaurant that specialised in Kobe beef.

We travelled to the Shin-Kobe Station from Kyoto by a brief train ride and found ourselves in Kobe with no particular destination in mind. We headed to the tourist information centre and were fortunate to meet an English speaking staff who could understand our request for a recommendation for Kobe beef. Many tourists before us surely asked her too; her recommendation came quickly and for a cosy restaurant called Wakkoqu, in the Oriental hotel just across the road from the station!

We couldn't believe our luck and were able to leave our luggages with the concierge before heading to the third floor. The other restaurants on that floor would normally have distracted me, but I had my heart (and stomach) set for Kobe beef. I knew I wouldn't be able to leave Kobe without tasting it. It wasn't easy to find, but were brimming with excitement when we finally did.

We looked through the menu quickly and, with some help from the teppanyaki chef assigned to us, chose the standard lunch set (SGD75) and a CHAMPION COW lunch set (SGD200). I kid you not, it was a CHAMPION COW.

First on the menu was the Beef Tataki Salad that only served to make us hungry for more. My appetite for the beef grew, slowly tormented by the sight of the raw slab of beef awaiting the chef's deft teppanyaki skills. Only after the chef slowly fried thin slices of garlic, ensuring each one was evenly browned, the Kobe beef was sliced into bit sized chunks and fried, one portion at a time.

The Kobe beef was as good as any review out there in the blogosphere made it out to be. No, it was even better. Its rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture was overwhelming and met my every expectation. Buttery. Soft. Mmmmm. The difference between the CHAMPION Cow and the non-champion cow was evident, though the latter was already positively delicious.

The chef very thoughtfully portioned our beef, frying more only when the meat on our plate was running low. In the meantime, large slices of carrot, turnip, aubergine and cucumbers were fried. The finale involved pieces of fried fat and a large handful of skinny beansprouts, all of which were meant to be consumed. I usually shun from eating animal fat in such huge chunks but succumbed to curiosity, and then greed when I was into my fourth piece.

In all, the experience at Wakkoqu was all we could ask for, and I would not hesitate to return if I do visit Japan again.


Wakkoqu
3rd Floor, Oriental Hotel
Opposite Shin-Kobe Station
Opening hours: 11.45 - 22.00
Reservations recommended: Call 078 262 2838
Website: http://www.wakkoqu.com/english/index.html

Ah Meng's Relatives

One of the most well-known national icon (at least to people from my generation and older) is unmistakeably a furry friend who was adopted by the Singapore Zoo at the age of 11 after being kept as a domestic pet. She slowly developed into Singapore's tourism icon, being featured in countless films and media articles. Her domestication in her early years honed her to become more approachable, and this led to the popular Breakfast with Ah Meng.

While she passed on early last year, her legacy lives on through the eateries named after her (Ah Meng Restaurant/Ah Meng Kopi), in the durian tree plated at her grave, through the bronze statue erected in her memory, and most certainly in her trainer's thoughts. Her trainer, who had looked after Ah Meng for the past 36 years before her death, was even given compassionate leave after her death.

Now that Ah Meng has passed on, the interactive breakfast programme lives on but has taken on a new (and more generic) name of 'Jungle Breakfast with Wildlife'. I'm sad to say that I did not even have a chance to meet Ah Meng, much less have breakfast with her. So when my partner suggested having breakfast with a bunch of Ah Meng's relatives, I immediately snapped up the offer.

For SGD$25++, a simple buffet spread of a mix of local and western food was available. Those who favour fried bee hoon and chwee kueh would enjoy the breakfast as much as those who prefer the omelette and hash combination. While the coffee and tea ladies walked around to make sure our cups were always full, we had to trawl through a couple of drawers at the counters ourselves to find for ketchup - the one thing from my childhood I still cannot let go - giving you an idea of how casual breakfast is.

Of course, the stars of the breakfast were the Orang Utans, who eagerly climbed down the vines and sat obediently on the wooden platform. Trainers were by their sides to constantly feed them a variety of fruits to keep them occupied or they'd start becoming restless. I cannot remember how many kilograms of fruit we were told they would go through a day, but looking at the speed with which they popped whole plums into their mouths and spat out the seeds, I'm guessing it would be alot.

Visitors were invited to take photos with the Orang Utans. A professional photographer was at hand to snap pretty and sharp photographs, but we could pass to other staff there our own camera to snap pictures as well.

After breakfast, we went on to explore the rest of the zoo, and I must say that since I last visited in primary school, alot had changed. I enjoyed myself thoroughly and have to admit that the Singapore Zoo is unmistakeably one of the must-visit places in Singapore.

The Jungle Breakfast with Wildlife starts at 9am and is on a first-come-first-served basis. Reservations are encouraged (6360 8560), otherwise, it is best to go earlier to get a good seat with a good view of the Orang Utans.

The Land of 'Small Eats'

I recently visited Taipei with a couple of friends for a short break. Although it was something we had started talking about since the tail-end of last year, bookings for flights and accomodation really only started coming together 2 weeks before we had planned to depart for Taiwan. During the flight, almost out of sheer boredom since there was no on-flight entertainment, we started flipping through Lonely Planet Taiwan for places we could visit - of course I was more preoccupied with eating places.

What I found, and what has possibly been written most about visiting Taipei, were the night markets. We visited both the King and Queen of night markets in Taipei - and I quote from Lonely Planet - "If Shilin is the King, then Shida is the Queen." All the night markets we visited bustled with so much activity that it made me wonder if the entire population of Taiwanese descends upon the night markets nightly.

Anyway, since much has been said of night markets, I thought I'd bring this blog's attention to lesser known eateries we ate at, but which were awesome. On our very first morning, we hunted down what we believe to be the original Yong He outlet for both sweet and savoury beancurd and other random breakfast snacks. It was a hole-in-the-wall that didn't look like it had changed since it started in the dinosaur ages.

Of course, our source of recommendation was THE LONELY PLANET guidebook. All hail the Lonely Planet. Despite Lonely Planet calling it the 'Yong He Congee King', they didn't actually serve any congee. While our hopes for warm congee on the frosty morning were dashed, the savoury beancurd (see picture above) and peanut paste (background) were delicious and comforting, almost making up for the lack of congee. My 2 companions lunged at the beancurd, leaving me to finish the peanut paste, and were full of praises for the crunchy and silky textures in the beancurd dish.

What stole the show however, was a special 'sandwich' we ordered randomly which comprised of a fluffy and lightly fried pancake, thick omelette, and 2 fresh and crisp you tiao. It certainly tasted like a more unhealthy, and hence better, version of a Roti John.

I was and still am impressed by the variety of Taiwanese eateries and food, which punctuated almost every stop we made within Taipei. I remember an alley lined with many types of cafes - book cafes, cafes attracting students with their free wifi and affordable menus, cafes with flaccid sofas that almost swallow you, and the list goes on. Wherever I turned, there'd be someone cupping a bowl and eating out of it with a pair of chopsticks, or someone else poking with a wooden skewer some dubious but edible brown stuff in a plastic bag they were cradling.

Speaking of dubious brown stuff, of which I have taken many unflattering and uninspiring photos, the most infamous has to be their pig's blood. Unlike our now-banned versions of pig's blood which resemble tofu but is nowhere near anything edible in texture, the Taiwanese version of pig's blood came in the form of slices of glutinous rice cooked in pig's blood and some seasoning. They were usually sold with some garnishes, but the version in the photo below came with sweet-savoury gravy in a dish called 'Tian Bu La' (literally translated into Sweet Not Spicy).

Even though I was a huge fan of pig's blood when I was younger (Admittedly, I had no idea I was eating pig's blood. I just loved the texture and its barely-there taste.), it didn't sound appetising to me. I had been abstaining from meat for personal reasons before the trip even began, and for once, I was glad for an excuse not to eat.

If there were only one thing I could introduce to Singapore from Taiwan, my choice would most certainly not be the pig's blood, but tender, chewy and incredibly tasty grilled octopi. Absolutely my favourite snack, it is generously bathed in a smokey sweet sauce with every flip on the grill, then thoughtfully snipped into bite-sized pieces and packed into a paper bag with a few wooden skewers. It was rather agonising watching the vendor slowly grill the octopi with her tongs as pools of saliva formed in my mouth. Get ready for a worthwhile jaw workout.

Perhaps coming a close second would be the spring onion pancakes (of course, I am merely evaluating among the vegetarian options - I personally love the crispy chicken cutlets that are available even in Singapore). These spring onion pancakes remind me very much of roti prata, except we could choose to add garlic sauce, chilli sauce, bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce etc... mid-cooking, before it gets more time on the hot and evenly oiled pan, then a good whacking with two metal ladles supposedly to soften it up. It reminded me of someone fluffing a pillow with a few violent thwacks on both sides of the pillow.

The version we learnt to make, in a cooking class we enrolled in while we were there, had none of the saucing nor whacking. It was simple enough and involved (1) extracting the moisture from the chopped spring onions, (2) rolling and making a ball (3) out of spring onions and some well-rested dough, and then finally (4) frying the rolled out spring onion pancake until golden brown. It was simple yet delicious, very much like the other dishes we learnt to make (see her website for details).

After so much ado, I haven't even covered the more well-known xiao chi (snacks, or literally 'small eats') from Taiwan such as Oyster Mee Sua, Chou Dou Fu (smelly beancurd), and bubble tea. Taipei is undeniably a bountiful land of 'small eats'.

Soy Beancurd, Peanut Paste, and Awesome Sandwich

Yong He

132 Fuxing N Road, sec.2 , Da'an

This is quite a distance from the nearest train station, so be prepared to walk.

Pig's Blood

Shilin Night Market and Shida Night Market had plenty of vendors selling this.

Grilled Octopus

I ate this at Danshui Night Market, which is near the coast and hence is famous for its abundance of fresh seafood.

Spring Onion Pancakes

First tried this at Shilin Night Market, but learnt how to make this at:

Jodie's Kitchen (cooking classes conducted in English/Mandarin)

2F, 29-1 Zi Yun Street

Tel. no 02 2720 0053

Email jodieskitchen@gmail.com

Simply Bread

What makes you want to return to a cafe or a restaurant?

Good food.
Excellent service.
Pleasing ambience.
Generosity?

I am generally put off when certain places are not generous with their servings, serviets and in some places - water. It is one thing to serve smaller portions of that pork belly per person because it is quite fatty and few people can eat more than that anyway, but a totally different matter when some places do not serve tap water and instead only serve bottled water at a cost.

It is great to know that in places such as Simply Bread, one never has to put up with that kind of arrogance. I remember the joy I felt when I found out that the bakery was about to join the neighbourhood. Alright, so 'neighbourhood' is a stretch but in the neighbourhood I stay the pickings are slim.

In Simply Bread, generosity is the order of the day.They are eager to help anyone who seems to have problems picking a loaf to buy. The Bruschetta we ordered for a snack was enough for 2 to share. Juicy chunks of tomatoes tossed through fragrant olive oil and dried rosemary were in abundance. I thoroughly enjoyed the refreshing tang of the tomatoes and even enjoyed them on their own when all the ciabatta had disappeared.

But what is most irresistable in Simply Bread has got to be the Sticky Bun. Truth be told, I haven't tried very much else. I always resolve to order something different before I enter the bakery, but my determination falters the moment the heavy cinnamon aroma hits my olfactory. The deep, dark caramelised cap belies its soft, almost cakey texture. Not overly sweet but marvellously intense in spices, this is the ultimate Sticky Bun that I've had over and over again everytime I visit.

Of course, serviets and water are free for all.

Simply Bread

1 Fifth Avenue

#01-03 Guthrie House

Tel 6466 7767