Showing posts with label Cuisine ~ Japanese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cuisine ~ Japanese. Show all posts

Wednesday 13 April 2016

[Review] Ramen vs Tendon; Tori King, Lobster King & Tendon Ginza by Keisuke

Over the years, the huge number of ramen shops sprouting up around Singapore has proved its charm to the local. This Japanese style noodle is not only delicious but also relatively affordable where it comes with thick and rich broth made using either pork bones, chicken or even lobsters.

In this post we will be sharing our verdicts on two ramen and a tempura tendon outlets by Keisuke brand that we had visited recently.

Thursday 16 May 2013

[Day 6] Tokyo Ramen Street

On second last day of our Japanese trip, we went to First Avenue Tokyo Station (東京駅一番街) which has a three-floor commercial and retail featuring 120 stores and restaurants with the first floor connected directly to the Yaesu exits of Tokyo Station (東京駅).

And with the two main attractions like Tokyo Character Street and Tokyo Ramen Street, we decided to go there to try their well-known Ramen shops in Tokyo as well as shop for some cute souvenirs back too .

Monday 6 May 2013

Fujisoba (名代 富士) At Akihabara, Tokyo

We had long day out for "Day 5" starting with Tsukiji Fish Market (築地市場), lunch at Tsukiji Sushi Kiyoshi (築地寿司清本店), more shopping trip at Ginza and sightseeing over at Kaminarimon (雷門) plus getting the famous Dorayaki (銅鑼焼き) from Kamejyu (亀十). In the evening, we took the train over to Akihabara (秋葉原) which is a district in central Tokyo, that is famous for its many electronics shops because cousin wanted to find some Anime figurines.

Saturday 30 March 2013

[Day 3] RAKERU (ラケル) @ Shinjuku, Tokyo

[Continue from Exploring Shijuku (新宿) post HERE] There are many theme restaurants/cafes in Japan such as RAKERU (Alice in wonderland), Vampire cafe, Hello Kitty Cafe, AKB48 Cafe and etc. And with RAKERU as one of the nearest themed restaurant near our hotel at Shinjuku (新宿西口店), we actually went for a dinner to try out their mouthwatering Omurice (egg omelette with rice) and waffle desserts.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

[Day 1] Our Family Trip to Tokyo, Japan

2012 was indeed a blessing year for our family to have 3 traveling trips such as cruising with Royal Caribbean International, Voyager Of The Seas during June (read more here), flying off with Japan Airlines to my dreamland at Tokyo, Japan in November (read more here) as well as a short weekend getaway to shopping paradise at Bangkok, Thailand in December (will update the trip after Japan posts).

Traveling to Japan was an impromptu trip because we had never thought of planning another trip for that year after our cruise trip in June. It was only less than 2 months before departure that we decided to join Uncle Alan and Uncle Hock Cheng's families on their Free And Easy trip to Tokyo, Japan in later autumn (mid November).

Friday 8 March 2013

Tampopo @ Liang Court Shopping Mall

About two weeks back, we had dinner over at Tampopo, Liang Court outlet after our Bento Workshop which in-line with their Hina-matsuri Festival. Although Tampopo is well-known for it's Ramen and soup broth but we decided to go for something with more varieties such as their Black Pig (BP) Tonkatsu and my favourite Soba Noodles and Chirashi.

BP Loin Tonkatsu Set @ S$26.80
{MUST TRY} Their Black Pig (BP) Loin is so tender and juicy even after deep-fried where you could just finished the slice within a few chews. Each slice of meat is coated with a layer of crispy Japanese Panko and yet there are not too oily as compared to those I have tried before.

Super Deluxe Box @ S$24.30
Super Deluxe Box definitely worth the price with both noodle (cold soba noodles) and rice (chirashi) plus prawn tempura, chawanmushi, miso soup and fresh cut fruit. Although I am very hungry (had an early lunch that day) after the workshop I still cannot finished the prawn tempura and noodles. All I could get it down were the chawanmushi, chirashi and watermelon. Out of all the items, the mini Chirashi is my favourite.

Mini Chirashi Sushi
Love their mini Chirashizushi (Japanese rice with scattered toppings such as sashimi, tamgo, kani and etc) which comes together with the Super Deluxe Set. Although this small bowl consists slightly more than 2 tablespoons of sushi rice but with it was definitely quite stasifying with those fresh toppings.

Kid's Meal, Katsu Set A @ S$8.80
{MUST TRY} My boy was delighted with his Katsu Set which consists most of his favourite items. This set has quite a  number of items in a plate like Japanese mashed potato salad, fried ebi, tonkatsu, halve hard-boiled egg, 2 rice balls and yogurt drink. On top of the two rice balls, my boy also ordered another bowl of rice to finish up the tonkatsu.

Display of Snowmans at Tampopo Restaurant during the Hokkaido Fair.
In order to celebrate Hokkaido Fair and Hina-matsuri Festival, Tampopo brings in 3 tons of snow from the very grounds of Hokkaido to Singapore which brings joy to shoppers as well as patrons of the restaurant on 23rd - 24th February 2013. Indeed my boy together with the rest of the kids enjoy making their very own snowman during the snow display time too.

Complimentary Snow (air flown from Hokkaido) that we got from Tampopo after the dinner.

Tampopo has 4 different outlets located in Singapore at Tampopo @ Takashimaya, Tampopo @ Liang Court, Tampopo Grand and Dulcet And Studio.

TAMPOPO
177 River Valley Road
#01-23/24
Liang Court Shopping Centre
Telephone: (65) 6338 3186
Website: https://www.facebook.com/TPPSG

Wednesday 6 February 2013

[Sponsored Post] NANA's Green Tea Week Day Set Lunch

Nanaʼs Green Tea Café is offering a special lunch set which is available on weekday from 11.00am - 2.30pm at an affordable price of S$13.90 with a whole list of choices to choose from. And each lunch set comes with a complimentary drink and a main course of your choice. Consumers gets to choose any kind of beverages below S$8.00, ranging fromHoji, Matcha, Azuki to other beverages from the menu. On top of that, their signature dishes such as Salmon Don, Locomoko Don and Mushi-Dori Goma Dare Udon will also be available too. (read more about Nana's Green Tea Cafe from my previous post here)

Thanks to NANA's Green Tea Cafe, Cuisine Paradise has 5 Lunch Set Vouchers (worth S$13.90 each) to giveaway to five lucky readers.

How To Win:-
1. Like Nana's Green Tea Cafe on facebook page HERE;

2. Click LIKE and SHARE the above photo over at Cuisine Paradise Facebook Page (here); AND

3. Leaving a comment (on facebook) that sharing with us your favourite matcha drinks/dessert .

Closing Date: 07 February 2013 (Thursday), 5.00PM
*Giveaway is open to those reside in SINGAPORE only and with a valid mailing address.


Friday 4 January 2013

Nana's Green Tea Cafe At Plaza Singapura

Nana’s Green Tea Cafe is well-known in Japan as the “Japanese Starbucks” amongst a new generation of tea drinkers who are looking for tasty and artistic matcha creations. And on 21st December 2012, the cafe opens it's flagship store at the newly renovated Plaza Singapura which is located near Dhoby Ghaut Mrt Station. For information, other than Green Tea (matcha) beverages, they also offering food items to compliment the beverages and desserts too.

All green tea leaves served in Nana's Green Tea Cafe are imported ONLY from Kyoto (most famous production center of 'Matcha') where the cafe aims at delivering genuine Japanese taste and health to modern consumers. Matcha is a finely ground and powdered green tea which has many health benefits such as controlling high blood pressure, cholesterol, reducing the risk of diabetes, improving mood and alertness, boosting immune system and metabolism, reducing strokes by 21% as well as supporting anti-aging and etc.

Matcha Latte (Hot/Cold) @ S$7.00
I always love the Matcha Latte from Starbucks but now after trying the above I knew I am going to switch my choice to Nana's since both are of similar pricing but taste wise Nana's has a more fragrance and smoothing aftertaste when compared with the rest I tried.

Locomoko Don @ S$15.80
During the tasting we had two rice don and and one cold noodle dish. The first dish that arrived was Locomoko Don which is beef patty (burger) served on warm Japanese rice together with lettuce, cherry tomato, broccoli and a sunny-side egg. The beef patty could be slightly more juicier but overall it still goes well with the warm premium Japanese rice and accompany tomato sauce.

Our tasting portions of the Mini Locomoko Don

Salmon Don @ S$14.80
Next we had Salmon Don which was my favourite among the three tasting dishes. The bowl of Japanese rice was topped with fresh Salmon Sashimi and garnished with Japanese pickled ginger, spring onion, Daikon Cress and a touch of mayonnaise sauce

There is also an accompany sauce which taste similar like a mixture of Japanese Soy Sauce and roasted sesame seeds which goes well with the Salmon Don.

Mushi-Dori Goma Dare Udon @ $13.80
Lastly we had this Mushi-Dori Goma Dare Udon which was one their cold noodle dish. The Udon noodles was topped with steamed chicken fillets and garnished with cucumber, cherry tomato and served in Nana’s special sesame sauce.

This is one type of my favourite Japanese cold noodles which soaked in light and fragrance Japanese sesame sauce. The crunchy cucumber strips and tender steamed chicken makes it a prefect dish for hot summer meals. But personally I felt the sesame sauce could have be slightly better if the taste is stronger.

Matcha Shiratama Parfait @ S$11.80
Their new menu also offers a range of delightful dessert creations that are artistic and healthy like the Soft Cream Anmitsu, a soft serve vanilla ice-cream with red bean paste, white mochi and ‘Kanaten’ (traditional Japanese herbal jelly).

As a matcha lover especially on desserts and ice-cream, the Matcha Shiratama Parfait above definitely captured my attention and I really love the texture and taste of their matcha ice cream as well as all the surprises that I could dig out from the parfait. I would re-visit the outlet soon to try out other items on the dessert menu!


NANA'S GREEN TEA CAFE
The Atrium @ Orchard
Plaza Singapura
60B, Orchard Road
#03-80/82
Singapore 238839
Telephone: (65)6684 4312
Site: http://www.facebook.com/NanasGreenTea


Lastly I would like to thank Nana's Green Tea Cafe and Alisa from Publicist PR Consultants for the invite tasting.

Friday 7 December 2012

Christmas Menu At Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant

Christmas is about 2 weeks from now and if you have not decided on where to go for your Christmas lunch/dinner perhaps you could take a look at this wallet-friendly Christmas menu from Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant.

For this Christmas season, Kiseki present a lovely white Christmas feast(lunch and dinner) starting from 21st - 25th December 2012 where diner could enjoy a hearty spread with less than S$50.00 per person.

During the festive lunch special, on top of the usual Japanese buffet favourite you could also enjoy Roasted Honey Gammon Ham with Yuzu Cranberry Sauce, Miso Glazed Roasted Char Siew as well as Japanese Style Buffalo Wings. I love the Yuzu Cranberry Sauce which is a bit sweet with a hint of refreshing yuzu taste which goes well with the roasted meat.

Example of the Christmas Roast that we have tried.
Whereas for the special White Christmas dinner spread add-ons, it includes the Roasted turkey, Roasted Striploin Beeef, Lamb Leg and Baked Salmon with Sake which I am sure everyone would be overwhelmed by these hearty spread.

For salad they have this Smoked Duck with Orange and Beef Root drizzle with Yuzu Balsamic which gives it a very refreshing citrus taste from the Yuzu. I am sure ladies or salad lover would love this as it really gives you a few bursting flavour in one bite.

This Christmas you could have another new pick for your favourite sushi because it had being transformed into these cute little Temarizushi (sushi ball) wrap. Each rice ball contains different type of filling and it is being wrapped using cute design food wrapper which makes them resemble candy. And I am sure this would be a "hot snatching" items among the kids too.

Other than Temarizushi Wrap, there are also many different assorted festive feel Sushi and Sashimi such as Egg Roll with Turkey Breast / Smoked Duck shown above.

Cucumber Gunkan Maki filled with diced Ham and Tomato

Colourful Chikuwa Maki served with radish and yuzu mixture dipping sauce.

Assorted Seasonal Sashimi Sushi that would whet your appetite as well as sight.

Cucumber Sushi Maki wrapped with poached Chicken Beast.

Japanese Curry Pizza with Seaweed Crust is one of my favourite because it consists 3 of my favourite choice in one dish. It has cheese, Japanese curry and sushi so this 3-in-1 combination dish definitely had caught my attention and to my surprised it does taste great just like their crispy crust pizza at Kiseki.

As you can see from the above photo, they are different layer of texture from seaweed, sushi rice, curry, cheese and etc. Love the combination and I recommend this to be the {must try} while they are out on the buffet line.

If you love skewers of food that are grilled over low charcoal heat, I am sure you won't want to miss any items from the Robatayaki Platter. Just grab a few skewers each and slowly enjoy them with your friends or family over at the dining table while chatting. For me the meat or mushroom skewers are always my favourite choice.

On top of the usual buffet items plus festive add-ons, if you still have room for dessert you could also try out their Christmas Festive Platter which consists some mini cakes like mixed fruit cake, black sesame cake, peach cake, ginger pudding, peanut butter pudding, blueberry mousse and etc.

Assorted Puddings and Mousse. I love their peanut butter pudding (3rd item from the front row)

Assorted cream cake, I prefer the Matcha flavour as compared to the peach and chocolate.

This year other than all hearty spread, Kiseki also geared with new attraction of a Two-Piece Band which will be taking in song dedications and performing carols for diners too. So if you are still looking for Christmas feast this season, do take a look on Kiseki Christmas Menu.


KISEKI JAPANESE BUFFET RESTAURANT
181 Orchard Road
Orchard Central
#08-01/02/03
Reservation: (65) 6736 1216
Website: www.kisekirestaurant.com.sg

Operating Hours And Pricing
21 December 2012
Lunch (11.30am - 3.00pm): Adult S$24.80++; Child S$15.80++
Dinner (6.00pm - 10.30pm): Adult S$39.80++; Child S$21.80++

22 - 25 December 2012 (Sat, Sun, Eve PH and PH)
Lunch (11.30am - 3.00pm): Adult S$32.80++; Child S$20.80++
Dinner (6.00pm - 10.30pm): Adult S$39.80++; Child S$21.80++


Thursday 1 November 2012

IKYU – Japanese Restaurant in Tiong Bahru

A few weeks back I was invited to a media tasting at IKYU (pronounced as E-Q) which mean “Take A Break” in English. This newly setup Japanese restaurant is located at 5, Yong Siak Street that is within short walking distance away from Tiong Bahru MRT station.

IKYU is headed by Executive Chef Takuma Seki who is formerly the chef-de Cuisine of Hide Yamamoto at The Shoppes of Marina Bay Sands. The restaurant is divided into 3 different sitting area such as; sushi bar, dining tables and bar area. Usually the regular patrons would enjoy sitting at the sushi bar counter to engage conversation with chatty Chef Seki and his assistant(s).

For starter we had Grilled Edamame Flavoured With Truffle (S$8.50). This is my first time having grilled Edamame rather than the usual steamed/boiled option which served in most Japanese restaurant. For a non Edamame lover like myself, the twist of the char-grilled aroma plus truffle oil definitely makes a big different to this simple snack. I just couldn't stop eating it after the first pod.

Century Egg Traditional Potato Salad (S$8.50) is one of the dish that interests me because of the added "century eggs" (I am a big fan of century eggs) which I have not seem in any Japanese style potato salad that I had before. 

Apart from the Grilled Edamame their Deep Fried Sakura Baby Prawn (S$8.50) is another great snack which is super crispy and addicting dish to start your meal with.

Kara-age Chicken Izakaya Style (S$8.50) could be considered as a popular snack from the "fried menu" section which was deep-fried to golden brown with crispy outer skin and tender juice meat when bite.  Great choice to go with cool beer or sake.

I have never thought of eating something exotic till I tried this Blow Fish Tatsuta-age with Sansyo (S$16.50). To me blow fish (Fugu) seems to be a dangerous species rather than an edible ingredient. But after trying the above, the fish did taste great with a thin layer of tempura batter which deep-fried to a juicy perfection.

For someone who loves salmon sashimi, Wafu Marinated Salmon Carpaccio (S$16.50) is like a piece of art which is beautiful plated with some edible chrysanthemum and pink coral on it.  Love the wafu dressing which blends well with the dish.

French Foie Gras Flavoured in Miso (S$18.50) is lightly seared in Miso seasoning leaving it a fusion taste which makes you crave for more. If you love Foie Gras, you have to order this and I promise you won't regret it.

This is the tasting portion, not actual serving.
The Taraba King Crab With Soy Butter (S$48.50 for 2 claws) was amazing. The flesh is tender and naturally sweet with the enhanced flavour of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice.

The last items we tried on the "grill menu" is Kagoshima Wagyu Beef Sirloin (120g for S$68.50) which was sliced  and served with a homemade ponzu sauce which consists of yuzu, soy sauce and etc. Each piece of the meat was full of flavour and you could eat it in different way such as dip it with the Ponzu sauce or eat it with fried garlic slices and shredded negi that served on the side.

For your information, the fish from IKYU is flown in 3 times a week (definitely Tuesday and Friday) like most Japanese restaurants in Singapore to make sure that all supplies are fresh and good. Here for the "nigiri menu", we tried the Assorted 5 kinds of Aburi Sushi (S$38.50) which is lightly grilled (topside) and partially raw with drizzle of sweet sauce on it.

As compared to the above, I would preferred this Assorted 5 Kinds of Nigiri Sushi (S$28.50) because you could enjoy the fresh and sweetness of the fish with each bite. And some of it just literally melt in your mouth without much chewing too. 

As for the "roll menu", we tried the Crispy Hot Spicy Salmon Roll (S$8.50) which is something different from the usual sushi roll. Love the crispy outer skin which enhance the flavour of the salmon in it.

Next the Shrimp Tempura California Roll (S$15.50) was great with bursting flavour from the egg roes and accompany sweet sauce. This plate is definitely worth for a grab.

This is the tasting portion, not actual serving.
For dessert we had Shocyu Cheese Cake with Berry (S$8.50). It comes with quiet a strong liquor taste which resemble "rum and raisin" flavour. The cheesecake itself is silky smooth and light which similar to tofu cheesecake whereas the Japanese rock melon at the side was simply awesome with sweet fragrance. 

A bar counter near the back of the dining area where patrons can enjoy beer, sake and etc during Happy Hours or after meal.

Although the price for the "A La Carte Menu" might be slightly pricey but IKYU do offers wallet-friendly set lunch options ranging from S$25.00 to S$35.00. The set lunch consists of:-

~ IKYU NIGIRI Set, Assorted NIGIRI 6 pieces and ROLL
~ IKYU BARA CHIRASHI Set
~ NABEYAKI UDON & ROLL Set

all set serves with Appetizer, Salad, Soup and Dessert which is quiet reasonable.

IKYU
5 Yong Siak Street
Singapore 168643
Reservation: +65 6223 9003
Website: www.ikyu.com.sg/

Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Sunday: 11.30am – 3.00pm, 6.00pm – 10.30pm
Closed on Monday

Lastly I would like to thanks Ann from Word Of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd and IKYU for the invite tasting.

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