Hina-matsuri Festival @ Liang Court Shopping Mall

From 15 February to 3 March, Liang Court Shopping Mall is having a 2 weeks celebration for the tradition Hina-matsuri - Japanese Dolls Festival. This is the first time in Singapore, Hina-matsuri is celebrated in Liang Court in honor of all girls, with wishes for good health and happiness.

We are so excited to be one of the invited guest bloggers to join in their Bento Workshop as well as making our own snowman using "real snow" from Hokkaido.

Our Bento Workshop instructor is Shirley Wong (in blue yukata) who features all her Kawaii (cute) Kyarabens (character bento) at http://littlemissonigiri.blogspot.sg/ You can take a look at her website for more bento ideas if you are interested to make your own bento too :)

Material for the Bento workshop.

All the kids were excited and can't wait to get their hands on for the bento workshop.

First the kids were told to mix in green and pink Furikake (condiment for rice) into their cooked rice to form the HinaMatsuri Characters.

Although I am a bit worried for my boy to handle sharp knife while cutting the vegetables but afterall he did a great job on cutting and shaping the bento characters.

My boy's Hinamatsuri (Japanese Doll Festival) Bento.

Group Photo taken with the kids and Bento Workshop Instructor, Shirley (right with blue yukata).

Hina-arare (rice crackers/rice puffs)

Above are some of the traditional Hinamatsuri snacks that you get from Meidi-ya at Liang Count Shopping Mall. And they even have a mini Hinamatsuri food fair selling all kinds of festive snacks such as Hina-arare (rice crackers/rice puffs), Japanese candy, Mochi and etc.

One of the hit for Hina-matsuri Festival is snowman making which bought in by Tampopo restaurant. According to them, those are "real snow" which was air-flown from Hokkaido in support of the event. Although we cannot experience winter in Singapore but these "air-flown" snow definitely brings in fun and laughter between the kids and their family during they visit.

Other than the "snow" at the atrium area, there were also more inside the Tampopo Restaurant where they display snowman and snow play area for the dine-in patrons.

Without second thoughts, our dinner was at Tampopo (partly because of the snowman *grins) and my kid enjoy his Meal which consists all his favourite items from Onigiri, ebi tempura, Tonkatsu and hard-boiled egg.

Complimentary box of snow from Tampopo, Liang Court which they brought in from Hokkaido,

For this coming weekend, 2 - 3 March there are having 2 big events like:-

{02 March} Mega Chirashi Zushi (1.30pm to 3pm): For the first time in Singapore, you could join in the record-setting attempt at assembling a mega Chirashi Zushi (scattered sushi) with colorful toppings that is served during Hina-matsuri!

{3 March) Girls' Party (2 - 5pm) : Bring your kids to join in the Girls' Party at Liang Court's atrium with traditional Hina-matsuri food, non-alcoholic sake, and fun activities with live performances on stage!

So if you are free this weekend, perhaps you would like to bring your kid(s) down to Liang Court and join in the Hinamatsuri Festival too!

Chiso Zanmai Japanese Buffet Restaurant

During June School Holidays we have quiet a number of activities such as the Angry Birds Cable Car Ride (HERE), 6 Days Cruise Trip (HERE), exploring the new Ice Skating Rink at JCube (HERE) and etc. And just a week before the school holidays ends, my brother organized a buffet lunch meetup over at "Chiso Zanmai" since he knows our family loves Japanese cuisine.

Above shows my plating of "Kaiseki" which is a traditional multi-course Japanese cuisine where we just grab a big tray at the counter and pick-up our favourite Kaiseki dishes and enjoy our meal like what the Japanese Emperor did in the olden days. (All photos in this post are taken using iPhone since it is just our causal family gathering)

Chiso Zanmai is a Japanese Buffet Restaurant located at The Central, Clarke Quay which overtakes it's previous owner where Fisherman’s Market used to be. For the price of S$14.90++ to enjoy a Japanese style lunch buffet which serves up more than 80 varieties of food and desserts is definitely worth trying. And moreover Chiso Zanmai is originated from Osaka and this is their first branch outside of Japan.

Appetizers Counter

As usual to start off the buffet, I will pick up some cold dishes from the Appetizer Counter and enjoy it before heading for the hot dishes. For the appetizers, other than the above they also have cha soba, potato salad, mixed salad, deep-fried eggplant with bonito broth and etc. But my favourite choices are those shown above. 

These are my little boy's favourite and indeed they have quiet a good spread of Sushi upon selection too.

Hakkaido Ishikari Nabe is a common seafood and vegetables soup served in Hakkaido and most of us on our table loves this seafood pot with it's sweet and flavousome clear soup broth. As you can see from the photo above, there are prawn, flower crab, tofu, leek and etc in it which makes it prefer to go with steamed rice.

Ramen lover, you can choose between either Tonkotsu or Shoya soup base to go with your Ramen. For me, I will prefer the Tonkotsu which is pork base with a thicker and stronger taste compared to Shoya. Surprisingly the noodles are still quiet springy when bite so overall it still blends well with the broth.

Traditional Japanese Counter

There are basically two sections on the Hot Food Counter where you can grab some Traditional Japanese Cuisine or Teppan. Above shown a selection from Braised Squid with White Radish, Corn Cream Croquette, Stewed Pork And Potato, Crab Shao-mai and etc.

Hot Food

I did not snap much on the Teppan Counter as there are quiet a number of people around queuing for the food. But you can find yummy Takoyaki(octopus balls), Stir Fried Noodles, Tempura, Fried Pumpkin and etc. Above are some of the items from the Hot Food Counter that I love.

Mum loves these Deep Fried Yam which she mentioned is quiet similar taste to our Chinese Abacus Seeds.

Love this crispy and delicious Chicken Karaage that dipped in some Ponzu Sauce (citrus-based sauce) which gives it a similar taste like our Asian Lemon Chicken.

Dessert Counter

After a hearty meal, it's time to pamper yourself with some "sweet" dessert such as cake, tart, pastry or ice-cream. At their Dessert Counter, items are routine frequently through out the buffet and you can find some fresh fruits, cheesecake, mochi, eclair, jelly, ice cream or etc.

Since for the month of June they are having this "Matcha Fair", you could find most of their desserts are made with matcha theme. Out of those shown above, I love their matcha mochi, matcha tofu as well as the matcha tiramisu. Too bad I didn't get a chance to try their Matcha Panna Cotta which might be rotating in their dinner menu instead.

CHISO ZANMAI

6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-17
The Central @ Clarke Quay
Reservation: +65 6221 3177

PRICE:
Lunch (12.00pm - 3.00pm)
Monday - Friday
Adult: S$14.90++   Child(below 1m): S$9.90++   Senior (above 60): S$12.90++

Saturday, Sunday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$19.90++   Child(below 1m): S$9.90++   Senior (above 60): S$17.90++


Dinner (6.00 - 10.00pm) SASHIMI (DINNER ONLY)
Sunday - Thursday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$24.90++   Child(below 1m): S$14.90++   Senior (above 60): S$22.90++

Friday, Saturday, Sunday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$29.90++   Child(below 1m): S$14.90++   Senior (above 60): S$27.90++


Top-Up $1.99++ For Free Flow Of Drinks
Cold beverages such as green tea, iced lemon tea, root beer and etc
Hot beverage such as coffee (black, cappuccino, latte) and tea


So if you are looking for some Japanese Style Buffet at an affordable price, perhaps you would want to consider Chiso Zanmai which I personally think it worth what we pay for. Will check what's on their July / August dinner menu soon as I eying on their SASHIMI!!!