Kaiten Shabu Shabu @ Sakae Orchard Central

Look at these!!!!!! I am sure you can find something you like in there, are you drooling over at your PC while wondering which item to pick for your Shabu Shabu treat :) The great new is..... You can have all of these and other extra more items at an Special Promotion price of S$28.00++ now.........

Recently Sakae is having a very good deal promotion on this Kaiten Shabu Shabu (Japanese Style A La Carte Steamboat) plus Sushi Buffet at two of their selected outlet whereby you can pick your choice of ingredients from the great varieties of list and a choice of broth from 3 of their premium soup base.

We took a while to decide whether to go for a Kimchi(which is spicy) or Chicken Broth base and in the end we settle our choice on their chicken Broth base which is full of flavour even before adding those ingredients. I am admit we did make a good choice on the broth which eventually will act as a important factor for those ingredients that we are going to add in.

The Shabu Shabu A La Carte Menu consists of a few columns such as assorted vegetables, mushrooms, meatballs, seafood, meat, noodles and etc. You can select any or all items from those columns but except only 1 type of broth. Look at all these ingredients; we are so shock to see that they are so generous on the servings which is meant for 2 person.

The ingredients are arranged nicely in two well presentable trays whereby they separated the vegetables, meat and seafood accordingly. We have some lobster meatballs, cuttlefish balls, tofu, assorted mushroom and vegetables, udon and etc.

Overall we are delighted with their prompt services as well as their seafood selection which was relatively good and fresh. We ordered the huge clams, half shell scallops(with roe), flower crabs, mussels, oyster, salmon, prawns and etc. Most of it are great except the prawn and flower crabs which don't seems to have any "meats" but they do act as an extra flavour to sweeten the broth.

For meats, we ordered some chicken and beef shabu shabu slices. I love their beef slices which is so tender and fresh with no odour and with a very nice colour texture of red and fat. And don't forget other than all those fabulous food above, we are also entitled to enjoy all the normal colour plates from the Sushi Buffet(except for the pink and red plates).

Salmon Deli @ Sakae Sushi

Last week we happen to drop-by one of the Sakae Sushi outlet at Bishan Junction 8 after our Radio Interview with Daniel Ang. And can any Sakae Sushi fans guess what is the name of this salad from their new Menu? Em.... so why not spend about S$7.99 to enjoy a plate of this colourful and appetising salad to start off your meal.

That weekend we are all very excited and looking forwards for our invitation to do a live radio show with FM100.3 DJ Daniel Ang on Mother's Day food idea. To me, Daniel is a very friendly and humorous person whom I always find him comfortable to chat with. So far this is the 2nd time that he invited me on radio show to share my opinion on food topic with him.

Although that day was kind of chaotic as Rey was not really behaving himself well in the studios but thank God we still managed to get through the whole process till the end. Joyce who followed us to the studios also had a great time exploring the recording studios and we are all astonished by the way Daniel handle all the equipments. That makes us think that being a DJ is actually not as easy as what we think of.

After the radio show, Rey suggest that whether we can bring him to Sakae for early dinner. So by looking at the route, we decided to drop by at Bishan, Junction 8 to have our dinner as well as settling down our excitement from the radio show. The dishes that we ordered today are almost all Salmon related because both Joyce and me are salmon fans........ So to kick off we have Salmon Sashimi.....

Next to be served is this new Sakae Salad which consists of salmon slices, lobster salad, avocado, corns kernels , crispy comment that this is just good enough for her as dinner because it is Healthy and Refreshing!!!

I ordered this because it find the combination rather interesting. Tuna with Mango, Salmon with Cucumber and White Fish With Avocado. Em.... this is known as Sakura Trio which cost S$3.99 which we think is worth trying if you are craving for a little each of those. Other than the above, we also have Tamago Sushi as usual and Matcha Ice-cream.

Maguro Tataki @ Sakae Sushi

Last month Sakae Sushi has launch a new revamp menu which includes the S$3.99 pink plate, appetising new dishes and desserts to pamper their loyal customer. And finally today, I am able to try this Maguro(Tuna) Tataki Salad which is also a new dish that is often SOLD OUT during a few of my visits.

This is my first try on eating Tuna that is lightly grilled and served with a very matching Salad dressing that brings out the wonderful flavour of this fresh tuna. On whole this dish is served together with some deep-fried Kakiage which is a type of tempura made with mixed vegetable strips and half of a soft-boiled egg topped with ikura. All these cost S$9.99 per serving, so wait no more try it out at any of the Sakae outlets near your area.

I love this "Kansen Maki" at first sight when I saw it moving towards our direction on the sushi conveyor belt. It contain 3 of my favourite ingredients together which are "Fried Ebi, Salmon and Mango". This is a very wonderful combination with a crispy and crunchy ebi being wrapped inside their premium sushi rice then outer layer covers with slices of soft and juice salmon and mango. This is really a great combination......

Em... I am sure by now, for those readers who read my previous Sakae Sushi Posts, you will sure to have some ideas on who's sushi this belong to.......Yes! It's my precious darling's favourite Tamago Sushi and this shot is taken by him :) Maybe in future my darling will be another Food Blogger too..... em......... :)

The chef at Sembawang branch cooks a better Garlic Rice than the one I had in another branch in town. The taste of the rice blends well with the seasoning and it taste great with that extra Krill topping.

Upon visiting Sakae for so many years, I have not try their "Kajiki Sashimi" until today. This Swordfish sashimi has a mild flavoured, moderately-fat, firm and meatlike flesh. It taste so different from what I had imagine all along which I thought it might be having a very raw and yucky taste. But after trying it today, I knew I am missed out this goodies for such a long time..........

Mum and I loves this "Ajitsuke Idako" which is a kind of seasoned baby octopus that is served as a cold dish. The seasoning and the texture of the octopus make it a great combination appetiser. Sometime we can even get 2 or 3 plates at a go.

Mentaiko Tofu is also another new dish on the list and for your information "Mentaiko is actually the marinated roe of pollock". But overall we find this dish too oily and the fried tofu is kind of soggy which made this dish a bit of greasy.

Dual combination or fish roes for this Lobster Salad Combo which cost S$3.99. I am sure this sure worth the price for this dish where you can have both Lobster and generous amount of fish roes as topping.

Today's dessert I would like to try their "Imo Caramel - Japanese Caramelized Sweet Potatoes" which resemble one of the Taiwan after meal dessert we had during our recent Taiwan trip in April. But the different between the two is, Sakae Imo Caramel is in strips form whereas Taiwan's is in cube form and before eating we have to dip the Imo Cubes in cold water so that the caramel will not stick together. Although the Imo Caramel at Sakae taste good but it's kind of hard to bite, maybe the kitchen staff has over-fried it :p Hope the next round when I order this dessert the caramelized sweet potato won't taste hard and dry.

I was toggling on whether to order the Goma or Matcha Ice-cream for our 2nd dessert. Since I have already tried their Matcha Ice Cream with Warabi Mochi which taste absolutely great, I decided to give their Goma Ice-cream a go too. The texture is great with a mild black sesame taste and you can even get some bites of whole sesame in it. But it depend whether will you spend S$2.99 for a worth trying single scoop of ice-cream!

New Menu @ Sakae Sushi

I didn't know that Sakae has a branch located at Icon Village around 12 Gopeng Street which is within less than 10 minutes walk from "Tanjong Pager MRT - 丹戎巴葛地铁站". Since we are all at Mum's new place at Pinnacle Duxton, rey suggests that he wanted to have sushi for lunch at Sakae which Uncle Daniel bought him once before.

Because of the lunch hour crowds we managed to get a place at the conveyor belt table after some "not so good" incidents happened. But after all the 5 of us are still very excited to try out those new items on their New Menu.

Rey was too hungry and busy with his usual "Tamago Sushi" that he has starts his meal without waiting for us. I was impressed by their new menu which is bright and colourful and it gives us a very classy outlook.

There are about 5 new salad items on the new menu for you to select from. Actually I am looking at the "Maguro Tataki Salad" which is not available at that branch according to the Manager. So we will have to go for the 2nd choice which is this "Wafu Salad". We must compliment that their ingredients are very fresh and it goes well with their sweet salad dressing.

Mum suggest that she would like to have something hot and soupy so I introduce her this new "Chicken Sukiyaki" which is like a mini hotpot that consists of toufu, negi(type of green onion), vegetables, chicken, mushroom and jelly noodles in a pot of sweet broth. Rather than using the Raw Egg as a dipping sauce, mum prefer to add it into the hot soup to give it more flavour. Em... while eating this Sukiyaki, I found a special Fried tofu pouch that contain so mochi like fillings in it. Other than we all agreed that the soup is more towards the sweet side of our preference, the taste and ingredients are all worth to give this a go.

With the new menu, they have this S$3.99 pink plates which consists of some worth trying items. Here I will share with you 4 of the items that we select from the menu. 1st let's look at this "Unagi Tamgo Sushi" which they add another layer of Tamago on top of the usual Unagi Sushi to enhance the sweetness of this dish.

This "Soft Shell Crab Sushi" seems to look good which half portion of the crab stick to a piece of sushi rice. Aunty comments that the crab is not crispy enough and it's kind of oily too. So perhaps this will not be on our list again :)

"Ebi with Kanifumi" consits of rice stuffed in the fried tofu pouch and top with ingredients like prawn, crabmeat and tamago. This stuff will be great for those who loves seafood without extra sauce combination.

"Ni Hotate with Tobiko" captures my attention while flipping through the ordering menu because I love the vibrant colour of this dish. Furthermore, the toppings are one of my aunty and mother-in-law's favourite.

Here comes the "Butterfly Mentai" that we are all very disappointed with. The colour of the prawns seems to be over-cooked and the colour of the Mentai topping look so huge different from the one showing on the menu. Although the taste is quite good but the appearance won't bring it for another ordering. Perhaps I should give it a second chance to try at another Sakae branch to compare the end-result :p

Avocado is always one of our favourite fruit on sushi toppings, whatever sushi or side dish that include avocado will definitely be in our considering list. "Unagi Avocado Maki" is another new item found on their Special Makimono section.

Talk about tofu in Sakae, our favourite used to be their "Fried Tofu" or "Agadasi Tofu" but now, we have another choice:- "Lobster Salad Tofu" @ S$7.99. If you are craving for some cold appetiser like lobster salad, this will be a great dish for you. The tofu taste great with their special dressing and everyone of us feel so refreshing with this dish.

Finally, it's dessert time again!!!! I have being aiming for this "Matcha Cheesecake - S$5.99" long before they release on the branch from Sakae facebook updates. We were all very impress by their new serving of this cheesecake which consists of 3 layer of plain cheese, red bean filling and matcha flavour cheese filling. In the end, we all agreed that this taste more like ice-cream cake rather than cheesecake :)

Lastly, I must highly recommend this "Matcha Ice Cream with Warabi Mochi" which cost S$3.99. The Matcha ice-cream is so full of flavour that we all fell in love with it. This ice-cream has a very fragrant Azuki Bean taste in it and the texture is so creamy and smooth with a refreshing matcha scent.

Sakae Kid's Bento

This coming Sunday 28 February 2010 will mark the last day of Chinese New Year which lasted for 15 days. And according to Chinese Tradition, the 15th Day of Chinese New Year is also known as the "Yuan Xiao Jie - 元宵节" where all the family members will get together and have a bowl of sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in soup which is called "汤圆" to symbolise the harmony of the family. So before the ending of the Chinese New Year, Joyce and us decided to go for another round of our favourite "荣" Yu Sheng - 鱼生 at Sakae before it ends on Sunday.

While waiting for our "Yusheng - 鱼生" to be served, Rey ordered a set of Train Bento from the Kiddy Menu after much consideration on what to choose. This is the 2nd time we have tried their kid's bento since the 1st time in a few years back. The Train set that rey ordered consists of a Elmo Rice Ball that is filled with sandwich tuna, Fries, Tempura and Chicken Karaage. And all kiddy meals are served with a bottle of Yakult. But when the bento arrived, all of us were shocked on the outlook of the Elmo. It seems like the set shown on the menu is very different from what we get....... and the Chicken Karaage are also over cooked as it is sort of tough and cold to taste. End up, Rey didn't eat much of the bento instead he picked up two plate of his favourite Tamago Sushi to fill his tummy and leave the Train Set for me and Joyce to finish up.

Finally our STAR for today's lunch is here...... This is my either 5th or 6th "Rong Yusheng" for this year..... and today's ingredients are very fresh on look as well as taste. After this, we will have to wait till next year Chinese New Year in 2011 before we will have another chance to taste "Yu Sheng" again..........So once again, I wish everyone a Happy and Prosper Chinese New Year!!!! Huat ah!!!! Lastly I wish to thank Candice and Sakae Sushi for giving me a chance to be part of their e-journalist for the past 6 months too.

Sakae "荣" Yusheng

Finally after the long waiting time, my favourite Chinese New Year "Appetiser" finally appears at Sakae sushi. Guess what, Chinese New Year is just 3 days away from now...... And when I saw the Sakae "Rong" Yusheng Poster outside Sakae outlet, I quickly approached the Manager and ask when it is available........(p/s: CNY Sakae frog photo credit to Sakae Facebook link....)

"Yusheng - 鱼生" mainly consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon) that is mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments. "Yusheng- 鱼生" is interpreted from the Mandarin word "余升" which means an increase in abundance and prosperity.

It is normally a raw fish salad appetiser that is consumed through out the 15 days of Chinese New Year but most commonly on the 7th day which is the "Ren Ri - 人日" meaning everyone's birthday.The ingredients are presented separately and are mixed together either by the waitress or diners and with it will accompany with auspicious greetings while adding each ingredient onto the plate.

When the ingredients are added, the diners will shout out “lo hei - 捞起" while standing around the dish to toss the ingredients as high as possible to symbolize rising prosperity. This action is usually accompanied by shouts of “huat- 发" which means prosperity.

This year Sakae "Rong" Yusheng comes in 3 sizes which is available for either dine-in or delivery. And for Sashimi lover, you can add S$2.50 to enjoy additional servings of Salmon Sashimi with every Yusheng purchased.

"荣" Yusheng available in 3 sizes:-
1. Small (1 - 2 pax) @ S$18.88++
2. Medium(3 - 5 pax) @ S$29.88++
3. Large (6 - 10 pax) @ S$46.88++

Promotion:-
~ For SAKAECard members, you will be able to enjoy S$2.00 off for the Medium/Large "Rong" Yusheng and CNY Party Tray.

~ For OCBC Cardmembers, you will be able to enjoy 10% off for the Medium/Large Yusheng & CNY Party Trays.

So without much delay we pop-in Sakae for lunch after Rey finished his kiddy class. Everyone were pretty excited when the "Yusheng - 鱼生" finally being served after about 10 minutes or so. Each of us are aiming at different ingredients of this appetiser, mum love the mixed shredded vegetables with the plum sauce while rey loves the crackers. Look at the generous cut of the Salmon Sashimi...... doesn't it add extra goodness to the Yusheng?

For your information, SAKAECard Members can top-up $2.00++ to enjoy additional servings of Salmon Sashimi with every "Rong" Yusheng purchased. And being a Sakae member, I won't missed out this opportunity of ordering extra boxes of "Rong" Yusheng to share with friends/relatives during Chinese New Year. And this year, the Yusheng box is "Red" in colour instead of the usual Sakae green....