Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant (Dempsey)

Red Waterbottle always tell Missy that she should always start a letter or anything with positive news.  Nay, Missy rarely follow rules nor listen to good advice.  If now is not the time to make mistakes, when will be the right time to do so?  Recently Missy went for a general blood check up, just to make sure she will be alive long enough to  go for her favorite chef’s visit to Singapore.  Bad news… Because of the results, Missy is on a LOW everything diet.  No carbo, No red meats, no Wagyu beef, no nothing.  If it is possible, Missy think Dr Tan will put her on a vegetarian diet.  Missy is feeling pretty down lately about it.  The good new is she is just going to stick to it for a month, so she can have a better result in Aug 2012.  After that, it will be back to some of everything diet!! :D

Anyway, due to the fact that Missy is not able to take much variety of food, her craving list just grew.  Seriously, it has a life of its own.  Missy was tricked to go to a Japanese chain restaurant.  Japanese food is healthy!! 

Missy understand that the food served might not be what the photo of the menu is.  To have another neighbor diner who is having another set with similar description of the sashimi having another better and different amount of food is unacceptable.   

As Missy is on a no red meat diet, she actually request not to have pork.  Although the service staff confirmed that Missy is able to have chicken and fish, pork was still served and destined for Mister Rubbishbin.   

The semi grilled sushi wasn’t that great.  The taste was fusion Japanese food style, and was quite different in a bad way.  Singapore restaurants need to understand that serving food, which the customer doesn’t wish to have, would result in wastage!!!  Missy told the service staffs if it is possible not to have rice, just serve the fish on it.  Oh no, it cannot be done.  Why?  Because it will be more troublesome.  How exactly would it be more troublesome?  The sushi chef don’t have to shape the rice…. Just place the fish on the plate, and that would be it.  After pondering for a while, Missy think the sushi items are pre made…. And served when the customers order.  Very conveyer belt style.   

As Missy has a big appetite, she decided to order a grilled fish to fill the gap.  She was told it was grilled with salt.  The fish was dry and not salty.   The operation (code name : Soya drowning) of trying to make the fish taste better worked.  Maybe that was the intention of the chef, to drown the fish in soya.

On the whole, Missy is not very impressed with this place.  She is disappointed with that particular blogger who had almost described Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant chain as “天上有，地上无”  aka “Heaven has,  Earth does not have”.  Missy felt much happier eating at Sushi Tei.

Enso Kitchen 圓相廚

Chef Danny, do you know you have a stalker?  Missy had stalking the Enso Kitchen fan page, just so she would know when she will be able to get the best mochi in town (just because Missy had not been to Japan yet, so she can’t compared those found there).  Every time, he returns to Singapore, there will only be 2 weekends of lunches and dinners. 

Shojin Ryori (aka Japanese temple vegetarian cusine) was Danny’s way to preparing his food.  When Chef Danny was based in Singapore, he had weekly hosting of his offers.   After several rounds of trying Chef Danny’s food, Missy was bored.  

Maybe it is because Singapore is boring, boring because there is no change in seasons, and boring because there is no seasonal fruits or vegetables.  So when Chef Danny packed his bags and left for Taiwan, Missy wasn’t all that sad.   

Not much time passed, Chef Danny decided to come back for a visit and do some meal hosting for his fans.  Of course, Missy is keen to find out what Danny had learnt during his Taiwan stay.   

Of courses, there will be dishes Missy would like or not like.  However, Missy thinks one should try out Chef Danny’s offerings to make up their own mind.  His offerings are definitely in a league of their own.  

It had been three different rounds of enjoy food that were similar, yet different.  Chef Danny had made subtle changes to his ways of cooking.  It was done with either with some ingredients he got from Taiwan, or change to his preparations.

Canary (Missy's nickname for a person) asked if it was a good or bad change, Missy thought it was neither.  It is very interesting to see and taste what had changed in the short time Danny was away.

Looking forward to the next offering.   Autumn is Missy’s favorite season!! :D

More pictures from the lunch :D 

Nogawa Japanese Restaurant (Concorde Hotel)

How many chances should someone or a place get?  For Missy, usually none.   For Nogawa Japanese restaurant, Missy had been most patient and too forgiving in her usual standards. 

Chef’s choice is usually the way Missy would choose to order in a Japanese restaurant.  The dishes served during Nogawa’s omakase are downright embarrassing and insulting to Missy. 

Raw fish (sashimi) came with barely any “exotic” choices… half a scallop?  Please, don’t insult one’s intelligence.  Even with such lousy sashimi choices, it is hardly comparable to Missy’s favorite sushi chain!   

Grilled dish?  A lousy piece of salmon with some onions?  Miss U (who can barely boil an egg) can cook better than that!!  

 The highlight of the meal should be deep fried dish.  Missy doesn’t understand how it would turn out so bad.  The fish tasted like it was deep-fried in oil, which ALL his relatives from the ocean had been in.  The horrible used oil taste actually turned Missy’s tummy so bad, she could barely eat for the rest of the day. 

Another thing that puzzle Missy greatly was they actually had technicians coming to fix their light bulbs during lunch hours.  One of them actually set their ladder in front of Missy’s table and started changing the light bulb.  Is this how they would usually treat customers? 

Inequality of treatments from the sushi chefs is one of the most prominent problems with Nogawa.  Missy had seen how big a difference different people are treated there.  Compared to some others who had been there and paid less, Missy ate worse.

Missy rarely shares the picture of the recipe, as she never thinks cost should be a reason a person enjoys of the food she or he eats.  To pay for dishes that are so horrible “sushi deli” style is such a foolish choice.   Nogawa had not changed, even after a few years.  To Missy, it is okay, because she is going to take her money and spend it somewhere else better.  For those who had great food from Nogawa, do look at the food that was served and remembered what was served to you at what cost.   

For more photos of the meal, please go to Missy's fan page

Shiraishi Restaurant

Everyday, Missy strives to eat lunch as well as she can.  Having a leap day or hump day is a super duper excellent and very very great excuse to put more money towards a meal.   After having to tell the whole world (Missy’s whole world) about her must to have such a meal, she quickly narrowed down to Japanese food.  In her opinion, the easiest food to impress her is Japanese.  Not much cooking skills needed when it comes to sashimi, in her opinions.

She knew of a Japanese restaurant in The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.  Shiraishi Restaurant was the choice for leap day of year 2012.  As there isn’t much can be said about Japanese food, it was either good or bad.  Some of the great hits were the Hotaruika no shiokara (fermented firefly squid), Saimaki-bei tempura (deep fried japanese prawns), the special tuna soup and the rice. 

Hotaruika no shiokara was not overpowering, the little bits of yuzu zest add an excellent addition to this appetizer.  Even if one doesn’t like fermented firefly squid, it will be a dish that would still be acceptable.

Saimaki-bei tempura (deep fried japanese prawns) is excellent.  Why?  The batter is light and not heavy.  The prawns are not the regular ones found in the market.  They were petite, firm and packed a punch with their crispy heads.

Although the tuna soup seemed innocent and light, it had such great depth to it.  Ignore the oily streaks.  Every mouthful of the tuna soup got Missy plotting how she could convince herself to go back.  Maybe she should have look thru the menu if they serve this soup a la carte.

At the beginning of the order, she told the service staff she didn’t want too much rice.  The rice took the center stage every time it was served with some pieces of fish.  Rice getting praise from a person who been eating rice daily for the past 30+ years is no mean feat.

Having to hear so much praises about this place, Missy admitted she went with high expectations.  After tasting what they had offered, she fell right back on earth.  Money definitely will not give her great sashimi.  Is there no great Japanese restaurant serving great sashimi in Singapore?   Or she just needs to find a way to reset her taste buds.

Definitely more photos here....  

Fat Cow

After reading so much about a place that is offering great beef cuts, Missy wanted so much to go.  It was only recently when Fat Cow decided to open for lunches.  Understanding that it took over the location of another restaurant, Missy was faced with a sign directing her to the front door.  Missy almost missed the door, if not a service staff happened to walk out. 

Missy was directed to the counter seat   As she was there early, it was really uncomfortable with the chefs walking around. As they are there, it was quite awkward to ignore them.  Missy just wanted a simple and quiet lunch with her iPhone at a corner.

She ordered two appetizers to start with.  Braised oxtail with truffles… was not as good as she hope for.  The beef pieces were a bit too tough for her liking.

The second appetizer was Wagyu Ox Tendon and Foie Gras (Slow cooked wagyu ox tendon with pan seared foie gras and braised daikon).  Missy thinks both dishes were not as fantastic as she was hoping it to be.  The tastes of both dishes just didn’t fulfill the promise by their smells.  Was extremely disappointed after taking in both dishes, just like she had been with her recent attempts at making soups.

Wagyu Donburi lunch set was next.  First came the salad, zucchini tempura and a chawanmushi.  Zucchini tempura was light and crisp, fabulous!   The chawanmushi came with ladyfinger pieces in it… Missy not not a fan of ladyfingers.  The sauce lightens the taste of ladyfinger, giving Missy an opportunity to appreciate the spicy taste that is different from others. 

Sliced wagyu beef, onsen egg and shiro negi rice bowl came with a surprise.  The best part of this slice bowl was not the wagyu, not the egg or the negi.  The mustard bits and the sauce was what made this bowl of rice enjoyable.

Dessert was nothing great.  Just a few slices of fruits and a scoop of ice cream.

Missy felt she could have ordered the wrong dishes at Fat Cow.  Given the price she had paid, she wished her choices had been the right one.   She should visit the place and order the beef, which they are supposed to be famous for.

For more Photos, please head here.. :) 

Chef Laurent Peugeot @ Il Cielo

Missy's take on Chef Laurent Peugeot @ Il Cielo

Eno - Oka Japanese Restaurant

Missy's takes on Eno - Oka Japanese Restaurant

Keisuke Tokyo (Parco Marina Bay)

The review is here

Azabu Sabo (The Central) .. (16th Mar 2009)

hi hi people who are reading... or just seeing the pictures... I had semi lost my desire to write... so let's see what I can write on this...




Matcha Milk shake

I felt that there is a different in the standards of each individual branch. The Matcha Milk shake here is slightly less "greentea'ish" than the one I had Marina Sq. I felt it is more a Milk shake with some Matcha powder, even though it looked rather greentea'ish on the whole.






Lunch set

Unatama Don







Spicy Tantan Ramen

This wasn't spicy, so don't get tricked by the name of it. At the frist taste, I felt this was too soupy. The noodles was quite chewy or Q Q one. For the little amount that I paid, I am okay with the little minced pork and leeks swimming like little guppies in a big ocean. I enjoyed having the soup afterwards.

Okonomi - Yaki with seafood

Usually I love this... however, I cannot get over the bitter taste of the lettuce or cabbage they used for this dish. So I just eat this, because I have to pay for it.

And we moved on to desserts!!!

Black sesame warabi-mochi parfait





ShiraMitsu

I wasn't in mood for ice cream, so I decided to go for a mixture of everything without the ice cream. And I love the brown syrup that come along with it.... I felt this was a very colorful and beautiful dish. :) I enjoy this quite a bit. :D

If you are going for something cheap and good, this is a great place to go.




Save on lunch and get their daily lunch sets, but do not miss their wonderful desserts!!!