Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Tomo Izakaya @ Esplanade

This was an Invited Food Tasting Session.

Last week, Camemberu, The Hungry Cow and I attended a Food Tasting session. We met up with Casey, the PR person from Tomo Izakaya at their Esplanade Branch. Their main branch with award winning interior design is at Clarke Quay. The Esplanade branch is also quite chic and stylish.

We sat outdoors, not because it's far away from others (it's the H1N1 season you know!) but Food Bloggers need light to take photos! :-p It was shaded and quite windy, so it was comfortable.

What is Izakaya? It's a Japanese drinking place where food also plays a role too, not just the drinks. Tomo means friends in Japanese. In short, it's a place to meet up with friends over food and drinks.

Tomo Izakaya - Esplanade Branch

If you want to know what drinks they have there, you can take a look of their drinks menu at their website. It's a long list.

Now to the food. Here are some selection of the food that we tried. There's only 3 of us, we can't eat a lot, so here's some of it.

The California Maki. Beautifully done. Pleasant to both the eye and mouth.

California Maki

If you are having friends, you might want to order the fancier version with the prawn tails at both ends. The orangy flying fish roe makes this Makimono looks tempting doesn't it?

Prawn Makimono

The next 3 dishes were my favourites for the day. Diced Cut Cubed Steak. The three of us concluded that anything beef and mushrooms goes very well. We also found out, 'the hungry cow' really likes cow! We like the sauce of this dish that we ate it with the cold udon we ordered.

Diced Cut Cubed Steak

Buta Kanuni - Stewed Pork Belly. We were told this is one of the best sellers. We tried and we knew why it was. It's so 'melt in your mouth'. The meat and sauce when I first put it in my mouth reminds me of vinegared chinese pig trotters (tee kar chor). Not really like tee kar chor, but have this little hint of it, of my mum's version.

This is definitely not for those who do not like fatty pork. Fatty pork lovers will definitely rejoice!

Buta Kanuni - Stewed Pork Belly

Buta Soki - Pork Ribs Stew. It might put off those who are afraid of fats. But this dish is also another 'melts in your mouth' dish. It's like eating pork ribs without the bones. (Bak Kut without the Kut)

Buta Soki - Pork Ribs Stew

We thought we would try one of their ramen and picked the Kimchee Ramen. When you are chit chatting and taking photos, you tend to forget about time. I think it took us 20 mins before we touched the ramen. So it might be our fault that we found it a tiny bit soggy.

So a suggestion for slow food eaters, stagger your food ordering. When you are almost done with the first few dishes, then order more. If you are super fast and hungry eaters, disregard what I just said.

Kimchee Ramen

There's also the usual assorted sashimi for sashimi lovers.

Assorted Sushi

Here's one of the veggies that we ordered. This is the Vegetable Tempura.
(as an onion lover, I think the tempura onions are nice!)

Vegies Tempura

Thanks to Tomo Izakaya and Casey for your kind hospitality. Casey's a great entertainer, a hilarious guy too. Entertained us with not only food, but lots of stories about Tomo Izakaya and himself.

Tomo Izakaya @ Esplanade Art Centre
8 Raffles Avenue,
#01-09, Esplanade Art Centre
Singapore 039802

Tel: 6333 0012


Their main branch:
Tomo Izakaya @ Clarke Quay
3A River Valley Road
#01-04 Clarke Quay
Singapore 179020

Tel: 6333-0100
Fax: 6336-0092
Email: info@tomoizakaya.com

Sun - Thur [11.30am – 1 am] Last order at midnight.
Fri & Sat [11.30am – 3 am] Last order at 2 am



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Monday, June 29, 2009

Udders Ice Cream @ Lorong Kilat

This first photo was taken a week ago. Spotted a new ice cream place not too far from where we live. We noticed it was new because of all the congratulatory flowers. So, we plan to come back another day. Maybe when they are more settled down.

Udders @ Lorong Kilat

6 days later, which was last Saturday night, we came here with friends after dinner. Wow, the place is so so packed! What a difference 6 days make! Every single table was full. We waited for a while (not that long, around 10 mins) before we got seats for the 13 of us.

Udders at Lorong Kilat

One thing that caught our eyes was the 'scribble wall' they had. Can you spot what I wrote? The one all of us liked was the question: Why did the cow cross the road? Answer: To get to the UDDER side. LOL!

Scribble Wall

Last week when we arranged for our friends to come here, we were wondering... is this place OK? But guess what? On the Saturday morning, we saw a confirmation sign that it is. In our mailbox was this flyer. Free Ice Cream Voucher from the new ice cream cafe in your neighbourhood!

For their neighbours

Today as I came home, I saw more on the dining table. I asked sis, they are giving more free ice cream? Sis said: "No Lah". Must thank our little bugs neighbours. Some neighbours must have treated it like junk brochures and threw them on the floor. haha...

For their neighbours

I am getting old and absent minded. I forgot what is the flavour I ordered the other night. I think it's caramel with sea salt or something like that. I just remembered the sea salt in the name. I like the tinge of saltiness in this ice cream. It's something really different. I think I might go back for more of this.

Caramel and Sea Salt?

Momo had Choya Lime Umeshu Sorbet. She like Choya, so she likes this. Sis and others think it's quite unique. As I don't like choya, I don't like it. LOL....

Choya Lime Umeshu

Ms Rach had the Bailey's and Bourbon. Many people seems to like Bailey's and ya, it never goes wrong right?

Bailey’s & Bourbon

More ice cream photos. As we were too big a group, we sat at two separate tables. So the following photos are from the next table. I went over to snap some photos, but did no ask them the flavour.

My guess: this must be oreos and mango? I think the Yaps had this. Their two kids must have enjoyed this. ;-)

Udders Ice Cream

Oreos and Bailey's?
I think the Lees had this. Hey, Mrs Lee can have alcohol ice cream meh? After first trimester can eat anything? (I assume it is Bailey's haha)

Udders Ice Cream

That must be chocolate and I think vanilla? I think the Chungs shared this.

I read that their vanilla here is the made from real vanilla pods and not from essence etc.

Udders Ice Cream

Ice Cream costs between $3.20 to I think $4.90 for a big scoop depending on flavours.

Something I noticed is that the bowls, and spoons are all from the freezer! So your ice cream don't melt that fast.

Udders Ice Cream
17 Lorong Kilat,
#01-08 Kilat Court,
Singapore 598139

Tel: 64661055
Web: http://udders.com.sg (might not be very updated)

Hours:
Sunday to Thursday: 12 noon to 11pm
Friday, Saturday and eve of PH: 12 noon to 12 midnight



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Saturday, June 27, 2009

Cake Avenue @ Lorong Kilat

If you have follow this food diary, you would have realized that we celebrate lots of birthdays! Last Wednesday, we celebrated the birthday of our care group leader, Alex.

Sis bought the cake this time, and we kinda got tired of the usual cake we have. We ordered a cake from Cake Avenue instead. We self collected it. (They provide delivery to any part of the island for a charge). Look, it's nice blue ribbons!

Cake Avenue

If you have been buying cakes from the usual chain shop you buy cakes from, they don't ask "would you like a message on the cake?" They do here. So it's been some time since we have a personalized cake.

Cake Avenue

We had the 16cm Chocolate Fudge cake ($24). It was quite nice, very nice indeed. ;-)

Cake Avenue


Cake Avenue Pte Ltd
Main branch: 33 Lorong Kilat, Kilat Centre, #01-01, Singapore 598132.
Tel: 6877 9008

Branch: 56 Sembawang Road, Hong Heng Mansions, #01-06, Singapore 779086
Tel: 6554 0155

Cake Counter @ Mon Petit Pastry Bar: 110 Robinsons Road, HB Robinson, #01-02, Singapore 068902
Tel: 6220 2080

Web: www.cakeavenue.com



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Friday, June 26, 2009

Nutella @ my office desk

This morning, my colleague brought out some Nutella mini packs. She was so nice to offer me 1 pack too!

Wow! The last time I had this (in the form of little packs) was when I was a little kid. Most of the time you only see the ones in transparent plastic jars. Just few weeks ago, I saw gigantic jars as well.

I thought these were Thai made because of the Thai words, but realized that they are actually from Australia after I read the small prints.

Nutella small packs

See the smooth texture of this hazel nut snack? Wanna have some too?

Nutella small packs

I remember the plastic spoon. Look, still the same style!

Nutella small packs


Maybe it's just me not being observant when I walked the aisle of the supermarket. Do you see these small 20g packs around?

I just realized they have no cholesterol too!
(I 'bing' and found that out from Amazon! I did not know Amazon sells nutella too! lol)



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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Island Creamery @ Serene Centre

I seem to have an entry for Island Creamery every year. This will be my quota for this year. We ate here a few times this year, the latest was the Father's Day weekend recently.

I am putting this in in because it's a quick post for busy periods. :-)

The place was so so busy when we got there at around 9 pm. We wanted to have the waffles, but they ran out of it. Sigh.... So we settled for 3 scoops of ice cream, and some coffee and tea. (Psst, this is a place for ice cream, the coffee's too 'light'. hint hint)

The Teh Tarik's nice. Love it.
The Chendol's nice too. We forgot about the "Pulut Hitam", that's very nice too. Another time. We were too lazy to queue up again.


Teh Tarik and Chendol flavours


Our cousin just had to have chocolate. :-)

Good old chocolate flavour


We recently discovered another new ice cream place near where we live. Watch out for more ice cream posts coming soon. LOL....

p/s what's your favourite ice cream flavour?


Island Creamery @ Serene Centre
10 Jalan Serene
#01-03 Serene Centre
Singapore 258748



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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Chiharu Sake Bar and Seasonal Specialties @ Bukit Timah Road

The seasonal sets. It's summer now, so here's the summer sets that we had.

It's the chef who decides what we eat, so what you see here might not be what you get if you order this too. It's to the chef's mood. ;-)

The appetizers. They all tasted great. I particularly liked the one with azuki beans.

Appetizers

The sashimi that the chef prepared.

Chef's Choice of Sashimi

Not sure of the name of this fish, but it's a medium size fish that was really nice. The flesh is so sweet. Sis who don't usually like fish think it's nice too. Our cousin who is a fish lover, can be seen nibbling the fish so happily.

Grilled  Fish

Fish broth? The white flowery thing is fish and the rest are like daikon etc. Err, after the fish above, I did not really like this dish.

Fish Soup

This duck soup is nice.

Duck Broth

The fish decided to serve us the following sushi. Nice nice.
I realise that half of us dont like uni. haha...

Assorted Sushi incl uni

Another soup. Miso based soup.
We had so many kinds of soup, we realise that the guys like the salty ones, and the ladies the sweeter ones. I wonder why....

chiharu28

The set ended with Japanese Musk Melon. So juicy, sweet and fragrant!

Japanese Musk Melon

We really liked this dinner. You can look at the menu and pricing at their website ;-)
www.chiharu.com.sg

Chiharu Sake Bar and Seasonal Specialties
779 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 269758
Tel: 6769 1929



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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Chiharu Sake Bar and Seasonal Specialties @ Bukit Timah Road

This was what we brought our Uncle and family to for Father's Day. Uncle and Aunt has been a great blessing to us, we were thinking what to treat them and thank them. We asked aunt what uncle would like to eat, after 'probing' a few days, aunt said uncle seems to have found new love for nice Japanese food.

So, looking back at the blog, (yes, I refer back to my own food diary to see what to eat. haha) I thought Chiharu sounds good. So we booked dinner for Saturday night.

We ordered some summer seasonal dinner sets and some a-la-carte items. We were recommended to order a few sets and order some a-la-carte instead of sets for everyone. So, today's post is the items that we ordered a-la-carte. Multiple items of some of the following.

After you ordered your food, you get this little cute cup with mushroom. They are delicious and it makes you hungry instantly!

Pre-appetizer

We had Zensai, assorted appetizers decided by the chef. Two little squids, Japanese baby abalone, yam, and things that taste good that I don't know the name. ;-)

Zensai - Assorted Appetizer

Hizunamasu - Salmon white bone in sweet vinegar sauce.
This appetizer is also very nice.

Hizunamasu - salmon white bone in sweet vinegar dressing

Kabocha - Japanese pumpkin / winter squash. Inside the mashed pumpkin is minced meat bits. If you are a pumpkin person, you would like this! It taste so yummy!

Kabocha - Manjyo

Wagyu Amiyaki - the wagyu is oooo.......

Wagyu Amiyaki

Mategai - Razor Clams baked. It's spicy, creamy, savoury, etc, you can eat a few if it's not so expensive. LOL...

Mategai

Macha Cheesecake. Super sour cherries on top, but the cheesecake is so fragrant with the macha taste. You would like it.

Macha Cheese Cake

Shall post the special seasonal summer dinner sets tomorrow. Stay tuned.


Chiharu Sake Bar and Seasonal Specialties
779 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 269758
Tel: 6769 1929



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Monday, June 22, 2009

the canteen @ Shaw Centre

Sis, Momo and I was walking around at Isetan Scotts. After getting her stuff done, we were wondering where to eat and since it's just beside Isetan, we drop by the canteen.

the canteen

We have never been to any Les Amis restaurant before and this might be our first.

We had the beef salad to start. The mix of greens and the dressing is nice, very lemongrassy. We like the dressing very much, but we did not like the beef at all. It was so tough and chewy.
(ie like the 'sliced version' of bak kwa that's from 'certain' brand that's known to be touch and chewy, we were thinking, how can??)


Beef Salad

Momo had the Bak Kut Teh. The soup's the peppery and quite ok. Lots of meat though.

Bak Kut Teh

Bak Kut Teh

Sis had the Beef Noodle Soup.
That brings to mind, anyone where's the Scotts Picnic Beef Noodles now?

Beef Noodle Soup

I had the XO Lo Shi Fun. Not too bad. Very spicy! Mince, mince century eggs and chopped green beans.

Lo Shi Fun

Mixing it up a bit, so you know what's Lo Shi Fun.
If I were to make it at home, I would add in a tiny amount of chopped pickled chai sim inside. That was what I was thinking when I was eating this. ;-)

Lo Shi Fun

They are having 25% off the food prices.
An average of approximately $15 per person incl of taxes etc.

the canteen
1 Scotts Road
#01-01B
Shaw Centre
Singapore 228208

Tel: 6738 2276



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