Kinki Restaurant and Bar @ Customs House (Collyer Quay)

[This was an invited food tasting session, thanks to the folks from FoodNews and Kinki Restaurant and Bar.]

A few nights ago, Camemberu, The Little Teochew, a 1/2 food blog, Momo and I went to sample Kinki Restaurant and Bar's Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve menu. Kinki is one of the newer Japanese food place around and from what I tasted, it would be one that you would grow to like.



They call themselves Urban Japanese. I asked what does that mean? Well, it means it's a casual place, people come here with a more relax mood, everyone is free to talk as loud as they wish. Oh, that resonates with me! When I go out with friends, my friends and I usually get stares from others if we got too excited and talk too loud! No one stares at you here, unless you do something to attract attention. Hmm like stripping down to only bikinis.

Here's the menu that we tasted. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.)

If you read in the papers last Saturday, everyone's booking restaurants all around the Marina Bay area to catch the fireworks. The newspaper reported that most places are almost at capacity, so hurry and make your reservation (probably at Kinki if you like what you see here).

*** Appetizers ***

Appetizer 1: Foie Gras on Toastlet with Ginger and Yuzu.

Just take a look at that! I don't have foie gras very often, for this whole year, I probably had it 3 times only. This was probably the best I had in 2010. I don't have details where they got it from, but it's so creamy, the texture is a mix of firm ice cream or soft tofu, try to imagine it. The ginger and yuzu balances the whole experience when you put the spoon in your mouth.




If you do not take meat they offer substitutes, Little Teochew had the Tai Carpaccio with truffle dressing and shio konbu instead.

Appetizer 2: Assorted Sashimi. 

If you love sashimi, you would love what they serve here. Their seafood's flown in 4 times a week from Japan! They started earlier this year with only 2 deliveries a week, but due to the great demand, they have increased it to 4 times a week.

So if you crave good and high quality fresh sashimi, come and sit at their sashimi counter.

Appetizer 3: Sushi of Kajiki, Salmon, Hiramasa, Hirame.

Just look at it! I am sure you will like it like we did!

For the whole night, fellow food blogger Little Teochew was so excited! She told us she initially did not want to have any Japanese food after returning from a trip to Japan. She did not want to ruin her perfect memory of eating in Japan. Having mediocre stuff would ruin her memories. But she was glad she came as the quality here is up to par she said.  The rest of us thought it was great too!

Appetizer 4: Soft Shell Crab Maki

It looks pretty doesn't it? With the unusual skin, it taste as nice as it looks. I guess soft shell crab always taste good!

Pork Floss Maki

The pork floss maki has avocado and cheese. The combination is interesting don't you reckon? I have a spot spot for meat floss, so I like this. I even dip my soft shell crab with the pork floss that's all over the plate. ;-)

*** Main Course ***

Choice of:

Ginger Teriyaki of US Prime Beef Ribeye (Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve menu)

US Prime Beef Teriyaki (This photo)

Since the food tasting was done before all of the ingredients for the Christmas menu arrived, the mains we had was a substitute from the a la carte menu.

The beef was prepared very nicely. The choiced beef had a streak of fat inside, so if you are one who oogle at fatty meat, this would be your choice. I liked the beef except the streak of fats in the middle. It was tender and it because it had been sliced for me, it was easy to eat.

or

Hokkaido Milk Poached White Cod with Crispy Ginger

White cod poached in Hokkaido Milk. Doesn't the name already sound good? Hokkaido milk that's known to be very smooth and creamy was used to poach the cod. The result, cod that tasted buttery! (I tasted Momo's piece of cod)

It comes with meat sauce but if you are not a meat eater, they can omit the meat and serve you something different. The meat sauce is made from miso and pork floss.




This version was the same cod poached in hokkaido milk, but served with balsamic vinegar and truffle oil instead. (if you do not eat meat)



Either main comes with a bowl of steamed rice.

*** Dessert ***

Black Sesame and Mochi Parfait

We ended the meal with a parfait. Black Sesame will be what you will be served if you dine here.
For us, we were given an extra scoop of peach sorbet as pictured above. What a delightful sweet ending to the meal! I love the red azuki beans! The mochi is buried below.

*** Additional Items we had ***

The kind folks at Kinki was feeling generous and decided to treat us to some of the specialties in the a la carte menu.

Foie Gras and Scallop Sushi

Served together with the Sushi for us was the Foie Gras & Scallop Sushi $22 for 2 pieces. Yes, the same creamy foie gras! You will feel pampered eating this!

*** Kinki Style Okonomiyaki ***

The Kinki Style Okonomiyaki ($24) and was quite wonderful too. You can pick up the okonomiyaki like a slice of pizza. I should bring my sis here to try their okonomiyaki here!

Tai Carpaccio with truffle dressing and shio konbu

We were glad they served this to us. The Tai Carpaccio ($30) was what Little Teochew had for starter. It was superb. I am sure you can just pick up slice after slice and don't want to stop.

Momotaro Tomato with ginger sesame dressing

Momotaro tomatoes! They taste good by itself, but with the light ginger sesame dressing, it taste even better! I love it! This costs $16.

*** Roof Top ***

By the way, they have a roof top open. You can have your drinks up here and enjoy the New Year Eve's fireworks!  Even without fireworks, you should come up here for the view! Look at this view of MBS! You can also look into the rooms of the hotel next door!

We saw lots of tiny balls on the water. I am sure the place would look even more beautiful when the lights in the balls are turned on!

Oh, the mixologist prepares great cocktails and mocktails too! I had a drink that was mixed from peaches, apricots, yuzu, blueberry and blackberry. It had no name (yet!) so I called it Kinki Male.




For Christmas and NYE, their menus are priced as follows:
24/12 Christmas Eve 3-course set dinner @ $128++ with a glass of wine
31/12 New Year’s Eve 3-course set dinner @ $168++ with a glass of champagne

Opening hours for both festive nights,
Kitchen opens from 6pm to 11pm (last order for food)
Bar Opens (restaurant and rooftop) from 6pm to 3am


Enjoy!

Kinki Restaurant and Bar
70 Collyer Quay
#02-02 Customs House
Singapore 049323

Tel: +65 6533 3471
Fax: +65 6533 3473

Web: http://www.kinki.com.sg
Email: enquiry@kinki.com.sg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kinkibar
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kinkibar

Coffee Club @ Raffles Place

It's been a long long time since I sat down and ate breakfast slowly! On weekday mornings, I am always rushing out to work. I am one of those who will waste precious time pressing the snooze button a few times. Before you know it, you are late and you got to rush to work!

On Saturdays, if there's nothing on, I usually sleep in till 12 noon! It's the only day in the week I can sleep in! On Sundays, it's church and we try to be there at around 8:45am. ;-)

This is one of my rare breakfast posts!

Of all places, I had breakfast right in the middle of the financial district. I had breakfast with my sis. Sis and I don't work in this area, but we came here for breakfast on National Day!

We flip through their menu and decide to order from the Breakfast menu.

***

The Mushroom Bruschetta. $6.80
Grilled mushroom topped with Italian taleggio cheese on toasted ciabatta. It was also served with scrambled eggs.

A rather nice breakfast. Kinda filling if you don't usually eat so much for breakfast. The ciabatta was a bit too toasted so it was very 'crunchy'. But it was ok when you let the yummy runny scrambled egg soak through. 



It came with a complimentary coffee (or tea).

***

I had the Spanish Chorizo Omelette $7.50.
I have thinking of chorizos recently! So when I saw this in the menu, I ordered it. I should have taken  a photo of the chorizo, roasted capsicum and cheddar inside the omelette. I would have preferred more chorizos in it!

I wonder how many eggs was in my omelette! But it was hearty breakfast.



It came with a choice of tea or coffee, and I opted for the English Breakfast Tea.




p/s Talking about Chorizos, I realised that Twisties now has a new flavour! Chicken Chorizo and Smokey Sausage. That's for Twisties/Chorizos fans. ;-P

We had recently joined their Club Royalty, and just got the members card after like 2 months of waiting. It came with some "welcome vouchers". But too bad, it's a public holiday and they don't accept it. :-(


Coffee Club @ Raffles Place
Tel: 6532 6273
Hours: Open daily, from 8am - 10pm

Standing Sushi Bar @ OUB Centre, Raffles Place

Note: Today's post has been brought to you courtesy of Standard Chartered Bank.

This was a meal last night at "Standing Sushi Bar". What an unique name isn't it? When I first heard of this place a few months ago, I was thinking: "Hmm, do you have to stand and eat?" A few people that I follow on Twitter has been raving about this place! So when I was presented the opportunity to come for a free meal, I said yes!

Hey, is that face familiar? That's Howard from "Eye for a Guy 2". Yes, that show's ancient, it's like 3 years ago. Guess what? Howard's now the boss of Standing Sushi Bar. The two fish beside Howard is Barry and Fin. If you watch TV, you would have seen the two fish from the Standard Chartered Bank commercial.



Why Standing Sushi Bar? I was told there's no chairs during lunch time. It's a new concept of quickly grabbing something to eat and to mingle around. For dinner hours, the chairs will mysteriously appear though.

We got here and were kinda overwhelmed by what to order, so we asked Howard to order for us. He would know what's good right? He told us that their fish is flown in fresh daily from Japan and some other countries.

So what did Howard order for us? This is the Chef's Special, our sashimi platter. $25. Oh, we were impressed. Even for our untrained tongue, we can know the difference. There's just freshness that you can taste. I especially love the scallops!



Next, we each had a platter of 5 different Nigiri Sushi.
(Maguro $2, Sake Toro $2, Hamachi $4, Aburi Hotate $4, Shime Saba $3.)

What you see below is the end where the Shime Saba is. We are to eat from the other side to this side. The reason? So you will appreciate it more by gradually eating from the lighter taste to the stronger taste fish. I like the Aburi Hotate (Scallops) and Saba (Mackerel) the most.



Oh, does the next photo look so so wrong? You know why Barry and Fin were so scared in the commercial? They feared they will be next on the plate! Oh, the look at their faces while holding our Nigiri sushi. Is that a relief face that they are still alive?



Next was the best Nigiri we had. The eel we usually eat is fresh water eel (unagi). But this is salt water eel (Anago). You know how usually salt water fish taste better than fresh water fish? The same for eels! You should order this and try! It's $6 a pop, but you should try it once right?

We had trouble trying to remember all 6 names of the Nigiri, so we told Howard, can we call this the "Howard Set"? So when customers who visit after reading our blogs asks for the "Howard Set", you know exactly what they want? ;-P



Next is something new and maybe never to be replicated again at Standing Sushi Bar.
It's a vegetarian sushi that I think was not in the menu. It was created because of Barry and Fin who keep telling the rest of us "fish are friends, not food".



The next dish is for mushrooms lovers. Mix Kinoko Foil Yaki, $10.
3 kinds of mushroom and some special sauce. I like the Shitake more than the Enoki and Shimeji. The chef simply refuse to let us know what sauce! Trade secret he insists!



This is Salmon Yuzu Yama-mayo yaki, $15
This was a shared item, but the rest did not seem to touch it, so I ate almost all of it! The salmon's not overdone and the sauce tangerine vinaigrette makes it so appetizing.



Agedashi Tofu, $5
If you have followed my food diary, you know I am not a fan of almost all kinds of tofu. Everyone else says its nice though. ;-)



This is Tamago Nigiri, $6.
A formation like this reminds me of Marina Bay Sands' 3 Towers!



Fin's went hiding again, because he saw Shishamo Age, $8 being served.
Fin, you got to live with it. Don't be a scary cat. (fish i mean). You are the 'star' of the commercial, so you won't get to die yet. haha...



This is Yoshinogawa Gensen Karakuchi, $8
Not mine, but Claudia from 24seven had this. A soft acidity and light taste sake from Niigata with 15.5% alcohol!



We ate more things but I think it's photo overload if I post all of them here.

So, after dinner, Barry and Fin paid for our meal with a Standard Chartered Credit Card.
You can see that they are still in shock, so many of cousins died for the sake of hungry food bloggers!



You want to get yourself a Standard Chartered Credit Card?
First a 15% off the total food bill.



Then you get additional 15% cashback too!
This 15% cashback applies to all restaurants in Singapore.




To register for Singapore’s biggest ever dining campaign, simply SMS in this format:
GET15  16-Digit Card Number to 78722 before 31 December 2009


Refer to http://www.standardchartered.com.sg for more information.

Standing Sushi Bar
1 Raffles Place
#B1-02B OUB Centre
Singapore 048616

Tel: +65 6533 7078
Web: http://standingsushibar.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/standingsushi
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/standingsushibar