Nanbantei

yesterday, M, fish annalisa and i the far east gang made our way again to try nanbantei at far east plaza. previously we were here at far east too after anasthesia at kk to try out wasabi tei. we were freakin early that one time and to our dismay both Wasabi tei and Nanbantei opens at 12 sharp (okay not that sharp for the nazi chef at Wasabi tei) so we were lingering around feeling miserably hungry....

but this time the opposite happened to us! fish and annalisa's neonatal tutor took forever and when m and i were feeling ravenous at the LT lounge ( we nearly wanted to take off to Nogawa alr, even made a reservation =P) and when we called Nambantei their last order was at 230 and they close at 3 so we were damnnn scared we couldnt make it!!

but of cos we did =) (tho m and i were slightly disappointed we couldnt try nogawa hahaha) ..the other option was this waruku branch thats their newest over at starhub centre but ERP+ ex parking -> Nambantei...

its quite a small place over here..about 3 tables and a counter as above.. fish commented they have another branch over at cuppage (not sure if its kazu) with the same layout...oh because they grill their skewers of meat at the counter, the meat smell will definitely cling onto your clothes..

this is my very comprehensive yakitori set $12.50. i requested for the pork items to be replaced so what you see above is mushrooms stuffed with chicken, eel (below that), chicken meat, quail egg, and chicken balls. the rice is covered by (very salty) mushrooms and chicken floss. all of us had this set (because it had the greatest variety and we were ravenous) and we almost wanted to order an extra set of salmon lunch set because we saw how huge the slab of salmon was! (the picture was absolutely misleading)

the mushrooms were very succulent and tasty (i think because it absorbed the juices from the stuffed chicken) and very much tastier than the dried out mushroom skewers I tried at Shin Kushiya. the eel was also tasty, with a generous layer of sauce.. i must say the chicken meats were tasty on its own, its not overtly salty such that you must eat it with rice. even the fresh crunchy vegetable sticks -when eaten with the sauce in the aluminium foil - was refreshingly tasty.

And i certainly havent eaten quail eggs in a long time - i don't know why i thought of those easter egg candies that i used to eat when i was younger...its like some chocolate egg thats the same size of the quail =P funny how eating certain foods trigger off seemingly unrelated memories !

this is the very yummy complimentary dessert..an extremely chewy plain mochi in red bean sauce...i love red bean !! oh im thinking of the very yummy red bean milk ice Kels and i had at the nuh kopitiam during our night call..and of cos, the red bean- yam milk ice at ice monster with her too!! oh i miss my best friend i hope she's recovering well =) will return to nanbantei with you as soon as your appetite takes off!

ps it was a blessing in disguise for you cos our tutor was 3 hours late!!anna and i were complaining how much shopping we could have accomplished =((( if not for the fantastic lunch we wouldnt be able to last out the day man!!

oh and when we were there far east was having a food fair too (it was the first day of the 10 day fair) and there was very yummy mini vietnamese pandan cake ( it tasted like a waffle with a crisp outside and extremely chewy inside), fried durian, SLII muffins, portuguese egg tarts... oh it was food galore, if only that *)(&*^(&%^( tutor didnt arrange a tutorial right in the middle of her clinics we'd definitely buy more and shop more!! grrrr!!

Nanbantei Japanese Restaurant
14 Scotts Road #05-132 Far East Plaza

Kyomomoyama

i wouldnt have eaten here (there are so many other places to try out in central!)if M didn't bring this dish to my attention cos i haven't eaten uni before this...and the best thing about this place is that there is a 30 per cent off on wednesdays for all ladies..and they very graciously (or accidentally i dunno? =P) extended this offer to my nonfemale friend as well so this place is indeed worth checking out on wednesdays!

this is my seafood don laden with ++++ uni, scallop, crabmeat and roe. the uni has quite a distinct shellfish taste - pretty much like mushed up blended oyster, which either i cant appreciate or it is not that fresh? there are different grades of uni, each differing in texture, tastes and colour... which i shall learn about when i eat more uni =) the scallops were really really fresh. but not the roe though.

comes as a set with pickles and miso soup...and its very affordable at 26 bucks before the discoount.

this is my friend's dish and it was tuna with mountain yam ($18)(the fake egg like looking thing on the left). the tuna was fresh and the mountain yam was bland - and being so finely grated it really didn't taste or feel like anything. Still, he liked the dish.

we came to the conclusion that the food was very "cheng", very healthy - not very exciting to the point of being slightly boring, like other generic restaurants...maybe thats why the newer ones that have been bursting into the culinary scene recently have specialised to become izakayas etc. indeed with fickle and daring palates like mine, places like these will be a one-try experience for me (unless its a wednesday and i've nowhere to eat before mambo =P

guys, be sure to bring some female friends here and hope the cashier is as blur as they were when i came !

Kyomomoyama (what a very difficult name to pronounce, spell and remember!!!!)
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#03-87/100/101/110 The Central @ Clarke Quay
Tel: 6534 8001

U.D.D.E.R.S

UDDERS is my favourite local icecream store, simply because the icecream is extremely creamy and thick. My ultimate favourite is the triple sec, which is a super thick chocolate icecream with a hint of orange liquer. Its really thick, and is like a hybrid of frozen thick chocolate milk shake and melted cold orange chocolate. I love to eat the melting parts of my icecream (that boundary of frozen morphing into liquid), quite a peculiar habit.

All the alcoholic flavours are extremely potent, and when you ask to sample the alcoholic icecream flavours, the server will ask you to try the mild ones (like lychee martini) before progressing to the more potent ones (you get alcoholic breath after the rum and raisin one). Of all the alcoholic flavours I like the Rum and raisin, Irish Bailey's Cream (though i still miss the Haagan Daz version alot....bring it back!! i miss the states where each pint was USD $4.95 even in the hotels and they have irish bailey's cream everywhere!) as well as the Amaretto Black one (coffee icecream with almond liquer) the most !

The pinkish one you see above is Strawberry fields, and its my favourite out of all the fruity flavours, as there are bits of strawberry pieces and seeds and is creamy (I hate sorbets). I am not a fan of their Chempedek ice cream though, but Michelle seemed to fancy that alot. The durian ice cream here is very very good, and there are 2 types: the D 24 one and the Mao Shan Wang one. The latter is definitely packs a greater punch, but its the most expensive, it being priced as a Conoisseur flavour.

They also have local flavours like Gula Melaka (which essentially, tastes like a sweetish coconut icecream with bits of red bean) which i think is quite unique!

these poster are hilarious!

being an icecream scientist must be quite fun, translating icecream dreams into reality...some of the suggestions are really whacky man, check them out.

I love the chill out vibe of this shop, and there's even a board games corner. With free wi-fi and lazy lounge music, I am definitely coming back for more......especially to try their waffles!!

U.D.D.E.R.S
155 Thomson Road
Goldhill Shopping Centre
Tel: 6254 6629

Shimbaishi Soba

michelle highly recommend this place for dessert but chong and i decided to drop by to try out their soba ( right after that disappointing seafood platter )&(£^&*$T^*) and this time round we werent unlucky twice.

but we had to queue and chong hates to queue for anything (not even food)

it was a very busy night and extremely packed and luckily we didnt end up sitting right next to the queue (i hate people peering down at what i eat) .. with some very fragrant roasted green tea we were good to order and i ordered the unagi soba.

the noodles were firm to bite and were clearly handmade. the unagi kinda got even soggier inside the soup though..

this is Shokado A - Teriyaki Chicken, Salmon Sashimi, Soft Shell Crab Tempura, Fruit, Choice of Soba or udon (chilled). i don't quite like the idea of cold noodles but chong does as she eats hot soba at home alot. quite a wide variety of meats to go with the (rather bland) noodles. the teriyaki chicken was particularly tasty.

good place to come for a casual, no frills noodle craving but then again i can always get it fuss free and cheaper somewhere else, minus the horrendous queue and insane parking. will be back to try the tea time dessert promotion though.

Shimbaishi Soba

290 Orchard Road #B1-41 The Paragon

Via Mar

a very expensive 42 bucks Seafood platter we greedily ordered because there was complimentary dessert that came with this order..this can easily be one person's appetiser (although i must say the fish was very nice) and indeed it was listed as an appetiser in the menu to be shared by 4...what, infants??? maybe its called appetiser for a reason cos we were so hungry after that (-but it worked against the restaurant cos we felt so ripped off we decided to have our mains at Shimbaishi soba )
the complimentary Spanish pancakes...these were quite small. The insides were of an egg-curd consistency and is covered by a fried crepe layer..very nice, if it was bigger (same principle applies to the seafood platter)

we should have ordered the paella! dunno why we were blinded by all that mussels and prawns and calamari. if only they didnt rip us off this time we'd be back to try their paella.

and the restaurant was so empty on a weekend (and after a performance)....so there for your puny portions!! go woe all the tourists you want but singaporean big eaters like us will have to adjourn to somewhere else!!

Via Mar Restaurant & Wine Bar

8 Raffles Avenue #01-10/12 Esplanade Mall

Kazbar

we stumbled into this place when we were checking out the newly renovated Cuppage terrace and we were lured by the bellydancers here (and eventually by the boss' enticing of free drinks) and since our original plan was to check out middle eastern food at bali lane anyway (but didnt go there cos stupid halloween costumes shop at bugis closes at 5pm on sat) we decided to venture into this place instead of Kazu at Cuppage...

everything here is imported from the middle east....from the furninshings to the chef to the portraits to the plates...not sure about the belly dancer (who knocked off early so i couldnt grab a picture of the hottest stuff in the restaurant)

Mixed Mezze Platter $18

Combination of hummus, moutabel, babaganoush, cheese borek & falafel

sounds as greek as can be for the ininitiated, this platter is a mixture of cold dips (to be eaten with the pita bread) and hot starters. For the cold starters, i liked the moutabel most (its a smoked eggplant dip with tahini and lemon juice). i havent tasted babaghanaoush before (which is grilled eggplant, tomato and capsicum salad) but it had a rather tangy taste - and it was the last to finish (ie we werent fans of it) . humus is the usual normal chickpea puree like in other middle eastern restaurants.

the 2 hot starters are the cheese borek (the 4 spring rolls sticking out - they are herbs and feta cheese pastry) and falafel (the 4 balls of chickpeas and beans tossed in spices beneath the spring rolls)

Mixed Grill Platter. $35

lamb chops, shish taouk, shish kebab and kofta kebabs served with 3 sauces

sounds greek to a layman again. okay, shish taouk is char grilled marinated chicken, whilst shish kebab is char grilled lamb cubes. i liked the shish kebab best!! i like lamb alot, but i thought the lamb chop was a little anorexic.

Royal Cous cous $25

cous cous with tender lamb shank, shish taouk and lamb merguez served with vegetable stew( picture below) and harissa sauce

i liked this main the best, simply because the lamb shank was really tender. the lamb merguez is a lamb sausage. the cous cous itself was well fried yet not oily, and very flavourful.

the vegetable stew looked like a curry but nope, its that colour because of the spices and there isnt actually any curry powder inside. the cabbages and capsicum soaked up the spicy stew and was went really well with the cous cous.

Baklawa (complimentary)

Filo pastry with assorted nuts and honey syrup

this is like middle eastern bread and pudding, except that there were pistachio nuts swimming about the layers of milk and cream!! i love the pastry bits as well.

Strawberry fondue (complimentary)

Strawberries and cream to wrap up the evening. It's really sweet of the boss to buy as drinks and desserts (and even an invite to shisha but we turned him down =p) but can see why because cuppage terrace was rather empty for a saturday evening, compared to the nearby emerald hill, perpetually infested by expats. it was only day 10 of opening day for kazbar, so they're still trying to iron things out (like the belly dancer knocks off too early on a saturday night!!!!!) but overall the food and service (the boss was really friendly, chatting with us throughout dinner telling tales of how he started off at Postbar at Fullerton to how he has the best job in the world of dining and wining his guests) is commendable and worth a visit.

I must go and check out Alaturka Turkish restaurant (as recommended by kums) and El Sheikh soon !

Kazbar (Cuppage Terrace)

33 Cuppage Road Cuppage Terrace

Cedele cakes

we were just supposed to order the whole Chocolate truffle cake from Cedele for my sister's birthday but when you have a mother and 2 daughters how are you suppose to resist ordering a round of cakes?

Carrot Cake

Moist carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and generous amount of Californian walnuts

we ordered 2 slices of this tall cake and boy was it good! it was indeed moist and the nuts were plentiful. my mom became a recent carrot cake convert after i convinced her that she'd like it after Cedele's. I think Cedele's is one of the best around, and Food for thought's version is equally good. Apparently, Andrew's sister, Lynda bakes excellent carrot cakes (for the President, i hear) so i must go and try that for myself.

Blueberry Hazelnut cheesecake

The hazelnut taste was very lightly perfused into the cheesecake. This is nice if you like your cheesecake creamy and plain-ish tasting. The blueberry taste is not strong at all but i like it that way because i hate sour cakes (unless its fruit and rum cake yum)

Chocolate Walnut Cheesecake

Usually i don't really like my chocolate and cheese all mixed in one cake ( since my tastebuds cant really decipher the flavours) - i prefer them in separate layers like Missclarity cafe's Twin Divine, or Secret Recipe's Choc Cheez - but i must say that this cake is good if you don't like your dense chocolate cake to be too chocolatey - the cheese actually dilutes out the chocolate lol

we also ordered a slice of the chocolate truffle (but we'll be having the whole cake to ourselves on friday) i cant wait for friday!

these cakes are worth braving the tight and crowded jelita car park for =) that car park was madness!! think its cos of the first hour free so everyyyyonnnneee drops by the cold storage there or rent videos or buy books ahhh so packed!

Cedele (Jelita)

293 Holland Road #01-01 Jelita Shopping Centre

Seoul Yummy Express, Suntec Food republic

Al Dosot Bibimbap, $6.50

i went back to this stall 3 times in the same week till the lady recognised me. (first with the Hongkong students, next with kels and another with my parents) -thats how good it was. this is the no-frills outlet that Seoul Yummy (which i like too!) operates in Food Republic Suntec(im not sure if other Food Republic has this express outlet). I like to ask for extra vegetables cos it really makes a whole lot of difference in terms of colour and crunchiness!instead of a raw egg york, this version has the prawn roe and the miso paste in place of it and it is defintely saltier and more flavourful - thats where the vegetables balances this out. I tried the beef and chicken version but I think the beef is alot better.

It comes with kimchi and soup as well...and it definitely creates a spectacle with the sizzling claypot so you'd definitely get stared at...the fun thing about the claypot is that you can create your own fried rice and mix it all up!

this is the first visit when I was with the Hong kong students and we all shared this - murtabak, chicken rice (a real rip off), nasi briyani and hokkien mee... oh i do miss those hong kong students, i cant wait till my exchange to see them again and by then it'll be my turn to be taken around to feast!

Green+on+Earth Cafe, Frolick

i keep reading about the rave reviews of the vegeterian food here (yeah, you got me right, it doesn't kill to be a herbivore once in awhile- no pun intended) so i dragged one of my healthier-eating frens along to try out the fare in this place...but gasp i realised he doesn't eat raw vegetables so oh well all the interesting avocado mango salads and vegeterian rojaks were kinda out (i don't think i'd wanna finish a whole salad for a dinner)

the modern hip ambience in Green+on+Earth Cafe is a huge contrast to the rest of the Beauty world centre that this cafe is situated in. the building looks very 1970 ish, with the grocery shops and old old family owned shops.. everything looks very old and the building looks like it can crumble...it was so coincidental that the day before michelle actually dined at the peranakan restaurant just next door and she was rather curious about this place also when i was chatting with her that night and i told her i was gonna try this place! michelle blog faster tell me whether if its better than ivins!

2 of us ordered 3 dishes to share - one noodle, one pasta and one soy curry set with brown rice...well even if its just vegetables it won't be all that boring *crosses fingers*

Al Funghi Ramen

(mushroom and fresh vegetables) $5.20

i like mushrooms but i noticed that there weren't exclusive mushroom dishes - they all came with tofu or vegetables and were rather pricey (around 10 bucks) so i decided to just order this carb dish. RAW VEG GALORE! my repulsed friend asked me to clear it before he actually started on it...we forgot to read the words in the parentheses oh well...

the noodle was doused in a gravy and i thought the crunchy vegetables complemented the gravy laden noodles. disappointingly there weren't that many mushrooms!! then don't call it Al Funghi Ramen how very misleading. it was not too salty but was rather unimpressionable. my friend commented it tastes like any other chinese noodles which is quite true..its just that the overall branding as a healthy eatery that led us to pay 5 bucks to eat noodles and vegs..

i prefer the vegeterian soba that secret recipe offers cos the soba is likely tossed in some dressing and there's quite alot of vegetables! now it'd be perfect if they could throw in some mushrooms.

Forest of Fungus

(Fresh assorted mushroom, potato cubes and pasta cooked with milk and mozarella cheese) $9.80

This sounded very promising (yes yes because it has mushrooms too!) and it did smell fabulous (my ramen didn't smell of anything) but overall i feel that the cream didn't permeate through the pasta so it still doesn't have enough flavour in every bite. my friend said that it was probably meant to be light and simple and not heavy like gnocchis. well...i guess this was a healthy place and they definitely cant dish out some super unhealthy fatty cheese and cream laden pasta..

Soy Curry Pot $10
(Soy milk curried vegetables, served with brown rice and mini salad) $10

okay this was rather interesting and it did save our meal somewhat. the bits of mock mutton inside taste uncannily like the true meat, and the curry was actually rather light. Interesting take on curry, since coconut milk is always considered to be indispensible in curries. It went very well with the brown rice, and there were bits of lady fingers in the curry too.

but after that i felt a sudden craving for the cottage cheese curry at krithikaa's dad's vegeterian restaurant Ananda Bhavan..oh i shall return for the naan soon...

we weren't really enticed by the desserts there so we decided to head to holland v for the yoghurt icecream at Frolick because i thought that the zouk card-tie up promotion was still on and i could get some free topping or free upgrade but alas...it was not meant to be..

standing in the place of an ex-newspaper stand, frolick is essentially a bar counter in a hole in the wall with prettily made up girls serving you the ice cream (tsk tsk all these local ice cream chains) in different Cup sizes A, B, C (im sure you can figure which is the biggest) and the cheekiness doesn't stop there with their slapstick slogans as you can see for yourself splashed all over the store and the table tops.. obviously attention grabbing tactics going on over here!

yoghurt icecream comes in 2 flavours - original and peach flavoured., which is slightly more expensive. Toppings like strawberry (they give alot!!!!) and granola and even fruit loops are available at additional cost.

Left: Original flavour with blueberry topping

Right: Peach flavoured

MINE! yup i couldnt resist a fruity flavour. This was sweeter than the sourish original flavour. I prefer my yoghurt icecream sweeter so i prefer this to the original flavour. The peach flavour also tasted similar to the one at yoguru, except the latter was creamier and denser.

Frolick has been rather proliferative, popping up in millenia walk and serangoon gardens...those 3 young entrepreneurs are really aggressive man!

Green On Earth Cafe 144 Upper Bukit Timah Road #04-03 Beauty World Centre
Frolick 241 Holland Avenue #01-02 Holland Village

Prive Bakery Cafe

a drizzly afternoon was a blessing in disguise as fungus and i ditched our tennis plans to take a lesiurely drive to Keppel Island..this must have been my third time there - the first being when it was first open and hence the clubhouse being under renovation and the other time with kums and kels to the tcc upstairs...nonetheless i still enjoy the ride down the mini causeway down to the island (its like a mini sentosa with no cover charge) and the awesome scenery (in more ways than one, interesting people watching as well!)

Prive Bakery Cafe serves fresh breads, quiches, pies, sandwiches, soups, salads, gourmet mik shakes and cakes. I'm eyeing the main Prive restaurant for its steaks which many have raved about..

Smoked Duck Salad. $14

a rather puny portion for the price, with some slivers of duck here and there (yes i know i shouldnt expect too much meat in my salads, i never learn my lesson). The dressing was rather tangy and i love the addition of fresh figs and pine nuts to the salad.

Blue Swimmer Crab and Prawns with Roma Tomatoes Wrap

Again another puny portion, the wraps are even smaller than popiahs and nowhere near the size of subway wraps (by now you should know i love my food portions BIG). The tortilla wrap however, was quite thick and it became quite floury especially at the ends (as michelle agrees). The crab meat was rather little too, the proportion of flour to meat ratio was quite skewed.. it was rather tasty but oh well would be great if it was BIGGER!

Rum and Raisin Cheescake $6.50

This was Rum and Raisin AND cheesecake. Because the cheesecake had no rum at all! it was just the normal new york plain cheesecake (unless im really that immune to alcohol) and there was rum-soaked raisins here and there. i must go and try the peanut butter crunch cake !!

we sat alfresco since the weather was superbly cloudy (i love gloomy weather). fantastic place for watching the interesting mix of clientele here - some obvious business brunches, girl friends (or tai tais =P) for a casual lunch affair, and of cos we were spying at the berth where those richies were disembarking from their GORGEOUS yachts! mothers with their (very lucky happily-fed) kids eating breakfast - all the alfresco tables were 4 seaters and by the corner of our (roving) eyes we saw 2 mothers and their tag along accessories ie prettily clad daughters and we wondered if we would be like that 10 years down the road?

Prive Bakery Cafe

2 Keppel Bay Vista

Marina at Keppel Bay

Brewerkz, Riverside Point

when 4 hungry girls descend upon Brewerkz post La una search party, this is what happens....

Soba Noodle Salad with Salmon $18.99 + $2.99 for Salmon

generous variety of greens, al dente noodles drizzled in vinnegraitte, a dash of fried wantan skin tops a very good salad. as recommended by kitchencrazydaffy who swears by this salad and im totally sold.

Soba Noodle Salad $18.99
Greens, soba noodles, teriyaki chicken with Asian
vinaigrette

As above, but chicken is dry, Salmon wasn't that succulent either, oh well. its called a salad for a reason, meat shouldn't have any business in it in the first place

Nachos $28.99

The cafe iguana one beats this version hands down. Go next door for the nachos.

King Brew Burger $31.99

Don’t tell your cardiologist—two patties (480 grams) of
beef with cheese, sautéed mushrooms and
beer chili

This is a sure monster. Look at all the beer chilli and beans spilling out! But it will really make a carnivore happy with the amount of meat in that thick beef patty drizzled all over by the excellent sauce and chilli. The meat is a little rare though..but still an excellent plus sized burger. if you are very hungry. or you are an american...you can attempt the feat of finishing it by yourself..

Mexican Burger, $22.99

A flavor fiesta with guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos andbeer chili—muy bueno

Of cos, nothing else measures up in size after the king brew burger. but i like guacamole and jalapenos so im quite a fan (actually the only fan amongst the girls who supper) of this burger. The others preferred the King brew burger. definitely more manageable and less jelat than the monster though.

Post Massacre

We were so full but we still caught a late night movie (and a movie is never complete without popcorn) after that...it was a huge effort not to concuss during Wall-e it was incredibly boring!!

a great place if you like heavy suppers.. and beers of cos..they stop serving food after a certain time, certain dishes with the clock sign next to it will be available after another certain time... yeah it gets quite confusing so do call to check first cos there was once we went all the way there to realise the entire row (cafe iguana, brewerkz, wine garage - all under the same company by the way) stopped serving food, and we had to settle for coffee club at clarke quay. the ambience is great, with tvs screening soccer matches (ie random screams at goals) and a pool table provides the needed entertainment...

and oh yeah, we went on a sat night ie CROWDED so we sat at one of the tables along the corridor, ie STARES at our King Brew burger and all the food..all the more reason to come earlier and get an inside table...eating in the sweltering heat is no joke (neither are rude stares nor looks of bemusement from passerbys...)

Brewerkz Restaurant & Microbrewery (Riverside Point)

30 Merchant Road #01-05/06