377. KUMO Sake Bar - Hiyashi Beef Rice

 

Hiyashi Beef Rice Original

Kumo has extended their area to occupy the shop space that is more visible from the road. This shop space is used as a sake bar and they serve Hiyashi Beef Rice during lunch time. Every time I walk past the sake bar, there are people eating in there. One day, I decided to find out what's on their menu. Not many choices to choose from. Either the hiyashi beef rice, the hiyashi beef rice with a soft boiled egg or the tonkatsu. We all went for the hiyashi beef rice original, topped up with a glass of honey lemon. For a moment, one may mistake it for curry rice. Hiyashi beef rice is apparently quite a popular dish in Japan. 

Our order didn't take long as we could see the chef in the opposite open concept kitchen dished out the hiyashi beef rice to the serving counter. We sat at the top bar counter and I sneakily threw glances at the customers' (mostly Japanese) plate. They ate with such delight, finished every bit of the demi glace beef sauce. To be exact, it was more of a minced beef sauce. I thought a tad too minced for what I would prefer. Also a tad too salty. The lunch companions had the same felts. In fact, I felt the beef taste was also too strong. Very much like canned minced beef. Unlike the other Japanese customers, I could barely finish the minced beef sauce. I did a quick research online. Information available said hiyashi's main ingredients generally contain red wine, tomato, onions and button mushrooms. I supposed the one served at Kumo is the original rendition of a Hiyashi Beef Rice. The beautiful tomato definitely helped to ease a bit of the richness taste in my mouth. 

I am not sure if the locals take this dish as well as the Japanese. 

Have you tried this? What's your comment on this dish?

KUMO Sake Bar

Icon Village,

12 Gopeng Street, #01-58

344. Tokkuri Japanese Restaurant

Unagi with pork belly set @$17.90

A new Japanese eatery opened at Icon Village so I had it on my tasting list. It had a short counter which could the most take about 8 persons. It was full house at lunch time so me and my lunch kakis waited for a while. They were having a promotion of 2 specified lunch sets at $10.80++ each, a choice of the salmon or tonkatsu set if I didn't remember wrongly. The promotion could be still on currently.

I didn't go for the promotion lunch set. The unagi with pork belly simmered for 8 hours got my attention. And boy, it was good. Dipped a little of the mustard, the pork belly simply melted away. How I wished I had more than just two thin slices. It was thankful that the rice was good. The fat and satisfying short grain rice. I would feel quite cheated if the rice served was not a least bit like short-grain rice. The unagi was good too. In fact, I felt it was worth the money. I would definitely be back.

Tokkuri Japanese Restaurant
Icon Village
#01-35/40

Lunch : 11.30pm-2.30pm

Dinner: 5.30pm-9.30pm

Closed on sun

332. Kuriya Dining, Tokyo

Mentaiko, Cream Crab Croquette @Yen138(SGD 2.20)

Alas! I'm back from Tokyo. Have not been blogging for some time. Bad times. Laptop spoilt. Worse still, my photos looked worse than before so I didn't bother to watermark them.

Croquettes from Takashimaya, Tokyo. I was shocked when I saw the crowd at the basement of Takashimaya, the food level. I was even more shocked when I saw the prices and the people were buying like there's a sale. Geez.

Anyway, the croquettes looked so appealing, they tricked me into buying them off the display cabinet. And yet....well, it wasn't hot so it was not like what they looked.

Prawn & Salmon Salad @Yen 767 (SGD12)

I always have the habit of getting for myself a salad while having my holidays overseas. Reason being it seemed that most of the times we hardly had any greens as we feasted on the meat and snacks.

Takashimaya Basement 1
Shinjyuku, Tokyo

320. Watami

The loud red walls called out WATAMI. I have not visited the first outlet at ION despite its grand opening in July 09 nor did I know that 和民 is Watami until the familiar Japanese characters told me so. The saturday prior to its opening on 15 Sep, I was invited for a tasting session at Watami's second outlet at Clarke Quay.

Green Tea Ice Shake @$5.80

Half Watami Salad @$4.80

A garden salad with big chunks of well marinated chicken and a scoop of Watami's special creation - Tuna Mayonnaise. The salad was delicious with the tuna mayonnaise. It had a mild vinegary taste and the addition of peppers, cherry tomatoes and cracker strips gave the salad the crunch and colour. Flavourful and satisfying. It was this good that I recommend you should double the 'half' and get a watami salad at $7.80.

Ika Korikori Yaki @$5.80

Grilled squid soft bone. It was something different. We're not just eating ika (squid) but also their soft bones.Eat it while it's hot. I took some time to take the photos of the food that were placed on the table and when I had it, it turned cold. I bet it tasted better while it's still hot.

Ishiyaki Bibimbap @$8.80

You are not seeing wrong. Yes, bibimbap, the Korean stone pot rice dish. Here, we had beef and kimchi. It was very considerate of them to design a wooden square holder to contain the hot stone pot, avoiding scalds. It was superb hot. The ingredients sizzled as I flipped and tossed them like rojak.

It was this hot that the rice turned charred and crispy after a few minutes. For crispy and charred rice lovers, do try the bibimbap. For the hot stone pot and tasty kimchi, I highly recommend the bibimbap from Watami.

Tori Yasai Kushi @$3.80

Big chunks of mildly marinated chicken with mixed peppers. Logically, the mixed peppers should complement the chicken chunks but they were pretty much strangers. Each to its own, they drew a clear line. Taste was quite isolated.

Teppan Bou Gyoza @$6.80

I was attracted to the picture of the sizzling big gyoza on their menu and so I decided to order one. I thought I will see the gyoza sizzling on the hotplate but the 'aftermath' was presented instead. On the hot plate, I saw a gleam. It appeared shiny black, all thanks to the layer of oil. I find the gyoza slightly too oily. I feedbacked on this. Hope that it is better now. The interior contained diced cabbage and pork but somehow I felt the cabbage did not made the filling sweet.

Cassis Grapefruit @$5.80

I'm glad that I had this drink. The bittersour grapefruit helped rid off the greasiness from the gyoza. The sweet syrup at the bottom less the bittersour content.

Mango & Ichigo Daifuku @$3.80

Initially, I was hesitating if I should take the daifuku or I should change it for some alluring desserts like strawberry or chocolate parfait because I always felt the daifuku served in casual restaurants were mostly made-ready some very long time ago and stored for use at any time. Luckily, I didn't. The daifuku was different.

The rice cake was made into thin, soft and chewy strips. Diced mango and strawberry cubes, cream and red beans were evidently seen to be wrapped into rolls with the rice cake. But hey, I tasted chocolate and I saw there was a thin chocolate sponge at the bottom of the roll. Overall, the taste was great!

Seated at the second floor of Central, it overlooks the Boat Quay. Dining was comfortable as ample space was provided, not squeezed together. Service was excellent during the tasting session but not sure if it will be maintained when Watami is opened for business to the public with the long queue. Good range of food is available. Looking at the menu, I felt Watami wants a bit of everything, trying to provide anything that can be made possible. Ramen, hotplate, sushi, sashimi, Nabe, Korean dishes and etc.

No reservations is allowed so it is best to go early to avoid queuing. The outlet at The Central has something different from its first outlet at ION, that is, a long red sofa at the entrance is provided for customers in the queue. Also, Watami's entrance is located along a corridor hidden from sight from the other floors. Do look out for the word 和民, which also means Watami.

Lastly, Thanks to Watami and Kit for the hosting.

Watami
The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#03-82/83/85/102/108/109
Singapore 059817

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312. Tetsu (哲)

Tetsu (哲), prides itself on being Singapore's most famous Japanese restaurant for authentic Kushi-style (meaning on skewers) Tempura and Tonkatsu menu. They have come up with a new menu recently. It was my first time to Tetsu even though I have always put Tetsu on my list after seeing the raved reviews by LIC.

Kani Tofu @$8 (L), Sashimi Salad @$9.80(R)

Kani, or I should say imitation crabmeat was added to the tofu. The tofu was not the silken kind but the kind with egg added. Kani gave the sweetness to the tofu and the slightly pungent century egg balanced out the eggy taste.

Sashimi Salad, greens with sashimi cubes. Drizzle the vinegary sauce over and you get a healthy dish. I realised that carrot was very finely minced and added in the sauce. That's one more vegetable to your garden salad. This is the Tetsu's specially concocted wafu dressing. I felt it's always good to have a salad before feasting on the fried food.

Fugu Mirin Boshi @$10(L), Kawa Ebi Karaage @$8(R)

Again, it's my first time to taste fugu (puffer fish). I have seen chefs in a drama preparing puffer fish sashimi. Don't be deceived by the cute appearance of the puffer fish. Cute can also kill! Fugu is lethally poisonous. It is the second MOST POISONOUS vertebrate in the world. On Tetsu's menu, what you get is dried puffer fish seasoned with sake. It tasted like bak kwa minus off the greasiness. It's a great beer/sake snack. You should give it a try!

The kawa ebi karaage, deep fried river shrimps, were not small. They were short and fat. Sashimi Moriawase @$55

Assorted Sashimi. I looked at it, I beamed. I ate them, my beam broke into a laugh. Amari desu~ Oiishi desu~ The sashimi was very fresh and they were sweet. DELICIOUS.

Yaki Niku @$16

Grilled beef tenderloin slices. The succulent hand-grilled beef slices were coupled with a sauce which tasted like the Japanese worcestershire sauce newly created in the hands of Tetsu's chefs to suit this dish. It managed to seduce one who turns away from beef everytime to say that the yaki niku was tasty and didn't reject a second slice. It was this good. Must-try!

Hiyashi Udon @$6.80

I like udon but most of the time I had my udon fried. This udon was very different from those that we get from supermarkets. 3 reasons why you should eat udon. First of all, it was air-flown from Japan. Second, it was thinner. Thirdly, the udon was surprisingly very tangy. The cold udon was light and refreshing.

Katsu Curry Rice @$16.50

I loved curry but my heart is more receptive to the Japanese curry. Singaporeans loved spicy food. Tetsu's curry rice had a mild spiciness and hey, it did not have a powdery taste. Once, I watched a Taiwanese variety show on food, featuring a famous braised pork trotters outlet in Taiwan. When asked why is it that their pork trotters is so good, the chef replied that it was because they have been using the same pot of braise sauce to cook the pork trotters for many YEARS!

Fear not, Tetsu's curry has not been re-cooked for many years. I came across Tetsu's interview on papers and got to know that their curry could only be served after a night of rest. The chef said this will make the curry tastier as the contents in the curry had submerged, thus making the taste matured and then it's ready to serve. Ah....the cooking knowledge in there. The pork katsu was very different. The breaded crust went "ka-cha" as I took a bite. So crispy. The meat was juicy. If you like curry rice, try Tetsu's.

Grilled Wagyu Slices

Extra. Out of the menu, a courtesy of Chef 谢. While waiting for our other dishes to arrive, Chef made us this dish. Take a closer look at the marbling and notice the hand-grilled to perfection skills, I don't mind another plate. It was very delicious, chef!

Yuzu Ice-cream on Strawberry Sherbet @$5.80 (L), Goma Ice-cream

The yuzu (柚子) ice-cream was unique because usually we see the very common choice, matcha ice-cream in Japanese restaurants and not yuzu. The ice-cream was smooth and also very refreshing as it was with a tinge of sourness. It tasted like a hybrid of lemon and grapefruit and/or sour mandarins. A citrus fruit. Lots of vitamin-C. Makes the perfect ice-cream in this hot summer.

Tetsu's new menu at a whole new level brought with it good food and service. I had a very good lunch at Tetsu.

Extra: Tetsu's "Summer-licious" brings you summer favourites at a special price from just $4.80 on Mon-Thurs evenings.

Thanks to Tetsu and Racheal for the hosting.

Tetsu
163 Tanglin Road
#03-18 Tanglin Mall
Tel: 68363112

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294. Hokkaido Fair 2009

The Isetan Hokkaido fair is here again. It will be at Tampines Mall from 3 - 12 Jul 2009. A total of 3 shopping centres surrounding the Tampines MRT station makes Tampines alive. N years ago, people would rather not live in Tampines but now, the opposite. Urban Development does makes a difference. I went to the fair just now and it was crowded, very crowded.



Crab Cream Croquette @$4

I caught sight of crab cream croquette and bought it without hesitation. Yummylicious! Creamy rich crab cream oozed out and filled my mouth. When I had it, it was already cold. I can't imagine what would it be like when it was just taken out from the deep fryer. Jeez.

Tarabagani King Crab @$128/pc

Your eyes are not playing a trick on you. It's a 3-digit priced crab. I had the impulse to get the seafood bento which had a small piece of the King crab's meat,prices of the bento ranged from $24 to $30+. On a second thought, I decided to go for the ramen which is only available for these 2-3 days throughout the whole fair.

Kelp/kombu. Wanted to get the kombu, the hard type, usually used for boiling soups. BUT, they were all sold! Any more stocks coming in? I asked. NO was the reply. The lady told me all of the kombu were snapped up by the aunties the moment the fair started in the morning. Wow...economic recession, huh?

Ichigo Daifuku Mochi @$2.30

Didn't really like it. The texture came a tad harder and drier than the dango.

Herb Dango @$2.30

Dango, Japanese rice dumplings made from michiko, rice flour. For some, they used potato flour. I guessed potato flour has a higher content of starch? The herb flavour was not strong, covered by the azuki (red bean paste). The rice cakes were very tangy.

Mitarashi Dango @$2.30

This is something unique. Its presentation has already captured the notice of many. Looks oiishi (delicious). Then, it was the taste that raised my eyebrows. It's savoury and sweet! I tasted shoyu (soy sauce) and when I searched for its recipe online, hah! I was right! Shoyu, starch and sugar was combined to make the syrup brushed on the dango. The taste reminded me of my Japan trip N years ago. It was the taste similar to the rice stick, where rice was pounded and made into a stick like the paddlepop. Then, they BBQ-ed it with repeated brushes of the syrup.

Hokkaido Melon Soft Ice-cream @$4.50

The melon ice-cream was delicious! Soft and it was not very sweet. I liked the mild melon taste. Thanks to the kind lady who held it for me so that I can take a shot of it.

Hokuyu - Butter Manju.

This was the stall with a long queue. Butter Manju cakes from Sapporo City, selling at $1.30 per piece & $12 for 10 pieces. Only my eyes managed to feast on the manju cakes and the Japanese young man working on them. It was way too crowded.

Hokkaido Char Siew Ramen (thick noodles) @$15

I was famished. A choice of seafood miso ramen @$16 or the char siew ramen. I chose the later because of the thick noodles. Wanted to try what it is like with the thick noodles. Well, I think the usual ramen (the thin noodles) we had was better. I felt the char siew ramen was too oily. I clicked with the auntie beside me. She was there the second time for their seafood ramen. She also agreed that the char siew ramen was too oily. And the auntie opposite us said the ramen was not authentic. What can I say?

The char siew slices were with a thick layer of fats which I didn't like. The soup became oil-laden but was very flavourful. Char siew was well-marinated too. They sliced the char siew a tad too thick. I think thinly sliced char siew would have been better.

The thick noodles, looked like our Chinese noodles, don't they? A tad different in taste though. It was tangy and I felt the noodles were with less lye or maybe not even added. Our Chinese noodles were lye-treated, that's why when we cooked the noodles in soup, the soup turned yellowish. My instinct tells me the seafood miso ramen tastes better! Argh.

The Isetan Hokkaido Fair will be held at Isetan Scotts from 19-29 Jun 2009. If you can't make it to the fair at Tampines Mall, be prepared for the one at Isetan Scotts. The fresh seafood like scallops, salmon, roe bla bla bla....came much cheaper than having to fly to Hokkaido to get them. There were many others which I did not try, the scrambled cheese cake, steamed squids, grilled scallops and etc so I will most probably go to the fair at Isetan Scotts. Till next fair, then!

277. Beppu Menkan Japanese Noodle Restaurant

Free edamame was served. Me and my friend are not edamame lovers so we did not touch them at all.

Seafood Paperpot Combo @$11.80

It was stated under the promotional price. Sukiyaki is also on promotion. The combo comes with rice and a glass of green tea (hot/cold). The fire was too big. I feared for the life span of the living cells on my face with the heat surrounding the paperpot. They should have made the fire smaller. Geez.

The seafood paperpot consisted of salmon fish slices, a prawn, a mussel and lots of cabbage and mushrooms. The broth was light and refreshing.

Sakura Maki @$4

We added a sakura maki that comes at a special price with the paperpot combo. They should have been more generous with the pink roe.

Hoki Cheese @$7.20

Hoki fish, with its dense white flesh is high in Omega-3 acids. They are usually processed and made into our supplements like fish oil. Even though, hoki fish does not come cheap, I think the hoki cheese (where the hoki fish was already processed and breaded) we had was overpriced. The cheese flavour was very mild.

Overall bill worked out to be $27.10 for 2 pax. As both of us were not hungry and rushing off for a movie, we missed out their noodles. I didn't like the dining environment. They have made the entry corridor so small, the staffs were all standing there and worse still, hawking at the diners as they have their food. I felt quite uncomfortable then.

Beppu Menkan Japanese Noodle Restaurant

Tiong Bahru Plaza

302 Tiong Bahru Road

#02-16

Tel: 6273 0013