Paradise Inn @ Serangoon NEX (Part II)

Second visit to Paradise Inn at NEX. First visit was sometime in April, where we didn't try the soup. So this time round, we ordered a pot whelk soup and a Song fish head for dinner.

the usual table setting and peanuts

must have items if soup is ordered

soup being served by the efficient service staff

whelk soup with pork ribs and huai shan

Whelk soup was tasty and full of flavour. Just a tad oily due to the fats from the super soft pork ribs. Probably effected through boiling the soup for long enough. Yums. What is whelk? According to wiki, whelk is a kind of sea-snail. In my opinion, the whelk in this soup, tasted not unlike abalone. Nice.

Next, came the steamed "Song" fish head. It was rather big!

Song fish head (@$17.50++)

full of omega-3 oil

soft, smooth tender flesh

For people not accustomed to eating fish head, this steamed Song fish head may come across as perhaps a little bit fishy. Perhaps if more spring onions and fresh red chillies (cut in longish) were added for garnishing, it might add a little more colour and variety to the dish. Pair the fish and sauce with a bowl of steaming white rice, it does leave a satisfactory feeling. Just one small complaint though. The fish head still had some scales on it. Cleaning the scales needs to be more thorough.

Service that evening was impeccable. Constantly, there will be someone coming over to check if the soup needed to be scooped out onto our little soup bowl. Kudos to the staff.

Total bill was about $45 for 2 pax.

Teadot @ Serangoon NEX

Located at Level 2 of NEX, this is an open-concept cafe. Serves tea concoction with exotic names. It has clear brew styled tea and blended style (like frappe). Serves coffee too, but since its called Teadot, its only apt to try the tea first, right?

can watch the world go by

Semi-self serviced style. Go up to the counter to order. Took a while 'coz it was kind of hard to look at its exotic names to figure out what it is, so had to read its description as well. Like for example, Yellow Rain. Who knows what tea is in that?! Anyway, I did order that, and it's a oolong/jasmine (I think) frappe style with osmanthus flower.

Then, they'll give you a number tag and you can sit down. They'll serve the drink to you when it is ready.

wait patiently

my friend's order, looks pretty normal

my drink, Yellow Rain

The prices here are quite high. A medium sized drink will set you back by about $6++ (for frappe and non-frappe), hence that influenced my decision to try the frappe version. I know, cheap thrill to get more bang out of the buck! The cashier said, "Would you like to upsize to large instead 'coz it'll just be 50cents more." Sounds like a good idea, only that now the total would be $7++ for a drink.

Liked my drink. Milky, and ice cold! Refreshing taste of osmanthus flower that was thankfully, not too overpowering.

slurps

Fukuichi Japanese Dining @ TripleOne Somerset

Located at Level 2 of TripleOne Somerset. Visited on a Sunday for an early lunch before 12pm. The ground level was teeming with customers while Level 2 seemed quite deserted on our day of visit...

shopfront

Fukuichi has been reviewed by many others, including a photoshoot session organized by ieatishootipost. Various newspaper clippings can be found near wall at the front podium.

The waitress who attended to us, seemed quite dis-interested in serving. Not sure why, probably too early in the day? We were seated near the private room.

view from our seats

menu for lunch and dinner sets

table setting, and a cup of warm green tea

Ordered the sashimi teishoku and my friend had the unagi teishoku. Feeling rather luxurious, we ordered a toro sushi as well. A plate of toro costs $22++ for 2 sushis. At the back of our mind, we had only one thought, "It had better be good!" Hahaa!

The older lady who served us suddenly asked if we're paying by UOB, which we answered in positive. Oooh, it turned out that there is a UOB credit card promo where you get 15% off ala-carte and that will apply to the toro sushi order. Heh heh! And, we also got the century egg kani tofu appetiser for free! 無料です！

century egg tofu appetiser

salty goodness

shredded kani inside

The cold appetiser was rather salty and enjoyable. But I think if it is just tofu, it'll be a nicer contrast to the century egg sauce, as just tofu would be more clean tasting.

Next, toro sushi. We ate it with great anticipation. Its oil glistens and beckoning to be devoured.

toro sushi

It is rich tasting with good oil and fresh but unfortunately, it was quite sinewy which proved to be a bane. Felt a little let down but at least, I've tried toro, yay! Otoro is next target.. but maybe should eat it in its country of origin instead?

sashimi teishoku (bottom) and unagi teishoku (top)

closer view of unagi

What's included in a sashimi teishoku set? Miso soup, salad, chawanmushi, rice and pickles and of course, sashimi.

beansprout miso soup

pickles

salad

sashimi; salmon, maguro, tako and kajiki (2 pieces each)

chawanmushi

I enjoyed the sashimi set. Firm, fresh and thick cut. We were served a small cute pudding (as part of the set) to end our meal.

pudding

Liked the bounciness of the pudding, and it was not too sweet. Enjoyable.

Total bill came up to $33 per pax.

Read about second visit here.

Brotzeit @ Vivocity

Visited on a Friday evening. Had to queue since did not make any reservations prior. Was pleasantly surprised when the service crew brought out a plate of mini-bite sized tuna on bread squares on toothpick and offered it to hungry people in the queue. Queued for about 10-15 minutes before we got our tables.

menu

it's Oktoberfestbier now

 

waiting for food

We ordered a platter (@$88++) to share as we have 5 hungry adults to feed. The platter has pork knuckles, sausages, and chicken (we think). Comes with two sides which diners can choose. We chose potato wedges and vegetables. Of course, we must have beer when in Brotzeit. My choice of drink? Radler beer. Because? It's mixed with Sprite. Hahaa, I like my drinks sweet, ok.

platter to feed 4-5 pax

simple boiled vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, bellpeppers and carrots)

meat and more meat!

flat chicken?

best sausage

pork skin

knuckle meat

We had so much meat! The white sausages were juicy and tender. The red sausages; one had cheese in it, and the other had herbs. The red herb sausages were rather salty. Hmmm, so was the cheesy one. The flat looking fried piece of meat (we think it's chicken... but not sure 'coz no one read the description!) were quite flat in taste and pretty dry. Lucky we have our beer, cheers!

nice coaster

fizzy Radler

The entire place was boisterous that night! Very happening, because there was a large group that occupied perhaps 3-4 tables and each table accommodated probably about 6 pax.

We were so full from the meat and potatoes, and washed everything down with cold beer. Yums.

pork knuckle meat devoured, left with just bones...

Total bill came up to about $167 for 5 pax (including 4 half pint beer and one non-alcoholic drink).

Sarang @ Orchard Central

Located at Level 7, this place is opposite the AFC (Asian Food Channel) place. Diners can opt to sit either indoors or outdoors. Not sure why, but I opted for outdoor seats even though it was 4+ pm. Must be out of my mind then....!

Sarang (Love)

menu

table setting

The outdoor seating area feels spacious. They even have a big kickass fan there!

look at that ceiling fan!

We ordered ginseng porridge, chicken bong bong, and yuzu makgeolli (rice wine). It was such a odd hour to be eating, and interesting combi for tea-break.. or pre-dinner... The service crew here was friendly and always with a smile.

city view would look better at night

ginseng porridge

flavoured salt for the porridge

with chicken shreds

a mouthful of porridge with a bit of salt

Liked the presentation of the ginseng porridge. Served piping hot, with the porridge bubbling a bit. It has just the slightest hint of ginseng's bitterness. The porridge was smooth, mildly flavoured and nice to warm the tummy on a cold day. Eating it under humid weather, was quite an experience in itself though. The stone pot was quite shallow, so the portion of the porridge was not a lot.

Loved the heayweight chopstick and spoon. Feels classy.

chopsticks and spoon

nice motif

Chicken bong bong was essentially, chicken wings coated with thin batter and deep fried. Not sure why there is a need for that batter, as it doesn't seem to have any flavour to it. The chicken wings were just mildly season and came hot from the fryer. The meat inside was still juicy.

chicken bong bong

served with shoestring fries

The shoestring fries were adequately salted and in fact, quite addictive. Just the way I liked it. Goes well with my makgeolli drink.

yuzu makgeolli

gone in a jiffy

The total bill came up to $31, with one third of that price coming from the alcoholic drink. Hehehee!