Meat & Foie Gras Dinner Buffet @ Ellenborough Market Cafe Paradox

One of those rare occasion where we opted for buffet. I think Tracy saw it from some viral post in insta and decided to try. Thanks to Shermaine for making the reservations!

first plate

I was a tad hungry, so went to the counters where there were less people. There were long lines to the foie gras and grilled meats, so I went elsewhere instead.

Took some babi tau yu (soy sauce braised pork), nonya chap chye (braised vegetables), wagyu beef something, pasta bolognese and bendi (blanched okra) paired with sambal belachan.

recommended

The okra was tender and tasted lovely with the chilies. Pasta was good too and I saw the kids at the neighbouring table enjoying the pasta. Braised pork and the cooked wagyu were enjoyable too.

foie gras and rilettes

The Chefs decided to do thin slices of foie gras during that round, so the presentation wasn't great.

grilled pork and lamb chops

grilled chicken

wagyu beef

Thank you Tracy and Shermaine for getting us the grilled meats. Best in the lot was the grilled wagyu. It was more tender than the lamb chops. Chicken breast was firm. The satay sausage was interesting for its yellowish hue and sweet taste.

wagyu beef shoyu ramen

Singapore nonya laksa with prawn

The wagyu beef ramen tasted like sweet shoyu while the nonya laksa broth was good.

kueh pie tee

Thank you Shermaine for constructing the kueh pie tee for us. 

cold seafood - prawn, salmon sashimi

pineapple and rock melon

I liked the taste of sweet pineapple with a dab of wasabi soy sauce. Yums.

hot cross bun with butter

ice-cream

reconstructed

And of course, can't miss the durian pengat (which got replenished). Tasted intense.

durian pengat

Thank you Tracy, Hence, Ivan and Shermaine for the get-together! 

Side note: Do check with staff on which credit card that has the best promo for the buffet before payment as Citibank was the highest at 50% off during the date of visit.

Buffet Info:

Website: https://www.paradoxhotels.com/singapore/dining/ellenborough-market-cafe

Thursday to Sunday & Public Holidays

$98++ per adult | $42++ per child

1st Seating: 6:00 - 8:00PM

2nd Seating: 8:15 - 10:15PM

Yappari Steak @ Vivocity

Walked past this shop during lunch time and decided to pop in. On hindsight, I must've been influenced by the instagram post recently featuring their founder.

Got seated pretty quickly and the place was fairly busy on a weekend around 130pm.

menu

Went with the staff's recommendation of top blade and did the 200gm portion. Also ordered Orion draft to go along with the meal.

paper apron and utensils

do you wear one?

looks well used

Was amused as I saw the staff who seemed to have some difficulty in pouring the beer. There was too much foam during the first pour where half the glass was foam. She then removed half of the foam and topped up the rest of the beer.

Orion draft @10++

rice and shredded cabbage set

いただきます

top-blade 200gm @$23.80++

Actually, I have no idea how long should I be cooking the steak on a hotstone. It's been so many years since I last had a hotstone steak. So, ended up being all busy from slicing the meat, turning it to prevent overcooking and probably removed it too early from the stone... Anyway, I am the one who's gonna eat whatever outcome of the doneness the meat became.

spicy shoyu was my top sauce

searing smaller chunks

The meat wasn't that tender but neither was it that tough. Somewhat in between? Flavour-wise, I preferred the meat with the spicy shoyu sauces. The natural taste was a tad too beefy for me. The wasabi sauce seemed like it was mixed with something else. Sauce bottles were oily to touch.

warm egg drop soup

The egg drop soup was surprisingly tasty and balanced out the taste of the beer.

Not all staff exuded friendliness but they were helpful. Overall spend was about $41 for the meal.

Yappari Steak

Address: 1 HarbourFront Walk, #02-110 VivoCity, Singapore 098585

Website: https://yapparigroup.jp/shop/overseas/singapore.html

Business Hours:

Daily: 11 am–10 pm

Sushi Zanmai @ IMM Jurong East

First time trying Sushi Zanmai in Singapore. Met my bro for dinner and he opted for Japanese cuisine, so we went to Sushi Zanmai at IMM.

The restaurant was fairly relaxed at 7pm and we got a table almost immediately.

Mar special menu

Though they have physical menus, one places the order by scanning the QR Code.

Drinks were served almost immediately upon placing the order. Got myself a refillable cold green tea.

sashimi 3 types; salmon, hamachi and akami

Hama Sashimi Moriawase @$19.90++

Sashimi slices were not too thin though I did glimpse that the table next to us, were given thicker slices of salmon belly.

Chuka Wakame @$2.80++

The chuka wakame was slimy-er than other places, not sure why.

gari

I do like the pickled ginger at Sushi Zanmai, pretty good and tender.

aburi engawa sushi (@$2.80 per piece) and hotate sushi (@$2.50 per piece)

The sushi was ok only. I had expected more flavours from the aburi. The engawa sushi looked as though it was torched with the toppings and perhaps that was the reason why the aburi was not 'enough'? It didn't bring out the oily flavours of the engawa.

ebi tempura @$9.80++

The ebi tempura was well fried and served piping hot.

ice-cream for dessert

goma ice-cream

Overall, this place reminds me of Sushi Tei. I would probably return for the sashimi.

Staff was proactive in topping up the refillable tea and I do appreciate the service. Thank you!

There is a Sushi Zanmai app that one could download from the playstores and for first-time user, one could utilize the one-time $5 voucher to offset the bill. Just need to inform the staff at the cashier, show the voucher and redeem before one pays.

Sushi Zanmai @ IMM

Address: 2 Jurong East Street 21, #02-23 IMM Building, Singapore 609601

Website:  https://sushizanmai.com.sg/Sushi_Zanmai_Menu.php

Business Hours:

Sun: 11 am–9:30 pm

Mon - Sat: 11 am–10:00 pm

[Kuala Lumpur] Deeriang @ Jalan Sultan Petaling Street

Sort of a new'ish restaurant and we were greeted by staff who was standing outside of the restaurant when we walked past one evening. He was super friendly and explained the restaurant's menu. We thanked him and said we will return to try.

So we did return to try. One can see Chef from the window at the front of the restaurant while they were making the buns. From the external of the shop, it looked as though it was for a takeaway but luckily, the store manager (I presumed) saw us and immediately opened the door and indicated that there are ample seats inside. 

The whole family trudged in and true enough, plenty of tables available. Shop decor was simple and elegant. Loving the colour scheme.

menu

Ordered their signature xiao long bao for all 3 flavours; egg and chives, chicken and beef. 

egg and chives

loaded with chives

beef xiao long bao

flavourful beef

I liked the chicken buns the most. The meat fillings are generous and lovely marinade. 

chicken bun

vinegar dip

Despite its name, there was no 'soup' inside these xiao long baos. Perfect snack for tea-break.

mushroom and chicken noodles

nice noodles

Oooh, the flavours from the mushroom and chicken noodles was strong! Tasted predominantly of soy sauce, garlic and the umami from the mushrooms. Noodles was well cooked and likeable.

tasty mushrooms

The store manager was super friendly and came to our table to enquire if we liked the food and we talked for a short while. Other staff was also diligent in wiping down the tables once the diners had left. 

interior

Overall warm and friendly vibes. Thank you to all staff that we met!

Deeriang Restaurant

Address: 48-G, Jalan Sultan, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpu

Business Hours: 

Daily:11 am–12 am

[Kuala Lumpur] Hai Kee Fried Beef Bun @ Jalan Sultan Petaling Street

Visited this shop because the other restaurant was full house that night. Staff was friendly and we got seated quickly.

shop front

next batch of buns cooking

cutesy looking fried bun monster?

First impression of the shop was its cleanliness and the lovely interior which has a warm vibes.

lovely mural

nice font

The biggest challenge was to find something suitable for my mom and sis to eat. Only bro and me eats beef while the rest of my fam will need something else.

menu

The biggest bummer was that almost all dishes with chicken, were not available...No chicken buns, no chicken dumplings, no chicken skewers etc. So we got the next best possible options; non-beef rice dishes.

chicken fried rice

gong bao chicken rice

The fried rice though tasted good with the fragrant soy sauce flavours, had some uncooked grains so that was a letdown. Thankfully my mom and sis were ok with the gong bao chicken rice dish (the rice here was fully cooked) but the carrot chunks were raw and hard to bite as it were cut into bigger pieces.

beef noodles

Shared the beef buns and noodles with bro. Good flavours for the broth and not too spicy. Noodle was well cooked and still retained a little bit chewiness, but beef chunks were tough.

shop's signature; beef

The beef bun here is the pan-fried 生煎包 type. Size was good and two buns would be a full meal.

Saw a staff with a giant skewer and thought it was pretty interesting. Maybe can try skewers next time.

staff helping to serve the skewers

Hai Kee Fried Beef Bun

Address: 38, Jalan Sultan, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haikeemalaysia/

Business Hours:

Mon - Thu: 11 am–2 am

Sun:  9 am–2 am

Fri-Sat:  9 am–3 am