Red Dot @ Dempsey

Was at Red Dot recently for a drink, and its current seasonal beer is an SG50 drink. Looks pretty with its nice reddish hue, it has a heavy yeast taste but fruity as well especially towards the middle. Dragonfruit beer, they say. Nice.

half pints of SG50 beer at Red Dot

For snacks, get the satay. One of my favourites. Beef usually is more chewy and sinewy, so this time round we got the chicken and pork satay. Not sure how they do it, but the chicken sticks were quite consistent every time that we're there. Tender, well marinated and very enjoyable. Pork was slightly tougher but with a good char from the grill.

chicken and pork satay @$20++

And of course, for even lighter bites one could get the silver fish. Come to think of it...actually, isn't it supposed to be called whitebait? Silverfish are those tiny stuffs that crawls out from old books, no? Yikes.

deep fried silver fish (whitebait) @$12++

Expect loud and noisy at this place. They had live-performance the day of visit. Spending wise, it's about $40 to $50 per pax, depends.

Mitsuba Japanese Restaurant @ The Central Clarke Quay

Looking for Japanese ala-carte buffet that's value for money? You might want to head on to Mitsuba Japanese Restaurant, conveniently located at Level 3 of The Central, Clarke Quay.

Chef Low Chee Hui helms the kitchen, and has been busy dishing out plates after plates of delicious food. Was recently invited to try the food there and here's an account of that experience.

いらっしゃいませ

Once inside, diners will likely be greeted by restaurant manager, John Chia. An amiable, friendly and polite guy who knows his sake.

booth seats

Booth seats offers more privacy while us plebeians dine at the open common area. Actually, didn't mind it at all since we got the window seats with a nice view to enjoy.

view from our table window

For non-buffet items, one could opt for the Haru Chirashi Sushi which comprises of sliced thick cut sashimi, rice, pickles, miso soup and fruits. Shioks to eat the thick slices of raw fish!

Haru Chirashi Sushi @$28++

Or for sharing, one could get the Unatama maki うなたままき. Crunchy tempura batter with savoury eel and fluffy egg roll at its center. Yums.

unatama maki @$16++

 
Fancy trying horse hair crab (or hairy crab) from Hokkaido? You can have one for $38++. For distribution, just need to peel off the center shell, break the crab into half and tear off its legs one by one.

ケガニ

attack!

There's plenty of options for sake here. Tried the Kuboto Senju from Niigata. Easy to drink, dry, mild tasting and with some sweetness.

乾杯!

The perfect accompaniment for the sake are foods such as the tasty savoury Ebi Mentaiyaki and Hotate Mentaiyaki.

Ebi mentaiyaki @$12++ (2 pieces) and hotate mentaiyaki @$12++ (3 pieces)

Sometimes we just want something hot to warm the tummy. Try the ikura chawanmushi. It was like an elevated chawanmushi with bursts of umami'ness.

ikura chawanmushi @$8++

Or, have the steaming hotpot of tara nabe with plenty of vegetables and chunks of cod fish swimming in a simple light soy based broth.

tara nabe (cod fish and vegetable hotpot) @$30++

If you prefer teriyaki cod, they have it here as well. Perfectly cooked, with a good oily mouthfeel. Nice to have it with a bowl of rice and miso soup. Most of the ala-carte items can be topped up with $6++ for a set, which means it can be served with rice or udon set which basically contains one carb, otoshi, miso soup (for rice set) and fruits.

gindara teriyaki @$22++

Mitsuba also offers ala-carte buffet at a reasonable price of $36.90++ (correct at the time of publishing, please check restaurant's website for updated info).

ready to rumble

As usual, let's start with a plate of sashimi moriawase. The thick slices brought a smile to everyone's face.

sashimi moriawase (salmon, hamachi, mekajiki, tai, maguro)

Of course, can't miss out on tempura items. Tasted crispy and fresh.

mixed tempura

Another must-try item would be the buta kakuni dish; Japanese braised pork belly. This was love at first bite. That sauce, by gosh... that sauce was a winner. Well marinated with flavours fully absorbed into the meat. Good.

buta kakuni 豚角煮

Plenty of light bites too. More sake perhaps? Yes, please!

takoyaki

gyoza

shisamo

The takoyaki and gyoza were both deep fried and quite crispy. Snacks, I called them. Grilled tebasaki (mid-wings) were only lightly salted but somehow, I liked that light flavours. Juicy meat was a plus point too.

grilled tebasaki

Not commonly available for buffet, but it is at Mitsuba, do remember to try the dobin mushi; traditional Japanese seafood broth served in a teapot.

dobin mushi 土瓶蒸し

no time to dilly dally

Ended on a sweet note with cream puffs and single scoop ice-cream.

cream puffs @$3++ (4 pieces)

yuzu ice-cream @$5++

matcha ice-cream @$4++

An enjoyable dinner with good company. Special thanks to Mitsuba for hosting and HGW for the invite.

Mitsuba Japanese Restaurant

Location: 6 Eu Tong Sen Street #03-88 The Central, Singapore 059817
Website: http://www.mitsuba.com.sg/
Telephone: (65) 6227 0388
Opening hours:
Lunch: 11:30 am to 03:00 pm
Dinner: 06:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Travel | Seoul 28 Oct - 2 Nov 2014 | Bau House Dog Cafe 바우하우스

Are you an animal lover? Do you like dogs? If yes, then very likely you'll want to visit at least one dog/cat cafe when you're in Seoul. Having visited a cat cafe in Penang (read about it here), I've made it a point to visit a dog cafe when I was in Seoul for holiday last year. Main reason? There's no dog cafes in Singapore...yet. Hahaa!

Googled the directions and found one that is very near transportation; Hapjeong Station 합정역, which was perfect as it is also pretty close to Ewha University area. Exit Hapjeong Station and watch out for Jeil Building which was described as a black shiny building. Then, look for its back entrance as Bau House is only accessible to patrons via the building's back entrance.

Was peeping at its door, feeling unsure of what to do since it was my first visit and in a foreign land. Fortunately, one of the staff noticed and went on to open the small little gate while keeping the little dogs away so that none could escape.

Staff could only speak Korean but that didn't pose any problem at all. Just choose any available seat and make yourself comfortable. All bags need to be hung on the wall, to prevent the furry ones from getting to it.

hi little one

As soon as I sat down, one schnauzer immediately made himself comfortable on my lap. You can sit there forever and the staff wouldn't mind. As a rule, the guests are expected to purchase at least one drink while they are there. Since I couldn't move without dislodging my small friend from my lap, I was just sitting there, chilling for half hour till I felt quite paiseh. Haha! Not much choice for drinks though.

rosemary tea

ti

tenants of Bau House

First half section (front) of Bau House, has plenty of dogs that are of smaller breeds. The inner section of the cafe has all the big dogs. And by big, some are actually huge!

my loyal companion

this guy here came with its owner, probably dog playdate at Bau House

Ventured into the inner section and to be honest, there are times when it felt quite intimidating with all the big boys in there.

big dogs area

free to roam

smells like treats

hobo me with an amused looking samoyed

The place was kept quite clean and when 'accidents' of the pee and poo kind did happen, the staff were also quick to clean up the mess.

Bumped into a nice lady from Singapore, so it was good to have someone to converse with while I was there.

Had an enjoyable time there. Hope to visit Bau House again!