Din Tai Fung @ JEM

Located at Level 2 of JEM, this eatery was always busily churning out steamers after steamers of xiao long bao or chinese pork dumplings.

full house

chefs at work

Visited on a Saturday for late lunch around 2.30pm and still needed to queue for another 15 minutes. For those rare first timers to this eatery, do take the queue number from the counter staff before waiting.

beancurd appetiser

Oriental Salad in Special Vinegar Dressing

The beancurd appetiser was nicely sweet and has good texture. Ordered a bowl of ramen soup with vegetable wanton to share, and we could portion out 5 tiny bowls with one wanton each.

vegetable wanton ramen soup

single portion

The ramen soup was rather bland and the tangy appetisers were partly to be blamed as well. Didn't like the vegetable wanton either.

stir fried spinach

pork chop fried rice

well fried pork chop

egg fried rice

Somehow, the fried rice here doesn't seem as tasty as other branches that I've tried. It's pretty toned down. But my sister likes the pork chop very much.

The star at Din Tai Fung, is still its xiao long bao (小笼包).

regular pork dumplings!

vinegar and ginger

Also tried specialty dumpling; Chili Crab Xiao Long Bao (4 pieces @$6.80++).

chili crab dumplings with one regular pork dumpling in the middle for size comparison

chili crab dumpling

The chili crab dumplings are touted as 40% larger than regular ones and it was flavourful, with its sweet and not quite spicy chili crab broth.

The restaurant was rather busy and hence, getting tea refills requires some patience.

The meal costs about $83 and fed a family of five adults.

Sushi Tei @ JEM (Jurong East Mall)

Been frequenting JEM quite often these few days. Brought family to try Sushi Tei there.

early summer promo Jun to Aug

Got a plate of sashimi salad to share. Advocating vege for every meal!

beautiful plate of Sashimi Salad (@$9++)

sushi tei's dressing (can choose sesame or soy as well)

The Sushi Tei's dressing for the salad was quite nice though looked abit oily. Tangy enough and not too sourish.

Gindara Misoyaki (@$14.80++)

Actually ordered the Gindara Saikyoyaki (@$13++) from the Summer menu but was charged with a different item. Not sure what we ate, but it was tasty. Hahaa, and the bill reflected misoyaki and we paid. So that's that.

Mon's choice Yakitori Don (@$9.50++)

Dad's choice Ten Don (@$9.50++)

Sis's choice Salmon Don (@$10.50++)

closer view of the salmon slices

The yakitori chicken had that smokey flavour, so it was nice. But there wasn't alot of meat nor sauce.

Really wanted to order something from the Summer menu, so it was a toss-up between the Unagi Hitsumabushi (premium eel on rice with 3 way eating @$15++), or the Tobiuo Sashimi and Sushi Set (Flying Fish @$16++)

Tobiuo Sashimi and Sushi Set

Since no one in my family had tried the flying fish (myself included), so chose the Tobiuo. It's like trying abit of exoticness in our mundane lives.

small small slivers of flying fish sashimi

tobiuo sushi (2 pieces)

The flying fish sashimi was non-oily and has a very light taste. Ate it with the minced ginger and a little spring onions, and a dab of soy.

that's the fin that could 'fly' for about 70km/h

Oishii @ Liang Court 2013: Wednesday Food Tasting Trail

If you're someone who frequents Liang Court, or someone who wants to try certain restaurants in Liang Court but have yet to do so, then you're in for a treat! Oishii @ Liang Court 2013 is a month long celebration from July to August and features Japanese themed cooking workshops for all ages, an all-you-can-eat Iwate Wanko soba challenge and the first ever food tasting trail*!

Oishii @ Liang Court 2013 Activities

Was invited to Liang Court to preview its Wednesday Food Trail.  Ok, so what's this Wednesday Food Trail? Here's an imaginary FAQ.

Q: Has it started?
A: The actual dates of availibility of this food trail are on Wednesdays of 17, 24, 31 July 2013 and ends on 7 August 2013.

Q: How to participate?
A: Purchase dining coupons for $30 and receive a copy of the Food Trail Guide at Level 2 Customer Service Counter. Inside, one will find details of the participating restaurants and the items offered as part of the food trail.

Q: How does it work?
A: With the dining trail coupon, sample 3 different meals at any of the participating 12 restaurants. Note that the first restaurant has been pre-selected, so diners can choose their second and third stops from
any of the remaining 11 participating F&B shops.

Q: Oooh, so the first restaurant is a mystery?
A: Yes.

Q: Which are the 12 participating restaurants?
A:

• Dulcet & Studio #01-41

• Marutama Ramen #02-01

• Okinawan Diner Nirai-Kanai #B1-01

• Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru inside MEIDI-YA Supermarket #B1-31/50

• Saizeriya #02-22

• Shakey’s Pizza #02-32

• Shin Yeh #02-19

• Tamoya #01-32

• Tampopo Deli #B1-16

• Tanyoto #01-25

• Thirsty The Beer Shop #02-34

• Tonkatsu Karzan Ramen #01-10

• Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant inside MEIDI-YA Supermarket #B1-31/50 

Was invited to preview 3 participating restaurants of the Wednesday Food Tasting Trail; Marutama Ramen, Shakey's Pizza and Saizeriya, and lastly, got to pick a bottle from Thirsty-The Beer Shop.

First Stop: Marutama Ramen

Limited Edition: Ra-men Zenbu-Nose

Am familiar with Marutama, so was delighted that they've actually created something new for this food tasting trail.

shop front

Specially assembled for the Oiishi Wednesday Food Trail Special:

Ra-men Zenbu-Nose (U.P $18)

This bowl of chicken-based ramen has it all. Kakuni (stewed pork belly), chashiu (sliced roast pork), aosa (seaweed), negi (spring onion) and ajituke tamago (half boiled seasoned egg).  

springy noodles and soft stewed meat

ajituke tamago

The chashiu was really good with adequate melt-in-your mouth fats ratio. And its seasoned half-boiled egg was just the way I liked it. Strong soy flavoured yolk and soft-firm egg whites.

Second Stop: Shakey's Pizza

It's been so long since I last had Shakey's. So this food tasting trail was a good opportunity to get re-acquainted with the brand. Did you know that Shakey's has been around since 1954?

Shakey's board

our table

For this Wednesday Food Trail Special, Shakey's offering selected dishes from their regular menu. Usual price for these items are between the $19+ range.

Slim Trim Caesar Salad (@$4.80)

Spaghetti Carbonara (@$13.80)

The presentation of the carbonara was good for a family-styled pizza restaurant. The salad came with the carbonara.

Hula Hawaiian Classic Pizza (9-inch, $18.80)

The pizza at Shakey's didn't disappoint. It was really good. The Hula Hawaiian has a chewy bite and full of cheese flavours. In my midst of enjoying the Hawaiian, I had forgotten to try the Oishi Wasabi Premium Pizza ($19.80). By the time I wanted to, it was devoured clean. What a bummer!

Usually one doesn't associate ribs with a pizza place, but Shakey's has it!

Shakey's Baby Back Ribs (full slab @$19.80)

meaty bones

Liked that the ribs retained some bite as the meaty flavours permeates as one chews.

It's a hard toss between ribs and pizza. But one could always share to enjoy both.

Third Stop: Saizeriya

Wednesday Food Tasting Trail banner at Saizeriya

Saizeriya appeals to the budget conscious and it's a family-styled restaurant where one could order western-styled food. Usually thronged by students.

For this Wednesday Food Trail, Saizeriya is offering the US Sirloin (U.P. $11.90), salad and a free-flow drink bar (U.P. $3.90).

free-flow from drink bar

healthy salad

US Sirloin

Drink Stop: Thirsty-The Beer Shop

Yes, we were indeed thirsty by the end of our third stop. Thirsty for a beer.

lots of choices

Diner** who had bought the Wednesday Food Tasting Trail coupon, is entitled to a free beer/cider worth $6.50.

we're friends, so we share

With so many selections, we're all spoilt for choice. Of course the price range will help to narrow this down. It sure is colourful in there with so many brands of bottled beers.

framboise for moi

liked this very much~

Ready for your own Wednesday Food Trail experience from the 12 participating shops?

Special thanks to Leslie, Aaron and Fiona from SG Story and Lynn from AsiaMalls for the invite and for hosting us.


*At selected participating restaurants only
**Need to be of legal drinking age

Empire State @ Causeway Point Woodlands

Was at Causeway Point for late lunch, and thought of having western food since my parents seldom have those. The queue at Manhattan Fish Market was expectantly long, as they're running the $3.99++ fish & chips promo. It was a different story at Empire State with just one or two tables occupied.

regular menu

super saver meals

Parents and sis wanted the roast chicken leg (@$7.90++) while I opted for the stewed beef with rice (@$8.90++). Actually was hoping for dad to order the quarter ribs but alas, there were no takers...

Topped up $3.90++ for two of the sets to get soup of the day and a drink, and had an ala-carte order of butternut squash soup (@$5.90++). Had that once, and thought it was nice.

Food was served in a zippy! Real fast. So fast that we were just onto our fourth spoonful of soup and there our mains were already on the table. -_-'''

tomato soup (soup of the day)

butternut squash with sweet potato soup

Hmm, the butternut squash soup was thick and warm. Sweet. But somehow, the preference today went to tomato soup for it was more tangy and not too thick. Whets up the appetite! However, it was also a tad too sweet.

roasted chicken leg with aglio olio and vegetables

The roasted chicken leg was tender, though alittle smallish in size. The aglio olio was al-dente and do watch out for bits of chili padi in them.

stewed beef with plain rice and vegetables

The beef was quite chunky and lean. Somewhat stringy but thankfully, not too tough. Would've prefered if there are some fats in it. Sauce was alright and not too salty. Maybe they can serve a bit of the sauce on the side so that there's enough to drizzle on the rice...

stringy meat

Iced water is available and service was generally good. There's a 10% discount on ala-carte items if one is using OCBC credit card to pay.

Mayim @ West Mall Part II

Located at Level 2 of West Mall Bukit Batok. Was there for lunch.

revamped menu

They're having a 1-for-1 Lobster and abalone promo for $68++ but we didn't go for that.

Ordered our usual dishes with steamed rice.

sugar cane, ginseng root drink (@$4.50++)

pig trotters vinegar and stir-fried fish slice with onions (@$7++ and $9.90++ respectively)

stir-fried spinach with chinese sausage and roast pork slices (@$11.80++)

chicken dish (@$10.80++)

Everything was tasty. The pig trotters with vinegar was nicely sourish and tangy, sweet and saltish at the same time. Only downside, the meat was too lean and not tender enough!

There's a downside though. Didn't notice that they charged the kimchi (@$2.50++) though we didn't take any. Got to be more careful next time.

Meal costs $79 and fed a family of five adults.