Sunday, January 18, 2015

Gan Yakitori 岩やきとり @ Star Vista

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Was kind of fun walking around Star Vista aimlessly and just looking at things. Found a shop selling The Sims 4. So tempting. Interesting shops include a newly opened fish market (albeit a small one), J-Mart for Japanese foodstuff and Sol-Mart for Korean foodstuff.

Then, it was time for lunch. So went up to Level 2, to try Gan Yakitori's meal sets. Was ushered to the counter seats by Horioka-san.

meal sets choices
Settled for the Hamachi Tamamisoyaki set. It's a no frills set with fish, egg soup, salad and a side that I couldn't recognize from the menu picture.

today's special

at the counter

Pleasantly surprised when an o-shibori was offered by the efficient service staff. A nice gesture indeed.


o-shibori おしぼり

Had a pint of iced cold Sapporo draft to quench thirst while watching the Japanese chef works his grill.

Sapporo draft beer @ $6.40++ (Usual price $8++)

The alcoholic drinks menu looked pretty extensive with sake, sochu and whiskey. Perhaps I'd try a glass of  Yamazaki next time.

part of the drinks selection
Chef and his grill
The yakitori course meal (fixed items) for one pax starts from $38++ , which yields about 5 or 6 yakitori sticks and some other things like appetisers, oden (2 pieces) and a small bowl of noodles.

Was pretty hungry by the time the food arrives. Oh, the other side dish was a pasta item.

Hamachi Tamamisoyaki Set @ $13.50++
The pasta was tasty with the bacon bits in it. Salad for some greens intake and soup to warm the tummy. But the egg drop soup was rather bland.

pasta with bacon bits
egg drop soup
salad

The star of the dish ought to be the fish. It looked pretty good with all the oil glistening but unfortunately was overcooked, resulting in mostly tough texture. Only the parts nearer to the skin was slightly softer. Should have ordered the unagi instead.

hamachi
firm meat

All in all, the meal cost $24 per pax with one mug of beer. If only the fish was softer, it would have been quite perfect.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Entertainer Singapore 2015 Launch Party | Lime House @ Jiak Chuan Road

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The Entertainer Singapore had a launch party at Lime House. Must say that Entertainer app is one of my favourite apps. Haven't heard of the Entertainer app? Fret not. It is a nifty app that gives you access to buy one get one free deals.

Been using it and loving it. Last year, on one birthday celebration alone, managed to save about $92 with the Entertainer app. Sweet. What's more, for a limited time only, you too could enjoy this app for a low price of just $60 (usual $75)!

Buy Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2015

There's better news. Key in this code "2015ALVIN" to get a further 10% discount off the Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2015 app. That means for a mere $54, you will get to enjoy Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2015. Hurry, as the discount code will expire by end of February!

apply discount code to get 10% off (code valid till end of Feb 2015)

Welcome to the Entertainer 2015 Launch Party

Guests were treated to canapés and Lime House Classic Punch. Music was loud, food was flying off the trays and everyone had a drink in their hand.

venue
canapé
Lime House Classic Punch (Rum, orange juice, pineapple juice)

In case you're wondering, the folks here at Lime House uses Mount Gay rum which is said to be the oldest existing brand of rum in the world.

at the bar
the happy bros who made the drinks - Thanks for being such a sport!

I think I tried fish, curry (goat?) and chicken. Well, it was dark in there and the rum was pretty strong...

sampling of curry goat
jerk chicken

Jerk chicken meat was flavourful and the sweet potato puree was so good.

Also managed to get some ice-cream from Marble Slab. Tried the salted caramel and the red velvet. Nice.

red velvet ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery


If you are interested to get the Entertainer 2015 app, hesitate no more and get it at the early bird pricing (still available) + 10% off when you use this code "2015ALVIN". Remember, the code expires by end of February. Here is the link to the product.


Lime House

Address: 2 Jiak Chuan Road, Singapore 089260
Opening Hours:  Monday to Friday: 5pm - 12pm, Saturday: 12pm - 12am

Contact: 6222-3130
Website: http://www.limehouse.asia




Sunday, January 11, 2015

Restaurant SELA @ Seah Street

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Located at 32 Seah Street, this place is less than 5 minutes walk from Raffles Hotel. However, for some reason its signage eluded us and was not visible from across the road as compared to its neighbours, so we ended up having to look for #32.

Was there to try its Saturday Brunch where one gets a 3-course set meal with free flow of Prosecco for $48+.


interior

At 11:30am, we had the entire place for ourselves. Other guests started to come in from 12pm onwards.

Saturday Prosecco Brunch menu

After placing our orders, the first glass of Prosecco was poured. Pleasant and crisp. A refreshing start.

cheers
 Of course, warm/cold water is available.

cold water

Bread was served 10 minutes later and it tasted as good as it looked. Cute looking rolls that were served nicely warmed. Breaks open easily to reveal soft texture on its inside.

ciabatta rolls with butter, balsamic & olive oil


For starters, we chose the scallops and the asparagus.

seared scallops with bacon, crushed avocado on thin toast and tobiko

The scallops dish was a letdown, unfortunately. Scallops were cold when it arrived. The bacon was seriously crispy but had a somewhat stale-oil aftertaste to it. What a pity!

Dining companion had the grilled asparagus which was nicely done till soft but not limp. Scrambled eggs and the mushrooms worked well and gave an asian touch to the dish. Liked the tomatoes.

Grilled asparagus with parma ham, scrambled eggs, honshimeji and veal jus

For mains, we had the barramundi and the steak.

Seared barramundi, roasted vegetables, balsamic cream
Brandt tenderloin steak, potatoes and sunny side up egg



If you were like me, and was expecting soft flaky texture from the seared barramundi, then we would be disappointed. The fish was too dry on that day.

tenderloin, medium doneness
Dining companion was having the steak, so he preferred medium doneness while personally, I'd like it at medium rare. At medium doneness, the lean meat was still tender.

Loved the potatoes from the steak dish though. Softened till just right and with good flavours.

I think between two pax, we might have finished a bottle of the Italian Prosecco.

ours

Restaurant manager was a friendly chap who'd drop by ever so often to top up our glasses when it was empty.

Only two choices for the desserts, so we tried one each. If you have a really sweet tooth, then Lemon Tart may work for you. Personally, I'd go for the Gula Melaka Crème Caramel. I like pudding.

Lemon Tart
Gula Melaka Crème Caramel

All in all, the Saturday Prosecco Brunch is still a good deal. A 3-course ala-carte meal (without drinks) here, would have cost around $55 (excluding tax) per pax. For brunch, we spent $56 each and probably had drunk enough Prosecco to make us want to walk from City Hall to Orchard Central.

For ala-carte main course, you may want to utilize The Entertainer App 1-for-1 deal. Yup, SELA is part of the new merchant list for The Entertainer Singapore 2015 app.

Watch out for discount code to purchase The Entertainer 2015 Singapore in upcoming blog post. See ya soon and Happy Eating~

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Sumiya Charcoal Grill Izakaya 炭家 @ Orchard Central

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Wanted to try their anago sushi but unfortunately, was told that it was not available on the day of visit. Hmm...what's plan B? I'll mull over the menu again with an iced cold Asahi draft.

Asahi draft @$5.80++
Decided on a Nama Hon Maguro Toro, bluefin tuna belly.

bluefin tuna belly @$11++

It was indeed fatty and oily, and with a slight chew, melted away in the mouth.

However, needed something more filling, so ordered the fried garlic rice with char siew bits.

fried garlic rice @$8.80++

Can't taste the garlic though. But a hot bowl of fried rice when you're hungry, now that's a good choice.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Charcoal Thai @ Simon Road

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Located at Simon Road, just next door to the popular Lola's Cafe. It is actually within 6 minutes of walking distance from Kovan MRT.With wet weather nowadays, you'll definitely need an umbrella otherwise, risk getting drenched while awaiting for the traffic light to turn green.

Haven't had a mookata since... well, forever. Last that we had was the one at Dickson Road, and that was a couple of years ago, back in 2011!

Visited on a Friday evening, and indoor lighting was pretty dim.
 
Mookata set @$39.90++
Service was pretty slow that night. Place seemed crowded during dinner hours but had quietened by 9pm.

Wasn't there when my friends ordered ahead but think we had a set for 2 pax. There were sausages, luncheon meat, chicken and pork, crabstick and meatballs. There were few prawns as well. The set came with a small separate basket of chinese cabbage, rice vermicelli (tanghoon) and bok choi.

add-on meat @$11.90++


So we oiled the mookata by frying up the lard cubes and moved it all over the grill. But, the meats still sticks and got burnt. Haha!


Also tried their ala-carte tom yum soup which came in a small clay pot, and loaded with squids and some prawns.

seafood tomyum clear soup @$11.90++

Soup was fantastically hot and with the right sour notes. Good to have on a cold night, but it made us hungrier.

Tried a couple of ala-carte items. Had the minced pork omelette which was quite nice, thai sweet and sour tofu which was enjoyable (but secretly wished that it was sweet and sour pork instead).

The calamari squid actually contained other fried items such as baby corn and onions. Was just average.

calamari squid @$12.90++

Also tried two types of fried rice; Seafood and Olive. Olive fried rice was bland, and lacked the olive fragrance while the seafood fried rice was tasty and flavourful with adequate seafood thrown in. Go for the seafood fried rice, if you must eat rice.

Olive fried rice @$9.90++

Seafood fried rice @$10.90++

There was a Standard Chartered credit card promo then, and we got 10% discount off. Total bill for 6 pax came up to $145.

Happy 2015 everyone!
 
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