Rakuichi @ Oasia Hotel

If you are looking for a quiet place for lunch, this might be it. Located at the ground level of Oasia hotel, next to Marmalade Pantry. Unlike Marmalade, the entrance to Rakuichi is not via the hotel. Second visit to Rakuichi, and this time round, chose the Tokubetsu set (トクベツセット) @ $29.80++ that is available during lunch only. About five items in the set inclusive of salad, miso soup and dessert.

Food was served up very quickly as the restaurant had only three tables seated then, including ours. First item to arrive was the salad. This time round, the salad had crispy salmon skin bits added to it. Green tea was complimentary and a wet towel was provided for customers to wipe their hands prior to the start of the meal.

salad

The salad was enjoyable with the tangy sauce, fresh leaves and crispy salmon skin. Next up, we were served the assorted semi-grilled (aburi) sushi. Noticeably, the sushi was slightly smaller than previous visit.  Liked the tamago and the hotate ones the most.

assorted semi-grilled sushi (7 pieces)

Then, all the remaining items were served up together all at once. Miso soup, grilled prawn and potato, and pan-fried fish head with butter and teriyaki sauce. The miso soup was pretty ordinary with some tofu and kelp.

miso soup

grilled prawn and potato with mentaiko sauce

The prawn dish was nice but lacking in the mentaiko sauce. The cheese layer was good, though this wasn't mentioned in the menu. Thought it was potato gratin! Speaking of potato, this smallish hotplate contained potato wedges at the bottom then with some grilled prawns assembled, then topped with cheese. Melted cheese ontop of the prawns? Yes, please.

The pan-fried fish head was easily the best dish. Caramelized teriyaki sauce with deep fried fish head (though a tad bony) was yums with slight smokey flavour.

pan-fried fish head (salmon?) with butter and teriyaki sauce

Meal ended with goma ice-cream. Have to wait a short-while as the ice-cream was still rock solid when served. No worries, as this meal can be accomplished within the lunch hour. Service was friendly and efficient.

sesame ice-cream

Expect to spend about $35 per pax.

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Calling all fans of ハロー・キティ. If you have always wanted to get a 10.1 inch tablet but yet to do so, plus plans to optimise a budget of less than SGD380, then good news! E-Huge Technology Limited had launched its first Sanrio-themed 2-in-1 Windows 10 tablet from the WMP Character Series in Singapore on 17 February 2016.

Priced at SGD379 and available now at all BEST Denki retail outlets and online store in Singapore. Click here to BEST Denki Online Store.

Grace 10 Light Hello Kitty Limited Edition Windows 10 tablet @$379

The Grace 10 Light Hello Kitty Limited Edition Windows 10 tablet not only comes with an exclusive pretty-in-pink Hello Kitty Pigo keyboard, it also runs on Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 10. Wow. That means one can try out the new computing and browsing experience with Microsoft Edge, and Continuum.

This tablet is powered by Intel® Atom™ Processor Z3735F processor, with 2GB DDR RAM, 32 GB Flash storage and weighs approximately 600 grams. With built-in wifi, 2M front and rear camera and its battery stated to last about 5 hours.

For productivity on-the-go, snap on the Hello Kitty Pigo keyboard, and get some work done as if using it like a laptop.  The Microsoft Office Mobile apps can be downloaded for free on the Grace 10 Light tablet. Or, if you prefer the full Office experience, then do take advantage of the Grace 10 Light tablet Hello Kitty Limited Edition promotion offered by BEST Denki, where you can save SGD20 off the subscription of Office 365 with the purchase of this device. Click here to view the offer. Get a Sennheiser earphone worth $119 for free when you purchase two qualifying products. Terms and conditions apply.

Grace Light 10 Hello Kitty Limited Edition Windows 10 Tablet - get yours today

Yay, now I can bring this lightweight device whenever I go travelling. It will be so handy (and カワイイ).

Specifications

Hung Kee 亨记饭店 @ Cheras , Malaysia

It was during the recent Lunar New Year and we were visiting relatives around Ampang and Cheras area. The time was about 2+ pm and we were rather hungry. Cousin drove us to Hung Kee for food refuel. Surprisingly, the restaurant was still open during that hour. Usually, Chinese restaurants would be having their pre-dinner time break by then. Oh well, glad that they've stayed open. Let's eat! 吃饭咯!

menu

sample of available dishes

We were a group of 6 adults, so ordered two meats, one tofu, one vegetable dish and another side dish to eat for fun, or in Mandarin we termed it as '吃爽'.

Marmite Pork Ribs

Stir-fried yau mak (油麦) with fermented beancurd (豆腐乳) and garlic

steamed tilapia with minced ginger

The most impressive dish was the steamed fish as it was huge! However, this was the first time that we have minced ginger style that has soy sauce in it. Usually, soy sauce style is for Cantonese steamed fish and minced ginger sauce would be predominantly ginger. This was a hybrid but it still tasted good. However, the fish was rather big and certain parts of its head, looked a tad raw.

The stir-fried vegetable with garlic and 'fuyu' looked rather deceiving, as underneath those green leaves, were some chopped bird's eye chilies.

The marmite pork was very tasty with strong marmite fragrance and sticky sweet caramelized sauce, so it was a pity that most of its meat were rather tough.

Here's one dish that I think, is seldom found in Singapore; the stir-fry 'sang cheong' (生肠) with ginger and scallions. Do you know what is sang cheong? Nope, it is not pig's intestine.

stir-fry 'sang cheong' with ginger and scallions

Some may find it gross to eat innards and in particularly the sang cheong, but I found it utterly delicious. Texture was sprightly and crunchy, and tasted just fine with ginger and scallions. Utterly yums!

Didn't bother to take a picture of the tofu dish as it came to our table last, and we had already started eating halfway through by then.

The cost of the meal was about RM153 for 5 dishes, 5 plates of small rice and a pot of tea and fed 6 pax comfortably.

The place seemed more famous for its charsiew wanton noodles as we spied most tables ordered this, with roasted pork as well.

Hung Kee 亨记饭店

Address: 18-20, Lorong 4/91, Taman Shamelin Perkasa, 55300 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact: +60 3-9282 0133
Business Hours:
Open daily, 6.30am-10pm 

d'Good Cafe @ 237 Holland Ave

Was there just before the Lunar New Year holidays. This was our first pit-stop for that week's cafe hop. Together with fellow kakis; Ivan, Hence, Kris and Tiara, we journeyed to the west (finally!). Took the MRT to Buona Vista and from there, change to Holland Village via the Circle Line. Take the Exit B and walk about 5 minutes to reach.

look up for the sign

Walk up that flight of stairs and you'll end up at the ordering counter at Level 2. There are more seats at Level 3.

The alfresco area at Level 3 was nice. Pretty too. But we opted for the cool comfort of airconditioning indoors.

alfresco dining (in a tent)

mini waterfall

perusing the menu

Was there to try the Deutsch skillet pancakes. First time in trying dutch pancake. Usually, we see lots of waffles, normal pancakes with maple syrups or egg bens during our cafe hop.

interesting toys in the shop

ooh, our table was mod from a sewing machine

The style at d'Good Cafe is self-service, so order up at Level 2 and you'll be given a buzzer. Collect from the same place. Think we got somewhat irritated when we were buzzed multiple separate times as our pancakes and drinks were completed at different times although it was ordered at one go.

8 Upon 8 on Toast @$13.50

there's leafy greens and ham in there

Was commenting about how awesome it would be if the fried egg was wrapping a poached egg inside of it, so that the yolk oozes out once it is cut. No sooner than said, we knived it gently and voila, out flowed the golden yolk! Awesome and totally unexpected as I didn't do any research on this cafe prior to the visit. Haha!

golden

Next up, were the dutch pancakes. Here's the wiki link to dutch pancakes, for the curious. Had no idea of what it was prior to the visit. Very thin, and mildly sweet on its own.

I think it is actually quite similar to Chinese pancake that my mom used to make at home. We'd mix the flour with egg and a bit of water or milk, add a tiny bit of sugar and salt and mix till a good consistency. Put some oil on the wok or flat pan and fry a thin batter with hae bee (dried shrimps) or anchovies or sardines (mashed) and spring onions. Yums.

At d'Good Cafe, its dutch pancakes are actually more sweet than savoury as it is loaded with lots of citrus, leafy greens and fruits.

Pomegranate Citrus Smoked Duck @$13

CNY Special - Asian Skillet Pancake @$13.80

Loved the use of fresh fruits in both skillets. In the spirit of the lunar new year, we got the CNY Asian Skillet as well. The Pomegranate Citrus Smoked Duck skillet has savoury slices of smoked duck, chunks of walnuts, some greens, segments of mandarin oranges, slices of pear, sweet pomegranate and some baby radish. The CNY skillet has generous amount of meat floss, pear, orange segments, small minced cubes of bak kwa, little bit of greens and some wolfberries. Many didn't like this but I thought it tasted quite nice though the ingredients seemed repetitive and a tad too sweet.

this is how the underside of the dutch pancake looked like

This was quite a cosy cafe to visit with friends and its food are worth trying. Not too sure about its drinks though as I didn't order any.

Expect to spend about $15 per pax for a shared skillet and a drink.

Here's wishing everyone, may you enjoy Good Fortune, Good Health and Good Food all year-round. 恭喜发财，万事如意。祝您人日and 情人节快乐。

d'Good Cafe

Address: 237 Holland Ave, #02-01/02, Singapore 278992
Contact:  6219 9807
Website: http://dgoodcafe.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dgoodcafe/
Business Hours:
Sunday to Thursday: 10am to 10pm
Friday & Saturday: 10am to 11pm

The Square @ Novotel Clarke Quay

Usher in the Year of the Monkey at The Square Restaurant at Novotel Clarke Quay. Buffet dinner is competitively priced at $58++, and one gets to enjoy free-flow of soft-drinks for buffet dinners on 8th and 9th February. Not only that, there is also a do-it-yourself yusheng station for that toss of prosperity and good health.

The Square is located at Level 7 of Novotel Clarke Quay which is just beside Liang Court.

interior

ready for the year of the monkey

DIY Yusheng station

The Square has included a small little print-out describing the "11 Steps to Lo Hei". A very nifty little guide, if I may say, that's complete with auspicious phrases for each of the step. How useful!

ingredients prepped and ready

fast forward to #10 - 甜甜蜜蜜 (sweet and loving relationships)

and finally, for floor full of gold (满地黄金)

Huat ah! 发啊！Prosper!

For this yusheng, we had it with sashimi grade air-flown fish. Hmm, I wonder if yusheng can be mixed with say the prawns or oysters from the cold seafood section? It is a buffet after all.

lovely prawns and oysters

For those who loves their roasts, The Square will be rotating the meats on a daily basis. On our day of visit, there's roast chicken and lamb.

For crab lovers, they do have chili crab on the menu.

chili crab

The Square also offers live-cooking station, where one could order local delights such as laksa, clear noodles soup or tom yum, or a hot off the pan risotto and selected pasta from the western counter. These are ala-minute portions.

to be cooked upon order

Found ee-fu noodles and braised sea cucumber with mushrooms. Of course, must sample. Don't miss the chance to grab those collageny sea cucumber and braised-till-soft mushrooms. Yums!

braised ee-fu noodles

braised sea cucumber with mushrooms

Don't worry as there are still international dishes to cater to diners whom would like to have salads, cheeses and breads. Discovered lamb tajine and it was quite good, in terms of the tender meat. However, this could be a tad too gamey for some.

cheeses

bread

lamb tajine

Here was what I had, at the buffet.

white wine (non-buffet item)

鱼生 (yusheng) - salad for starters

oysters (slurps) and prawns - appetisers

chili crab, lemon fish, braised fish maw and mushroom, chicken wrap, roasted lamb with mint jelly, mustard, relish and onion jam - main course

Oh, there was fish maw soup as well. Do get the black vinegar to go along with the soup. So comforting.

For desserts, the must-try for me, was still the durian pengat. Not to be missed! On top of that, I had all sorts of favourite kueh and biscuits. Some festive ones too.

dessersts from top left (counter-clockwise) - bread and butter pudding, chicken bak kwa, tartlet, nonya kek lapis and pineapple tart

festive goodies - love letters, green pea biscuit and not sure what's the name for the white one

Check out Hungrygowhere for The Square Lunar New Year promotion and to reserve a table.

Thank you to Novotel Clarke Quay's team for having us and HGW for the invite. Gong Xi Fa Cai, 万事如意!