Arashi Yakiniku Charcoal Grill Restaurant 嵐炭火烧き肉 @ Boat Quay

Located at 48 Boat Quay. Took bus #166 and drop-off at Boat Quay bus stop. Walked backwards towards the bridge, then turned right towards the coffeeshops and another left turn into the small lane towards the river. Turn right and you'll pass by Neko Neko Cats Cafe. Walk a few more steps and soon enough, the restaurant shall come into view.

exterior

Housed in a three-storey building, private rooms are available at Level 2 and 3. If one prefers to enjoy the cool breeze while sizzling the meats, then their alfresco area would be ideal.

comfy dining area at Level 1

menu

As dinner that night was a hosted affair, we were invited to dine at Level 2, in one of the private rooms.

view from up the stairs

small private room for 6 pax

The restaurant uses the smokeless charcoal grill system, hence, our dining experience was quite comfortable.

ready to grill

First plate was the beautiful A4 Grade Ohmi wagyu.

Ohmi wagyu

Ohmi wagyu ribeye

Ohmi wagyu karubi

The beef was unmarinated and there is a bowl of sauce provided to dip the meat in first before grilling. In its unadulterated form, the meat (as expected of wagyu) tasted delicate. Karubi fats needed that bit more time on the grill, while the ribeye can be enjoyed after few seconds of sear on each side.

grilling-in-progress

If you're feeling ravenous while slowly grilling the meat, piece by piece, fret not. Have the huge onigiri, or a bowl of garlic fried rice while waiting.

onigiri with seaweed - to grill (@$3.80++)

garlic fried rice (ニンニクのチャーハン @$4.80++)

The crisp that came from roasted seaweed (leave it for a few seconds on the grill) sounded amazing. So crispy!

yaki onigiri 焼きおにぎり, anyone?

The clam miso soup goes quite well with the garlic fried rice.

clam miso soup あさりの味噌汁 (@$7.80++)

For greens intake, had the Arashi Kaisen Salad. Generously loaded with slivers of salmon sashimi, mixed greens (instead of just cabbages, for variety) and with wafu dressing. Fresh greens with tangy sauce. What's not to like?

Chef's Salad of the Day (@$15.80++)

For ala-carte, the serving size is 150 gms. Depending on the cut, the price per serving ranges from $48.80++ to $98.80++ for A4 Grade Ohmi wagyu. Likewise, for Australian wagyu, the price per serving ranges from $28.80++ to $65++.

Australian wagyu plate

grilling up sumptious meat

grilled Australian wagyu

Arashi Yakiniku's Australian wagyu are from purebred cattles. Its meat has less marbling and had a stronger beef flavour as compared to Japanese wagyu.

For non-beef eater, there's pork and seafood to choose from.

Kurobuta pork belly and pork collar

Assorted seafood platter (@$28.80)

Salmon Butter Yaki (@$8.80++)

The grilled pork was very tasty. Contributing factor? Besides good meat, it was also marinated. Guess, we're too accustomed to stronger flavours. Goes well with beer!

butterflied prawn for easier grilling

Lastly, longan jelly for dessert.

longan in jelly

Thank you Royston, Arashi Yakiniku Charcoal Grill Restaurant and HGW for the invited tasting.

For people who enjoys meat but doesn't want to burn too big a hole in their pocket, good news! Arashi Yakiniku shall be starting their buffet (sometime in February 2014). Do check out their facebook page for more information when the date is nearer.

Arashi Yakiniku Charcoal Grill Restaurant

Location: No. 48 Boatquay, Singapore 049837
Contact No.: 65352841
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arashiyakiniku/

La Ristrettos Specialty Coffee @ Novena

Located at Level 8 of Novena Medical Centre. It's a small cosy place with limited seats. So, go right up to the counter, place your order and pay. Once your drink is ready, you might find the boss serving you your cuppa! =)

menu, on paper and on board

view from the garden

words of wisdom, while waiting for coffee & food

Tried their macchiato lungo. Espresso stained with double milk.  Thick and strong. Fire red tiny cup, I like.

macchiato lungo @$4

Also tried the Florentine Croissant. Basically a large croissant with scrambled eggs, cheese and wilted spinach, served with a side of greens, cherry tomatoes and a dash of balsamic.

Florentine Croissant @$10

creamy, moist, yummy eggs

For the works, one might want to get the Grande. Scrambled or poached eggs? You have a choice.

Grande breakfast @$14

Paradise Inn @ Suntec City

Located at Basement 1 of Suntec City Mall, Fountain of Wealth, that area. At about 640pm on a Saturday evening, we could still do a walk-in to this place. Noticed that queue started to form at about 7pm.

The soups at Paradise Inn is not bad, so we got ourselves one. Then we ordered my friend's son's must-have dish, the fried eggs with chai-po. And for the adults, a plate of vege and steamed chicken. I need meat. There were only the three of us, so the food that we had, can actually feed one more adult.

Peanuts and towels are chargeable at $1.50++ (per plate) and $0.30++ (per pax).

soup being served

lean meat (pork) with cordycep flowers soup (@$18.90++ per pot)

The pot of soup could easily serve out about 5 small bowls of soup. Plenty of lean meat inside too. The cordyceps flower has a very nice texture. Liked it so much, that I ate 'em all. Hahaa!

Service staff would gladly drop by to help us serve out the soup.

chinese spinach with egg trio and minced meat (@$13.90++)

Main gripe about vegetable dishes in Chinese restaurants like this, is that they sure are expensive.

Grandma's Pan-fried Egg with chai-po (@$8++)

Kids and adults liked the egg. Not overly salty, the chai-po has a certain sweetness and fragrance to it. Eggs were abit too thin though.

steamed chicken with diced mushrooms and black fungus (@$10.90++)

The steamed chicken pieces were rather small, and need to watch out for the small bones. It has an added sweetness courtesy of the red dates. A very mild chicken dish.

This meal costs $66.

Liang Court Mall New Year Activities and Goodies

Was at Liang Court and boy, its supermarket Meidi-ya was bustling with shoppers! Japanese and local, everyone seemed to be stocking up for the new year. Liang Court Mall is hosting a series of activities for Japanese New Year (お正月), celebrated on 1st of Jan.

From now till 5th Jan 2014, shoppers can redeem a gift box (from Customer Service at L2) wrapped in furoshiki if the spending is above a certain value. Terms and conditions apply. Read more here.

Other dates for activities to look out for is 1st Jan 2014, 4th Jan 2014 and 5th Jan 2014. No worries, there are standees, banners all over the Atrium to remind shoppers of the upcoming activities for Japanese New Year.

Shishimai workshop

Shishimai (front), Daruma (back)

Shishi-mai  is similar to 舞狮(Lion Dance during CNY). Wanting to keep goals and need some help to stay focused? Daruma, also known as Japanese wish doll may assist.

Daruma

Fancy a mask, or a sugar biscuit?

sugar biscuit look interesting

cute and scary masks

Years ago, was in Tokyo during the New Year period, and the hotel had this bamboo decoration at its main entrance. Think it was the kadomatsu.

somehow, this reminds me of kadomatsu

daruma on mochi?

Interestingly, Meidi-ya is selling cherry blossoms. Yup, cherry blossoms!

Cherry Blossoms in the living room?

stalkful of buds

close-up view

How about some confectionary for the new year?

had tasted these few years back by a friend who went to Kyoto

In Meidi-ya, one might find alot of people buying fish cakes (kamaboko), kelp (konbu), sweetened black soybean (kuromame) as these items  are typically eaten during the new year celebration.

There's a bit of authenticity in the basement of Meidi-ya, where one can find a Taiyaki stall manned by a native chef.

Taiyaki stall

scooping up hot mochi-mochi taiyaki

making red bean regular taiyaki

white mochi-mochi taiyaki

The fillings are actually quite sweet, and it was almost bursting out of the pancake! Custard has a nice vanilla scent to it, while the mochi dough was that bit more chewy.

taiyaki (fish-shaped pancake) @$2 per piece

After you're done with shopping, don't forget to redeem your new year goodies box from Customer Service at Level 2 (if qualifies).

pink auspicious furoshiki wrapped gift

daruma everywhere

rice crackers