Paradise Inn @ Serangoon NEX (Part II)

Second visit to Paradise Inn at NEX. First visit was sometime in April, where we didn't try the soup. So this time round, we ordered a pot whelk soup and a Song fish head for dinner.

the usual table setting and peanuts

must have items if soup is ordered

soup being served by the efficient service staff

whelk soup with pork ribs and huai shan

Whelk soup was tasty and full of flavour. Just a tad oily due to the fats from the super soft pork ribs. Probably effected through boiling the soup for long enough. Yums. What is whelk? According to wiki, whelk is a kind of sea-snail. In my opinion, the whelk in this soup, tasted not unlike abalone. Nice.

Next, came the steamed "Song" fish head. It was rather big!

Song fish head (@$17.50++)

full of omega-3 oil

soft, smooth tender flesh

For people not accustomed to eating fish head, this steamed Song fish head may come across as perhaps a little bit fishy. Perhaps if more spring onions and fresh red chillies (cut in longish) were added for garnishing, it might add a little more colour and variety to the dish. Pair the fish and sauce with a bowl of steaming white rice, it does leave a satisfactory feeling. Just one small complaint though. The fish head still had some scales on it. Cleaning the scales needs to be more thorough.

Service that evening was impeccable. Constantly, there will be someone coming over to check if the soup needed to be scooped out onto our little soup bowl. Kudos to the staff.

Total bill was about $45 for 2 pax.

Teadot @ Serangoon NEX

Located at Level 2 of NEX, this is an open-concept cafe. Serves tea concoction with exotic names. It has clear brew styled tea and blended style (like frappe). Serves coffee too, but since its called Teadot, its only apt to try the tea first, right?

can watch the world go by

Semi-self serviced style. Go up to the counter to order. Took a while 'coz it was kind of hard to look at its exotic names to figure out what it is, so had to read its description as well. Like for example, Yellow Rain. Who knows what tea is in that?! Anyway, I did order that, and it's a oolong/jasmine (I think) frappe style with osmanthus flower.

Then, they'll give you a number tag and you can sit down. They'll serve the drink to you when it is ready.

wait patiently

my friend's order, looks pretty normal

my drink, Yellow Rain

The prices here are quite high. A medium sized drink will set you back by about $6++ (for frappe and non-frappe), hence that influenced my decision to try the frappe version. I know, cheap thrill to get more bang out of the buck! The cashier said, "Would you like to upsize to large instead 'coz it'll just be 50cents more." Sounds like a good idea, only that now the total would be $7++ for a drink.

Liked my drink. Milky, and ice cold! Refreshing taste of osmanthus flower that was thankfully, not too overpowering.

slurps

Fukuichi Japanese Dining @ TripleOne Somerset

Located at Level 2 of TripleOne Somerset. Visited on a Sunday for an early lunch before 12pm. The ground level was teeming with customers while Level 2 seemed quite deserted on our day of visit...

shopfront

Fukuichi has been reviewed by many others, including a photoshoot session organized by ieatishootipost. Various newspaper clippings can be found near wall at the front podium.

The waitress who attended to us, seemed quite dis-interested in serving. Not sure why, probably too early in the day? We were seated near the private room.

view from our seats

menu for lunch and dinner sets

table setting, and a cup of warm green tea

Ordered the sashimi teishoku and my friend had the unagi teishoku. Feeling rather luxurious, we ordered a toro sushi as well. A plate of toro costs $22++ for 2 sushis. At the back of our mind, we had only one thought, "It had better be good!" Hahaa!

The older lady who served us suddenly asked if we're paying by UOB, which we answered in positive. Oooh, it turned out that there is a UOB credit card promo where you get 15% off ala-carte and that will apply to the toro sushi order. Heh heh! And, we also got the century egg kani tofu appetiser for free! 無料です！

century egg tofu appetiser

salty goodness

shredded kani inside

The cold appetiser was rather salty and enjoyable. But I think if it is just tofu, it'll be a nicer contrast to the century egg sauce, as just tofu would be more clean tasting.

Next, toro sushi. We ate it with great anticipation. Its oil glistens and beckoning to be devoured.

toro sushi

It is rich tasting with good oil and fresh but unfortunately, it was quite sinewy which proved to be a bane. Felt a little let down but at least, I've tried toro, yay! Otoro is next target.. but maybe should eat it in its country of origin instead?

sashimi teishoku (bottom) and unagi teishoku (top)

closer view of unagi

What's included in a sashimi teishoku set? Miso soup, salad, chawanmushi, rice and pickles and of course, sashimi.

beansprout miso soup

pickles

salad

sashimi; salmon, maguro, tako and kajiki (2 pieces each)

chawanmushi

I enjoyed the sashimi set. Firm, fresh and thick cut. We were served a small cute pudding (as part of the set) to end our meal.

pudding

Liked the bounciness of the pudding, and it was not too sweet. Enjoyable.

Total bill came up to $33 per pax.

Read about second visit here.