My family went to dinner at Vivocity today, at an Italian restaurant (resutoran. sorry just wanted to say that in jap style). It’s called Modesto’s and it was the first time I had dinner there. The occasion was to celebrate my sister’s excellent A level results, as well as my dad’s pay increment.

I ordered the Tagliatelle Nere Con Cappesante E Gamberi In Salsa Di Crostacei, which is actually fresh home made black ink flat pasta served with sauteed scallops, prawns and diced tomatoes in a shrimp bisque sauce. I didn’t remember the name, of course. I took it from the online menu. It smelled super nice when it came, and the scallops were great. I loved it. I ordered that dish for the scallops actually. But I had a problem with the prawns. They are too soft, meaning they are not fresh. It was quite a dampener to an otherwise nice meal. Black ink pasta is a nice try too, but I guess I will still pick linguine anytime.

Other than pasta, I chose a cocktail called Kamikaze, which is vodka, triple sec & Lime Cordial mixed together. It’s the only Jap name there and Lime sounded what I would like to have, so I chose it. I didn’t order the dessert because I was too full from the McDonalds lunch at 3pm.

It was an enjoyable meal. After dinner we went near the sea side facing Sentosa. They had fireworks! What a surprise. The IR looked like a place I would like to visit with a special someone. There’s this ride you can take up a tall tower and down. It’s not those roller coaster rides so it would be a nice romantic evening I guess, being on it? I haven’t even gone on the flyer yet. I wonder who will receive the honour of joining me on my maiden journey up the flyer.

Oh. And during dinner, there’s this male and female with their young boy. The boy had cream all over his face from his pasta/pizza (not sure which), and his mum whipped out her iPhone and took several cute shots. Don’t you find it heartwarming? Haha. I do.

Sorry about these recent bout of feeling for other’s established families. Maybe it’s that time already. I’m like quite old. Haha.

After getting results on the 22nd, my JC clique met up for a long planned buffet outing on the 23rd. This time, 3 out of 5 of us attained our targets for the semester and hence has to treat the sad people to a buffet. Well, it is not exactly a treat since they would have to pay a lot, so it was a subsidy. People who are not treating will only pay $15; Treaters will pay the rest.

Anyway we settled on the Hokkaido Jap Restaurant, which I found via Google. It was a sponsored search item, so I clicked it to go to the website. It seems to have a wide variety of sushi and sashimi and other stuff, so my clique decided to go there.

It’s located all the way in Turf City; For the clueless, it is actually in Bukit Timah, near schools like National Junior College, which was where the 5 of us were from. It was a pain to go there if we have to go by ourselves. Thankfully there was a shuttle bus, so we would not need to walk all the way in from the bus stop outside at the main road. The shuttle bus locations are from Clementi Bus Interchange, Toa Payoh Bus Interchange and Opposite Sixth Avenue.

Waikit and I took from Clementi and the rest from Toa Payoh. The clementi bus stopped opposite sixth Avenue. I am not sure if the Toa Payoh one did, but I doubt it since the direction seems to be out of place. The buffet has a weekday promotion, 1 adult free for every 5 adults there. I am not sure if there should be 6 people, or 5 people is alright already. Anyway dom brought his long time girlfriend since 2003 along, and it was the first time I met her.

Anyway the main point is the buffet, which was Ala Carte style. Hence you have to order the dishes from the waitress. The thing that I am not really happy about is that the portions are weird. Some dish comes with a lot so apparently 6 of us can eat. Some we have to specify how many portions we want. It becomes a little confusing. Tea is served complimentary but other drinks are not. There are no desserts too.

I find that the dishes are so-so only, with the teppanyaki dishes being the best, especially the beef. The seafood is not that bad, I like the squid and the fish. The prawn has the nice taste at the shell, but the meat is just like a normal boiled prawn. The chicken teppanyaki is not that outstanding.

Some dishes seems unique but disappointed me. Cheese chawanmushi makes me think of a chawanmushi dish infused with cheese, but it is actually just chawanmushi with a layer of melted cheese on top like pizza. The combination is a little weird, so I ate the cheese before eating the chawanmushi.

The Clam Miso Soup sounds like a delicious soup cooked with Clams, but it seems to be actually diluted miso soup with clams added when needed. Why do I say diluted? The miso doesn’t have the concentrated taste. Even the Jap stall at TechnoEdge, NUS, can do much better. The miso doesn’t have any taste of the sea, so it is extremely disappointing.

My clique did not eat much sushi since we didn’t want to be overly full with rice. But I ate some sushi, and it wasn’t fantastic either. I guess if you want to eat buffet that is affordable, you have to sacrifice quality. Which is why my clique will be going to quality in the future instead of quantity. Our stomachs seem to have shrunk too.

The worst thing was that some dishes did not come. They seem to have forgotten about it. Especially my Inari sushi. I ordered Inari, Crab and Tamago sushi, but they forgot Inari, which is my favourite out of the 3. Anyway I didn’t have much stomach to eat, so maybe it is also a blessing it didn’t come.

After the meal which left some of us bloated (I suspect Jiahao didn’t manage to fill his stomach to the brim) (and I had to loosen my belt), we went to Orchard Cine to watch Feng Yun 2. It was disappointing. Whilst Waikit and Jiahao is leaving the review for another entry, I guess I’ll just go through it briefly since I got nothing much to say.

It was bad. What kind of an abrupt ending was that. Where is the plot? I feel that there is so much slow motion going on that it sacrifices time for story development. How can someone train for a few days and suddenly defeat a more powerful opponent. And according to Waikit, one of the characters who was killed is supposed to be the mother of Cloud’s son. Ok. It just means Cloud’s wife. But you get the point.

So it was horrible.

We also walked at 313 for a while and OC. Orchard Central is a messy area in the sense it is not designed like the traditional mall. It has the normal escalators which visit most stories up to 7. There are also escalators that skip levels, like level 4 to level 7, and level 7 to level 11. There is no down escalators for these two. To go down from 11 to 7, you go down to 10, and wonder where the hell the other escalator is. You end up at the car park, and you walk in only to find another glass door that leads to another escalator. This goes on for 10 to 9, 9 to 8 and 8 to 7.

I guess it was nice walking once.

There’s also a performance at level 1 at 8pm, and I was bored initially, especially with the crowd blocking me. But there were a few interested performances, and overall it was a great half an hour.

We walked to PS for dinner, and then it was time to go home. For the next semester, I wonder if anyone will need to treat again. I guess it is time to explore good quality restaurants instead of buffets.

Hungry yet?

Delicious thick ramen from Aoba @ Ion Orchard.

I’ve been wanting to try out stalls that claim to have originated from Japan directly, because the number of real ramen stalls in Singapore can be counted with only my left hand. In fact, before this month, I didn’t eat any ramen (maybe because I didn’t hear of any good places) that managed to make me impressed and agree that it is as delicious as the one I had in Japan.

The last one I went was Ramen Santouka, which was very delicious and the first Singapore store that I ate which blew my mind away. Ramen Santouka is arguably the best ramen I ever tasted. Today I had the fortune to taste Aoba, a 2nd ramen stall which is also certified by me to be of a good quality like real Japanese ramen.

The traditional ramen stalls in Singapore are probably changed to suit the Singapore tastebuds. For example, Ajisen (who brought in Aoba) isn’t a great ramen stall. It’s soups are good, I agree, but the noodle isn’t that fantastic to me. Maybe it’s ramen from another area of Japan, I would not really know that until I tasted it in Japan.

But Aoba is not bad at all. I like the shoyu soup so much I finished it again like Ramen Santouka’s. Except they didn’t make me as thirsty as Ramen Santouka’s Miso flavour soup.

The meat was lesser than Ramen Santouka’s, and it may be why it’s about 3 bucks cheaper. They also come with an egg, which Ramen Santouka didn’t have. The noodles are fat and chewy, not like those other stalls that seem to have cooked instant noodles instead.

But overall I think I will rank Ramen Santouka above Aoba. The char siew in Ramen Santouka was simply mind blowing compared to Aoba’s. Aoba was also slow in its service to me. The bowl of ramen took too long to cook, and it seemed too crowded. However Aoba is still a great place to go if you want to try all sorts of ramen just like me.

Today was a sinful day. I had an absolutely delightful lunch and dinner and both are Jap related foods. For lunch I went to Ramen Santouka at Central. I have been wanting to go there for a very long time but friends are mindful of its cost, so I haven’t went there for a long time. Before I show the photos, I would just like to say that I’m a person who don’t mind spending a bit of money on food that I think is worth it. I don’t like it when people give that stupid expression like I’m filthy rich to spend the money especially when it comes from people who are less frugal than me. So if there’s any comments about the costs, you can keep it to yourself.

Firstly the nice egg. It’s an extra 1 dollar, and I ordered it because I’ve been seeing how other blogs seemed to praise it to the heavens. Well it’s a very nice egg. It’s soft and fluffy, if that’s the correct word to describe it. However I would prefer my eggs otherwise. It is still a great egg, but it just so happens I have a greater preference for more solid eggs, or harder eggs.

This, and the noodle in miso shiru that I ordered, is packaged together. It costs 19.50 for the set, and if I spent some effort going down to Central to hunt this stall down, I think I should just be done with it and order the thing that it is most famous for. The charsiew is famous for the melt in your mouth tagline that everyone keeps saying, so I had to try it. Indeed it is a praiseworthy charsiew that’s damn good. It’s soft and its easy to chew. You can just feel the meat separating in your mouth.

The miso shiru noodle was great. The noodles are nothing like Ajisan’s. Ajisan’s ramen got to be one of the lousiest although their soup is great. This noodle reminds me of the time I actually went to Hokkaido. The soup is salty but it’s a great soup to drink. I nearly finished it but I didn’t because the spoon couldn’t scoop enough soup and I didn’t want to bring the bowl to my mouth.

For dinner I went to a place in Vivocity. It’s a place where you can order raw meat and grill it. Here’s the grill. For dinner my family ordered the Wagyu beef set and it’s super good. It satisfied my hunger for beef that just simply gives you some juice in your mouth. I had wanted that feeling last month on my birthday, but stupid Jack’s place spoilt it for me. But this place simply rocks. Even the chicken sausage has the cheese like feeling that comes out when you bite into it.

I must apologise for the quality of the photo. The lighting was really dim and I was afraid of affecting others so I turned my flash off. My camera isn’t that good quality to help me adjust the lighting, but my sister’s one is good enough so she took all the other photos. I must say that my trusty camera is now old, just like me. I think I should utilize my camera more else I’m not getting enough bang for my buck.

Today is a sinful day where I cleared two of my cravings in one day. But I am very happy. After having today’s dinner, I suddenly had this thought. I want to be able to bring my family out for dinners like this especially when my parents are retired, and have everyone eat happily without needing to worry about the cost.

I had a long awaited outing with my JC friends today. Some of them had been thinking about going for the New York New York challenge, which involves finishing up an 8 inch burger surrounded by large sized fries. If you manage to finish the challenge, the dish is free. It costs $32.90 if my memory did not fail me. We had been postponing this outing for ages because some friends are busy with their own stuff, and it was really very hard to get all of them to commit to a single timing.

Thankfully we did manage to settle on a timing just a few days before, and so after “work” today at noon, I went down to City Hall to meet them. We settled down in New York New York, and I had a prime location. I was facing the traffic flow out of the restaurant, and I can see who walked past. Needless to say the scenery was pleasant.

The New York New York challenge came with conditions, though. There was a time limit of 1 hour, and nobody is allowed to help eat (DUH). But if one manages to finish the challenge, an extra free drink of his choice is thrown in.

Jiahao decided to take up the challenge whilst Dominic and I opted for a normal main course. Zong Yao and Waikit decided to wait and see how large the portions are before they commit themselves. When Jiahao’s large dish appeared, it looked very sick. Sick as in it’s HUGE. In the end the both of them decided not to take the challenge, and changed their dish to a meat platter for 2.

Even Jiahao, who is the biggest and fastest eater in our clique, didn’t finish the meal within the time stipulated. In fact, we left a huge wad of fries there when we left. The fries had became stale after the long duration, and the whole dish was so oily that Jiahao grew sick of eating it. Therefore our challenge had failed.

It was fun though, and enjoyable. It was good to meet up with them after so long, even though we talk everyday on MSN.

I think this is the first time I actually felt pissed off on my birthday. Even during NS, I wasn’t angry. During NS first year, I was running SOC and I failed, but I was ok with it. During the 2nd year, when the clock struck 12, the whole company sang a song for me. So I have never actually had to feel this emotion – anger – before on my birthday, which, to most people, should be a special day of happiness and enjoyment.

My family and I went to the new Safra at Jurong. There’s a newly opened Jack’s Place there and I was craving for nice steak for a very long time. But they actually showed me how a new team is actually inefficient. I wonder if Jack’s Place is a franchise, so the team would definitely be new, instead of a company by itself where they can assign people to different outlets.

The soup came, which was very fast and good. But after the soup we waited 30minutes and the steak didn’t come. My dad asked for the steaks, the waiter went in and didn’t come out to notify us of anything. And then, the soup came, again.

Which is wtf. The waitress was a PRC so her english was really bad. But she managed to get what we meant when we just said it came 30 minutes ago. The waitress went to ask her colleague and asked us if we just ordered. That’s seriously stupid. How the hell did the order get mixed up until it seemed we just ordered?

We got the manager to check on the steaks and it finally came, and that was when I exploded. My family ordered 1 Jacks special steak medium, 3 garlic steak, 2 medium well and 1 well done. What came was 3 garlic steak, 2 medium well and 1 medium and 1 Jacks special steak well done. I couldn’t stand it anymore because it’s already 40+ minutes and this sort of nonsense can still come. So I told them what it was supposed to be and I think they understood my mood. It totally killed my birthday mood and I wasn’t happy even when the correct order came.

The saving grace for the day was when the manager came and asked us about our steaks and apologized for the delay.

But then, another stupid incident came up. Some guy came and asked if he could serve the coffee or tea. Coffee or tea is normally served when we get a set meal. Initially I thought he wanted to give us complimentary coffee for their mistakes. He actually didn’t know we didn’t order a set. I was like “WTF” in my head. Normally you don’t ask about coffee or tea when we didn’t order.

And then, whilst I was drinking my warm water from the cup, the waitress took the plate that’s below the cup. I was having the “HUH” look and then she put it back, realizing her mistake.

I won’t want to go back to Safra’s Jack’s Place anymore. The whole place actually managed to spoil my mood, and dinner was MY HIGHLIGHT of the day. It was the only place I went to today, and they spoilt it. Well done, Jack’s Place.

I’ve been going to Fish and Co for meals occasionally because everyone seems to like to go to Fish and Co for gatherings. But has anyone actually tried the Manhattan Fish Market? There are only 2 outlets I know of, one in Plaza Singapura and one at Eu Tong Sen Street. Fish and Co, on the other hand, has many outlets, which I believe are franchises?

I went to the Fish and Co at Suntec City last June and I tried the Manhattan Fish Market today at Plaza Singapura. I compared the two outlets and the result is that I prefer the Manhattan Fish Market. The reason is simple. The service is great. The food is also good.

I ordered the Flaming Platter for one, which comes with fish, rice, chips and 3 flaming prawns. I believe this is the rival of Fish and Co’s seafood platter for one. If I were to talk about the food, I would prefer the flaming prawns from Manhattan as they simply blow my mind away with their superb sauce which is burnt right in front of you.

When I arrived at the door of Manhattan Fish Market, there was a couple right in front of us. They were still looking at the menu and deciding whether to enter. When the waitress serving them saw us, she led us straight in when I informed her I wanted a table for two. When I was at the Fish and Co, the waiter took his time to talk and chit chat with the group of people in front of me who hasn’t even decided whether to dine there, nor did they settle on the number of people who is going to dine there. No one came to serve us even when we were ready to enter. Winner: Manhattan Fish Market

When I went inside the Manhattan Fish Market, the waitress promptly informed me of the soup of the day and past me my menu. When I was ready to order, all I did was turn my head and the waitress asked if I was ready to order. At Fish and Co last June, I had to wait for a waiter to decide to come to my area before I could order. Winner: Manhattan Fish Market

For food arrival time, Manhattan Fish Market was fast in delivering their food to my table. Fish and Co took a longer time. Since this is subjective to the crowd at the moment, I will not and cannot decide the winner for this category.

At Manhattan Fish Market, my glass of iced water wasn’t even emptied before a smiling waiter came to fill my glass up again. At Fish and Co, my glass was empty and I had to wait for about 15 minutes before someone walked past me for me to get his attention to my empty glass. Water is extremely important especially when you are enjoying your food. Winner: Manhattan Fish Market

The servers for Manhattan Fish Market came to clear my plates promptly after I finished the food. They even asked me how I found their food and whether I am willing to fill up a feedback form, which I happily did. Fish and Co took their sweet time to clear my plates. Winner: Manhattan Fish Market

The bill for Manhattan Fish Market came fast. Fish and Co didn’t take too long either. (I guess its the money) Winner: None

The bill came with an accompanying sweet. Manhattan Fish Market had 2 flavours, one mint and one honey. Fish and Co’s came with their superb mint sweets. Winner: Tie since both sweets were effectively good

It is no surprise that Manhattan Fish Market won the comparison. They had more staff and their staff are more attentive to customer’s needs. They need no reminder to know that the customer’s glass is going to be empty and they need no prompting to be right there when you need them. Their food is also comparable, if not better, than Fish and Co’s. Their staff wore smiles throughout and even asked for comments on their food with a smiling face.

I had a wonderful experience at Manhattan Fish Market, and a totally unpleasant one at Fish and Co. You can be sure that I will not be patronizing Fish and Co anymore. Manhattan Fish Market won my heart and soul by their excellent service and great food. If you like Fish and Co, you may want to try Manhattan Fish Market. Feel their better service today!

Well the other day I went to Suntec City (at City Hall) for dinner and I went to try out the food at the Food Republic food court. Food republic is a “higher class” themed food court. The food court at Suntec City has an old western design theme.

I went to try the Fried Hokkien Mee stall, which promises fresh prawns. Most food court stalls that sell hokkien mee has lousy prawns that seem to turn to powder everytime we bite into it. This means that the prawns are unfresh and probably a few days old. Fresh prawns have this crunchy bite into it. Smaller prawns have lesser bite feel I think. Fresh prawns also have the ‘fresh’ taste which unfresh prawns do not have.

I paid 5 dollars for the prawn mee and it is the cheapest available already. (See what I mean by high class food court?) The serving is big and the plate is about 30cm in diameter? Its served with 4 prawns and a small bowl of prawn soup.

Now the prawn soup is a bit diluted. You can’t really taste much prawns in it, but it has those herbs like the gou ju zi, which is supposed to be good for the eyes. The 4 prawns (which other food court gives 4 prawns? They normally give 2 and they are stale) are fresh and crunchy. The fresh taste is not as strong as those prawns from hotel restaurants but I’m not complaining. Most of the shell is peeled off, making it easy for you to peel off the remaining shells. You know its fresh when the shells peel off easily and the prawns are still in their nice shape. Stale prawns normally break easily and don’t taste solid.

Thus I recommend people out there to try this Hokkien Mee when you can. It may not be the best hokkien mee in singapore, but it is good enough for me in an airconditioned food court in City Hall.