Some have called Buah Keluak (a type of black nut from Indonesia) Asia’s version of black truffles. Usually found in main courses or appetisers, Candlenut ups the ante by utilising this rare traditional ingredient in a dessert. While the flavours of the Buah Keluak are not as apparent here, one can still find familiar traces of its gentle earthiness with each bite of the ice cream. Also used in making the ice cream, the Valrhona chocolate contributes a mild bitterness and sourness. Placed atop a bed of chocolate crumble, salted caramel, popping candy and chilli specks, the Buah Keluak ice cream then has a blanket of warm chocolate espuma pulled over part of it.
There is this incredible interplay of flavours, textures and temperature in your mouth: earthiness, bitterness, sweetness, sourness, spiciness, saltiness, warm, room temperature, cold, soft, semi-soft, bizarre popping candy fizziness??? Chef Malcolm Lee of Candlenut definitely provides an interesting modern interpretation of a traditional ingredient with this dessert. Through the plating, he is also able to evoke nostalgic memories of Happylemon at ION (loljk).
Lastly, here is some food for thought: Something cold on a bed gets a warm blanket covering it, is this a new literal interpretation of what comfort food is?
For the uninitiated (this is not a pun), there are many different types of uni. The best way to get yourself acquainted with these precious jewels of the sea is to try several types at one go. That would probably allow you to better discern the differences in taste and texture.
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赤ウニ Aka Uni (Red Sea Urchin) from Kyushu.
Definitely the creamiest in texture of the 3 types that I had that night. Each bite started with a burst of sweetness and the Aka Uni was also the only one with a hint of bitterness towards the end.
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北紫ウニ Kita Murasaki Uni (North Purple Sea Urchin) from Hokkaido.
Apparently, summer is the best time of the year to consume Kita Murasaki Uni. This was the briniest of the lot and those who love this “taste of the sea” will easily declare the Kita Murasaki Uni their favourite.The sweetness paled in comparison to the Aka Uni but made up for it with a briny flavour profile.
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塩ウニ Brined Uni
Look at how plump each tongue is, the result of having been preserved in salt water. There was a very delicate sweetness to this amidst the saltiness from the preservation. The texture was really unique as well, with each bite reminiscent of a gently bursting ikura.
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Also, Ishikawa-San (Our Itamae for the night) recommended complementing each tongue of Aka Uni and Kita Murasaki Uni with some sea salt. Till today, I’m still puzzled by how the sea salt managed to enhance the sweetness of the uni.
One thing for certain, 美味しいですね! (っ˘ڡ˘ς)
TL;DR: 👎🏻
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The menu at Opus greets you with this: “We take grilling very seriously and aim to achieve the caramelised, smoky flavours that are loved by many when cooking over a full charcoal open flame grill”. They even use a Himalayan salt tile cabinet to dry age their meats. Our service staff highly recommended the Rangers Valley Angus OP rib to us, claiming it was the best Opus had to offer.
Sadly, my dining experience at Opus was like watching Suicide Squad, where expectations and reality did not meet. Just like Margot Robie’s Harley Quinn, the steak was easy on the eyes but difficult to stomach.
Understandably, as the OP rib is a thick cut, there is considerable difficulty in preparing it, especially over an open flame. However, if it is the signature dish of the restaurant, a consistently above-average/perfect execution of the dish should be expected.
The doneness of the meat was uneven throughout, with the sides achieving our desired medium-rare while the rest of it was rare. We sent the rare parts back and received a plate of medium and medium-rare doneness steak slices. Better than having them rare i guess?
The steak was far from caramelised and barely had any smoky flavour to it. Dry-aging the meat did intensify the beefy flavour of the steak but that alone is not enough to make a steak great for me. I won’t comment on the tenderising effects of dry-aging on our steak due to the unevenness in doneness. Due to the lacklustre taste of the steak, I found myself having to dunk slice after slice into the black truffle mushroom sauce, which goes against every fiber of being as a steak purist. But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do to finish his food.
Seeing other reviews about Opus Bar and Grill, it seems like I just decided to visit Opus on a bad day. Unlike Suicide Squad, Opus has the chance to change for the better, which I really hope will happen.
Anyway, if you intend to visit for a meal, I would recommend visiting Opus from Sundays to Thursdays as they offer 2 hours of free flow wine. At the very least, you can seek comfort in endless alcohol.
Today, I did something I never thought I'd do: I spent 2 hours queueing for food. And this was all for the sake of checking out why this stall at Chinatown Complex got a Michelin star, signifying that it serves really good food in its category.
Dishes I tried were the Soya Sauce Chicken + Pork Ribs with Rice and Char Siew Noodles. Let me just break them down into individual components.
Soya Sauce Chicken: One of the better Soya Sauce Chickens around, the meat was juicy and had this smooth, slippery texture in your mouth.
Pork Ribs: This came highly recommended but it just tasted like your run-of-the-mill, dry and tough Char Siew. However, I would urge you guys to try this again as the Pork Ribs I had looked really different from what other people have been posting. Mine seems to have been done in a hurry, lacking the much desired caramelised char, moistness and penetration of flavour into the meat.
Rice: Thought this was rather bland but that could be solved with more sauce. I felt that the texture of the rice was a little mushy as well.
Char Siew: I felt that this was the best item from the stall. Nicely caramelised while still retaining the moisture of the meat. It wasn’t too fatty as well. In my opinion, this would be the only thing worth queueing for (but still, 15 minutes max).
Noodles: The texture of the noodles cannot be faulted but I would have preferred my noodles to be a little firmer. The sauce was also a little too strong in terms of sweetness and saltiness for me, like I was taking of spoonful of oyster sauce that had only been diluted by the tiniest of margins.
One of the obstacles to retaining the coveted Michelin star(s) is consistency. If what I experienced today was an issue with that, I hope the stall will be able to quickly adjust and cope with its greatly boosted popularity.
Based on my meal today, I would say that Kim Heng HK Roasted Meat @ Serangoon could give you Char Siew of a similar quality (they have consistency issues sometimes though) and more tasty Pork Ribs. You might end up spending slightly more at Kim Heng, but I’m sure queueing for 15 minutes instead of 2 hours is more than worth the extra dollar or two.
Tucked away in a quiet corner of Regent is Seoul Restaurant, my current favourite spot in Singapore for Korean BBQ. Run by a Korean family, they have been around for around 5 years and were previously located at CHIJMES. Given the quality of food I experienced during my numerous visits, I still remain surprised at the lack of coverage for this place. What irks me even more is that when you do a search on "Best places for Korean BBQ in Singapore", you get abysmal results.
Regent? CHIJMES? The Ala Carte Buffet here is surprisingly affordable despite being located in a premium location like Regent. $32.90 for weekday lunches, $37.90 for weekend lunches and $49.90 for dinner everyday. Of course, Seoul Restaurant is comparatively more expensive to most KBBQ places most of us are accustomed to, but for a good reason.
Just take a look at the marbling of this boneless short rib (Galbisal) and you should know what I mean. For the price you are paying, I doubt that you can get unlimited servings of this elsewhere. Other non-marinated meats in the buffet include thinly sliced beef brisket (Chadolbagi), sliced pork jowl steak (Hangjeongsal) and the all time favourite sliced pork belly (Samgyeopsal). They even use a special grade of charcoal, imported from Korea, elevating the taste of the meats.
For those who are bigger fans of marinated meats, Seoul Restaurant has a decent selection of marinated beef, pork and chicken. As far as possible, I never get marinated meats at BBQ buffets because the meats that are marinated are usually of an inferior quality (How else do you think most BBQ places offer you those prices?).
Apart from the meat selection, diners can also order a variety of cooked dishes as part of the buffet. Also included in the buffet, I highly recommend ordering a bowl of chilled buckwheat noodles soup (Mul-naengmyeon) or spicy mixed buckwheat noodles (Bibim-naengmyeon) after you're done with the BBQ to "cool" your body down.
Admittedly, the name of the restaurant doesn't inspire excitement but what they lack in naming creativity, they make up for with the quality of their food. I'd rather better food than a nicer sounding restaurant name, how about you?
Protip: Quality meat will not taste good if you're bad at cooking, so don't be afraid to ask for guidance or help from the staff.
One of the earliest stalls to open at Wisma Atria’s Japan Food Town is Machida Shoten. Hailing from Tokyo, they serve Yokohama 家系ラーメン （house-type ramen), which tends to have a rather creamy and rich pork flavoured broth served with thick yellow noodles. The atmosphere in Machida Shoten, even when I visited at 8.30pm, was still really lively and it felt like I was transported to one of the ramen-ya in Japan.
Machida Shoten offers diners 3 different types of Tonkotsu ramen: Shoyu, Shio and Spicy Miso. The Shoyu version came highly recommended by the staff and that was what I ordered.
Diners have the option to choose their desired noodle texture, intensity of flavour in soup and the amount of oil. I chose Firm, Regular and Regular respectively.
When the bowl arrived in front of me, the noodles immediately reminded me of hokkien noodles/ sek mee. But as expected from a ramen-ya, the noodles were definitely firmer and more springy in texture, tasting nothing like sek mee.
True to 家系ラーメン, the broth was one of the more heavily flavoured ones that I've had in Singapore. I have this feeling that if I had gotten "Strong" for flavour of the soup, I might have ended up with a dipping sauce for tsukemen. I would probably opt for a light version the next time round so that I can finish the soup with less guilt.
The chashu that was given with the noodles was extremely tender, flavourful and makes for easy consumption. A little on the saltier side but that's what one should expect from a ramen-ya. The ajitsuke tamago was cooked to perfection, with a gel like yolk in the middle 😌
While consuming the noodles, do not forget about the condiments at the side. The chilli paste when added into the soup, makes the soup even more addictive for spice lovers. Something really special that Machida Shoten provides is a container with a really special paste. I'm not sure what exctly goes into the paste but it's white in colour (hard to miss), with hints of garlic and lemon juice.
At the end of the meal, I received a very warm また来てください from a Japanese speaking staff member. Given the quality of ramen at Machida Shoten, a return visit is for certain.
#burpple
relatively new to serangoon gardens market and food centre is bossi, a stall that only sells the soup version of handmade noodles. for a stall to sell only one variation of a dish, there better be something special about it. run by a couple who in their 20s/30s, my initial doubts about their culinary skills were washed away upon tasting the piping hot bowl of noodles in front of me. what sets them apart from their competitors in the same category is the ingredients they use, which makes eating their handmade noodles a rather unique experience.
you have the usual suspects like fried ikan bilis, egg and minced pork balls (the minced pork balls are always very tender and well seasoned, with the fragrance of sesame oil shining through). while seen in an increasing number of stalls nowadays, their usage of star gooseberry leaves (马尼菜) is still pretty uncommon.
something you won't find elsewhere is the addition of a special mixture which tasted to me like the chye poh you find on chwee kueh. in fact, i think the absolutely addictive mixture consists of small bits of mushroom, chye poh and garlic.
the other differentiating factor of bossi is the provision of green chilli sauce instead of the usual red ones you see. the piquant zesty taste was reminiscent of a less spicy thai green chilli sauce. add some, or all of the chilli provided, into the soup and you'll find yourself finishing the bowl in front of you really quickly.
it definitely is comforting to see a new generation of competent hawkers emerge. amidst stiff competition from traditional favourites located in the same place, i hope that people will give bossi a chance like i did. okay, my post is getting too long again...
#burpple
The steamed chicken was well marinated and the meat seemed to have retained most of its juices while steaming. It was good enough to be eaten with plain rice, without the need for any condiments. However, what I love about Hong Kong restaurants serving up roasts is the condiments that they provide. Special mention to Po Kee’s Chilli Oil and their Chinese Scallion and Ginger Oil sauce. Mixing them up with the rice and topping it off with a piece of chicken provided a rather addictive combination that ensured my friends and I finished the plate before us.
Despite that, I would still recommend giving Po Kee a try if you are in the area. Not a place that is a must visit, but if you need slightly above average grub at an affordable price while you’re in the area, you now know where to go. Plus, Po Kee has been awarded the bib gourmand (good quality and value) by Michelin, that should serve as further encouragement to visit. Cheers to the staff at Hotel Jen for the recommendation 🍻
One of my most memorable takeaways from my recent trip to Hong Kong is finally understanding what Hotel Jen stands for. You might have seen the hashtag #thatjenfeeling around on social media, used on posts with such differing content. But that is what #thatjenfeeling is all about: creating your own adventure during your stay with Hotel Jen, everyone has a different Jen feeling.
This trip was actually my first time staying with Hotel Jen, and the experience was certainly a great one. I really liked how attentive the staff were, ensuring that all needs were met. They give decent recommendations on what there is to eat and do around the area as well. But this being Burpple, let me just quickly skip on to the food portion.
Located right across Hotel Jen is a rather traditional looking restaurant called Por Kee. Por Kee is famous for their roast goose noodles and roast duck noodles. My friends and I ordered a bowl of roast duck noodles, Cantonese styled steamed chicken with rice and roast pork with rice.
I can understand why almost all the customers who were there during our visit ordered the roast duck noodles. The skin was crispy and fragrant, the meat was tender and juicy, the egg noodles had a nice bite to them. You can try requesting for duck leg instead and you will probably have a more flavourful and tender piece of meat to go with your noodles. For those who are not fans of egg noodles, you can choose to have rice noodles instead, which was what most of the locals were having.
The roast pork however, was a let down in my opinion. Not because it tasted bad, but because my expectations for roast pork, especially if it’s coming from a place in Hong Kong, are pretty high. I found the skin to be a little soggy and some flavour in the roast meat just seemed to gotten lost somewhere along the way.
More coming up in the next post!
