First sushi of the night! Loved the slight taste of yuzu that went really well with the amberjack. The shari was also perfectly pressed together, tasting mostly sweet with a moderate hint of vinegar, just the way i like it.
Also known as rockfish, the fillet was grilled for us and topped with an aburi-ed mentaiko mayo. The fish was chunky yet buttery in texture, making it an easy dish to eat. The red leek was naturally sweet with a slight hint of sourness, helping to mask the slightly stronger fishy taste of the mebaru.
Shark fin dishes are not a common sight at Japanese restaurants as far as I'm concerned. This didn't disappoint at all though. The Shark Fin provided a textual contrast to the silky smooth egg custard and if you look closely, the chawanmushi is covered with a thin layer of a yuzu focused sauce. Needless to say, I was really sad that I finished the dish so quickly.
The second course of the night came in the form of a sashimi platter. I would say that this is one of the dishes people look most forward to during an omakase. (In clockwise from the top left) kanpachi carpaccio served three ways: with bonito flakes and scallion, with shio konbu and with uni topped with caviar. The carpaccio was also lightly seasoned with a truffle shoyu sauce. Thick cuts of melt-in-your-mouth fatty otoro, hamachi, ama ebi, shiro maguro and a huge piece of akagai in the middle made up the rest of the platter. Special mention must be made for the akagai, which Chef Ron masterfully extracted from its shell right in front of me. He told me that to ensure that the akagai was as fresh as it could be, it had to be alive. He slammed the akagai onto the chopping board and the edges immediately curled up, a sign of its freshness. He also said that if the akagai didn’t curl up, he would immediately throw it away, ensuring that his customers only get the best I guess that is further testament that Chef Ron prides himself on quality and us customers are always in for a treat when he’s the one serving us.
The first course of the night: Pickled chives and Deep fried yellowtail topped with caviar. As with most, if not all appetisers, I didn't find this special. I thought that the natural sweetness of the chives and the slight tanginess from the sauce definitely helped in "opening up" my appetite though (开胃).
When you think of omakase places, establishments such as Shinji by Kanesaka and Hashida Sushi come to mind almost immediately. However, the omakase sets offered by both Shinji and Hashida will easily set you back more than $300 and that is not a price most people (or at least me) are willing to fork out very often for a meal. Teppei has omakase sets that start from $80 but the queue for their omakase dinner is insane and honestly, having tried it once, I don’t think I will want to go through the hassle of trying to get a seat again. So where are the restaurants that are supposed to fill the gap between the really cheap and really expensive omakase places?
Enter Manseki 満席, which means ‘sold out’ or ‘fully occupied’ in Japanese, located at Robertson Walk right next to the bustling Wine Connection Tapas Bar & Bistro. Up till a few months ago, the name “Manseki” was unheard of to me. I only heard about it when I learnt that Chef Ron Leo, after having spent numerous years at Tatusya, had left to helm a restaurant: Manseki. Those of you who have been served by Chef Ron before will know that he is cheeky, skilled and knowledgable. Each dish served by him comes with a detailed explanation of what the dish is made of, the best way to eat it and possibly even how the dish came about.
Chef Ron recommended me to visit him on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday. Those are supposed to be the days when their ingredients are freshest. Omakase, as most of you should already know, translates to “let the chef decide” and your meal will be prepared based on what the chef feels is the freshest or best. With Chef Ron making the decisions for me, I knew that I was in great hands.
My entire Omakase meal took more than 2 hours, with me being dazzled by Chef Ron’s skills at the sushi counter and being entertained by his numerous jokes and stories. If you’re going for Omakase, I highly recommend sitting at the counter so that you get a more intimate dining experience, a view of how your food is prepared and you get to interact with the chef.
This picture shows Chef Ron serving uni on a hand and topping it off with his special seasoning. When I asked him why he requested for the uni to be eaten off the hand rather than off a plate, he said that he can't quite put it into words but the taste of uni when eaten right from its shell, a plate or a hand all differ from each other. It's something to do with the 气 from the body that makes that slight difference in taste. I tried this for myself and honestly couldn't really tell whether the difference in taste came from the freshness of the uni, or that the seasoning simply enhanced the sweetness of the creamy uni or it was simply a perceived difference. The bottomline is that the uni was lip smacking good!
Just in case you're thinking that my post will be another 10-20 paragraphs long, fret not as the remaining dishes I had during my Omakase dinner will be posted shortly after this. But for those who can't wait, the important thing for you to know is that my Omakase dinner at Manseki cost $165, filling the gap that I was talking about earlier. And after having such a satisfying dinner at Manseki, it makes me wonder why the restaurant was almost empty when I first stepped in. It's time for this secret to be shared with the world.
bara chirashi with a bowl of miso soup for $9.90. located at food republic @manulife centre, chirashi tei offers some cheap japanese fare for both students and the working crowd alike. if you're an SMU student, get 15% off your meal and that means $8.40 for the set. while the quality of the sashimi certainly pales in comparison to places with more premium options that are priced higher, the allure of a bowl of bara chirashi priced as such is almost irresistible. i actually found the quality of the salmon sashimi cubes to be quite decent while the maguro, on the other hand, was a letdown. the mekajiki was slightly watery for my liking but i'm not really one to complain given the price that i'm paying. the chefs are usually rather generous with their ikura as well. my numerous visits to this outlet has actually yielded different results, sashimi freshness changes but i have yet to find the best day to pay a visit yet. maybe it would be easier if i asked the chef when the sashimi would be freshest? regardless, the taste has been decent enough to warrant multiple visits from my friends and me over the past few weeks. urgh the location tag keeps messing up???
i guess you could say that they serve an atas 菜贩. while you can choose from their signature bowls, i decided to go for their build-your-own bowl option. say "yes" to your right to eat whatever you want! anyway, i got myself a lovely bowl of quinoa with slow roasted pork, grilled striploin (this was kinda dry and tough tho so you can probably do without it), bean sprout salad, wafu tomatoes and wild mushrooms. salsa verde sauce on the side and sprinkled furikake made it all rather perfect. for a grand total of $18, just $2 more than the price of just getting a build-your-own, you get to choose a drink and a snack as well. i can't wait to make my next visit so that i can try all the other dishes! ( ˘ڡ˘ ) #burpple
that was how i came to have this plate of squid ink risotto which you will not see on the normal menu handed to customers. for those who have visited @thebetterfield before, you might know that chef shaun's risotto dishes do not disappoint and are always very well executed: think perfectly textured arborio rice forming the creamy risotto, now coated with squid ink imported from france. hidden underneath that beautiful black mess are generous servings of tiger prawns, deshelled for your convenience. when i spoke to chef shaun the last time, he was sharing about how he wanted @thebetterfield to be the place where students could paktor and that explains his low pricing despite the high quality of his food. people say that most school couples start dating or getting together start during the beginning of the school term, especially immediately after orientation. so for students looking for a place to paktor, especially smu lovebirds, @thebetterfield is located right next to the coffee shop that sells the famous waterloo chicken rice.
p.s. If you're worried about your date looking at your squid ink stained teeth and/or tongue, fret not as it washes off easily with a mouthful of water.
#burpple
they specialise in growing three fruits: muscat of alexandria, white peach and new pione grapes. all of these fruits can be found at the okayama fair that's currently on at isetan scotts from now till 6 august! of course, that’s not all that is available at the fair. some of the other items available at the fair are yuzu stuffed with youkan, oyster rice, oyster miso, fruit jams made from okayama grown fruits and various other goods that have been handmade.
japanese products have a special place in my heart for their emphasis on quality and their attention to detail. a closer look at the irodori rice crackers with pressed flowers will exemplify my point. they are made
by sato-gyokunndo, a traditional wagashi confectionary house with more than 180 years of history! aren’t the rice crackers just too pretty to be eaten?? i think they make rather great gifts as well!
apart from the irodori rice crackers, i was also able to try the shimizu white peach drink and the white peach jelly. the former was handmade and the latter was made from fresh okayama peaches. my tastebuds and my tummy have absolutely no ragrets ( ˘ڡ˘ )
p.s. what’s a trip to a supermarket fair without insightful tips from the aunties promoting the goods? i was told that some boxes of the irodori rice crackers with pressed flowers have expiry dates past christmas, making them perfect christmas gifts! so be sure to specially request them from the aunty and you’ll have some of that mind-boggling christmas shopping settled.
#burpple
Tandoori Snapper by Chef Vik of Singapore. Tandoori Baked Snapper with Potato Purée and Pickled Cucumber. and A very light mint sauce is also used to add an extra dimension to the dish. Everything about this dish went really well together!
Finding something to do this weekend? Well, it's the second last day of Suvai, the annual Indian Gourmet Festival. Held at Tan Quee Lan Street, right opposite Bugis Junction, entrance to the event is free so come on down to sample different types of cuisines, with a focus centred on of course, Indian cuisine. The chefs hail from different countries such as Singapore, Thailand and India. This particular dish is by Chef Thanyadar Sutheedechanon of Thailand and has my favourite elements of lime and spice. Reminiscent of a really good Yum Woon Sen salad, this dish is currently my top choice for Thai Food at Suvai 2015.
