Aburiya @ Robertson Quay

This was the surprise birthday dinner venue for Marky on his Birthday. I had to spend 1 whole day looking at online reviews before deciding on this place and it was difficult as the place must have a good variety of meat (Marky = Meat lover) and not too unhealthy at the same time (to fulfil my criteria).

After deciding on YAKINIKU as the theme for our dinner, I found 3 restaurants which had the most number of good reviews, namely, Gyu Kaku @ CHIJMES, Aburiya @ Robertson Quay & Yakiniku Daidomon @ KeyPoint. The sequence is in order of pricing =) So obviously, the most expensive and least expensive is out. Also, I thought that the ambience at Robertson Quay will be good too...(You can see from the pics below)

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However, getting there was really quite troublesome as I haven't been there before and the cabbie uncle dropped us quite a distance from the restaurant. So we had to ask around and try to find our way there..zzz

But it was all worth the cab fare and trouble! Both of us felt that the food was really delicious and fresh! Just look at the compilation of food that was included in the set meal. Although the meats looked really pathetically little, it was quite enough to satisfy us. It was fun BBQing the meats too, although Marky ended up doing most of the work coz my jelly hands dropped 2 chunks of precious meats into the charcoal! So I gave up doing it.

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My personal favourite was the mushrooms which were dribbled with some sweet sauce. They tasted FANTASTIC when barbequed. Juicy on the inside and a little crisp on the outside as we left it a little longer on the grill. The sweet tasting sauce totally complements the mushroom.

Something that I must comment on is that their Japanese white rice tasted much better than many restaurants.
Both of us finished up every grain despite our diet plans =)

Their meats were also very SHIOK! They are marinated with your choice of marinates and the ones recommended to us goes pretty well with the meats. The beef tenderloin and chicken were very tender and juicy while the prawns were big and succulent.

Another must try would be their Nikujyaga (Beef and potato stew). It is a sweet stew with generous servings of juicy, tender, tasty beef. Best accompanied with rice!

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All these 10 courses for just $70 ++. Their set meals are really value for money. If you are interested in other "high class" meats like Wagyu beef, you can order it ala-carte too.

I'm already looking forward to my next visit there...*yum yum*

Kitchen Mogu Mogu

Kitchen Mogu Mogu, located at where the old Burger King was @ Far East Plaza is most likely the 1st Japanese fast food in Singapore that uses a machine to replace the usual "service crew behind the counter" way of ordering fast food. Nat was the one who brought me to this place as her friend, Shawn, is one of the shareholders. (Don't worry, this won't be a biased review.)

What's Cool & not so Cool...
1) Once we stepped into the place, we were greeted by very colourful Japanese clothed benches and the cloths were also used to design the walls. The whole feel of the place was rather pleasant and spacious unlike many fast food outlets.

2) Another fascinating thing about this shop is their food ordering machines which were situated facing the main entrance. We were quite excited about using the machines for the 1st time and as there weren't much descriptions of the food in their menu (1 of the drawbacks), we didn't know what to press. Luckily, there was a friendly and quite "lame" waitress (Bottom left pic) there to help the blur sotongs click and feed the cash into the machines. We were very honoured to have Shawn treating us dinner that night and entertain us with some facts on the shop.

3) A special service that Mogu Mogu adopts is the choice to gift wrap your bentos in exquisite Japanese print cloths (Furoshiki) for an extra cost of $4. This i felt was a really attractive offer, especially for people who are suckers for pretty things. As you can see, I can't help but got my bento wrapped up even though I'm eating my bento there.

4) Now for some feedback on the food:

• Nat's bacon cutlet was quite an interesting and flavourful item. The smoky taste of the bacon is enhanced by the generous serving of the special mayonnaise-like sauce. ($8.90)
• My teriyaki chicken was a bit dry but the sauce was quite nice. ($6.90)
• One important thing that I mentioned to Shawn was that the rice was rather dry. To me, the quality of Japanese rice surpasses many things in Japanese food.
• The miso soup was alright.
• Lastly, the ice-pan burger was a steal! The azuki beans were imported from Japan and I just love the combination of the pancake, azuki beans and ice-cream! Priced at just $3.90, I would encourage you to try it as I don't think you can get an identical one outside that is cheaper than that.

5) Mogu Mogu really pays attention to details, thus all their beautiful disposable bowls and cups are all imported from Japan. These are definitely alot more expensive than the usual white foam bowls that we see at some food courts, but Mogu Mogu still insists on using these pretty little things to hold their food.

Overall, I think I will be back again soon to try the (ohh-so-cute) Kawaii Bentos (refer to 03. Kawaii Bento in the close-up pic of the menu) which we didn't try. Found a pic in an online review. Can't wait to dig into those cutesy bentos!

http://www.hungrygowhere.com/restaurant_gallery.php?recordid=5925&pid=3593&offset=&type=user

Kitchen MoguMogu
14 Scotts Road,
#01-07,
Singapore 228213

Egg mayonnaise and Gai krapow in wonton cups (Part 3)

How to make Gai Krapow?

Ingredients:
2 shallots, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 skinless chicken breast, minced (Chicken thigh will be preferred)
2 chilli padi, cut into halves
8 kaffir lime leaves
Fresh thai basil (If you have, i substituted with dried basil flakes)
Juice from 1 big lime (Not the normal small limes that you use)
1 sprig of parsley, roughly chopped

Seasonings:
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp black soy sauce
Pepper

Instructions:
1. You may want to marinate your minced chicken in fish sauce, black soy sauce and white pepper for a few hours beforehand for better taste.

2. Heat up some oil in pan and add shallots. Fry till it browns slightly.

3. Add garlic and fry till garlic browns slightly.

4. Add in minced chicken and fry till almost cooked.

5. Add chilli, lime leaves and basil and fry till thoroughly cooked.

6. Next, add lime juice and seasoning and fry to mix it well.

7. Lastly, add in some parsley and just mix it around.

8. Serve it hot with steaming white rice.


I have comments that there's a nice tinge of lemon grass taste in this dish...but I didn't even put lemongrass in..hhaha.. It is likely to be due to the kaffir lime leaves.

Egg mayonnaise and Gai krapow in wonton cups (Part 2)

HOW TO MAKE EGG MAYONNAISE (Enough to fill 30+ wonton cups)


Check out how light and fluffy the egg mayonnaise is!

Ingredients:
5 hardboiled eggs
2 pinches of salt
Mayonnaise
Black pepper
White pepper
Juice of 1/2 a big lime (You can add more if you like the tangy taste)
6 crabsticks (Cut into small pieces - You can boil or pan fry it)

Instructions:
1. Remove egg shells and press down on the eggs with a fork to break up the eggs (As seen in 1st pic)
2. Add a pinch of salt while the egg is still warm.
3. Cool the eggs for awhile before adding 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, black pepper, white pepper and the lime juice. (You may want to add these bit by bit and adjust according to your preference)
4. Mix well and add in the pieces of crabstick. Mix the egg and crabstick pieces.
5. Chill for an hour and you may serve it cold in the wonton cups or even in sandwiches.

Egg mayonnaise and Gai krapow in wonton cups (Part 1)

Thinking of what to bring for your potluck gatherings? Try making wonton cups! Its really easy to make, versatile and comes with an elegant presentation.

I made my 1st batch of wonton cups using the oven bake method as most ang moh websites did and I'm rather disappointed in the lack of wonton taste although it is definitely the healthier choice. (Some of my friends became my guinea pigs when I brought those wonton cups to Cheryl's house...Sorry :Þ )My 2nd batch of deep fried wonton cups were perfect as only deep frying brings out the wonton taste.


The egg and crabstick mayo was a hit among my friends and family and it goes really well with the cups. I'll post the recipe for my dearest friends as requested..

My version of the Thai Gai Krapow without the fresh basil (Minced chicken with basil) didn't go that well with the wonton cups although I was quite pleased with the refreshing taste of the lime leaves and dried basil in the dish. The downside was that the minced meat was rather tough as I used breast meat. Will try thigh meat next time. Anyway, Gai Krapow is perfect with some steaming white rice. Do try it next time =)

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First up, HOW TO MAKE WONTON CUPS?

1. If you like to lead a healthier lifestyle and don't mind compromising on the taste, you can bake your wonton skins in the oven. All you need is a muffin tray and oil to brush on your wontons. *Important: Brush off excess flour from wonton skins before baking*

2. Else, you can choose to make the deliciously cripsy wonton cups by deep frying them!



You can choose to use another ladle to press down on the wonton skin when frying to retain the shape. Otherwise, use a pair of chopsticks to hold the wonton down while repeating the actions of lowering and lifting the ladle with the wonton skin, in and out of the oil. This ensure that the wonton doesn't get burnt.

Take note that wontons cook super fast. Less than a minute.
Once the wontons is slightly brown, turn it over to cook the edges as in Picture 5 for 3-4 secs. Then remove it and place on kitchen towels to soak up excess oil.


See following post for Egg Mayonnaise recipe.

See next post for Gai Krapow recipe.

Kinara Restaurant @ Holland Village

My trip to Kinara restaurant was in October when we went there for a celebratory dinner for Char's birthday. Having eaten enough of the usual western, japanese and chinese food, we decided to go for North Indian cuisine. Luckily for us, Kinara was a really good choice of place, except for the fact that they did not have enough seats inside and we had to be seated outside (it was really hot at first!).

Although I didn't go inside the restaurant, the interior ambience seems rather nice. Most importantly, the waitress was patient enough to explain each dish to us. The downside was that it seemed rather hard to get the waiters' attention when we need something.

As for the food, I felt that it was quite satisfying and quite value for money. Without a doubt, I would definitely visit Kinara again.

Location:
24 Lorong Mambong
Holland Village

Telephone:
6467 4101

Operating Hours:
Mon-Thu: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 6pm - 10.30pm
Fri-Sun: 11.30am - 2.30pm, 6pm - 11pm

Some crispy heavily salted and spiced cracker (Should be poppadom if I'm not mistaken) that was served immediately when we were seated. This came with 2 types of dips which I didn't fancy much.

Our 3 different flavoured lassi drinks ($5.20), , which are basically yogurt drinks. My mango one was the best tasting among the 3. The blueberry or whatever berry one tasted like vitagen.

The Naan Basket ($14) consists of plain, butter, garlic and kashmiri flavoured naan. The most interesting one would be the kashmiri naan as it has dried cherries and nuts sprinkled all over the dough, which makes it sweet =)

We ordered 2 types of curry, lamb curry and I think chicken curry. Perfect with the naan.

My personal favourite -- Calamari. Wasn't expecting their calamari to look like this as I was visualising deep fried ones. Yet, I love the way they do this dish.


Another favourite of mine -- Tandoori chicken. It is moist and tender, unlike what I usually eat outside.

Okonomiyaki

One of my favourite Japanese food is Okonomiyaki, which is something like a Japanese pizza and is mainly made up of cabbage. You can add in whatever you like if you are making it on your own.

The "must have" ingredients for me are crab sticks and egg. Trust me, the egg really makes a difference to the taste!

So, in order to custom make my own okonomiyaki, I bought the okonomiyaki flour from Daiso (Somehow I only found it there), which wasn't the best of choice, but enough to satisfy my cravings. I also bought the okonomiyaki sauce, japanese mayonnaise and bonito flakes from the supermarket to complete the okonomiyaki.

Since I can't read the Japanese instructions at the back of the packet of flour, I had to estimate the amount of flour to use. (Which apparently was too much for a one person's share). Despite that, my first okonomiyaki was still quite successful and good tasting too! The trick is not to have too much flour mixture in your okonomiyaki.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup okonomiyaki flour
1/2 cup water
1 egg (Separate the yolk and white)
1 bowl of cabbage, chopped
2 crabsticks (1 halved and the other shredded)
Okonomiyaki sauce
Japanese mayonnaise
Bonito flakes

Instructions:
1. Take flour and mix with water to get a thick batter consistency.
2. Add egg white and mix well.
3. Next, add the cabbage and shredded crabsticks and mix well.
4. Brush some oil in your pan and make sure that it is hot before adding a huge heap of your cabbage mixture.
5. Using a flat spatula, shape the mixture into a round shape and ensure that the mixture is well distributed.
6. Make a dent at the top of the mixture and add the egg yolk in the middle.
7. Once the bottom of the mixture is nicely browned, turn the okonomiyaki over carefully with 2 spatulas. (The egg yolk will break at the bottom)
8. Brown the other side of the okonomiyaki and you may then serve it with the okonomiyaki sauce, Japanese mayonnaise and bonito flakes.


A step by step illustration of how you can dress up your okonomiyaki =)

Doesn't this just look sooo good?

My wedding blog is officially up!

Dearest friends,

My wedding blog is officially up but it is currently rather devoid of posts. The link can also be found under "My other links".

Do visit it some time later when Marky and I post more stuff on it. Thanks! =)

Basil Alcove

Ever had fine dining by the roadside? Here's a value-for-money fine dining place which has rave reviews by people who had been there before. Presenting Basil Alcove, which is tucked in a small shop space in Fortune Centre. Just imagine fine dining without the comfort of aircon and a lack of a nice ambience, yet the quality of the food is not compromised by the prices.

I've been there for X'mas dinner last year with Marky's friends and it was a pleasant experience. Just recently, I had dinner with my parents and Marky and last month, I brought my dearest womenz there to celebrate Mel's birthday. Here's some of the pics that I took when I went with the womenz.

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Address:

190 Middle Road

#01-07 Fortune Centre

Tel: 6336 1318

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Sauteed Shiitake Mushrooms with vinegar
Great tasting stuff we have here! The vinegar goes really well with the garlic infused mushrooms.

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Grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and spinach
My favourite!! Perfectly grilled chicken and the cream sauce wasn't too rich (I don't usually take cream stuff).

Bratwurst with sauerkraut
Don't really fancy this much.


















Prawn aglio with a touch of orange taste
Another of my favourite because of the generous serving of fresh succulent prawns. Spaghetti was done al dente too!












Strawberry shortcake? Can't really remember...
But it was decent and has a frozen berry layer at the top. Quite refreshing I would say.

Even my sotong was feeling full after the meal =)

Party Time Eclairs

I'm going to recommend the chocolate eclairs that this shop sells. Forget about the usual bad tasting eclairs that many shops sell. PARTY TIME's chocolate eclairs are best eaten cold and the chocolate filling will have the texture of ice-cream. YUM YUM! Perfect for parties and gatherings. You can visit their website for more products and prices.

Here's a pic of how the delicious eclair looks like before and after Marky takes a bite.

You can find them @

Blk 465, Crawford Lane

#01-18

Crawford Centre

Singapore 190465

(Behind ICA - Immigration and Custom Authority)

Cookies Galore

These are the cookies that I made with Wani during Hari Raya at her house. We made 3 different types of cookies till the wee hours of the morning and had to skip school as a result.

These cookies are oh so nice and crunchy too...However, our chocolate chip cookies didn't turned out well in the beginning as there wasn't enough flour (her expert neighbour told us) and we had to add some flour to every single cookie dough which we moulded.

On the whole, my favourite was the Minty cookies (not everyone likes mint) and the cocoa crunch. The latter was super easy to make and delicious too!

Here goes the recipes:



















Beware: Makes 4 dozen cookies (Recipe given by Shufang)

Ingredients:
2 cups granulated sugar (white sugar)
2 large eggs
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, or double-chocolate chunks

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together, butter, sugar and eggs.
3. Mix in remaining ingredients. Blend well.
4. Drop by teaspoonsful onto a cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 8-9 minutes. Cookies will be soft. Cool about 1 minute on cookie sheet then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Ingredients:
220 gm plain flour
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda (Sifted together with flour)

50 gm almond pieces/slices
180 gm butter
85 gm castor sugar
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
150 gm coco crunch (ground)

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Mix ingredients A together with the coco crunch and almond. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter, sugar, honey (1 tablespoon), and vanilla essence. Add ingredients A into the mixture and mix to combine thoroughly.
4. Shape the dough into small balls and cover it with ground coco crunch. Bake for 15 minutes.











Opps! I lost the recipe for this...

Busy busy busy...

I thought that I'll be free to blog during my holiday and I'm so wrong...There're so many things to do and finally I can sit down and blog.

Since I have so many things that are pending in the list for bloggin, I won't be writing alot for each of them as I can be quite naggy at times =)

My Secret Garden

Secretly tucked away in a corner of Middle Road is this quaint and cosy place called "My Secret Garden". Although the name really kicks up curiosity, but the food is just mediocre. But be prepared to burn a big hole in your pockets for their mediocre food.

Marky dearest brought me there for dinner on my birthday and I only have the time to blog about this now...

Here's a picture of the place. Ambience was quite good but service was just so-so. Waiting time for food is really a killer there even though there's only a few tables filled.

Here's what we ordered:

Lime juice and I can't really remember the other drink, think it's some fizzy lime thingy.

Calamari was quite nice and goes well with the Thai Chilli. But then again, what can go wrong with fried food?

Next up, my seafood aglio. The seafood was fresh but I didn't think that there's anything special about the taste and the serving definitely didn't make up for it's price.

Last of all, Marky's steak...Good thing about it was that the doneness was exactly what Marky requested for and the taste was alright too.

Then came the bill and...

ARRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!! So expensive lor! Can't help but take a pic of the receipt to blog about it.

An additional surprise for Marky...

It's cool, it's refreshing...

and best of all, it's healthy*!
*Depends on ingredients added*

This was the surprise dessert for Marky after our lunch on my birthday. It is extremely easy and can be very healthy depending on what you add.

Ingredients:

• Strawberry yogurt
• Mango yogurt
• Chocolates, crushed lightly
  (chocolate rice crispies are recommended)
• Nuts, chopped
• Fruits (if you want to make it healthier)

Method:

1) Find any shot glasses/small glasses

2) Pour a layer of yogurt into the glass.

3) Top with crushed chocolates/nuts and pour another flavoured yogurt.

4) Repeat procedures in any way that you like.

5) Once the yogurt reaches the top, cover the mouth of the glass with a piece of cling wrap and poke an ice-cream stick into the middle of the glass.

6) Freeze for a few hours till frozen.

7) Immerse the glass into warm water for easy removal of popsicles from the glass.

ENJOY!

My Birthday Lunch (for Marky)

Don't ask me why I am cooking on my birthday for Marky when it should be the other way round. Haha...I just missed cooking, so he was in a treat when I made him grilled chicken on the IKEA grill pan (Marky bought it for me on my request =) ) I mentioned to him about the soba salad that I made the other day and he asked me to make that for him too, as he hasn't eaten my soba in a long time. (IN the end, I made udon salad for a change. It turned out great!)

So there I am, busy preparing everything on my birthday...

In my grill...

• 1 Yellow capsicum
• 1/2 Carrot
• 3 deboned chicken thighs (Marinated overnight in teriyaki sauce, chopped garlic and ginger, a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of sesame oil)

*Teriyaki sauce and black pepper are added to vegetables as they are being grilled*

What's in my udon salad...

• 2 bundles of dried udon sticks (duh..)
• Japanese cucumber, julienned
• A small bunch of edamame, remove peas from pods
• Salad dressing (Double the amount from my previous post + additional chopped parsley and toasted sesame seeds)

What can be easier than to just toss everything together!

The resultant plate of food...
















Let us zoom into...

The grilled chicken. Perfect combination of the sweetness of the teriyaki sauce and flavourful ginger & garlic.



Udon salad
Tinge of spiciness, sweetness & saltiness from the sauce to add an extra oomph on the originally tasteless udon & greens. The addition of sesame seeds & chopped parsley makes this version even better than the previous one.


Grilled vegetable
Brushing on teriyaki sauce on the vegetables brings out their natural sweetness. At first I thought that I'll just put the carrots as garnish, but I ended up eating up all my carrots. =)

Finally, I had a positive feedback from my dearest Marky! That makes all efforts worthwhile. (Yuppie!)