We had take away roast duck and pork for lunch last week. It was
really good. Try them out if you have not ;-)

Gardenia bread and Ayam Brand’s sardines and tuna - 29 August 2009

I wrote on Facebook that Gardenia’s Nutri Multi-Grain bread with Ayam Brand’s chilli & lime sardines in tomato sauce is very nice; having tried that for breakfast. My friend commented and asked me to try Gardenia’s Focaccia with Ayam Brand’s chilli tuna but not to put the chilli with the Focaccia. Woke up early this morning to go to the supermart to get them for breakfast. Wah! Wonderful combination. Spicy good and shiok shiok shiok! I had to wash my hair to get rid of the sweat after that.

Birthday cake and eggs

Even though I am no longer young and am married, on the day of my Chinese birthday, my mother will, without fail, go to the neighbourhood cakeshop to buy a simple cake and boil eggs for me.  The eggs are coated with a type of red-pinkish colouring and the whole family will eat at least an egg for the day.  Simple family tradition.

Birthday Dinner at Tatsuya - 25 August 2009

My birthday dinner was at our favorite Japanese restaurant – Tatsuya. I reserved 2 counter seats and specially asked that we sit in front of Chef Goh-san. We asked Goh-san to give us 2 omakase sets and to include more of cooked dishes.

We started with 2 small appetizers each– my wife had pan-fried tofu with fish roe and freshly cut figs and I had the sliced rolled smoked salmon with roe and the freshly cut figs. These were good to start with and prepared us for a greatly enjoyable evening.

Next came a large rock oyster for me. It was smooth and sweet and could have easily slight down my throat.

Fugu mirin boshi – fried puffer fish with a sweet liquid flavoring made from glutinous rice and shochu- was next. We always asked for fugu mirin boshi without fail at Tatsuya. It was so so good and it’s liking eating bak-kwa with no guilt. Of course fugu can be deadly if not prepared properly.

Next came a plate of sashimi. Tatsuya consistently serves one of the best sashimi in town. Just look at the photo. Doesn’t it look at a piece of art? ;-)

Sliced cooked awabi (abalone) topped with bits of salmon skins and marinade was next. Each slice was chewy and crunchy. Nice contrast to the sashimi.

Next came a warm thick broth that had generous cubes of grilled eel mixed with radish. I think miso must be one of the ingredients and the broth was sweet.

We had a grilled isaki next. It was light and delicate but not as sweet as the kinki (my favorite and bloody expensive). I think it may be because the isaki was grilled instead of steamed. We finished the whole fish except for the head and tail.

The preserved ginger and pickled vegetables were good and they are usually served with the aburi sushi.

Tatsuya is well known for its aburi (grilled) sushi. We had a couple of them. Below is a picture of a piece of hirame (flounder) sushi. A check with Chef Goh-san and we found that it came from a left-eye flounder. Nice grilled aroma, chewy and juicy with lots of oomphs. I also asked for a piece of Matsusaka beef sushi. Gotta have Matsusaka beef whenever I am there.

My wife was served a bowl of tasty hot thin white noodles (I think this is hiyamugi) soup with beef. It was so good that we had to ask them where to buy the noodles.  Understand from one of the chefs that the hiyamugi is available over at the Isetan supermart.  Will definitely go and look for it.

It was late in the evening when we neared the end of the omakase course. Throoughout dinner, I had umeshu which was made by Tatsuya and bought for us as an anniversary gift from Andrew and Pat. The umeshu went well with the dishes and I think it will become a lot better given a couple more years of ageing. We were the only customers left and took the opportunity to chat with the chefs while they were cleaning up the counter.

Dinner at Pietrasanta - 22 August 2009

Was at Pietrasanta for dinner with 3 of my closest friends for a special occasion.

We skipped the tripes this time around as I having too much of these lately (Chinese and Western styles). So for starters, we had cold cuts, deep fried anchovies and Portobello mushrooms. I love all the starters especially the fried anchovies which I never seem to get tired of. They are not salty, not too hard or soft , simply just the right stuff for me.

For the mains, the four of us shared a slow cooked lamb shoulder, a steamed Italian sea bream, 4 grilled fresh langoustines (freshly flown in from Italy that day) and alio olio with crams.

The lamb shoulder was marvelously slow-cooked. The meat was soft, juicy and combined well with the excellently done mashed potatoes. This was a good change from the equally excellent beef steak that we usually order.

The steamed Italian sea bream was a surprise. Usually I do not order fish in Italian restaurants as the dish usually come out dry. But this was delightfully delicious. It may be because the shipment just came in on the same day.

The grilled langoustines were the highlight of the dinner. They were fresh, succulent and sweet. But atlas, being langoustines, we could only get so much meat out of them.

We opened a bottle of 1997 Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino which was “potong” from Andrew (not at dinner);

and a 1996 Marques Caceres Gaudium Gran Vino, courtesy of CW. Both wines went very well with the food on the table.

Overall it was an excellent dinner with close friends. We should meet up more often for meals rather than wait for special occasions; hah.

Pomegranates Finally!!!

Finally, I manage to find pomegranates at one of the wholesalers over at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre. They are very fast moving and I quickly grabbed about 20 of them. Given half to Andrew as his daughter loves them. Just opened one. They are good ;-). The arils (seed casings) are very red, sweet and tasty. I think the pomegranades can last me for a week. I am a happy man.

Looking forward to golf at this place next month - 21 August 2009

Not going to say where this place is...for now;-)