Wasabi Tei with Diana

Diana left a comment on my blog when I first blogged about Wasabi Tei, proclaiming, "I want to eat this when I come home!"

True to her word, on her 3rd day back, we met up for lunch at Wasabi Tei. We are here live reporting, "Time: 11:48am. Person currently in line: One. Verdict: Awesomeness."

And the awesomeness continued throughout lunch. We went for the lunch set because it had everything we wanted. I don't remember what the set is called but it is printed on a ugly-diluted-green A4 piece of paper, stuck unceremoniously onto the wall.



Before the actual meal begin, we were given this conch (jellyfish?) starter that piqued our tastebuds with its vinegarish taste.



Our appetizer was this angel-hair-seaweed thing that was almost tasteless but fun to eat. Well, fun if you enjoy watching things slip off your chopsticks ... and not being able to eat them without a spoon till you drag your chin across the table.



My younger sister is the chawanmushi freak in the family and Wasabi Tei's chawanmushi hears her sprouting wedding vows. It was silky and light, filled with mushrooms, faux sharksfin threads, a shrimp and crabstick; but the one thing I was drawn to was the broth that heightened its flavour.



We ordered an additional hamachi sashimi that left noone raving over it. I should have ordered a double portion of salmon sashimi because it was SATISFYINGLY THICK! I tell you. Jeremy Piven, eat your heart out!



Both of us were gobsmacked by the size of the grilled unagi. It was longer than both our faces, pretty much a foot long's worth of rousing richness. Must keep up with demeanour, don't get carried away and fall off bar stool...

Dessert was green tea ice cream - creamy, not particularly strong but one of the better ones I've had.

You know all the hooha about its (lack of) service kind of makes me defensive for them because I'm pretty sure they are doing their best. Consistency may not be Wasabi Tei's strongest point but on a good day, it can't be beaten.

Wasabi Tei Japanese Cuisine
14 Scotts Road
#05-70 Far East Plaza

Dominoooo...

Tragedy of the day!

Dear Corporate Life,

Today I present you my youth.

My pre-job life flashes by as I get thrown off to the Far East. In an attempt to shrug off what I would be giving up, I thought of Benjamin Button and Dorian Gray, and told myself that youth is overrated.

Please repay in kind and fill my bank account with moolah in the near future. Hopefully by then, I will be able to use it to reclaim what I lost.

Here is my youth.

Take it and treat it with care.

Thank you,
Yixiao

Matsuo, Goldhill

Here is a chirashi bento that needs no introduction.

Matsuo's chirashi bento is regarded by many as a cure for Monday blues and celebratory treat for TGIFs.

Despite consisting of many items like maguro, salmon, kampachi, amaebi, boiled prawn, unagi, hotate, tako, a spooful of tobiko and tamago, I felt noticebly unexcited when it was placed in front of me.

The scrappy pieces strewn untidy over sub-average rice felt like kitty litter to me. To me, the chef was more interested in churning out as many bentos as his slice-flick-serve skills could take him.

The smooth-as-chartreuse-silk chawanmushi did make my heart a little loopy. Surprisingly, the typical devil-may-care service was pretty good, palatable even.



The Mao Shan Wang ice cream from Udders would make anyone go, D Twenty-Fwoar! A bite of which immediately evoked the image of a single fleshy seed in my head; the rich bittersweet kind, with colour that would put any sunset to shame.

Matsuo Sushi
1 Goldhill Plaza
#01-17 Goldhill Plaza
Tel: 6356 2603

U.d.d.e.r.s Ice Cream
155 Thomson Road
Goldhill Shopping Centre

Ristorante De Parma

These days, "small family-run restaurant" seems like the pick-up line of choice for restaurateurs.

Like "home-made cookies" and "Granny's recipes".

That is what Ristorante De Parma prides itself as anyway.

But like most family gatherings which starts of with the best intentions, things veer off the warm-fuzzy-feeling track into the i'm-so-glad-we-only-see-each-other-once-a-year path.

A meal at De Parma kicks off (Italian-soccer style, no less) with some foccacia. Toasty but soft and wholly home-made; the nerves at my fingertips teased my brain, "you are going to like this..." Like the Italian soccer team, I approve.



The garlic bread materialized in the form of minced garlic topped on croutons, a significant contrast to the pillowy foccacia earlier. If only I had ordered soup to dip this into!



The antipasto misto petite, with an emphasis on PETITE, arrived as a shock. The ensemble of parma ham, mussel, prawn, mushrooms, semi-dried tomatoes, capsicums & olives, with De Parma's house dressing, was somewhat unsatisfying for $16.90 pathetic for the hefty price tag of $26.90.

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!

Update 29 Jan 09: Ping from Ristorante De Parma commented to clarify the change in prices.



The calamari reminded me of KFC's popcorn chicken, which could be good or bad depending on how much you like Colonel Sanders. The batter was clumpier than your average calamari but the special tomato house sauce made for a great dip.



The spaghetti con prosciutto fungi offended with an overwhelming bitterness of the burnt garlic; equally overdone was the prosciutto. Pity for it would have been good if not for the missteps.



Topped with beef, ham, pepperoni, bacon & salami, the Pizza di Menzo was supposedly a tribute to meat lovers. Despite the scanty toppings, it was full of flavour; perhaps more toppings would have made it too salty. Its crust was thin but not like wafer, cracker biscuit thin… more like 'yeah, I could do with a second or third slice ... MM' Oh yes, you got to have nimble fingers to hang onto the barely-there crust.

We didn’t have dessert since I (usually the dessert person) am not a fan of Italian sweets. I know people have been raving about their tiramisu but all of us around the dinner table were definitely not fans for a variety of reasons, namely the presence of raw egg, choking cocoa dust and alcohol.

Not as if dessert could undo the damages anyway.

Ristorante De Parma
14B Kensington Park Road
Serangoon Garden Estate
Tel: 6281 3380 / 6280 1096

You suck.

Thank goodness, food bloggers are usually a faceless bunch of twerps who cram behind their desktops or laptops punching away on their keyboards; otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised if perturbed faces come up to us (complete with blood-shot-eyes) cursing "You suck!" in our faces.

Or maybe it's just me. But these days I'm getting more of those who-do-food-bloggers-think-they-are sentiments.

Worse, why do they take the fun out of eating? As you can tell, I'm hoping that typing in large fonts helps bring my point across. Does food blogging take the fun out of eating?

Yes Hell yeah.

1. To our long-suffering family and friends: Watching that hot plate lose its sizzle right before your very eyes must have made you wonder what you did to deserve such treatment. To us food bloggers, while taking those dozen shots of tofu, do we actually expect that humble piece of beancurd to metamorphosize into an organic soy cube that practices hatha yoga? Om. No.

You still have friends who want to dine with you? Ok read on ...

2. To our friends who aren't as fussy. When you read that we have had a less than impressive meal, do you start to take on some of the blame? Or do you wonder if we were paying more attention to the crumble (and not your grumbles)?

3. To other patrons in the restaurant. Once, I was doing lunch at Tatsuya when I had the misfortune of being seated next to 2 women who maxed out the space of their memory card by taking pictures of themselves alone AND together, with the sushi counter, of the sushi chefs and their food with -pause- camera flash. Hello, the Merlion is (points that way)?!

4. To self. Some of us seem to think that we are the Sons and Daughters of Heaven, bestowed with the golden mandate of critique, with tastebuds too delicate for day-old sashimi and too-rich molten chocolate cakes. Maybe we could learn to downsize our egos, instead of hallucinating that we are Anton Egos in the making.

On a separate note, I no longer trust reviews of invited food tastings. It becomes so meaningless when someone raves about a restaurant, then writes ,”I will not rate this as it was an invited review” or “I can’t give an accurate assessment of the service as it was an invited… ” What bollocks.

Food bloggers, nay! Who the hell do they think they are?

ok, done with my rant.

Lantau Island, Hong Kong

I have been back for about a month but I'm still blogging about my vacation.

Like oh my gawd, that's so last year!

Exactly. But I promise this is the last post about last -sheepish look- year.

After I returned from Japan, Diana and I decided to visit Lantau Island, mainly because we were both weary of mainland Hong Kong.



We took the cable car there and back, admiring the scenary around and enjoying some much-needed fresh air.











Sunny day = A double sccop of caramel hazelnut and cheesy mixed nuts gelato

My was it a sunny day and us heliphobes spent quite a bit of effort dodging the sun's conniving rays, trying to protect our skin.












Lantau Island is extremely touristy (Starbucks spotted) but we had fun nonetheless.

Midori Sushi, Tokyo

Sushi at Tsujiki Market makes for great dinner conversaion while Midori Sushi at Shibuya Mark City is somewhere you hope nobody finds out.

Fat chance, baby! At 10:40am, with 20 minutes to opening time, I was maybe the 20th in line and by 11am, the queue had grown twice as long.



Before the sushi arrived, small bowl of crab liver salad and chawanmushi kept me entertained. The chawanmushi was forgettable (I really don't remember much of it) but the crab liver salad was baffling.

On first bite, the mooshy crab liver illcited neither excitment nor desire and was definitely not something anyone would leap off a building for. Its distinctive muddy flavour tasted like wet pate; yet without noticing, I polished off my salad and was left wondering if I could find something in Singapore.



Being seated at the sushi counter, the chef asked me if I wanted my sushi served on a plate of leaf. Well, he asked but it took a waitress to translate what he was saying, in any case, leaf, of course! Only because I've never had something like that in Singapore.

The Special Set (2100 Yen) was an experience that launched a thousand groans. It was an all-encompassing treat of maguro, chutoro, flounder, ikura, uni, anago, tamago, hotate, crab leg, amaebi and negitoro handroll.



Hunky-dory slabs of fish - there was no holding back on the cuts here.





I left feeling fat fed and incredibly satisfied. Oh, how am I ever going to settle for what I get back at home?

Midori Sushi
Dogenzaka 1-12-3
Mark City East 4F
Open 11am-10pm daily
Tel 03-5458-0002

Jean-Paul Hevin, Tokyo

My midday snack from Jean-Paul Hevin Chocolatier at Roppongi Midtown.



Jean-Paul Hevin's Divine was a tart layered with mashed banana, caramel, rum and spices. I was very much taken with the smooth caramel surface of the dessert but I didn't expect the el tropicana taste, especially not from a French chocolatier in chillesque Tokyo.



I don't know... I like bananas and banana bread but banana in my dessert? Hmmm maybe not.

Jean Paul Hevin can be found at various locations.

Mental Over Bentos, Japan

The joy of travelling increases when you have pretty bentos for company. I think this is the first time I actually felt excited about arriving extra early at any departure arena - all for the sake of having ample time to choose and scrutinize each micro-component within the bento.





The number of bento varieties vary with each station but at either Tokyo or Kyoto station, numerous acrylic bentos posed as mannequins on display, hoping to lure buyers with their varnish and brightly coloured facades.



My mum would have loved this as it came with a fried egg!

From Tokyo to Kyoto



One the ride to Kyoto, my sister had this sumptuous bento above while I went for the seasonal bento below. In my bento, there was a note stating the components - if only I had a Google translator chip in my brain.







I found it amusing that we were suppose to be admiring the scenery, the cascading greens, farmlands and occasional farm animals but our attention was a 100 percent transfixed on our bentos.

From Kyoto to Tokyo



On our way back to Tokyo, we again bought bentos, this time adding an additional boxed sushi since it was a speciality of Osaka-Kyoto region.





中央のちらし寿司にはズワイガニを使用し、煮物は冬を連想させるおでん風に仕上げました。焼鮭や出汁巻き玉子、牛肉煮など幕の内の定番もしっかりと盛り込みました。

寿司飯・ズワイガニのほぐし身・錦糸玉子・蕗・きぬさや・しいたけ・しょうが
焼鮭・出汁巻玉子・はじかみ・昆布巻き・焼板蒲鉾・海老団子
煮物（乱切り牛蒡・大根・人参・一口厚揚げ）・梅花蓮根・山芋磯辺巻
すき焼き風牛肉煮・グリーンピース・金平牛蒡

From Awajiya.com



(sang to the tune of Jingle Bells)
Oh what fun it is to ride in a Shin-kan-sen today!

Jiyugaoka, Tokyo

On this trip, Jiyugaoka became my favourite neighbourhood in Tokyo.

Apprently, Jiyugaoka has been voted the most desirable neighborhood within Tokyo’s 23 wards to live in and it really isn't difficult to see why.









It's streets are lined with charming zakka shops, vintage barang outlets, and boutiques for the well-heeled and well-hoofed like this pet shop called Momo Natural where I spotted these can-you-be-anymore-adorable toy poodles.









Momo Natural even has a bakery corner, filled desserts and cupcakes for them doggies. Ooo if toro and soba weren't on a diet!

MILFs own the scene with their well-behaved tods and chic prams, engaging in their daily chatter, looking as if they have benefitted from motherhood as their botox.
























Lunch at Yazagawa, an eel specialist, where the eel was first steamed then grilled, resulting in a softer than usual texture.

八沢川 Yazagawa
5-25-12 Okusawa
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3717-7950