House of Annie

Ion Orchard, Singapore

Malls aren’t just built above ground. They also go 2, even 3 levels down below ground. You can find fashion stores of every price range and kind, from cheap and cute flip-flops / slippers…

Havaianas, Ion Orchard

…to more expensive shoes.

Charles and Keith, Ion Orchard

We spent a little while trying on shoes at Charles and Keith. (Okay, Annie tried on the shoes. I just sat and watched.) She fell in love with a couple of pairs of heels there – they were quite reasonably priced! But we had a lot more shopping to do, so Annie put the shoes on hold, hoping to return later to purchase them.

We had arranged to meet our friend at Takashimaya a couple of blocks down, then go for a ramen lunch at Ippudo. Takashimaya is a huge department store. They are arranged like a Macy’s or a Nordstrom’s with jewelry and perfume on the main floor, with clothes and household goods on the upper floors. But the basement holds a grand bazaar of food stalls and counters.

Everything from fancy chocolates, teas, meats, you name it, are found here. We browsed around in awe. One counter was selling mochi ice cream balls of different flavors. We bought a few to try. They were good, but not as good as the mochi ice cream from Bubbie’s in Honolulu.

Mochi Ice Cream at Takashimaya, Orchard Rd

We came upon an artisanal choclatier called Jewels in another part of the Takashimaya food complex. They were featuring these specially flavored macarons. Our favorite was this macaroon with a salted egg and almond cream, topped with black sea salt from Hawaii. It was a deliciously surprising balance between sweet cream and salty egg.

Macarons from Jewels Artisan Chocolate, Takashimaya

In yet another corner of the bazaar, we found the 1A Curry Puff stall. They sell these amazing curry puffs that are beautifully patterned. Their curry puffs come in many different flavors, from the normal chicken curry, to Singapore chili crab (yes, it really tastes like chili crab), and the DURIAN cream puff. Of course, we had to try them.

Were they good? Oh, yeah.

Singapore Chili Crab Puffs from 1A Curry Puff, Takashimaya

There’s a Cold Storage in the basement of Takashimaya. We had arranged to meet our friend in front of the entrance there. We got there a little early, so we decided to browse the aisles. I got stuck drooling at all the cheeses they had on display. It was almost like being back home in a Trader Joe’s.

Cheeses at Cold Storage in Takashimaya

Well we waited and waited outside Cold Storage for our friend, but somehow didn’t make the connection. After waiting for half an hour, we decided to go on our own to Ippudo. On the way back, we were able to reach him on his handphone. It turns out, he was in the Takashimaya basement just then, still looking for us after having lunch at Tampopo Ramen!

So we hung out for a bit, but it was getting late and we had another appointment to make that afternoon. We had run out of time to shop. We never even got to go back for those shoes.

Annie’s still sore about that.

Oh, well. Maybe next time.

Aloha, Nate

Order Up

The interior decor is quite nice. Modern but not stark. On one wall is a sculpture featuring dozens of different kinds of ramen bowls. On another wall, there’s a set of manga comics on the wall which talks about the style of ramen noodle served at this restaurant, and how to order it.

Manga on the Wall at Ippudo

But first, our appetizers: six pieces of pan-fried gyoza. Usually, when we make gyoza at home, they are quite hefty. But Ippudo’s gyoza are about the size of my thumb. They are tasty little morsels, with the emphasis on little.

Gyoza at Ippudo

I got the Shiromaru Classic ramen, which is a creamy, tonkotsu (pork bone-based) broth paired with thin, straight noodles. It comes with a couple of slices of chashu (roast pork loin), some green onions, and some pickled ginger. Though the noodles were thin, they were perfectly cooked. They held together well and still had some spring in them. Very nice.

Shiromaru Classic Ramen at Ippudo

Annie got the Kyushu Miso Tokotsu special. The broth was a blend of the Shiromaru broth and miso, giving it a stronger flavor. Her noodles were thicker and chewier than mine. Besides the green onions and chashu, it also came with some leeks and a boiled egg. Annie loved hers so much, she cleared the entire bowl!

Kyushu Miso Tokotsu Ramen at Ippudo

We haven’t had good ramen like this since Yotteko-Ya in Honolulu. Though the noodles here were pretty good, we both agreed that Yotteko-Ya was better.

Still, there’s nothing like eating ramen in Japan. Which is what we’re looking forward to. Because in about a month, we’ll be traveling to Tokyo for a week to see what we can see, and eat what we can eat. And you can be sure we’ll be eating lots of ramen! Stay tuned.

Aloha, Nate

Got any recommendations for good ramen or other good eats in Tokyo? Leave a comment and tell us about it!

Saddle Up!

So I was really happy that Annie’s cousin took us for lunch to the Rider’s Café at Bukit Timah Saddle Club hidden in the green heart of Singapore. This equestrian club actually has two Western restaurants on site – the casual Rider’s Café and a more upscale French restaurant called Mimolette. (Actually, I wouldn’t have minded Mimolette either – we haven’t had good French food since our visit to Bistro Moulin in Monterey last year.)

The Sunday lunchtime crowd wasn’t too bad. We were seated right away at a table out on the veranda, overlooking the stables. You can see (and smell) the horses out there. We had a choice of ordering either breakfast or lunch items. We decided to go with lunch.

First dish to come out was this deep fried calamari. I thought the panko crust was nice and crunchy but the batter itself was pretty heavy and thick.

Annie ordered this chicken paillard salad which is a butterflied chicken breast, grilled and served atop some salad greens and pine nuts. I thought the chicken portion was too much for the small amount of greens that came with it.

Esther got a Spaghetti Bolognese which came on this huge platter, but only filled the small bowl in the center. The sauce tasted all right, pretty standard and no worse than I’ve had here in Malaysia.

Annie’s cousin got the grilled halibut, one of her favorite dishes at this restaurant.

Annie herself ordered the grilled steak with mashed potatoes. Not quite sure which cut of beef this was (skirt? flank?) It came drizzled with (thankfully, not drowning in) some brown gravy. A decent hunk of beef, a little overcooked but passable. The mashed potatoes were too gummy for my tastes.

Actually, I was vacillating between ordering the steak or the burger. So it was a good thing that Annie ordered the steak so that I could get the burger. Mine came with melting cheddar cheese, REAL pork bacon, and sliced mushrooms. And a side of REAL steak fries!

Here’s the post-assembly, mouth-cam shot:

Look at that thick patty, the melted cheese, the salty bacon. The first bite was pure bliss. The crunch of raw lettuce and onion, the delicious taste of juicy beef fat. Best of all, they cooked the patty to a perfect medium inside. (If there’s one thing I can’t stand in a burger, it’s a patty that has been cooked till it’s hard and grey.)

Of course, I swapped plates with Annie to let her have a few bites of my burger while I sampled her steak. I liked it, but was more than happy when she returned the burger to me. ;-d

Overall, a decently good Western meal in an uncommon setting in Singapore.

Aloha, Nate

You Gotta Get the Duck

LK and her husband said they had heard good things about this restaurant but haven’t had the Peking duck yet because this kind of meal calls for a larger party than just the two of them. So when we contacted them about a meetup, they thought that it would be a good excuse to try out the duck. They made the reservations, and the duck was served not long after we were seated.

Like any good Peking duck restaurant, the chef will carve up the duck right at the table. First he removed just the skin off the breast, which he did with deftness and skill. The shards of roasted duck skin were thin and crispy, like duck-flavored tortilla chips.

Next came a couple of platters of duck slices featuring both skin and duck meat:

Notice on this cut that the fat hasn’t completely rendered out of the duck – there is still a nice, juicy, delicious layer of duck fat between the crisp skin and the tender meat. It makes for a deliriously good bite when that melted duck fat envelops your tongue.

The duck was served with shredded green onions and sticks of raw cucumber along with the obligatory hoisin sauce. Instead of the typical steamed bun to wrap the duck and veggies, Imperial Treasure served up some small, thin crepes. All the better; you don’t fill up on bread, so you can eat more! :D

The remainder of the duck meat was taken back and then incorporated into a wonderfully tasty duck meat and noodle dish. The dish wasn’t just a homey mish-mash of ingredients, but it was subtle and sophisticated. The noodles had good flavor on their own while the vegetables were prepared simply to showcase their flavors. Unfortunately, I did not get a good picture of the dish to show you how good it looked :-(

Other Excellent Dishes

Though we were there to sample the duck, we also ordered a few other dishes. Here are deep-fried silverfish, battered up and fried crispy like tempura.

A couple of dishes were recommendations by the wait staff. This dish of bamboo clams and asparagus looks simple, but the clams were prepared stunningly well. They weren’t chewy at all, but tender – almost like cod or other white fish. Definitely a highlight dish that we’d want to try again.

Also recommended was this tofu, spinach and mushroom dish. You can’t really see in this picture, but there are two different kinds of tofu in this dish. The bottom layer is actually a tofu incorporated with blended spinach. Served with the fresh mushrooms on top, this dish was a revelation.

We were quite stuffed by the end of the meal, and had a hard time deciding what, if anything, to get for dessert. But again the wait staff was very helpful. They suggested this trio of dessert creams. Bottom left is the roasted walnut cream. Bottom right is an almond cream which was thickened with egg white. The top dish, though is the winner. DURIAN cream.

Oh. My. God. So good. Soo goood.

This meal wouldn’t be possible without our gracious hosts. Throughout dinner, we “talked shop” a bit about food blogging, but mostly just discussed what life in Singapore is like. LK and her husband are very kind and friendly folks, and we are honored to have met them. Do check out the excellent Food For Tots website and check out her impressive breadth of recipes. Let them know Nate and Annie sent you!

Aloha, Nate

Laying Plans

With that in mind, I called my cousin 2 weeks before we left for Singapore to let him know that we were coming and to let him know that I was hankering for dim sum. He was more than happy to oblige. He made reservations at Wah Lok at the Carlton Hotel (supposedly one of the better dim sum places in Singapore) for the Friday we arrived. He also invited my mom to come along.

So I called my mom to let her know and to warn her not to make any plans for that afternoon because we were going for dim sum. I was gonna get myself some dim sum and then some!

Plans Unlaid

You know how “the best laid plans of mice and men go oft’ awry”? Well, on Wednesday night, I get a call from my mom. Wouldn’t you know it, another aunt of mine was so excited to see us, she decided to make popiah and invited all cousins, some of whom I had not seen in over 10 years, to come to her home That Very Friday for lunch!

“So what do you want to do?” my mom asked. “We could still just go with that one cousin for lunch but then you’d miss out on getting to see ALL your cousins.”

You know when someone gives you a choice that’s not really a choice at all? How could I possibly insult my aunt who had gone through all this trouble to prepare a feast and gather the family for us? And how could I miss this opportunity to catch up with all my relatives?

Resignedly I told Mom to call that one cousin to cancel the dim sum reservation and come over to the house. GUNFUNIT!

Making it Up

So did we have fun with the relatives that Friday? Sure we did. And did I regret not going for dim sum at the Carlton? Sure I did.  But in the process of the conversation with my relatives, my aunts got wind of my hankering for dim sum so they all decided to take me to dim sum for lunch the next day. Just not at Wah Lok, but another place called Noble House.

(Isn’t it nice to be treated so well? This only happens when you don’t come around to visit so often ^_^)

So, yay! I was finally going to get me some dim sum! Several of my cousins and aunties came along - after all, dim sum is a meal best shared by many. They said that the last time they were there, it was very good (though it had been several years since).

Eating it Up

Was the better than anything we could get in Kuching? Definitely.

Better than my hopes and expectations? I wouldn’t say that. I have had better dim sum in Hong Kong (duh) and even in San Jose (Dynasty).

Did I stuff myself full of dim sum? Of course. :-d

But on the whole, only some dishes were real highlights like the char siu bao (that alone made the dim sum memorable – my kids ate three each!)

The yam puffs were delicate, fragile crispy bites filled with just the right amount of savory-sweet filling to make you want another.

The cheese balls were an interesting deep fried fusion of broccoli, shrimp paste, cheese and croutons. I would have eaten 10 of those except I was already so full!

The rest were pretty standard, good quality dim sum. Nothing that would make you speechless but nothing that would make you upset. Overall we ate everything and we didn’t complain. It was a parade of food, from the chicken feet…

…to the har gow…

…to the pork in bean curd skin…

…and the radish cake…

…followed by the cheong fun…

…and the fried tofu…

…and finally the shrimp and banana fritter.

Worthwhile?

Yes, my craving was satisfied. But more than that, the company of family turned what I would consider good dim sum meal into a really great and memorable meal. I can’t complain. What more could I have asked for? We got fun, we had food, we had family. I got to hang out with cousins who I hadn’t seen in years. I got to meet my nephews who I hadn’t seen since they were knee-high and now were towering over me.

I do still wonder how Wah Lok’s dim sum would have been. I suspect the dim sum would have been better there, but then again the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. The good news is, we’re close and there are opportunites to go back. I look forward to the next time I get to share a meal with my Singapore family.

Thanks guys for making it so fun!

Cheers, Annie.

Sushi, or Not Sushi? That is the Question

Well, it turns out that Hibiki restaurant is more of a Japanese buffet restaurant instead of a sushi joint. At least, a Japanese buffet was all they had on offer that night. No ala carte!

Nowadays, we eschew buffets because Annie and I don’t really eat that much and neither do the kids. We never get our money’s worth like we used to when we were ravenous teenagers. But what the heck, we’re on vacation! We decided to just go for it.

The buffet system at Hibiki is not what you’d normally expect. Instead of having all the food laid out on a long table at room temperature, you just tell the waitress what menu selections you want and she’ll run back to the kitchen where they prepare your order. It’s a little slower this way, but at least the food is at the correct temperature.

First to come out was this chawanmushi, a savory steamed egg custard with mushrooms. It was very light and tasty. The kids gobbled theirs right up.

Chawanmushi at Hibiki Restaurant, Singapore

Hibiki doesn’t have much in the way of sushi, but they do have some maki (rolls) like the inside-out California roll and soft-shell crab roll. They also had some sashimi selections, including salmon, swordfish, and amaebi (sweet freshwater shrimp). The salmon was amazingly fresh, while the amaebi were quite enjoyable. We ordered a few more plates of these.

Sushi and Sashimi at Hibiki Restaurant

Annie’s mum ordered up some shrimp and veggie tempura. Also quite nice, but I think the batter was on the heavy side.

Shrimp and Veggie Tempura at Hibiki Restaurant

We ordered a few grilled items as well, including the asparagus wrapped in pork belly (awesome!) and this nice chicken yakitori. Both these items got extra callbacks.

Chicken Yakitori at Hibiki Restaurant

There were a few misses among the dishes, like a dismal agedashi tofu (no bonito shavings? come on!), a boring tabemono, and a grilled unagi fail (too much ginger, didn’t taste right). Service was okay, but the two waitresses got slightly overwhelmed when tables started filling up and they were preoccupied running back and forth from the kitchen. The dessert course was this tart pomelo-flavored jelly, which, though a bit sweet, was a nice save.

Pomelo Jelly at Hibiki Restaurant

With all said and done, we came out a few pounds heavier and about 150 Singapore dollars lighter. Quite full, but not quite satisfied because we still didn’t get the sushi we wanted. At least the weather outside was nice and balmy so we could walk off (a bit) of dinner.

Here’s a shot of the Singapore Flyer from the ground level at night. Like the Flyer, we’ll come ‘round Singapore again. Maybe we’ll find some really good sushi next time.

Aloha, Nate