Waraku@Starhub

As my hubby needed to go to M1 to change his phone, we decided to have an early Saturday dinner to avoid the crowds along Orchard Road. Having heard so much about Waraku from colleagues and seen the many new branches in Central and Marina Square, we headed to the one at Starhub Centre. We were early and so had the privilege to choose a more obscure corner.

The menu items were extensive. Even the drinks and desserts have their own menu cards! We decided to go a la carte so that we could try the many dishes. From the waitress' recommendations, we finally made our choices.

First was the Sanma Sashimi. “Sanma” or Mackerel Pike is a fish with red meat rich with proteins. It is mainly caught off the north eastern shores of Japan as the fish swim down from Hokkaido. The flesh is fatty and sweet and the sashimi is served with grated fresh ginger and purple leeks. The taste was divine and delightful to the palate. Definitely a dish not to be missed!



Next, was the miso ramen with minced pork. It was served with freshly grated garlic. The soup was sweet but on the oily side. The ramen was cooked with the right consistency and the pork slices were generously large. Our verdict was a dish that is value for money.



The third dish was also recommended by the helpful waitress. It is some kind of cheese, potato and diced salmon mixture that was baked on an iron plate. Worth a try but not something to shout about!



The scallop skewers that followed were grilled to perfection. I enjoyed chewing on the succulent pieces that were soaked in its own savoury-sweet juices.



The perennial favourite of ours: chawan mushi was a tad disappointing. Although the pix showed pieces of eel, fish cakes, ginko nuts, etc, the real dish was a micro version of the pix. In fact, I couldnt even locate the eel and did not waste time to reveal my disappointment to the waitress, Serene. The porcelain bowl was however a feast to the eyes!

Overall, our Waraku experience is only average. There are definitely better Japanese restaurants elsewhere in Singapore!

Kaiseki Meal at Kuriya

Kaiseki is a traditional multi-course Japanese meal analogous to Western haute cuisine. Usually the meal courses are served in various ways of cooking methods. At Kuriya, Great World City, where I had my Kaiseki lunch, the 6-course meal comprises an appetiser, a fried item, a steamed item, sushi, soup, dessert and coffee. The dishes are served excellently by the polite and knowledgeable staff. In fact, they had the foresight to place the kaiseki menu on the table so that I can follow the courses and identify the various items in each course.

The appetiser, itself, consisted of 5 items: scallop and flying fish roe jelly, french beans tossed with sesame sauce, braised sardine with plum, brised japan chilli leaf, conger eel and cucumber. I like the refreshing and cooling scallop and flying fish roe jelly best.



The second course was the fried item. Essentially, tempura, the deep fried dish comes with prawn, potato and other vegetables. What was unique: the three gingko nuts that were placed strategically around the dish. Healthy and decorative!



The steamed item was salmon and mushroom with chrysanthemum sauce. The mushroom pieces were mixed with broken japanese rice to form an almost gruel paste.



The Nigiri or hand-pressed sushi was filling! This was served with the soup: minced crab meat and prawn in clear soup with egg white. This was one of my favourites!



Finally, the dessert which almost took my breath away. Not expecting much, I was unprepared for the magnificent sight that was in front of me. The waiter described each item: vanilla ice-cream, mocca mouse cake and assorted fruits. Together, with the coffee, I was completely satisfied with the entire lunch experience that day! The entire 7-course meal: $35++.



My lunch partner had the teriyaki salmon set at $24++. The salmon was done with crispy skin and no bones. The set comes with a smaller dessert (but equally well-presented) and coffee.

Tuna Saves The Day

One of the more common fishes around in supermarkets, canned or otherwise fresh tuna is low in fat, doesn't increase your cholesterol and mighty rich in omega-3 fatty acids (which are the good kind of fats).

I didn't used to like tuna when I was a little girl. Whether it was a tuna sandwich/bun or anything tuna-related, my mouth wasn't that enthusiastic about it. I suppose the only meal that had me eating tuna out of my hands were weekly tuna paninis at Coffee Bean. Man, those guys really know how to make picky little food eaters (like me) eat their fish. Anyway, that feeling hasn't gone, which is rather ironic that tuna saved my day. Maybe one of the reasons why I wasn't really fond of tuna was how grainy it was coming out of a can. They weren't soft and tender like cod or other white fish. Rather abit like salmon, another fish with a sort of grainy texture.

To cut a long story short, I got inspired by Jamie Oliver's recipe, 'Jools' Favourite Saturday Afternoon Pasta '(Jools, being his wife). The thought was if his wife's favourite pasta had tuna in it, there couldn't be any harm could it? Besides, the ingredients could be easily manipulated and more importantly, only simple ingredients were required.

And?



The result was fantastic. The aroma of good quality tuna with that hint of olive flavour after being canned in olive oil was unmistakable. Canned tomatoes and canned tuna make an absolute perfect pair. Using red onions instead of white/brown allowed instant sweetness to permeate through. It was by far, and I do not exaggerate, the best and simplest spaghetti I have ever eaten yet.



Supper was another affair. I made onigiri and sushi while using leftover tuna pasta sauce and tuna flakes in oil. Cooking the sushi rice in a pot was quite a disaster, something which I will definitely never attempt again. I suppose it was bad karma on me for forsaking my good old buddy - rice-cooker. The rice grains were still a touch hard in the middle, leaving me to microwave the rice for about 3 minutes. This is the first time I made an onigiri (without a mold) and I'm pretty proud of my result!



Kawaii!! ^_^

An Eclipse Experience

Acoording to astronomers, an Eclipse of the Sun will occur today. The Moon will fall into the Earth's deep shadow, taking on an orange hue during the second total eclipse of 2007.

How appropriate then, that I had lunch with my very good friend Sandra at the Sun with Moon Japanese Dining Cafe at the Central Mall.

Although the restaurant had grew from its first outlet in Wheelock Place to its present third outlet, this was my maiden visit to the much heralded place. Having heard so much of its fantastic desserts, a quick glance did not disappoint. The desserts ran the gamut from ice cream to cakes, with varieties and colours galore!

Since this was a working lunch, we chose to order from the set lunch menu which is reasonably priced and comes with coffee/english tea. In keeping with the day's rare lunar event, we ordered rice with shredded pork topped with egg (cooked sunny-side up).



The entire pork/egg dish almost convinced me that I was in the middle of an eclipse! The surrounding egg white and the central yolk, almost bursting from its confines, projected a strong resemblance of the earth covering the moon!



There was a good lunch crowd. Service was good especially with the experienced staff. Our initial encounter was a friendly waitress who was not able to respond satisfactorily to our questions about the menu items. Fortunately, an experienced staff took over to sustain our experience. While the menu is certainly ambitious, the food is average.

Will I come back? May be - but not so very soon!

Basic is still the Best

With the mushrooming of ramen joints in our sunny little island - many of them touting to offer the real deal complete with japanese chefs, my husband and I were delighted to find that basic is still the best. On a recent crowded Sunday night at Novena Square, we were happily slurping sumptious soup and springy noodles at Ajisen on the second floor. Though the restaurant offers more than 25 ramen varieties, we decided on the basic ajisen ramen that comes with slices of pork, seaweed, beansprouts, spring onions, half an egg and of course the piece de resistance - the ramen itself. The soup is non-spicy, clear but simply sedap. The noodles were al dente, firm but not hard with just the right amount of chewyness. The restaurant was packed with families, couples and friends. Yet, the service was efficient and atmosphere friendly. The meal was a satisfying end to a hectic weekend. And the cost of the ramen? A mere $7.50. What more can one ask!