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Sushi Kanesaka @ Tokyo Ginza

THIS. The pièce de résistance of my entire trip. I had wanted to try the Singapore outpost (Shinji at St Regis) for ages, but the hefty price tag always put me off. But now that I was in Japan, there was nothing that was going to stop me. My reservation was made months in advance, the anticipation made all the worse by my random googling of reviews and ogling of pictures. Its not uncommon to feel that all the hype kills the outcome and I was afraid that I was going to bitterly let down, but let me just say upfront, Sushi Kanesaka was AMAZING and well deserving of its two michelin stars.

Omakase which literally means chef’s choice doesn’t come cheap. That’s the only thing they serve and lunch sets go at 8000, 10,000 & 15,000 yen each. When I went I was told those sets were for sushi only, and if I wanted a sashimi mix as well, there was an option for 20,000 and 30,000 yen. Not wanting to miss out, I went for the 20,000 yen set ( around 250SGD).

When the sushi chef behind the counter found out I was Singaporean, he asked if I heard of Shinji at the St Regis, ( which of course I have!!) and then he proceeded to utter the following words ,” Hi, I am Shinji Kanesaka, nice to meet you.” I was in a state of disbelief. I knew Kanesaka-san owned the restaurant but for some reason I never expected to be served by him . For the next few minutes, I kept poking a rather bemused c and muttering ,”omg we’re being served by the man himself.”

With a knowing grin and flourish of his knife, we got started.

1. Baby Octopus

Soft and flavourful the sauce went perfectly well with the octopus. I looked over at c and he nodded with approval. This was a sign of good things to come.

2. Bamboo Shoots

Not sure if this was intended to be a palate cleanser after the octopus but it was served in quick succession. The bowl was tiny and I devoured it in anticipation of the other courses.

3. Hairy Crab

I absolutely adore hairy crab. This was served cold with all the goodness of the roe at the bottom of the shell. I started out daintily with my chopsticks but by the end I was this close to licking the shell clean.

4.Hirame 

There was texture to this fish that I wasn’t expecting. Slightly crunchy, it had a subtle sweet flavour. I was instructed to have one piece with wasabi and sauce, and the other with wasabi and salt. After I tried both, Kaneaska-San asked which I preferred. When I replied with the salt option, he let out a laugh and said, “You, you are Japanese!”

5. Chutoro

Divine. Perfectly marbled, I didn’t really have to chew at all.

6. Abalone 

I watched wide-eyed as Kanesaka-San pulled out a whole piece of abalone. He deftly sliced it into half, then into quarters and served two of those quarters to me. This was absolute heaven. I’ve never tasted abalone like this before. Compared to the usual can stuff I got, this was incredibly sweet, and tasted of the sea. The two pieces were gone before I knew it.

7. Fish

I didn’t manage to catch the name of this fish. All I know is that it starts with O and sounds something like “Odedoro?” No matter, it was to die for. I’ve never liked having skin with my fish but this was something else. The skin was light and crisp and disappeared in my mouth. The meat of the fish was oily and delicious and I can taste it now typing this. Ahhhh.

8. Red Snapper

This was the start of the sushi course and end of the sashimi. I didn’t mind. I was anxious to try the rice that Sushi Kanesaka was famous for and boy was I in for a treat. Using a wet cloth at the side to wipe my fingers, I picked up my sushi by hand. The rice is amazing. It holds its shape perfectly and yet in my mouth each grain is delicate, perfect, a gem. The snapper was okay. This was probably the one piece I didn’t enjoy out of everything.

9. Fish

Didn’t manage to catch the name of this one but it was great. Very similar in texture to the snapper but much sweeter.

10. Maguro (Tuna)

No hint of that fishiness I hate when I get tuna in Singapore. Brushed lightly with soy sauce, this was simple and good.

11. Chutoro (Medium fatty tuna)

As good as the sashimi I had before and the creaminess was balanced out perfectly by the rice.

12. Otoro (Fattiest part of the tuna)

This piece melted in my mouth. No chewing needed. I rolled it over my tongue and let it slowly dissolve. It was bliss.

13. Ika (Squid)

Usually the ika i have tends to be rather chewy. None of that here.Each bite is slightly crunchy and the lemon/lime juice added on the top was sublime.

14. Prawn

I managed to fit the whole sushi into my mouth which was no mean feat because the prawn was huge. The tip of the head where all the lovely prawn juices are was included, which gave a nice unami flavour.

 

15. Kohada (Sardine)

I was expecting this to taste slimy because of the skin but it was excellent.

16. Bonito

This fish is used to make bonito flakes found in Takoyaki. I loved it. The piece of fish was thickly sliced so that it enveloped the rice. Lots of bite when I put it into my mouth.

 

17. Spanish Mackerel

Truthfully I thought I would hate this but I am now a convert! No fishiness at all. A little slit made in the fish which allows the garnish to poke its head out was a nice touch.

18. Octopus

This was a scary piece of sushi, all tentacles and such. But the crunch in the mouth was such a delight. I loved it.

19. Clam

This had an overwhemingly sweet taste.

20. Uni

This was THE BOMB. I had seen Kanesaka-San pull out the uni box for other customers and couldn’t wait till it was my turn. Uni is my absolute favourite and I made a point of ordering it everywhere I could in Japan. I’ve never tasted bad uni, how can you, when its just an explosion in your mouth? Nothing comes close to this piece though. Crisp seaweed paired with the creaminess of the uni that had a very clean, rich, briny flavour.

21. Anago (Eel)

This didn’t look like much but when I bit into it the flavours were overwhelming. It was light and grilled and melted in my mouth. So, so good.

With some miso soup, we were served maki and tamago.I was incredibly sad to see the tamago make an appearance, a clear sign that the omakase is coming to an end. But that disappointment quickly turned into awe when I bit into the tamago. It was nothing like I tasted before – dense with a custard texture. I savoured every bite. Next to me, a Japanese couple was conversing with Kanesaka-San, gesturing to their own tamago.  I was kicking myself for not being more diligent in Japanese class as Kanesaka-San was clearly describing the process of how he made the tamago.

So that concluded my omakase experience. I had just gotten the bill and was about to keep my camera when Kanesaka-san leaned over and gestured to himself, “picture?” And that, was the perfect end to a perfect meal.

B/F, Misuzu Building, 8-10-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku,Tokyo
T: + 81 3 5568 4411

Keyaki @ Pan Pacific Hotel

Walking into Keyaki, one gets the sense of being transported into a different world. The tinted glass doors hide an abundance of greenery , a pavilion in the distance and what looks to be koi swimming at your feet. To get to the restaurant, you’re taken through that scenic walk before the sliding door opens automatically and you enter proper.

Keyaki is divided into two areas. The seating area on the left looks warm and inviting, but we’re here for the teppanyaki, and we make a beeline for that which has a space cordoned off separately. The teppanyaki seating forms a half rectangle around the chefs. It makes for awkward conversation with your dinner guests as everyone is seated in a row, but also fully allows you to focus on the meal, which I suppose is the intention.

The teppanyaki sets range from SGD 120-180. There’s ala carte too, but I go for the Hoshi set (SGD170) for a good mix of seafood and meat.

The set starts of with some salad – leaves and tomatoes with a light balsamic dressing.

I’m given my pick of sashimi or tempura for my set and the choice is blatantly obvious. The sashimi is dependent on the chef and for that night its salmon, tuna belly, yellow tail and sweet prawns.

The sashimi is succulent and sweet, it is very good. But for the price range of $6-18 dollars per piece (if you order ala carte), I don’t expect anything less.

After the sashimi, the rest of the meal goes by quickly. The fish is served first in quick succession. Salmon, white fish, and then the prawns, big and juicy. Nothing really impresses me until the wagyu beef comes up. I get mine done medium rare, and every bite melts in my mouth. The garlic chips are slightly soggy and not crispy like I expect. I point that out to the chef, and he apologies, impeccable service. He asks me again later if there’s any feedback I can give.

The meal comes to a close with mixed vegetables and garlic fried rice, nothing special. The miso soup however, is something else. There’s a hint of sweetness in every sip and the soup doesn’t make me crave water. In other words, none of that MSG bullshit you get at regular Japanese restaurants.

Verdict? The service and ambience is great, but for the price I’m paying, the teppanyaki is nothing to shout at. But with so few teppanyaki places in Singapore, its still a great place for a special occasion or to entertain. I will be back to try more of their sushi dishes.

If you’re going for teppanyaki, it might be better to order ala carte as some of the dishes are done better than the others. I was informed that you can swap things out in the set menu, and tell the chef before hand how you want the pacing of your meal to be done.

Also, go for an earlier seating as there’re only 2 or 3 teppanyaki chefs available and a late booking means you’ll have to wait for the earlier guests to finish, even if you are already seated.

Lolla

Lolla : 22 Ann Siang Road

This has been on my ‘to try list’ for the better part of 2013. Many a time I swore to make a reservation but another restaurant always got in the way until I finally found myself here on Valentine’s day.

Lolla serves Mediterranean infused cuisine, mostly small plates meant for sharing . Part of the restaurant’s charm is its set up – they have an open concept kitchen where patrons are seated around a bar counter( limited to 13 seats) to watch chefs’ prepare their food.

Here are the things we had, in order of appearance.

1. Sea Urching Pudding (half portion)
Given that I am such a seafood fan, it was surprising that I did not enjoy this much. While I love uni and would gladly eat a whole plate , the overpowering sweetness of the squid ink pudding made it difficult to enjoy the dish.
That said, the uni was incredibly fresh and creamy and I loved it. Perhaps those with a sweeter tooth would take better to this.

2. Scrambled Eggs with Bottarga di Muggine (or grey mullet roe)
This was by far the best dish of the night. Yes, eggs are eggs. How good can they get? But these eggs were done flawlessly – creamy yet firm in the mouth. And the saltiness of the roe balanced it out perfectly. Never thought eggs could taste like this.

3. Grilled Squid
C enjoyed this but I found it pretty normal. Squid was grilled well , but the flavours were bland.

4. Lamb Cutlets
These were actually pretty good. Well seasoned, tender, juicy, you name it. Unfortunately, the price does not justify the value of this dish and I found myself wondering how many bowls of wan ton mee I could have for the same price.

5. Grass-fed Rib Eye steak
I was not impressed by this but then again I’ve had some incredible steaks in Paris ( and have been making unfair comparisons to that ever since). Granted my steak experiences are somewhat limited, but if we’re talking local, I believe the best steak I’ve had in Singapore is at Mortons. Don’t get me wrong, the steak at Lolla was decent, but nothing special.

Despite the portions being small, by the end of the night C and I were well fed. The food isn’t anything to shout about, but for someone who hasn’t been there – I would advise to go early to get a seat at the bar(Lolla does have seatings at the basement, but they don’t take reservations for the bar) .The experience of watching your food prepared in front of you is something else and the service is stellar. Of course, going there with people you love always makes the experience better and I had a lovely time on the whole.

(getting our steaks marinated)

A Taste of Vietnam

C and I aren’t really fans of Vietnamese food, so most of the recommendations here aren’t for Vietnamese cuisine, but all are good and are restaurants that I would patronize again the next time I’m in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh

Some of the restaurants may appear to be located pretty far away, but if you’re staying in the central areas ( near the ben than market) ,cab rides are cheap and shouldn’t cost you more than 3SGD. There are loads of imitation cabs so make sure you get on a legit one with the meter on. The ones you can trust are the vina sun company and ma linh( white and green) Ma linh also has the green cabs but we didnt take any of those so I’m not sure if its legit.

Cuc Gach Quan – Vietnamese fusion

A quaint little restaurant  tucked  away in one of the smaller streets – I would recommend taking a cab because otherwise its almost impossible to find.

The thing I love most about this place is the impeccable service. The servers are helpful without being intrusive and they speak good enough English to give you recommendations specific to your taste. The ambience was good as well, with the restaurant decorated to look like the inside of a house.

There’s nothing especially fancy about the food, but everything tasted fresh and delicious. We gave up ordering from the menu because there were too many dishes and relied on recommendations from our server. Things that stood out for me included the tofu with bolognese sauce (very good) and our vegetable dish (potato leaves with garlic). It was incredibly fresh and not overcooked, which is something that most Singaporean restaurants can’t seem to get right. C also enjoyed the sweet and sour soup , cooked with a variety of vegetables and fish. It was a tad too sweet for me, but that may just be personal preference.

Their juices are pretty good as well. Fresh squeezed, you can choose to mix your juices, and there are some unusual fruits like the Vietnamese cherry among others. Honey is served together with your juice, just in case its too sour for your taste, and a stem is used in place of a straw, which was a cheap thrill for me.

All in all, we spent around 20 sgd for 4 dishes, rice and drinks, which I thought was very well worth it.

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Le Bouchon De Saigon – French

This French bistro tries its best to imitate a bistro you would see in Paris. The red and white checkered table clothes, the paintings ; these are all reminiscent of the times we ate in France. Also, we were served by a young lady who was obviously French, so that helped matters.

Coming into the bistro, we were served glasses of complimentary champagne, always a good sign.We ordered their French onion soup, foie gras terrine, and 1/2 kg mussels as starters to share.

The French onion soup was one of the best I’ve tasted and definitely the highlight of the meal. The foie gras terrine which is apparently home made, was pretty good too, but nothing to rave about. C and I both enjoyed the mussels in white wine sauce. Although I felt the mussels were slightly overcooked , the mussels were plentiful and the white wine sauce was decent. The table next to us ordered the 1kg mussels and it came in a huge pot, none of that rubbish in Singapore where you pay good money and they serve you either 7 measly mussels or mussels that are severely atrophied.

For mains, we both had the ribeye steak which was probably a mistake because by that time I was extremely full. I didn’t find the steak particularly great(lacked flavour) but it was a good portion and juicy, plus they got my doneness right – so nothing to complain about there. We were too full for desert but the table next to us ordered the crepe and the servers rolled out a pan and made it right in front of them, looked pretty good.

The meal was around 100 SGD for 3 appetizers, 2 mains and drinks(including wine). Pricey by Vietnamese standards, but definitely good value. A similar meal in Singapore would probably cost about 150-200SGD

For those with a higher budget, you might want to check out le brassiere de saigon, which is under the same group with more of a fine dining feel – seafood displayed on ice and all that.

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Skewers – Mediterranean

This place serves great Mediterranean food. I wouldn’t say the food is tip top, but its above average, and for the price you pay, you definitely get good quality food.

The bread served to us was pipping hot.We had the mushroom soup and prawns for appetizers. Both were really good. The mushroom soup came in a humongous bowl and it was creamy and rich. The prawn appetizer( I can’t remember the exact name, I think it was called the sizzling prawns) came with zucchinis which were crunchy and cooked just right. The sauce was also delicious and we mopped it up with the bread.

C had the mixed seafood pasta which he liked and I had the blackened chicken which looks exactly how it’s described. It was pretty good, straight from the grill with a charred and slightly spicy taste but because it was the chicken breast it got a little dry after awhile. We saw quite a few people ordering the lamb chops which apparently is a speciality of theirs.

I can’t remember exactly how much we spent, but it was probably around 25-35 SGD.

Places to avoid : Casa Italia ( mediocre food, stingy in quantity)

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Hanoi
Restaurant wise, Hanoi is no match for HCM. The places we tried were average. Edible certainly but nothing more than that. I suspect the real gem lies in the street food. There are food tours you can take, but we were out of time and money. Also without a guide we didn’t want to risk getting food poisoning. We did try the pho at Pho Gia Truyen located  at 49 Bat Dan Street, in the old quarters. Its one of the best apparently, but I found it to be rather average. Perhaps it was due to the hype that led to such high expectations. The broth was good, but nothing fantastic. Still it was quite an experience to sit in the streets and eat as the locals do.

This place only serves beef pho, and there are only three items on the menu, the most expensive being 50 000 dong.

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The Hanoi Social Club  was one place I really enjoyed. It was located near the hotel I stayed in.

The food is decent and if you’re a health freak, even better. Free range eggs, pumpkin soup, you get the idea. The menu is mostly vegetarian but I did try the Hanoi Social Club burger which was pretty good. It comes with regular fries or bamboo fries. I had the bamboo fries which was interesting, but also not something I would have again.

Mostly I like the place for the vibes and their slushies, which is a god send on a hot humid day. Their tea is also fantastic, served in a nice teapot, with tea leaves mind you, and not a tea bag dunked in hot water.

Places we tried and wouldn’t go back : La Badiane ( okay french food but pales in comparison to the places we tried in HCM. Chef was rather friendly though), Hanoi Garden ( expensive and over rated). Cha Ca Thuy Hong ( tasty but the fish was pre cooked and everything was soaked in oil. C felt sick after but it might not have been this restaurant that caused it). Jackson’s steakhouse ( poor quality for the price)

Burger and Lobster

London was amazing as it always is. this time we hit up a place called Burger and Lobster.
The choice is simple enough. As the restaurant name so aptly tells you, 20 pounds gets you either a burger or a lobster, and you can get your lobster done grilled, steamed or in a roll.  Since there were 4 of us, our server suggested we get a bigger lobster for the table to share. 65 pounds got us a huge ass grilled lobster ( the weight I can’t remember) as well as fries and a salad each.
For the price, this was definitely one of the better lobsters I’ve had. The lobster meat was firm and sweet , and what really impressed me was how juicy it was. From previous encounters, restaurants tend to overcook the meat. I particularly enjoyed the garlic and lemon sauce which went very well with the lobster. It was a great dining experience ( how often do you get to have a whole lobster to yourself) and very good value. Will definitely be back the next time I’m in town.

Burger and Lobster
29 Clarges street,
Mayfair London W1J7EF