Akashabu shabu

So, this new outlet called Akashabu just opened at Kallang Leisure Park and it's a shabu shabu place opened by the same people that brought you Akashi.  A friend of mine who is also a big Akashi fan was meeting me for lunch the other day and we decided to give it a go.  The thing with my friend (despite being Cantonese and all) doesn't like soup (I can hear at least one person in Tampines who is weeping over this non-soup loving Cantonese); and I have never had shabu shabu seeing as I don't like steamboat.  Eek.  So, this was a fairly interesting experience for both of us anyway.  My only regret is that I did not read up on how to go about enjoying shabu shabu which I think would have added to the experience.  

I must also explain that this friend of mine apparently dines often enough at the various Akashi outlets that the waitress knew him on a first name basis.  Anyway, since we weren't that familiar with how to order (okay I was not, and I suspect my friend was just being lazy about it), we got the waitress to suggest what to order and serving size.  So all I can tell you is that we had two type of mushrooms, Enoki (golden) and Bunashimeji (I think), pork and beef strips.  We also had the three types of sashimi they had (yes they only had 3, salmon, some clam thing and I can't remember the last).  And we began cooking the meat and the mushrooms.  

What surprised me was that they used plain water for the shabu shabu.  This is where I really regret not reading up, apparently shabu shabu means cooking in plain water.  So I was like.. hmm, wouldn't the soup just taste of meat and mushrooms?  And it did.  Yes, after cooking half the meal, we tried the soup and were not very impressed with it.  I was like, HUH? so what's so great about this shabu shabu thing that have people going all crazy about.  What I liked about this meal was the sesame dipping sauce that accompanied the meal.  It was really flavourful and had a nutty taste to it.  We thought it was a soya bean/miso paste sauce.  It really added the that oomph factor to the meat (seeing as it was cooked in plain water and really just tasted of meat).  It's also great with just rice.  The ingredients were fresh, the meat came thinly sliced with a slither of fat on the edge.  My friend, being the  health freak started to remove the bits, and me, feeling guilty, followed suit.  

The limited sashimi variety lived up to the Akashi standard of being extremely fresh too.   What surprised me was that this outlet did not serve green tea.  Can someone tell me if this is also part of the shabu shabu experience?

The soup at the end tasted better, and I only found out that that's how it's consumed.  After the meal. Total damage was about $50 for 2 paxor $25 each.  I think it's okay. But it's really not something I'll try again. Give me my regular Akashi outlet any day.


Akashabu
5 Stadium Walk
#01-12 Kallang Leisure Park
Tel: 6346 3868

Opening hours
Lunch: 12noon - 3pm
Dinner: 6pm - 10pm

Snacking in the Sunset..

Since recovering from flu virus, I've been trying to catch up with my eating escapades and also satisfying the cravings I had when I was sick. I've also restarting my exercise regime again in the attempt to keep the weight lost during the last couple weeks off. I made plans with P to go for a swim yesterday only to have her bail on me but I decided to go solo anyway. After doing 11 laps in the pool, I got tired and hungry and called it a day.  Still it progress from the previous 6 to 8 laps I've been doing in the pool.  

The bf met me after my swim and was also tired and hungry after his day at work.  Seeing at it was still 5ish and too early for dinner, I convinced him to have a snack from Balmoral Bakery.  Since he has a sweet tooth, I recommended the custard puff to him.  I don't really like custard puffs (or eclairs for that matter) due to the texture of the pastry.  I like my pastry crispy and flaky.  Puffs like that have this soft pastry which makes me feel like I'm eating a soggy puff.  But, the custard puffs from this bakery have the thumbs up from  me (the bf's description was "it's okay", which is why I never bother asking him anything anymore, its usually, "Just eat it, it's good"). The pastry is, again, the soft type but this puff is filled to the brim with custard and even as you use the tongs to pick it up on the tray, it tends to start oozing out and getting everywhere (the bf was not pleased with this and blamed my clumsiness but actually, it was really just brimming with custard, and I wasn't that clumsy). The custard has a nice eggy taste and not too sweet that its overkill and just simply delightful to bite in only to have it ooze all over your mouth and slither down your throat and before you know it, its all gone!

I decided that I was hungry enough for two items, seeing as how I had just exercise (I know I know, the point is to lose weight and stay fit, but I was hungry and not thinking and had also been craving this for weeks, and you do not get between a woman and her cravings...). So I got for myself a samosa and a beef curry puff. MMMmmm... I used to snack on these when I was younger and they've become my comfort food. I have to say, the size and fillings of these pastries have definitely shrank over the years. I mean the samosas used to contain more than a slither of meat and their beef curry puffs used to have less curry paste and more beef. Still, eating them was like a trip down memory lane for me and I savoured every moment, even hesitating to give the bf the bites he wanted (he has a big mouth and his one bite usually equals to several of mine..). The taste was still spot on, despite the decrease in filling, size and meat. The paste for the samosa is not too spicy and the pastry is crispy such that every bite gave you that KRACK KRACK sound like you were eating potato chips. Despite the lack of meat, one thing about the paste is that it reminds you that meat was used to make it. I don't really know how to describe it, but its like it has this meaty salty taste that combines with the vegetables used to make this pulp which you can't really tell what is what individually, but you know it has carrots potatoes onions and meat when it is made. As long as you don't keep this samosa bundled in the plastic bag after buying is so that water can condense and make it soggy, you will be pleasantly surprised with it. Oh and of course, eat this first lah! eat the rest later...

After giving the bf my last bite of samosa, I continued chomping on the beef curry pie. This pie is not too oily that you will feel ill eating this and something else. It is also small and light. Making a great but terribly unhealthy snack. In other words, PERFECT. The curry paste again, is not spicy, just a tinge for flavour and because its also not too spicy, the filling is also not too oily. Not like other curry puffs where you eat half of it and its oozing oil and you start feeling guilty and gross. No, ladies and gents, this pie is small enough for you to finish it fast enough so that no oil shows up and also you don't feel gross after that. Pastry is the layered, flaky sort and the crusty ends are not too thick that you'll feel disappointed or sad when you come to the end of the pie and realise there is not more filling to go with it.

Seriously, this has been one of my favourite bakeries growing up, its really old school in its layout, smells, design. Nothing much has changed in this stall for the last 20 yrs. Even their boxes are still the same cupboard type with a weird castle print on top. They've not changed any of their pastries and not hopped on to any weird fad, except for the pricing, all there rest remains the same. They also do the traditional cakes with retro designs, not cause retro is in the in thing now, but cause they've been doing it for years! I have not had their cake for the longest time, but judging from the many orders they still get, I'm willing to bet that its still as good.

Anyway, if you're in the area and waiting to get a table at the restaurants near by just go by before they close (8pm daily) and treat yourself to some old school pie. You will not regret it.


Balmoral Bakery
105 Clementi St 12
#01-06 Singapore 120105
Tel: 67792064

Turkish Delight

no no, I'm not referring to the chocolate.  Chanced upon a Turkish place when the bf and I were looking around SKY garden at suntec city.  We were looking for a cheap and good place (yes we're trying to tighten both our belts both literally and metaphorically.  The place is called Deli Turk and the wait staff and our love for lamb was what made us decide to try the place out.  The waiter who greeted us as we walked past and introduced the dishes to us even though we weren't sure about eating there was very friendly and even throughout the meal he was very attentive, asking for feedback and if we were okay etc.  

As we looked through the menu, we soon realised that it wasn't going to be as cheap as we anticipated, but I figured the portions are usually very generous so nvmd.. it will still be value for money.

So we ordered the shish kebab (lamb) and donner kebab (also lamb), yes, we love lamb. lamb lamb lamb.  If Mary had a little lamb, well, then Marajaded had a lot of lamb.  sorry, i just had to..

When the food arrived, my first impression was.. where's the rest of this meal? its not like there wasn't enough in front of me, but I just expected a more generous portion that's all. Their portions turned out to be Singaporean sized. see lah, being greedy again. but anyway, I suspect it could also have to do with the plates they used or they way they plated it, it just looked sparse on a seemingly small plate.

the food was good, the lamb was juicy but with bite in it and brilliantly flavoured. The rice that came with the kebab was weird, I think it was more like glutinous rice than regular rice, cause it was small, and starchy and harder than our regular butter rice. I could be wrong on this. It tasted like the rice they use for the nonya kuehs. the pita bread was also very good.

Next came our dessert, künefe, which is made from wheat flakes, honey cheese, topped with pistachio nuts and served in clotted cream. it's one of the best dessert's I've had. Man, this was the only time I've eaten a dessert and really really wished I had a camera. Its really sweet though, even the bf who has an extremely sweet tooth found it sweet (yes it's that sweet!). Best to share this with someone. And they even served this with some tea.

The total damage for 2 mains and 1 dessert including taxes was about $45, like I said, so much for good and cheap, but at least it was good!

Address:
DeliTurk Foods Pte Lt
No. 3 Temasek Boulevard
Suntec City Mall #03-004
Singapore 038983
Tel: 6336-8082

Akashi Japanese Restaurant

So a friend felt like treating me to dinner last fri, seeing as he just received his bonus and since we were at vivocity, we decided to go down to Akashi Jap Restaurant. At 8.30pm, the restaurant was still relatively crowded, but thankfully, there was no queue (the parking was quite a nightmare already). The menus seemed rather normal and a bit on the overpriced side ($20 for one type of sashimi!) however, we ordered anyway since we had already sat down. He ordered some beef thing (looked like steak with rice) and I ordered the tonkatsu set (both sets were $18 during dinner). We also asked for a mixed platter of sashimi consisting of maguro (tuna), tako (octopus) and kajiki (swordfish).

Because the place was so crowded, we expected them to take a while to serve us our food, what we did not expect was our hot food reaching us before the sashimi. In fact, the sashimi actually came after my friend was done with his meal and I was also nearly done (and I am a very slow eater). The sashimi was really good though, just a bit odd to eat it at the end of the meal that's all.

When it came to the time to pay up, we had to ask for the bill 3 times and still no one came to give us the bill! There were some people who were heading there to pay, now I'm not sure if its the norm here or they were equally frustrated and did not want to wait anymore. If its the norm, you'd think the waitresses could have told us instead of yelling on 3 separate occasions for the cashier to pass us the bill. We eventually decided to go to the counter to pay up instead of kicking up a fuss as we wanted to go shopping but seriously, you'd think that they didnt want us to pay or something!

The bill came up to about $90 after taxes. The sashimi is a bit pricey, 4 slices of each type (12 slices in total) for $40, though there is no doubting the quality. Overall, I think it's a slightly above average restaurant, not spectacular or a place that I would immediately think about going but not a place I'd shun either.

St Paddy's Day!

So its St. Paddy's day on sunday and to commemorate it, the daily scoop had an extra stout flavour, which was.. um. interesting. We were actually there for waffles but then the bf told me they had an extra stout flavour and immediately I bounced over to the counter and asked for a taste. It's initially sweet, then you taste the alcohol and then the stout flavour, a bit creamy and salty all the same time. It is really not for the faint hearted.