Tatsu Sushi - A Tribute to E

I have a friend whom I absolutely trust unreservedly when it comes to eating Japanese. Not only because he has lived in Tokyo for 5 years, but he is also extremely particular when it comes to quality food. So when we met up for dinner some time back and he suggested Tatsu at Chijmes, I knew better than to question his choice. I also left all the ordering up to him : )

The standard appetiser of carrot and other veggies in sweet soy

Negi-toro maki ($12). This was surprisingly delicious - the seaweed was crisp, with the flavour of the negi-toro bits coming out really well against the lightly vinegared sushi rice.

Maguro yamakake ($12). Decent but not terribly exciting. I thought that the grated yam went better with soba.

Superb sashimi moriawase that cost us $70. we had maguro, flounder, salmon, hamachi and there was also more shima aji (horse mackeral) at the request of my friend. The fish was beautifully fresh. The pieces of fish to the left with a slightly brownish tinge was swordfish that had been marinated in soy - this was most interesting.

Our dipping sauce - how fragrant!

The flounder came with a ponzu dipping sauce - it went better with the fish, compared to the soy.

We also had half a shimi aji head each (total cost $24). The shima aji kama yaki was really delicious - the sweet soy broth with the daikon was extremely tasty. For someone who doesn't eat fish head, this was a remarkable experience (I gave E all the eyes that I could find).

Asari Sakamushi ($18) - really sweet clams in a clear broth.
Hiyashi Somen ($12) - cold noodles in a soy dipping broth. I would have preferred something with a bit more bite though.

Tatsu Sushi

30 Victoria Street

#01-16 Block F (the row closest to Raffles City)

The Gallery, CHIJMES

Singapore 187996

Tel: 6332 5868 (Sushi), 6337 6691 (Teppan) and 63377 160 (Sake Bar)

Email: tatsupl@singnet.com.sg

Opening hours: Lunch from 12-3pm and Dinner from 6.30-10.30pm

Santaro at Amara Hotel

The husband and I love a good lunch on a weekday when he gets the day off, and there's nothing better than a great Japanese bento to look forward to during lunch time. We used to go rather frequently to Bimi Kaiho in International Plaza - my husband is the only other person I know whom, similar to me, had with his family faithfully followed the restaurant since their days in Outram Park. Bimi Kaiho is unfortunately rather small, which makes getting a table very difficult. I also think that their food has seen better days (and prices), although I still patronise the place albeit less frequently than before.

We've recently started patronising Santaro at Amara Hotel, which is an institution by itself When you get to a restaurant that proudly displays photos of politicians on the wall, it's either really good or really expensive (frequently both). They have a brilliant set lunch menu that is extremely good value for money. You can choose between a sushi, sashimi, tempura, saba, grilled beef set (they all have sashimi) for $28+++, and the prices go up from there for other bentos. But the entry level sets are good enough on their own - all you really want is good-quality food that is fresh, and cooked properly. Santaro does not disappoint.

The bentos come with a salad...

...as well as an amuse bouche of some sorts. This was salmon head cooked in a sweet soy broth with daikon. I'm not a fish head fan, but this had me slurping up every single drop. It was incredibly tasty and fulfilling.

I ordered the sashimi set, which also came with tempura and chawan mushi.

Their sashimi is F R E S H. After having eaten recently at a Japanese restaurant at Cuppage that served us a mountain of sashimi that appeared to have been cut with a cheap pair of scissors, I am a firm believer that it is better to have fewer slices of fresh sashimi that is properly cut, than to have a lot of sashimi that has been massacred. I was surprised to get awabi (abalone). The aji (horse mackeral) was astoundingly good.

The tempura was a fairly substantial serve, with 2 prawns and assorted vegetables.

Chawan mushi does not get much better than this...absolutely slide-down-your-throat smoothness.

The husband ordered the sushi set, which came with udon instead of rice.

A close up of the sushi.

Dessert of the day

The service is very good, with tea promptly topped up. Granted there are cheaper places elsewhere that do a pretty decent bento as well, but a $28 lunch set is a pretty good price for the ambience and quality around the Tanjong Pagar area.

Santaro Japanese Restaurant

165 Tanjong Pagar Road #02-26

Amara Hotel

Singapore 088439

Tel: 6324 8388

http://www.santaro.com.sg/

Basil Leaves

One of my husband's favourite herbs is basil (did you know mint is also a type of basil?) which we use a lot of at home. I traditionally like to buy the pot from Cold Storage since it means I have a bit more time and don't have to use the entire lot of basil leaves at one go.

Over the recent long weekend, we went crazy with the basil. We found some really good buffalo mozzarella cheese and made a caprese salad with a few tomatoes. It was wonderful especially after drizzling some extra virgin olive oil.

We still had some leaves left over, so I went out and bought some more to make pesto. The pine nuts were ridiculously expensive, at $10 for 100g from Cold Storage (if anyone knows of a cheaper source, please let me know). I used 3 boxes of basil from Cold Storage (@$2.95 each) with 100g pine nuts, which I roasted for 10 mins on 180 deg heat, and blended it with EVO before adding grated parmesan cheese and salt. It was very very very simple and delicious, especially with fresh pasta - we used spinach and ricotta tortellini.

Ristorante da Valentino

What do intelligent Singaporeans do for dinner after stuffing their faces on an Italian brunch to the point where they are unable to walk out of the restaurant without severe discomfort in their gastro-intestinal tracts? They go for an Italian dinner 5 hours later at their favourite Italian restaurant! : ) It was the husband's birthday after all, and an occasion (or excuse) for excesses. The in-laws were more than happy to go to Valentino since it's probably the family's favourite Italian restaurant in Singapore (although things may change after they try Osvaldo - it's a pity they never had a chance to visit Otto during the Giacomo era).

We started with a 2006 Castelgreve Chianti Classico. It turned out to be a plain simple good full-bodied wine which went surprisingly well with the pasta. We were quite taken by the packaging, which came in the traditional Chianti container of a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco.

We had the pizza with sausage and truffle oil - outstanding.

If there's one thing we've learnt from visiting Valentino, it's to order the daily specials if possible. The fettucine with pork cheek was, as with other Valentino pastas, very gratifying. The pork was tender and chock-full of flavour.

The Ravioli ai Funghi was something we all enjoyed - the pasta texture was great, the sauteed porcini was very flavourful, although the filling was fairly standard and bland. As a die-hard Valentino supporter, it is rather difficult to type this, but I think that the porcini mushroom spaghetti at Osvaldo was a better dish.

We also had the chicken cooked in a claypot - this was a whole chicken baked with shredded carrots, whole baby potatoes, rosemary, onions, tomato, garlic - it was very delicious and we slurped up all the stock after the meal. However, this was something my mother-in-law could have made quite easily so I didn't think it was all that great.

If the husband and I had been in an eating mood, we wouldn't have stopped at just 4 dishes. But just as well, since we were looking forward to dessert. Their desserts are reliably good - not mindblowing, but always enjoyable and of good quality.

The sister-in-law had the tiramisu:

The husband had a chocolate crumble/cake (I can't remember which!) which was absolutely brilliant. The chocolate was the right mix of crumbly and chewy. I will save this one up for next time.

The mother-in-law's fruit tart - I forget whether it was a lemon or citrous tart. Didn't get to try it though.

The panna cotta was, as always, mind-blowingly good - how they manage to balance softness with solidity I have no idea.

Our friendly waiter.

They traditionally close for summer holidays in June, so call before you go. Reservations absolutely essential.

11 Jalan Bingka

Tel: 6462 0555

Basilico at the Regent

I had been longing to try out the Sunday brunch at Basilico at the Regent for some time, and finally had the chance when the husband's birthday came around. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking for this post, but in summary, this place is excellent value for money. At $48+++, the food is of pretty good quality, and if all these items were ordered separately the cost would be much higher. There was an amazing variety of mozzarella cheeses, grilled meats, cold cuts, seafood, dessert, and pasta - more than we could eat. Plus, there were extra dishes from the kitchen that were served directly to the table (limited portions available) which were top quality.

Antipasti
Freshly sliced parma ham

Choose your ham/salami to go with rockmelon

Scallops

Tomatoes and mozzarella galore

Octopus salad

Tuna Carpaccio

Another shot of the colours of the olives, tomatoes, rockmelon and cold cuts....I love how they lay out the food.

Beef carpaccio and asparagus

The fresh pasta station - different shapes and sauces

Veggies to make you feel slightly less guilty

Love the colours

Polenta

Asparagus

Roast pork, grilled fish and roast beef waiting to be sliced up.

The buffet also had a selection of freshly squeezed juices

The risotto which was a special serve brought to the table. Excellent texture and very rich flavours.

The ravioli with pesto. The freshly made pasta with the mushroom-cheese-dunnowhatelse filling was simply wonderful. This dish alone could be the reason for a repeat visit very soon.
We thought this was a calzone at first. I found out later that it's a "focaccia marscapone" which is baked in the wood-fired oven, with cepes and truffle oil-infused marscapone.

Good ol' cream of mushroom soup

The meats were very nicely done. I thought the lamb chops and the roast beef had an edge over the pork.

Italian hot chocolate. This was slightly too salty for my liking, but it was nice and creamy and thick.

Photos of desserts that I didn't try.

The vanilla, chocolate with red wine and fig ice creams (or gelati?) were excellent.

I managed to squeeze in panna cotta, a chocolate shooter and amaretto sabayon.

Lunch: 12 noon-2:30pm (Mon-Sat); 12 noon-3pm (Sun)
Dinner: 6:30pm-10:00pm
For reservations: T. +65 6725 3232

Tip: Ask for a free parking coupon - the rates are astronomical.