Shirokane Tori-Tama

Shirokane is a neighbourhood in inner-city Tokyo that is popular with expatriates, so I assume that this restaurant must have had its roots from the area. I've not bothered to go do research on the history of this restaurant, but I'm sure that it can be found online.

To the food. This place probably has the best quality yakitori in Singapore, comparable in flavour and taste to the yakitori joint in Naka-Meguro that my husband and I have declared as probably the best we've ever eaten. However, we ordered quite a lot in Tokyo and the total bill was only S$100 including drinks, which was amazing value for money in our opinion.

I was there with 2 girlfriends on a weekday night and the place was absolutely packed, which is always a good sign. A better sign is realising that you're a minority race in a restaurant that is packed with their own kind. I was really pleased.

We started with a salad - can't recall what it was, but it was nice. Pleasant. Refreshing.
Tsukune - one of the rare versions in Sg where they actually have cartilege minced into the meatballs.

Chicken hearts - not a fan, sadly.

Thigh meat - this was really juicy, tender and tasty.

A close up

Chicken soup - very pleasantly mild and soothing.

Nankotsu - probably my favourite chicken part. Nicely done.

I can't remember which meat part this was, but it was just as good as the thigh.

Mushrooms were okay.

Asparagus was nice.

Pork neck was amazing. Succulent, soft, juicy and very tasty

Okra- this was not too bad

The chicken wings were really, one of the best I've ever eaten - second only to the Naka Meguro branch. Super crispy skin with super juicy meat.

And ended off the meal with a seaweed ochazuke. Lovely.

The meal wasn't cheap, but it was certainly good. I think it cost around $80 per person including drinks.

#01-02 Robertson Walk, 11 Unity Street. Tel: 6836 5680

Ayam Penyet: Wong Solo vs Ayam Penyet Ria

After our numerous trips to Batam, we (okay, I) became slightly obsessed with ayam penyet and decided to go on an ayam penyet hunt around Singapore one week. We managed to try 2 places out before I decided it was enough, much to the husband's relief.

The first place we tried was Wong Solo in the basement of Far East Plaza. Apparently the husband had been catering from this place for dinners during night shifts, and he thought the ayam bakar was very good.

We ordered a soto to share, this was not great not bad...pretty normal I guess.
The ayam penyet ($6.90) arrived, with lots of chilli on top.
The ayam bakar was also $6.90. The husband was right - the ayam bakar was really nice, with the sugars in the sweet sauce caramelising nicely over the grill.
Another shot of the super fiery chilli - I loved the chilli but it was just a bit too hot for me. I ended up painstakingly removing most of the chilli seeds, and panting like crazy. The ayam itself was reasonable, I suppose - there was nothing really outstandingly good or bad about it, it was just normal fried chicken.
We normally would have ordered an avocado juice, but did not feel like paying $5.20 for it, so the meal felt slightly incomplete.

So shortly after Wong Solo, we headed to Ayam Penyet Ria at Lucky Plaza. The husband thought it was a branch of the one we normally eat at Nagoya Hill in Batam. At this place, the iced avokat wasn't so expensive, and so we ordered it. Nice : )

We ordered a serve of tempeh and tau kwa to share - this was all right.
The chicken here was pretty juicy and tasty, but I think Wong Solo's chilli is still better. Ayam Penyet Ria's chilli was too similar to sambal belachan, so it felt more like ayam goreng from a nasi padang stall with sambal belachan. Not a bad meal though, just wasn't what we were expecting. Their respective websites are here: http://www.wongsolo.com.sg/wongsolo.html and http://www.ayampenyetria.com/home.html

La Pizzaiola at Jalan Riang

We found this super good value for money out of the way Italian place near our friend's place in Braddell, with pastas less than $15 and pizzas around the same price. It was super packed on a Friday night, so thankfully my friend had made reservations. It was like a trattoria, very homely and down to earth. We loved it and more than anything else, we loved the prices.

Cold cut platter to start with.
Home made ravioli with pumpkin, in a butter and sage sauce for $13.90.
Ham and mushroom pizza for $14.90This was a special item that day - porcini lasagna. It looked ugly and it was excellent- not too rich and full of porcini flavour.Parma ham and rocket pizza for $16.90.

We ordered another pasta which I didn't manage to photograph, and all this fed 4 adults and 1 6-year old for $25 per adult head. Leslie Lay has a great write up (and much better photos) of the place here.

15/3 Jalan Riang, Tel: 62825031, www.pizzaiola.com.sg

Batam Orphanage Visit July 2012

So back we went to Batam, with a great menu lined up. Refueling started at Ayam Penyet Ria at Nagoya Hill, with in my opinion, one of the best ayam penyets at 12500 Rupiah per set.

Teh botol - super refreshing

We ordered a gado gado on the side - this was so-so.

But the ayam penyet was as good as ever - small by Singaporean standards, but who really needs hormone-filled chicken anyway.

Then it was off to the orphanage, and the menu was slightly different. It was going to be assam fish, for a change. I soaked an entire pack of assam, and removed all the seeds.

Then we chopped up brinjals and lady's fingers. These went in first, since they needed time to cook.

Had a pineapple on the side, for flavour, thrown in 15 mins just before serving.

We put in the fish about 30 mins before serving. There were 4 ikan tenggiris in total.

Kalamansi lime for the sour flavour.

And throwing in chopped tomatoes just before turning off the flame. I thought it was really good!

Xiao La Jiao 小辣椒

I've very sadly and painfully been missing China food, and the last time I had a good Sichuan meal was more than 2 years ago in 2010. Unexpectedly, my sister said she wanted to eat Sichuan food, and so off the family went to 112 Katong to try out this restaurant that she found.

We ordered quite a few things - first up was the 口水鸡. Not that exciting, I found the one from Taste Paradise a lot better. This didn't have enough sesame paste.I love shredded potato. But this was just okay. The one from 手拉手 was way better (but it was also 3 times the price)The garlic with streaky pork rolls (蒜泥白肉) was pretty good though.
And this was outstanding - described as griddle-cooked pork ribs, these pork ribs were dry, in a spicy mixture with various assorted vegetables. Fantastic with rice.

I seriously loved their rice - it had little bits of corn, and while it was not as sticky as those served in China, it was sufficiently sticky to go well with the spicy dishes. Another seriously good dish - their ma po tofu was very authentic. Man I miss China.
Another excellent dish - the 辣子鸡 was very tasty, spicy and absolutely enjoyable. The highlight of the evening - the 水煮鱼 was excellent as well.

I liked it so much that I went back the following week. It's about $25 per head, including drinks.

http://www.xiaolajiao.com.sg/

Aoki Omakase Lunch

We've been sneaking out to Aoki for weekday lunches every now and then, when we feel we need to eat something really happyfying to help to us get through the work day. Anyway the husband had lamented that he had never been there, so we went there for his birthday lunch. The birthday boy had the omakase set for $100.

We were seated right in front of the treasure chest. Wonder how they refrigerate it since I don't see any vents.
The hijiki starter

I had a normal mazechirashi lunch set that came with a salad. Actually I've never eaten anything else for lunch there.
His first course was a sashimi platter. He, who never touches anything weird (defined as ebi, ika, uni, tako or akagai - i.e. non fish items), finished the entire plate.
My mazechirashi which was as good as ever.
The view from my bowl.
The sashimi was followed by a mushroom broth
And some stewed octopus head. I was expecting this to be given to me, but he gobbled it up too.
Tempura for him - fish and shishito Before the sushi came, there was a little towel placed in front of him to wipe his fingers - it was use-your-hands time.
Aburi salmon
Akami tuna, glazed with soy
Aburi otoro
Ikura
Anago and some maki with clam inside - again, Mr Fussy ate everything up.
Ending off with a little block of tamago
We both had the same dessert; the usual trio of mochi, umeshu jelly and ice cream.SO GOOD.