Ooi at Holiday Inn - Reprise

We went back to Ooi at Holiday Inn Orchard for another round of omakase, and were not disappointed at all. The food was just as fresh, delicious and enjoyable as the last.

We ordered a regular sake off the menu, and while it was decent, it wasn't as spectacular as the shinbun-o sake from the last time.

The first course came. A slightly disjointed thought, but it would be horrible to be a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant like this because you end up using 5 times as many plates as needed, plus there's also that tray that it comes on.

 

All lined up in a row looking so pretty 

Edamame

Fish roe

Stuffed squid (Can't recall with what - I really should take notes next time!)

Celery (can't think of a more interesting description unfortunately)

Seasonal vegetables with dried daikon shavings

The arrival of the sashimi platter is usually the most awesome, jaw dropping moment of an omakase meal. Because I've recently been memory-challenged, the only fish I could remember eating was the otoro. I did take a couple of notes on my mobile phone saying cherry salmon and tennen tai, although I can't recall which slice the tai was.

Luscious, fatty, marbled otoro. SO GOOD.

Next up - bamboo shoots with wakame in broth

Next up was a grilled fish - my eyes say cod, my brain vaguely recalls something else. My tongue says it doesn't matter what it was, it was fabulous anyway.

Another view - slightly charred on the outside, perfectly moist and cooked on the inside.

The second most amazing moment of the meal - CRAB. Accompanied by very mild, soft and fragrant vinegar.

With heaps of roe! All slurped up with deep gratitude for the recent health results indicating no cholestrol problems

Tempura of seasonal vegetables - the batter was light and crispy.

Grilled kurobota pork, with salad topped with black sesame dressing

Extremely moist and tender.

I thought the dressing was a little too sweet for my liking though.

Maki with a bit of everything inside - tuna, salmon, squid and tamago

Super sweet miso soup

Dessert with the same chestnut icecream we had the last time, and fruits, which were perfectly sweet.

Dinner came up to $280 per person, including drinks and taxes. Not the cheapest meal around, but one that was worth the time, company and quality.

Luke's Oyster Bar

The husband brought me to Luke's Oyster Bar for our 9th anniversary together (how time flies!). I knew it was an expensive place, and must have mentioned it to him a few times and the dear man managed to surprise me wonderfully by quietly booking a table there and letting me order whatever I wanted. Sadly, with the newly-discovered oyster allergy, raw oysters were out of the question.

Their bread (I'm sure there's a more fancy name for it) had a texture similar to muffins - it was served warm, and was great with the lightly spiced butter.

These lobster sliders cost $24 for 8 small serves.

Definitely very yummy, juicy and tender.

 We also shared a serve of clam chowder soup, which was super tasty and choc-a-bloc full of clams and potatoes.

It was just a wee bit too rich and creamy, but otherwise fantastic. 

We each had half serves of Signature Foley Georges Bank Scallops ($45) roasted with lemon and served with coleslaw, a lobster tail (no idea how much), and USDA prime ribeye ($85). The serving staff were great in offering to split everything down the middle and placing them on our individual plates - they must have gotten used to Asians asking for serves to be shared.

The scallops were PERFECT.

Seared beautifully on the outside, still semi-raw on the inside.

The lobster was good, and so was the beef. 

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The very excellent waitress managed to get my half of the ribeye done medium-well, and the husband's medium. And both of us were super pleased.

We also had a side serve of creamed spinach with a crispy egg and fried garlic ($16). The surprise winner here was the egg, which had a crispy outer crust and a really interesting texture. The creamed spinach was fairly normal.

Dessert was warm chocolate chip cookies with a stout milkshake - interesting, very yummy and delicious, but not sure if it was worth $16.

We really enjoyed the food at Luke's, but it was a tad expensive and I'm not sure how often we would be willing to pay that sort of money for this when there's always, say, Morton's for almost the same price (albeit with a different ambiance). I'd consider it a place I wouldn't go back to normally unless someone had a special event, like a birthday. But I'd go back happily. 

http://www.lukes.com.sg/oysterbar

Our Bali Getaway

We recently had one of the best holidays ever recently in Bali, with old friends staying at a holiday home belonging to one of our friends. It was a simply amazing time, and we were terribly spoilt at their villa, which came with 3 maids, 1 chef and 1 gardener.

Our first stop after getting off the plane was at a cafe in Jimbaran, Jenggala, which had a very comfortable cafe called Warung Keramik. They had a good variety of both international  and indonesian food, and it was a great place to eat our first nasi campur of the trip. 

I really liked these veggies - later I discovered that long beans and bean sprouts with spices and peanuts were almost a staple with every nasi dish.

The fried meats were great with the chilli/tomato paste.

We were blown away without words to describe the exhilaration when we got to the villa, with an amazing view of the nearby beach and lovely landscaped garden+pool out front. I won't post photos of the house since it's a personal home, but it was an incredible experience staying in a house furnished exactly like a hotel.

The view from the pool, which was the central feature of the grounds.

The view out of the living room, which had a koi pond running all round.

We were incredibly pampered by the chef and the 3 maids - it meant that we didn't have to do a single thing for ourselves, and that there was yummy food available as long as there was stuff in the fridge to be cooked. The first morning, we had a western-style breakfast, with the table set in such a professional way.

We were able to tell the chef what we wanted in terms of how we wanted our eggs and what we wanted with them. Still overwhelmed thinking about it!

Breakfast of fried noodles another morning

And nasi goreng yet another morning

Lunch one day was a variety of Indonesian dishes served with rice

The ubiquitous long bean+bean sprout dish

 

 Beef rendang

 

Chicken poached in spices - this was really tasty and healthy since they had removed all the fat and skin

Keropok with every meal

We also visited the neighbour's house at the top of the hill, and this was the view they had. The interior of the house was even more amazing - it definitely belongs in a coffee table book featuring dream houses. Life is definitely not fair!

We had a seafood bbq one night - with lobsters!

All the villa staff putting dinner together

Lobsters on the grill - we had one huge lobster each

They also prepared a salad to go with the seafood

We brought along some duty-free alcohol from Changi

Kangkong from the kitchen

Grilled corn

Grilled fish with a bit of spice

Dipping sauces for the seafood, all home made

A really interesting lime and shallot salsa

Grilled prawns

Lobster grilled with a kecap manis marinade

Slightly more spicy lobsters

Calamari

Chicken

We headed out one day to Seminyak to eat babi guling, or roast suckling pig, at Pak Malen in Seminyak, which came highly rated on the internet.

 

 The place was packed full, with equal numbers of tourists and locals. We had a freshly-squeezed orange (more like mandarin) juice, which was very refreshing.

 

The dish came with a pork satay, some lean pork slices and one (only one!) piece of crispy pork skin, some crispy pork lard and cracking, with the same longbean+beansprout mix and some lemongrass-based dip. It was seriously yummy but there should have been more skin : )

Later that night, the husband and I headed to Potato Head at Seminyak for dinner. Designed as framing the pool and beach view, it had a simply amazing atmosphere, and in the husband's own words, now he knew "what Sentosa was trying to do but has not succeeded in doing".

We managed to get bookings at the French restaurant which we were told, was packed full, yet not every table was taken up, and we were there from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Go figure. 

Cocktails to start the evening- a passionfruit-laced mojito, and a campari-based soda.

We had a great table right in front.

Amuse bouche of pea soup and foam.

Little cheese pastries that were served warm - a nice touch.

Bread was also served warm - one walnut, one sesame. This was continually topped up during the course of the evening.

We had 2 starters each, and they weren't large servings at all. This was the foie gras - which came looking like a small medallion.The menu said foie gras confit of duck breast and pork belly.

The husband's smoked salmon with a lime-infused creme fraiche - this was surprisingly decent.

The foie gras came out looking like a very fatty terrine, with little fatty pieces of meat. Not the best.

The husband's second entree, which was the lobster salad with a bit of parma ham.

This was surprisingly decent. The lobster was fresh and not too chewy, although the entire ensemble was rather standard.

I had the grilled scallop- which came very nicely decorated, although that singular scallop looked rather isolated on its own.

Although it was perfectly done, still raw on the inside.

Our mains - the husband's Iberico pork

And my pan-seared beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce. Alarm bells should have rung when I was asked what sauce I wanted.

The beef appeared to be cooked correctly, but somehow the texture wasn't that great. It was on the soft side, without the normal bite that one would expect.

Closer look at the pork - this was also slightly too soft.

The vibe was great, although I wouldn't head back for a meal, only just for drinks on the day beds.

We had lunch at the pavilion overlooking the sea on our last day.

The chef at the villa made satay for us, together with the now-familiar long bean+bean sprout dish, and some melon soup.

These satays were seriously yummy

And here's the long beans again, sans bean sprouts

Even the fruits in Bali look good

It was a fantastic meal. Seriously yummy, surrounded by good friends and beautiful views.

Some other sightseeing shots -this was Alila Ulu Watu

And this was the sunset we caught at Ayana waiting to get down to the Rock Bar.

 

That's it for Bali, over and out.