I went with sis & b-i-l to azmaya for dinner this evening on 10.11.2014. :-)
i bought S$6pax pork shabu shabu voucher from qoo10. for 3pax it's S$18, and we had to pay GST + service to the merchant i.e. azmaya.
i had dinner at azmaya a few times before, and food & service were very good. i also read the customers’ review on qoo10 & they were mostly good.
the single serving of shabu shabu pork had about 10 to 12 slices. i estimated about 100g maybe?
there was the usual vege to accompany the meat shabu shabu.
there was a choice of konbu (昆布) seaweed soup or chicken soup. i picked chicken soup.
the quality of pork here was really good, don’t know if it’s kurobuta but it was very flavourful. :-)
the leek, mushrooms, japanese flat rice noodles (like tanhoon) etc were all good, & there was also udon (we picked udon but there was also a choice of rice).
the service was very good, very polite, and they would serve you when you asked, even though using a cheap voucher.
i think the pricing does not make any sense, but of course i am not complaining. there are fixed costs & there are perishables, so perhaps it’s better to pack it with customers.
i am just pleasantly surprised that the restaurant maintained their service attitude so well, and so professional – you actually get what was advertised & sold to you w/o any fuss, and it was really great value.
can’t eat this all the time, but if there is promotion again later will surely come again.

For full review: http://chefquak.com/2014/11/10/very-good-pork-shabu-shabu-3pax-dinner-azmaya-on-10nov2014/

see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/05/04/very-shiok-bakchormee-ming-fa-upper-thomson/

went with wife & daughter to ming fa at upper thomson for bakchormee this afternoon on 4.5.2014. must say it as immensely fulfilling. haha. such simple food & great satisfaction! guess i was also missing the jalan tea kong meepok tar at 6th avenue. having withdrawals. haha. 

the bakchormee was really good, the overall flavours & chilli, the qq noodles, minced pork, pork ball & sliced pork & liver. as good as the tai wah i remember (not been to tai wah for the longest time).
noodles was S$4 and ming fa now has expanded from a traditional stall in chinatown to 7 outlets with a manufacturing arm selling laksa and curry chicken etc.  saw on their website that there is an outlet at hollandv hawker centre etc. somehow did not notice. only tried the fei zai bakchormee stall, which was not too bad. will look out next time i am there

See my full review & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2013/12/21/superdeal-maybank-1-for-1-set-lunch-bistro-du-vin-on-20-12-2013/

maybank repeated the 1 for 1 set super lunch deal with les amis group’s bistro du vin. 4 of us had lunch at the zion road branch on 20.12.2013. it was an excellent 3-course lunch plus coffee normally priced at S$26pax. with maybank 1 for 1 we paid S$61 for 4pax lunch including 2 reds (1 glass of wine for 2pax). :-) this was even better than the great lunch we had at bistro du vin shaw branch on 18.11.2013.

bistro du vin zion road was located at the previous coffee shop next to nasi padang river valley & split the space with their sister restaurant peperoni pizzeria. it was small & cosy with added al fresco sitting, quite a wine bistro ambience i guess.

we met another friend who was there for lunch also on a 4pax table. soon afterwards, another friend arrived with her family also a 4pax table.

there were wide choices for appetisers, mains & dessert. i had the rabbit terrine (good too) last time at shaw branch, so picked the leek & potato soup with breaded oysters. i always like cream of leek & potato. this was certainly competent, and the breaded oysters (kaki furai) were excellent, very tasty & good batter. my friend liked the endives salad with some blue cheese. another friend picked the escargot in red wine with crispy bacon. it was good too.

i ordered grilled lamb ribs on a bed of lentils (top photo) for main. it was excellent. lamb was flavourful & fork tender. another friend ordered beer beef short ribs with mash. i had that at shaw branch, it was competent but not my favourite. 2 other friends ordered the duck leg confit & seafood bouillabaisse, both were popular diners’ choices. i would probably try the bouillabaisse next time.

2 friends had the apple crumble (i had that at shaw branch & it was good!). i had the pear tart on puff pastry with salted caramel. i liked it, though i would probably go back to apple crumble next time. the madaleine this time was good, unlike that at shaw branch which was dense & not fresh.

a friend on the another table who had tried the lamb ribs at shaw felt that the food at zion road was better than shaw, & another friend had said previously that the service was a lot better. i agreed with both. i thought the ambience was more cosy & the service was significantly better. every server was responsive & communicated well to our queries on menu, & even agreed to let us extend the maybank discounts to another 2 friends (there was a limit of 3 redemptions each time) at the next table who came w/o knowing about the promotion though in the end that was not needed as they also had the maybank card themselves (& were allowed to use it) only that they did not know about the promotion.

so my 2 thumbs up for the really excellent service.

Read my full reviews & photos here=http://chefquak.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/kaiseki-dinner-kuriya-dining-on-4-6-2013/

wife & I went for the June kaiseki course dinner at Kuriya Dining. the starter platter include scallop with truffle which was good, conger eel (anago) also good, miso prawn (nondescript), lily bulb & cucumber (to make up numbers???). overall a rather average starter.the sashimi plate consisted of very thick-cut hamachi, tai wrapped over negi toro topped with caviar, and the mirugai was tiny but very sweet – not expensive ingredients but the cut was good. the next dish was grilled salmon with foie gras sauce & miso & french pastry – nice dish. not sure if its some attempt at fusion?? now the Japs have added to their kaiseki & course meals some western touch eg the very nice teppanyaki course at Gozanbo. the awabi (abalone) was excellent – it was braised first to a tender texture then deep-fried in tempura batter. & the nori (seaweed) tempura underneath & ginger were very nicely done too…the nabe dish was tuna neck (sashimi quality) – nice & I enjoyed it. but miso kimchi soup was not quite the best matching dish for kaiseki. the sushi moriawase was superb! it had this very marbled otoro topped with uni – scrumptious!

the akagai was very good & so were the 2 other fish I did not identify.

the fruit with cake dessert platter was quite nondescript…another feeble attempt at fusion??

at S$138pax, it’s among the cheaper kaiseki, a bit more ex than Hachi, but cheaper than Keyaki or Kumo, but then the ingredients were cheaper too, no Jap wagyu in the set.

overall a very satisfying dinner even at this price.

unless Kuriya bring back their much more value offerings like their monthly S$88 promotion set, I won’t be doing this often though as I can get a lot more value-for-money & really top quality offerings at Mikuni.

See my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/05/28/really-shiok-4pax-curry-rice-lunch-loos-curry-on-27may2016/
my OPS friend bought lunch at loo’s curry on 27.5.2016. ^^
he bought up whole stall, 6 dishes for 4pax!
& we had prawns, chicken, sotong, pork chop, fish head & veg!
i am recently with my RO friends on 22.3.2016.
we had 8pax & ordered about the same food (which was enuf la)…lol!
pork chop is a must signature food for hainanese curry rice (next to the curry itself i guess…lol).
i not particularly keen on tonkatsu but this went very well with the curry.
the curry prawns was a surprise for me.
usual in these chai pun 菜贩 type stalls, or even in zi char stalls, don’t expect very fresh prawns.
this one was very good, very fresh!
curry sotong always good. we ordered that last time also.
(just read on straits times today 28.5.2016 that the word sotong is now officially included in oxford dictionary!)
chicken curry was very so so, in fact one of the poorer ones i have taken eg the hoower food court cheap curry rice’s curry chicken a lot better
& of course the geyland serai stalls like sinar pagi nasi padang better than both.
the curry itself though always good!
black beans fish head was ok, but these kind of dish have to take at zi char stalls like kok sen at keong saik street la.
curry veg was good but usual.
friend went to order vegetarian ngoh hiang some more. all items very tasty especially the one with mushrooms stuffed inside.
i had to finish almost all the rice & not eat dinner, and after lunch we went for durian some more.
the curry rice was just S$40 for 6 dishes include prawns, we think only because the stallholder “ah” with my friend.