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chefquak
This is chefquak . French, Japanese, Teochew are my favorite cuisines..
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Superb Lunch Sets Smile Apr 08, 2013   
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Categories : European | Fusion | Seafood | Steaks and Grills

See full reviews & photos at my blog=http://chefquak.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/the-clan-restaurant-bukit-pasoh-singapore-on-8-3-2013/

had a great lunch with my daughter at The Clan Restaurant at Bukit Pasoh. We had the 5-course set lunch.
This my second time here – I was here with my wife 3 weeks back. We both liked the food. The Chef, Ken Teo, was formerly the Executive Chef of Dozo, and we have always liked Dozo’s food. The price of the 5-course lunch, S$42.80 (6-course dinner S$63.80), is slightly higher than Dozo (& w/o the cooler drink), but I think overall the food quality is better.
There are 5 choices of appetiser & dessert, 4 choices of soup & 6 choices of main course.
I suppose the name has got to do with its location at the premises of The Gan Clan Association. Bukit Pasoh locale is home to a good few top restaurants like Majestic, Oso and nearby at Kiong Siak Street – Ember, Nicolas Le & Bistro Soori. The food is I guess nothing “Clanish”, being in the modern european genre similar to Dozo with touch of Japanese fusion.
just like Dozo, we started with a nice thirst quencher.
duck rillette, salmon mouche cone, pan-seared scallope with foam, thirst quencher

duck rillette, salmon mouche cone, pan-seared scallope with foam, thirst quencher

 
1. The Chef Starter is a trio comprising duck rillette, pan-seared scallop with lots of foam (this is very good & definitely better than Dozo) and a salmon mouche cone (Dozo serves a smoked salmon, tiny pan-seared piece of foie gras & pan-seared scallop).
bamboo clam with ikura, deepfried foie gras

bamboo clam with ikura, deepfried foie gras

 
2. Next we had a choice of appetiser. I had the bamboo clam. This was really very good. the clam was very sweet & bouncy fresh, and the ikura (salmon roe) flavour & saltiness combined very well with the shellfish texture indeed. My daughter had the deep-fried foie gras, which was not a common preparation. I stole a bite. It was different & quite good, but unlikely to displace the all-time favourite pan-seared caramelised foie gras anytime soon.
cepes mushroom soup, crab bisque with prawn twister

cepes mushroom soup, crab bisque with prawn twister

 
3. Next up is the soup. I had the cepes mushroom bisque. It was very good, maybe slightly more quantity-wise but not much different from Dozo. My daughter had the crab bisque which came with a prawn twister. I think this had a lot more foam than that served at Dozo & was overall better.
48hrs beef short ribs

48hrs beef short ribs

 
4. Next came the 48hr beef short ribs served on hoba leaf on a lava stone. I really, really loved this dish. The quality of the beef was much superior to that at Dozo. The meat was just so sweet & flavourful & the texture was just super.
chocolate lava cake, 4-cheese platter

chocolate lava cake, 4-cheese platter

 
5. For the dessert choice, my daughter had the chocolate lava cake. It was good. I had the 4-cheese platter-good stuff!
Overall, it made for an extremely satisfying meal.
 
Recommended Dish(es):  razor clam,crab bisque,48hr beef short ribs
 
Date of Visit: Mar 08, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $50(Lunch)

Other Ratings:
Taste
 5  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 5

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Superb Chinese Fine Dining Set Smile Apr 02, 2013   
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Categories : Cantonese/Hong Kong | Hotel | Dim Sum

Read full reviews & photos on my blog=http://chefquak.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/chinese-fine-dining-set-xin-cuisine-on-31-3-2013/

I had not tried Xin Cuisine, despite it being included in Amex Palate dining privilege for a while already. and though I did have intention to try out the food here using palate discounts, it was ANZ card marketing that got me to ask about this lobster & abalone 1 for 1 menu. On this occasion, we decided on the set menu, and it was a very good decision!
We started with a duo appetizer. There was a roast duck on a pan seared foie gras & cucumber (seems that Xin is famous for their suckling pig with foie gras), & a small saucer of thick spicy jellyfish. Both were very nice. The roast duck felt like a sous vide item, very tender & totally consistent. In terms of fine dining, it was no less fine than western fine dining.

Next was chicken & mushrooms in a egg skin dumpling in pumpkin soup. This was very, very, very good. It was such a beauty to look at, and the soup was so very, very tasty, as good as Majestic’s 黄焖鱼翅 which was a lot better than Tunglok’s version. And the dumpling was so delicate to behold & so tasty to eat. Very few western fine dining restaurants here offered something this fine!

The next item was the 5-heads abalone on a bed of spinach with sea cucumber in brown sauce (5-heads mean the size is 5 abalones to 1 kati though I am clueless whether it is the HK old kati=600g or the China kati=500g. In China it is now 1斤10 两 & 1 两= 50g)。 This was as good as Chinese braised abalones went in terms of 口感 bite/texture & taste.

and there was the 1/2 lobster, done with a very light cheese gratin. The lobster was smaller (about 350g). My wife preferred the 上汤局 style so cheese lobster not her favourite but I must say the taste was good & this was really very nicely done. This was a good illustration of quality of cooking – Chao Yue Xuan for example offered a larger 1/2 lobster in a good value set which we had recently, but the quality of cooking & presentation made a huge difference between fine dining and not so fine dining.

and then we had the egg fried rice & spicy pork & this very plain fried rice was very very good – such crisp long grains & so fragrant it was as good as Imperial Treasure’s crab friend rice with dried scallops & egg white which was our perennial favourite – & so both of us who avoid carbo mostly had to evoke our “worthwhile carbo” philosophy and finished up al the rice. The spicy pork collar was very nice too.

For dessert,we had the snow lotus in almond cream. Both of us were not very “dessert persons”, and cream 糊 was not my favourite & very less so for my wife. This though was only very slightly sweet & extremely smooth which was what defined a good 糊, be it almond or walnut (核桃) or combined (鸳鸯).
 
Recommended Dish(es):  1 for 1 Lobster & Abalone Set
 
Date of Visit: Mar 31, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $70

Other Ratings:
Taste
 5  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 5

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Fabulous Mother’s Day Lunch  Smile May 08, 2016   
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Categories : Cantonese/Hong Kong | Hotel | Dim Sum | Seafood

see my full review & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/05/08/fabulous-mothers-day-lunch-majestic-restaurant-on-8may2016/
bought wife & family a fab 5pax mother’s day lunch at majestic today on 8.5.2016. ^^
look at the crab roe sharksfin soup (top photo), a perennial favourite of ours at majestic. it was still so good! one of the very best soup i had, so sweet & tasty.
majestic does a mother’s day ala carte buffet lunch at S$68pax++ with 15% citibank discounts.
a new item on the ala carte buffet menu was chilli lobster (used to be a NOT great chilli crab). for me, still not great la…
we came early at about 12pm. restaurant was full by 1230pm.
i did not find a recent post on majestic on my blog. perhaps i did not record.
the one i had was 3 years ago, a world gourmet summit dinner in apr2013.
for today, there was a self service station. the roasts were excellent!
roast duck was especially good. we had a few individual helpings. char siew was good. siew yoke ok not as good as the usual cube roast pork servings in these kind of good restaurants.
the lotus bun was good. we shared one among 5 of us. i took the braised duck wing. the pumpkin with 肉松was non descript for me. wife liked it though.
i wanted to try the porridge. took a tiny bit. it was good!
the braised belly pork was very flavourful. texture was tender though it didn’t look it in the large serving claypot.
from the ala carte menu, har gao was average. many dimsum places like crystal jade, imperial treasure better
the crab roe sharksfin soup was limited to one serving each. top draw stuff!
the chilli lobster was so so for me.
chilli gravy was good especially with the bun which was excellent.
lobster meat was not bouncy. did not feel like live or fresh lobster.
the thai lemongrass chilli lobster i had recently at red house was far, far better.
wasabi prawns were very good. tops!
did not look it though with too much of the green mayo. but the batter was very good, not like most places where they were thick, hard, tough. prawns were very fresh, water melon a great balance, counterpoint.
i love chilean seabass, & majestic served very good steamed ones in their regular menu.
here it was non descript.
the galbi style beef ribs were ok.
somehow it works better when served in individual small portion courses.
the sharksfin soup was limited to one order. there were like 3 or 4 other soups unlimited orders. we ordered 2 lobster crab roe broth to share.
a pretty good soup, though no comparison with the crab roe sharksfin soup.
the spinach wolfberry was good.
wife love the oyster mee sua.
it was very tasty with nice oyster flavour.
the salted egg custard buns流沙包 was very good here.
the best!
& the deepfried durian ice cream, another perennial favourite here.
i ended up eating 1.5 portion.
really enjoyable lunch & family time on mother’s day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: May 08, 2016 

Spending per head: Approximately $68

Other Ratings:
Taste
 5  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 3  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 5

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Excellent 5pax Birthday Lunch  Smile Apr 27, 2016   
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Categories : Singaporean Chinese | Seafood

See my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/04/27/excellent-5pax-birthday-lunch-red-house-on-26apr2016/
a friend bought lunch at red house princep street on 26.4.2016.
i have never been to red house for the longest time.
they are having a 40% off dimsum promotion till 31.12.2016!
food was surprisingly good leh! ^^
the spinach mushroom dumpling looked alluring & tasted really good. very nice mushroom flavours, and so refine.:-)
the simple har gao虾饺 also looked so refine, and tasted wonderful too.:-)
fu pei quin 腐皮卷 not overly oily, very crispy & good fresh prawn fillings, a very well done dish.:-)
friend ordered the steamed bamboo clams 圣子. dish was ok. this a bit small c/w say ah yat or jumbo or long beach, quite similar size to the recent ones we had at tunglok signature orchard parade, but tunglok’s minced garlic oil & tanhoon a lot tastier than this.
the lemongrass chilli lobster 香茅辣椒龙虾 was excellent! ^^
usually it is a waste to add chilli to a fresh & expensive lobster.
this one though was done very well. the chilli was very tasty, i thought a bit thai style.
lobster very good, the chilli did not overwhelm the sweetness of the lobster meat. enhanced it la…:-)
friend also ordered 1/2 fragrant crispy duck 香酥鸭.
this was deep-fried & could taste the fragrance of the spices. they usually served it with some crepe so the server proceeded to destroy (tear up) the duck. we didn’t want the crepe. friend’s wife commented the presentation was not good. in shanghai/jiangsu they would cut the duck in slices & nicer presentation.
also the duck was a bit dry inside, not such a good preparation.
the spinach tofu was excellent, very tasty very well done.
i first had this 三层楼 at tunglok group maybe >20years ago. this one though tasted better than tunglok.
sambal kang kong was good, more than competent.
the seafood hor fun 杂锦河粉 was very good too. very nice wok hae (wok fragrance!)
the dimsum dishes were quite refine & the main courses were also top draw.
overall it was an excellent lunch, much better than i expected from a seafood restaurant like red house (there are so many similar places like jumbo, long beach, no sign board etc).
the dessert were ok but did not really stand out.
i enjoyed my lemongrass jelly with sorbet.
the 杨枝甘露 looked average.the orh nee 芋泥 didn’t looked right. maybe taste was ok?
lunch came to S$311 for 5pax, about S$62pax.
quite high for lunch. still i think a great place for a great lunch or dinner with good friends. must look a bit at the dishes to order, but i surely coming back again la!:-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Apr 26, 2016 

Spending per head: Approximately $62

Other Ratings:
Taste
 5  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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Excellent Tea-smoked Duck Smile Apr 23, 2016   
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Categories : Cantonese/Hong Kong | Hotel | Dim Sum

See my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/04/18/great-3pax-family-dinner-xin-cuisine-on-17apr2016/
had an excellent 3pax family dinner with wife & daughter at xin cuisine yesterday on 17.3.2016. ^^
restaurant is as usual quiet (7pm on a sunday).
there were actually more customers/tables this evening.
we were here last in oct2015. as you can see all the food item prices had gone up!
we had 1 order of lie tong 例汤.
at S$12 it’s a very small serving & expensive for a lie tong 例汤.
c/w 1/2 pot (3 to 4 bowls) at tunglok signature orchard parade for S$16.
the lie tong 例汤 was very good, very savoury & tasty with pork & vegetable stock, but of course, so is tunglok’s lie tong 例汤, just as tasty.
the tea smoked duck is very good here. price has gone up i guess recently from S$28 to S$32 for 1/2 duck.
it is different because of the excellent lingering tea flavour, say c/w the very good duck at canton paradise.
the roast london duck at tunglok though is very good, basically a different more fatty Irish duck.
i like both can’t decide which is better!
and the steamed vegetable 蒸梅菜,茄子,娃娃菜 is very good here, love it! absolutely! the sweet mei cai’s flavours very shoik la!
the lobster noodles (S$25 instead of S$22 previously) looked a bit mushy. it was, but just a bit. taste was good. lobster was just lobster, competent.
the big prawn crispy noodles likewise. crispy part still crispy, other part just a bit soft.
taste wise it was great!
the few times we took dessert.
the guilinggao 龟苓膏 was excellent here.
such nice, strong flavours…don’t get it in HK even sometimes…
the aloe vera jelly was more ordinary. nice dessert not great.
for 3pax, we had 35% discounts using the amex palate card, all-in S$101, pretty ok la.:-)
if it were 2pax would have been like S$80.
really quite good for these food at a good restaurant!

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Apr 17, 2016 

Spending per head: Approximately $34

Other Ratings:
Taste
 5  |  
Environment
 4  |  
Service
 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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