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chefquak
This is chefquak . French, Japanese, Teochew are my favorite cuisines..
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Degustation Dinner @ Jaan Smile May 14, 2013   
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Categories : Western Variety | Hotel | Restaurant | Steaks and Grills | Fine Dining

See full reviews & photos at my blog=http://chefquak.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/degustation-dinner-at-my-favourite-restaurant-jaan-on-8may2013/

dinner at Jaan has always been a most enjoyable experience. we used to go Jaan quite a lot when Andre Chiang first arrived, and while we enjoyed his degustation dinners we liked his ala carte menu even more.
when Andre left (predictably) to set up his own restaurant & some swedish chef joined Jaan, we had given it a miss for most part of 1+ years, but somehow managed to rediscover Jaan a year+ ago when it was helmed by Julien Royer, the young current Jaan chef, and we liked his degustation menu just as much now.
The Menu Prestige was a 7-course affair. as usual there were 2 great to super & very substantial amuse bouche, as well as a pre-desert, so it was no less a 10-course meal.
1st amuse bouche=eel jelly, croquette etc

1st amuse bouche=eel jelly, croquette etc

 
the first amuse bouche was 3 small items – a rye cracker with a very nice hummus dip, another cracker & a wonderful eel with jelly stick & croquette.
2nd amuse bouche=cepes mushroom tea

2nd amuse bouche=cepes mushroom tea

 
the second amuse bouche was a cepes mushroom tea. this was truly sublime with such intense flavours & the best soup I had ever taken anywhere.
prawn cannelloni in crustacean jelly

prawn cannelloni in crustacean jelly

 
the FIRST course was prawn cannelloni on crustacean jelly decorated with ikura & topped with oscietra cavier. this was wonderful in taste as it was a beautiful picture to behold (see top photo). I did though find the jelly just a little bit salty.
the SECOND course was a 55min (at 60degC) rosemary smoked organic egg with iberico chorizo. It had wonderful smoked rosemary flavour. the texture & flavour combination of a very smooth, somewhat sticky egg yoke with savoury chorizo was excellent.
bread & butter crusted Norwegian scallop

bread & butter crusted Norwegian scallop

 
THIRD course was a bread & butter crusted Norwegian scallop with pumpkin puree, a great dish. the scallop meat was very sweet & totally consistent – looked like it was sous vide (vacuum low temperature cooking) then deep-fried.
next,
pan seared foie gras in fish broth

pan seared foie gras in fish broth

 
the FOURTH course was pan seared scallop in large bit-size pieces topped with strawberries & a very good fish broth or dashi stock – this was somewhat new variation to the usual caramelised version & it was easy to eat too with a spoon.
confit halibut

confit halibut

 

the first Main – the FIFTH course was an excellent confit atlantic turbot with squid, grilled leek. they called it confit here but they were all sous vide to produce the very excellent consistency & sweetness. My wife liked this very much. I was a bit undecided as while it was good I might actually have preferred a good pan-seared version of this great fish.
the second Main – the SIXTH course – was hay-roasted bresse pigeon confit leg with barley & morel mushrooms. I had always loved this dish, very sweet & tender both the breast & leg. again, it was sous vide then hay roasted. the barley was excellent touch.
this was followed by a very nice pre-dessert sorbet palate cleanser.
choconut version 4.0

choconut version 4.0

 
the SEVENTH & last course was a choconuts version 4 – different flavours of chocolates. every version at Jaan was good, basically it was just re-decoration of the same items but showing off the chef artistic plating skills.
coffee was served with petite 4 - marshmallows, nutty chocolate, a rock melon sorbet stick, and a rosemary infused profitero lollipop.
we managed to get window seat for the evening. the view was great! MBS, Esplanade, the Flyer – very enchanting skyline.
 
Recommended Dish(es):  Menu Prestige
 
Date of Visit: May 08, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $140(Dinner)

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

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Categories : Japanese | Hotel | Sushi/Sashimi | Japanese BBQ/Teppanyaki | Omakase

See full reviews & photos in my blog=http://chefquak.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/dinner-mikuni-at-fairmont-hotel-on-24-3-2013/

I go to Mikuni a lot as my wife & I really enjoy the food there, and with Feed@Raffles discounts (50% discount for 2pax), that is the best value eat & fine dining we can get anywhere.
We always order ala carte so we pick only dishes we like and also it is much better value than ordering the Seasons Menu or the Grand Tour Tasting Menu. We explore the menu quite a bit & zero in on the dishes we like.
My selected courses (shared by 2pax) as follows-
1. truffle kampachi (S$28) - a wonderful, wonderful dish, and as you can see in my blog picture, it is so pretty. It is in a small way a fusion sashimi dish by the Korean Chef with kampachi sashimi fanned out in probably tsuyu sauce as the sauce is not so salty, and a dash of truffle oil – so very fragrant, fresh, sweet & tasty!
2. botan ebi sashimi (S$35) – you get 3 prawns for sashimi & 2 if you order sushi. These are large (3x the size of regular ama ebi), plump & sweet prawns with the same pleasant slightly sticky to the bite texture as regular ama ebi; and they deep fry the large prawn heads. We eat up almost the entire crispy deep-fried prawn heads every time so no need to elaborate la…haha.
3. united nation futomaki (S$28) - The name sounds like a disaster but there are 9 ingredients (I can see there are unagi, ebi, tamago, avogado, different fish roes, maybe crabstick etc in my blog pictures) & it is good – may not be the best as there are many specialist maki in many restaurants these days, but it is good!
4. tako (octopus) sous vide & deep-fried in light batter (S$30) - This is really very good as the meat is totally tender & consistent throughout because of sous vide (vacuum low temperature slow-cooking). it goes very well with just a little wasabi mayo (provided) – we always add more wasabi on our own.
5. kagoshima wagyu sukiyaki konabe (小钵).(order 1 hotpot each at S$48pax) - It is very, very good! there are 3 pieces of wagyu, and you can see from the photos that they are large & thick pieces – I reckon the 3 pieces to be at least 80g, probably 100g! these are Jap wagyu NOT australian wagyu, & they are so, so tasty, the sukiyaki also comes with the usual vegetables, thick Japanese glass noodles & mushroom, and oh such great flavours! you can add the soup to the rice afterwards (and remember to add wasabi to it as well).
 
Recommended Dish(es):  truffle kampachi,botan ebi sashimi,united nations futomaki,tako sous vide tempura,kagoshima wagyu sukiyaki konabe
 
Date of Visit: Mar 24, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $65(Dinner)

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

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Fabulous Degustation Dinner  Smile Jun 03, 2016   
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Categories : Multi-Cuisine | Restaurant | Fine Dining

see my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/06/03/fabulous-degustation-dinner-cornerhouse-in-1jun2016/
my first time to cornerhouse. i had been to au jardin & taken the degustation several times previously but not since cornerhouse took over.
looking at my previous post, the last time we were here was for the new year eve dinner on 12.31.2016.
for this evening we had a 5-course degustation menu at S$188++
i asked for one of the 2 verandah tables seating looking out at the gardens.
it was really nice. the amuse bouche comprises 3 items.
couldn’t really remember…they were all good la! this one quite unique taste.
this a salty fish cracker with tobiko. great!
last a amuse bouche – bitter cucumber terrine. we enjoyed all of the them.
the first course, carabinero prawn, scarlett prawn from mediterranean, was simply awesome!
the variations of seasonal tomatoes, with basil, olive oil & another falvour were sublime.
the prawn was steamed & chilled, very sweet, tasty & firm. told wife the texture felt like lobster. & there was a tomato sorbet, basically a very flavourful gazpacho, at the top, 12 o’clock! ^^
later i saw on naked fins a nice pic.
it was a very large prawn, and in some sites they mentioned it tasted like lobster.
second course was white asparagus with a 24mths comte cheese & ikura.
such an artistic presentation! ^^
the white asparagus (confit maybe?) was par excellence, very tender & sweet. overall while the dish was very tasty & enjoyable, it made less impression than the tomatoes (& prawns).
the 3rd course, maine lobster, was quite sublime, out of this world! ^^
lobster was firm, sweet, tasty, riso (a risotto like pasta) was great & the sauce was just fantastic! (from bottarga the salted fish roe i think?).
the 4th course, japanese toriyama wagyu was like any top jap wagyu, simply fabulous, so much better than australian or USA, & horseradish mash was excellent with the beef.
the last course, chocolate earl grey dessert, was good.
i mean the chocolates were great really, the sorbet too, among the best i guess, not exactly my favourite dessert. wife & i not particularly hot on chocolates & if chocolate i prefer the really dark intense chocolate type rather than just smooth with earl grey flavour etc….
petit four was pretty good.
they charged for coffee. i always felt coffee should be just included in a degustation & green tea too in a japanese kaiseki, a touch of class not to charge extra…anyway just my persona views..
we skipped the coffee.
dinner 2xS$188pax + 2 glasses of wine came to S$513.
it was an excellent dinner very enjoyable so money well spent. looking back at the 2013 au jardin NYE degustation, i think that offerred a bit better value not this time we had lobster. hard to compare i guess.
i still miss jaan, since that they withdrew feed @ raffles benefits, we were unwilling to pay the full fare & also the menu still looked the same after 2 rounds, andre chiang & julien royers having left…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Date of Visit: Jun 01, 2016 

Spending per head: Approximately $255

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

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Categories : Japanese | Seafood | Sushi/Sashimi | Omakase

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2016/01/01/the-best-value-lunch-omakase-hachi-on-29dec2015/

had another wonderful 4pax family lunch at hachi on 29.12.2015. ^^
i mostly come hachi for dinner & for me, hachi delivers the best kaiseki dinner for the price. wife usually not free for lunch. the last time i had lunch at hachi was almost 2 years ago on 17.1.2014.
every dish in hachi looks fabulous & tastes even better. the edamame was unusual but very good, and you could taste the edamame & the excellent sweet uni which was a pretty good size helping.
my wife took the cheaper S$78 hachi omakase. the rest of us took the S$88 ohmi wagyu 近江和牛omakase.
both were excellent but the wagyu omakase was worth many times more than the S$10 difference.
for the sashimi, we had chutoro, akami (lean toro) & 2 kampachi. for the hachi omakase, it was 2 akami, no chutoro.
the sashimi was very sweet & fresh, top quslity!
wife had the crab chawanmushi. :-) really sweet & tasty.
we had something better though – ohmi wagyu 近江和牛sukiyaki!
ohmi wagyu 近江和牛 is among the top 3, after matsuzaka & kobe, so it was just perfect melt-in-the-mouth experiecne.
hachi regularly serves the large oyster during dinner, in different preparations.
this lunch oyster was just as big & good.
basically a freshly shucked oysters with ponzu jelly toppings.
the scallop roll was quite an incredible dish. the hotate was sashimi or rare texture but the batter over seaweed was deepfried.
an excellent age (fried) dish.
we all had the grilled ohmi wagyu 近江和牛. for the wagyu omakase we had 1 more piece = 4 pieces vs 3 for the hachi omakase. ^^
really by comparison, i can only say the ginzawa’s wagyu & onion don at S$50 was truly pathetic!
even the recently upped S$38.80 (used to be just S$30.80) wagyu don set at sumiya was better!
the sushi was superb quality, better than the sashimi.
for the hachi omakase, it was uni, chutoro, kinmedai (golden eye snapper or alfonsino).
all excellent stuff! ^^ :-)
for the wagyu omakase, we had wagyu sushi in 3 different preps. could not remember but they were all superb, especially with the uni topping! :-)
there was the cold soba.quite ordinary, nothing special there.
japanese have many difference black beans sweet. i like them all mostly. this one was very good, not too sweet & very good balance to the tangy jelly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Jan 29, 2016 

Spending per head: Approximately $105

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

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So Very Nice 4pax Family Dinner Smile Jun 25, 2014   
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Categories : Japanese | Hotel | Sushi/Sashimi | Japanese BBQ/Teppanyaki | Omakase

Dinners at mikuni are always so very enjoyable. see recent post on a wonderful ikuni dinner on 31.3.2014. We were there again on 23.6.2014. This time we ordered the chirashi don, oysters & golden prawns, in addition to the usual. The oysters were good. at 50% discounts, it was S$14 for 3 pieces. the ones we had recently at chikuwatei was better but more ex – 2 large ones for S$22. The chirashi don was so, so very nice. chopstickchopstickchopstick This must the best in singapore or anywhere for S$45++ after 50% Feed at Raffles (FAR) discounts. :-)

Needless to say, it was far, far better than sun with moon or chikuwatei. Not only there was uni, 2 pieces of chu toro, & a huge bogan ebi, all the other cuts like salmon, tai, hamachi, hotate were so sweet & fresh & so very many. It was kind of a late discovery for us, as we dined quite a bit at mikuni but we tend to take the cooked food rather than sashimi.

We had the usual botan ebi sashimi (S$42 for 3 pieces) & had the head deep-fried. & we all loved the sous vide tako kari kari age.
the sake was ex… S$50 & only 25% discount & the golden prawns (basically teppanyaki large prawns with lots of mayo) was really good!

Each of us had about 5 prawns, so there must bye 20 pieces. we took very little mayo but this mayo taste was very good. The lobster uniyaki today was below the usual standard. I had always liked the lobster but somehow this time the lobster meat did not have the usual bouncy fresh texture. I couldn’t say it was bad but c/w the golden prawns, it was substantially poorer.

The kagoshima wagyu konabe was as good as ever. The bill came to S$239nett for 4pax (c/w S$205 for 4pax at chikuwatei & such huge guff in quality of food). Cxcluding the sake, it would be S$195nett or S$165++ for 4pax, really good deal. I think i gonna go back just for the chirashi don.

see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/06/25/so-very-nice-4pax-family-dinner-mikuni-on-23jun2014/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Recommended Dish(es):  Botan ebi deep-fried head,golden prawns, Kagoshima wagyu konabe, Sake, Chirashi Don
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Jun 23, 2014 

Spending per head: Approximately $50(Dinner)

Dining Offers: feed at raffles


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

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