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chefquak
This is chefquak . French, Japanese, Teochew are my favorite cuisines..
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chefquak  Level 4
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Showing 66 to 70 of 333 Reviews in Singapore
Great Tapas @ FOC on 27Aug2015 Smile Sep 11, 2015   
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Categories : Spanish | Bars/Lounges | Paella

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/09/11/great-tapas-foc-on-27aug2015/
son was back for summer holidays. this evening we went to FOC for a family dinner on 27.8.2015.^^

restaurant has a chic ambience. it is supposed to be for fine food & fun dining from barcelons. for us, it’s tapas.

FOC supposed to be fire in catalan.

chorizo & egg was a good start. its was a good tasty dish, the egg gave it a silky texture. maybe its a bit like my spanish omelette but deconstructed, no?

like the ham croquettes. at first taste, the mushroom croquettes had much more intense flavours & bested the ham croquettes by comparison. but i tried the ham croquettes again & it had a very nice lingering flavour. i like both. ^^

the patatas bravas, a deep-fried potato dish was very good too. really well done enjoyable dish.

the pork trotters carpaccio was delightful. especially with the condiments & sauce it came in.

the slow braised octopus was excellent too. taste & texture wise, it was almost comparable with the very good ones i tried recently – the grilled cotopus dish at da lucathe octopus dish at zafferano& i still prefer the tako kakiage at mikuni. ^^

i think this squidink paella is the best of all squidink i had. really flavourful, smooth & buttery. good enough for us to order a second serving. i think it is better than (maybe) the dish i squid risotto i had at follia (which was outstanding). & my own very good squidink pasta. kith’s squidink pasta would be quite behind by comparison.

the first serving of scampi fiduea alio olio was excellent, very sweet, tasty, intense. unfortunately there was a hair in it! restaurant did the right thing & replaced it with a new dish. again unfortunately the new dish was not tasty as before. i guess hair made a difference to the taste? yuk

rack of lamb was pretty ok. it was very tender yes, but actually flavour-wise, my own pistachio crusted rack of lamb was a lot better!

the iberico pork rack was superb! not only it was fork tender & yet not sinewy, it was very flavourful, excellent!

the hanging sculpture.

daughter wanted to try the chocolate fantasy. it’s the chocolate bomb i thought of trying for my anniversary dinner but didn’t.

we tried the apple tart. it was ok, nothing special & can do without. the french toast was good. looked at a dessert i may try myself at home.

i think minus the drinks it was about S$50pax. not cheap but doable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Aug 27, 2015 

Spending per head: Approximately $50

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 4  |  
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 4  |  
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 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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Excellent Dimsum Lunch Smile Aug 31, 2015   
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Categories : Cantonese/Hong Kong | Shanghainese | Sichuan

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/08/31/excellent-dimsum-lunch-imperial-treasure-nanbei-on-23aug2015/
family went to have dimsum lunch at imperial treasure at taka on 23.8.2015.^^

we used to come here many times when children were younger. i was telling son i had not been here >2.5yrs, probably much longer than that. how do i know? well, i started blogging on mar2013, & i have not blogged about imperial treasure nanbei yet.

daughter ordered a beef brisket noodles. this was very good as it used similar belly cut with the collagen layer. very much better than the noodles restaurant or the brisket king. texture was excellent! the braise was a bit more beefy, c/w what a friend made for my homecooked dinner recently. i would prefer my friend’s briskets actually, but not a lot of difference that.

the chargrilled pork collar 炭烧猪项肉 was really good. we like it every time. i recently started to make char siew again, and i made a very good char siew both times. was trying to feel the taste, maybe can make some adjustment in my marinade.

har gao 虾饺 was good. but i didn’t think it was better than crystal jade or canton paradise. think crystal jade’s still better.

prawn fun cheong good too. smooth & good tasting light sauce.

son loved the radish pastry. still good as before.

spicy dumplings 抄手 was good. but still think crystal jade’s better.

steamed chicken feet very good. as good as any here or in hong kong.

same for the pork ribs. among the very best.

& the xiaolongbao 小笼包 – that’s the best of all! maybe better than crystal jade’s. very sweet broth inside. skin was thin, smooth & don’t break. daughter was telling us how it was made. the broth is small frozen block, then wrap inside then steam. smart girl!

we used to always order the fried yellow croaker 煎小黄鱼. it was S$7 then, now S$10. we all enjoyed it.

fried rice still good. and they still have the haebeehiam chilli. really good. now though i prefer the spicy seafood fried rice at crystal jade lamian xionglongbao a bit more.

salted egg custard bun was excellent! very good salted egg flavours. the best i think, much better than timhowan, crystal jade, canton paradise etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Aug 23, 2015 

Spending per head: Approximately $32

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 4  |  
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 4  |  
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 4  |  
Clean
 4  |  
Price
 4

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Now My Favourite Laksa Smile Aug 25, 2015   
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Categories : Singaporean | Chinese | Hawker Centre | Noodles

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/08/25/now-my-favourite-laksa-weiyi-唯一辣沙-tanglin-halt-food-centre-on-25aug2015/
went to sheng shiong @ commonwealth mrt to get some items for tomorrow’s dinner.

walked by tanglin halt food centre & saw the queue at weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙 was just about 7pax. still it took about 15mins.

my last post on weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙 was on 24.3.2015.

after trying a few places like teck hin @ food loft clementi which is sometimes inconsistent (i had a very bad one once recently), decided that this is still the best.

the sungei road laksa is good of course but it is somewhat different, not as substantial & savoury.

there are many combinations, i chose no.6 (chicken, cockles, fried beancurd) & S$5 option.

cockles were big & plump and quite many, chicken meat was sweet, very nice & the bean curd & laksa gravy was excellent.

yum yum! (as a korean pal said on facebook 배고파요^^=i am hungry) ^^

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Aug 25, 2015 

Spending per head: Approximately $5

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

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Just OK Wine Dinner Smile Aug 23, 2015   
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Categories : Italian | European | Restaurant | Seafood | Steaks and Grills

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/08/23/ok-wine-dinner-zafferano-on-19aug2015/
wife & i joined a group of friends for a west cape howe wine dinner at zafferano on 19.8.2015.^^ we had 7pax this time. the last time i joined a wine dinner she organised at halia @ raffles hotel was in dec 2013. we had a larger group then.

i had not been to zafferano before. it’s located on level 43 at ocean financial centre & the terrace outside the restaurant had a good view over marina bay.

i saw the food menu & thought it was quite ok for the price of S$88++, even minus the wine, as i do not take much wine at all.

we started with a chardonay & some canapes. the tuna was best! dinner started with some focaccia. #1 first course was hokkaido scallop carpaccio. scallop was fresh, sweet, very good slightly gummy bite texture & nice artsy presentation.
#2 for me, the poached & pan-fried octopus was the best dish for the evening. octopus was very tender almost like a sous vide or low temperature braise preparation but just only poached according to the chef. for me it was very as good indeed – as good as that at monterosso miky in italy, & almost as good as that at alle darsene at lake como, the best i had. again presentation was elegant…was it more of the same? after the dinner though, one friend said his octopus was tough. odd! not sure why?

#3 3rd course was veal ravioli, veal reduction. it was a good pasta, great ravioli texture, maybe a bit beefy, not really my favourite.

the restaurant replaced it with a cheese pasta for a friend who doesn’t take beef. she said it was very good, and perhaps that would actually be a better choice than the veal ravioli.

#4 next black angus tenderloin tagliata, served with pan-fried foie gras. the dish sounded good. unfortunately for me & my friends, it was donwright poor! the foie gras was not creamy enough & did not come with some citrus matching palate.

& i don’t understand the beef. it is hard to damage a good beef, and this was black angus tenderloin. beef was hard, not tasty, not flavourful. tenderloin not much marbling but should at least be tender & sweet.

sorry to say, but i think my own tagliata di manzo is many times better than this, taste & texture wise, cannot match the presentation of course. did not have photo of the cod which the restaurant replaced for a friend who does not take beef. she said it was very good.

the chef came to talk to us.

dessert was ok, but not my favourite. overall, my wife & i had derived much lower satisfaction than we expected from reading the menu. S$88++ was ok with the canapes & wine. for the food, octopus & scallop were my best dishes, veal ravioli neutral, tagliata poor & dessert indifferent. i don’t know how much the wine dinner we had recently at da luca cost, but the food was superior to this, and i thought the wine this evening was also mediocre.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Aug 19, 2015 

Spending per head: Approximately $104

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

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Enjoy Everytime  Smile Aug 18, 2015   
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Categories : Hawker Centre | Chinese Soup

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/08/18/enjoy-everytime-chai-chuan-tou-chinese-mutton-soup-柴船头羊肉汤-on-15aug2015/
decided to drop by chai chuan tou at bukit merah view for some chinese mutton soup on the way back on 15.8.2015. ^^

it was 11am, & the queue was like 10pax. but service was quite fast.

i enjoy mutton soup here at chai chuan tou chinese mutton soup 柴船头羊肉汤 everytime. this time was no exception.

recently i had chinese mutton soup at chinatown beef noodles stall @ food republic at vivocity. i thought then that the soup was not as good as chai chuan tou. but having tried chai chuan tou again today, i thought both were equally good.

chai chuan tou’s is more intense, but the one at chinatown beef noodles stall @ food republic at vivocity was smoother with nice herbal balance, and the meat was thicker & meatier though higher price. so that’s a stall i would want to take mutton soup at again.

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 10 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Aug 15, 2015 

Spending per head: Approximately $6

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

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