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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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Categories : Fusion | Fine Dining

see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/06/10/wonderful-evening-good-friend-sumptuous-dinner-me-oue-on-9jun2015/
had a wonderful dinner with a close friend at me@oue on 9.6.2015. ^^
we were booked for 6.30pm, so great views of MBS & marina bay before nightfall. we had a great table right by the window. anyway, you can just walk outside to the terrace, and marina bay front opens up before you!^^
we started with warm squid ink brioche. i had mine broken into bite size pieces before i remembered & assembled them for the photo. haha!there was a soothing table decor.
we decided to order japanese ohmi wagyu A4 striploin to share & a red lobster each. so was picking an appetiser to share.
i already had the tuna tartare the last time here. we settled on a scallop carpaccio served on some veloute topped with caviar.
must say the scallop carpaccio was top grade sashimi, very sweet & tasty. there were 5 slices. the veloute was good too.
the red lobster, which was done chilli crab style arrived, together with deep-fried man tou.
surprised, i pointed out to the server that the last time i had the red lobster here, it was a full lobster & not 1/2 lobster.
he replied that indeed it was a full lobster & he had it split for us so that each of use was served a 1/2 lobster on individual plate instead of sharing it with 1 man tou.
so the server misunderstood our order, quite understandably. we were very pleased with the excellent service.
likewise he split for us the ohmi A4 wagyu striploin, done the recommended medium rare. ^^
wagyu was 200g, so after split, it was still a sizeable portion, served separately with sides (jalapeño chilli, leek, king oyster mushroom, cherry tomato) & 4 dip sauces. excellent food, superb service!
ohmi is among the top 3 japanese wagyu, the other 2 being matsuzaka & kobe.
it was very nicely marbled & flavourful, excellent grilling & medium rare. most enjoyable!
we wondered about ordering a second red lobster as initially intended.
lobster was nice, still chilli crab style was not my favourite & it was a large lobster (maybe 650g), so 1/2 was a big enough portion & the “mistake” suited us well, probably wouldn’t want a second order.
we picked through the menu with the very helpful & professional server, and decided on the lobster risotto.
the risotto was excellently al dente. the crustacean stock was very tasty & intense but a tad too salty.
for myself, i prefer the crustacean stock to be tempered with vegetable stock to give much more balanced sweet flavours.
lobster was plentiful. i believe they did use a full lobster & split into 1/2 & served individually to us.
we had a great time watching the laser display & music by MBS & the great views from the terrace.
dinner was S$195 after 50% amex palate discounts for 2, for such an excellent meal with 2 lobsters, ohmi wagyu & scallops carpaccio in wonderful company. be back for more!^^

 
marina bayfront

marina bayfront

 
MBS – Marina Bay Sands

MBS – Marina Bay Sands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Table Wait Time: 0 minute(s)


Date of Visit: Jun 11, 2015 

Spending per head: Approximately $98

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

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The Best Dinner Degustation  Smile Jan 23, 2014   
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Categories : Western Variety | Hotel | Restaurant | Steaks and Grills | Fine Dining

of all my reviews thus far, this was the best dinner! smile

see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/01/23/the-best-dinner-degustation-jaan-on-20jan2014/

went to jaan on 20.1.2014 with a friend couple who are very close to my wife. jaan has been always our favourite degustation restaurant. i had not intended to take photos as i had reviewed jaan when we dine here on 8.5.2013. the prestige menu (summer or winter) usually featured minimum changes, and so i missed out on the 2 amuse bouche photos. the first fingerfood bites platter was somewhat different with chicken samosa etc but the same crackers with humus dip. the second cepes mushroom tea, a very intense tasty soup, was largely the same – still the best soup i had. smile

the freshly baked bread basket came. i picked a brioche (a puffy highly enriched bread with nice crust) & a baguette. they did not have the previous truffle bread, which was brioche with truffle infusion.

when the first dish came – #1 a seafood ceviche – i decided to take photos. i had not paid attention to the prestige menu having assumed it had few changes. the ceviche was par excellence! well so many dishes were. smile it was incredible – it had langoustine, caviar on top another prawn, scallop, oyster, ikura & crab meat. chopstickchopstickchopsticki could eat this again! smile

#2 next was a beetroot melody thing – jelly, sorbet, some garnishes including cheese. there was some toast to go with it.

#3 the 55min 60degC rosemary smoked organic egg with iberico chorizo & proscuito was same as before. i love the texture combination the egg yolk added to the dish & the savoury & slightly salty proscuito made it such a very enjoyable experience. a similar dish was served at au jardin for our recent new year eve dinner on 31.12.2013, and maybe this was something i could try out myself for my home dinners. smile

#4 there was no change to the roasted foie gras dish. my wife though preferred the caramelised pan-fried version, anyway she doesn’t take foie gras much these days. smile

#5 the brill, an atlantic flatfish in the turbot family, came with crayfish foam. it was beautiful to look at, fine & exquisite in taste, but the texture of the brill was not my favourite.

#6 the menu prestige had pigeon as the second main, however 1 friend did not want pigeon so we asked the chef to substitute & requested for the miyazaki dry aged wagyu which was served on the 5-course menu. thanks to our friend, i tried miyazaki wagyu at jaan for the first time! it was fabulous!chopstickchopstickchopstickwe were served a black sesame puree on the side, sounded odd, but tasted perfect with the wagyu. although it is common for western steak cuts to be wet-aged or dry-aged, i have not seen this done for japanese wagyu. don’t know why but jap wagyu are so expensive, and already the flavour is very intense due to the high marbling, so perhaps not common to incur weight loss & intensify flavour further through ageing? anyway i was not complaining as the aged miyazaki wagyu was just exquisite! smile

we had a citrous pre-dessert, which had blood orange etc like a palate cleanser., very nice indeed.

#7 then it was the choconut – different temperatures of chocolates..good but no better than previous versions.

we ended with petit four & coffee/tea. it was such a wonderful dinner! smile

the entire degustation comprised 7 courses (4 appetisers, 2 mains & 1 dessert) PLUS 2 amuse bouche & 1 pre-dessert, so it was almost like a 10 course degustation.

every dish was great, many were superlative, and it was indeed an artisan cuisine, very pretty, fine & refine, utterly pleasurable.
seafood ceviche

seafood ceviche

 
beetroot "melody"

beetroot "melody"

 
55mins 60degC organic egg

55mins 60degC organic egg

 
55mins 60degC organic egg

55mins 60degC organic egg

 
roasted foie gras

roasted foie gras

 
brill with crayfish foam

brill with crayfish foam

 
dry-aged miyazaki wagyu

dry-aged miyazaki wagyu

 
dry-aged miyazaki wagyu

dry-aged miyazaki wagyu

 
dry-aged miyazaki wagyu

dry-aged miyazaki wagyu

 
citruous pre-dessert

citruous pre-dessert

 
choconuts

choconuts

 
 
Recommended Dish(es):  menu prestige
 
Date of Visit: Jan 20, 2014 

Spending per head: Approximately $140(Dinner)

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

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The Best Kaiseki Lunch Smile Nov 17, 2013   
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Categories : Japanese | Sushi/Sashimi

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2013/11/17/superb-lunch-kaiseki-kuriya-dining-on-16nov2013/

had a most enjoyable lunch kaiseki at kuriya dining @ great world city with my wife on saturday 16.11.2013. they served an excellent daily S$58 lunch kaiseki (there was also a S$48 option which has sushi instead of sashimi). smile

this lunch was even better than the S$138 kaiseki dinner on 4.6.2013 i had here! the only caveat is that as the menu changes monthly, some months’ menu maybe more attractive than others, so it makes sense to check the website menu. for this day everything was par excellence!

the first course, sensai (前菜) consisted of angler fish liver, chestnut, pumpkin jelly, reef squid, mushroom. angler fish (ugliest in the world?) liver was such a fine sublime dish, simply delish! chopstickchopstickthe other items – bigfin reef squid etc were all good too. smile

the sashimi moriawase (maguron, sake, kampachi) was very good, sweet & fresh. for 1 set we topped up S$20 for the sashimi & got an exquisite tokusen (特选) sashimi moriawase with chutoro, akaebi, mirugai, uni wrapped with tai (top photo). this was super good value upgrade.chopstick chopstickthe akaebi was the size of botan ebi (or bigger for this one) but not as sweet. we asked for the head to be deepfried. it was excellent every time. perhaps next time we would ask for aburi (torched) chutoro. :-)

the grilled prawn & fish was good if ordinary but the truffle sauce was super.

the simmered cod with plum sauce was another par excellence dish. sweet, firm cod with slight sour sauce, the best! chopstickchopstick
simmered cod in plum sauce

simmered cod in plum sauce

 
chirashi don set (ikura, sake, tai)

chirashi don set (ikura, sake, tai)

 
akaebi (red prawn) head

akaebi (red prawn) head

 
november lunch kaiseki menu

november lunch kaiseki menu

 
tokusen (特选) sashimi moriawase=chutoro, akaebi, mirugai, uni wrapped with tai

tokusen (特选) sashimi moriawase=chutoro, akaebi, mirugai, uni wrapped with tai

 
sashimi moriawase =maguro, kampachi, sake

sashimi moriawase =maguro, kampachi, sake

 
sensai (前菜)=fish liver, chestnut, pumpkin jelly, reef squid, mushroom

sensai (前菜)=fish liver, chestnut, pumpkin jelly, reef squid, mushroom

 
grilled prawn & fish with superb truffle sauce

grilled prawn & fish with superb truffle sauce

 
dessert=macaron,fruits & vanilla ice cream

dessert=macaron,fruits & vanilla ice cream

 
& after so many quality dishes we got a very nice chirashi don (with loads of ikura, sake & tai) to finish off. this lunch was so gooood!

i always wonder why japanese cuisine had such a wide menu & yet almost no dessert, like only fruits & ice cream & maybe jelly…my impression is all japanese dessert are tea dessert of the red bean kind, and the best dessert in tokyo, shinjuku etc are all the western dessert which the japanese do so well, maybe better than most western places.

anyhow we had a good combination of western dessert – a macaron with vanilla ice cream (instead of jam), fruits & 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream).

this an excellent lunch menu that i would return for everytime.
 
Date of Visit: Nov 16, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $80(Lunch)

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

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Best Value Top Quality Lunch Smile Nov 15, 2013   
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Categories : French | European | Restaurant

See my full reviews & photos = http://chefquak.com/2013/11/15/best-value-top-quality-lunch-au-jardin-on-14nov2013/
braised escargot with chorizo

braised escargot with chorizo

 
chocolate fondant

chocolate fondant

 
panfried red snapper

panfried red snapper

 
macha mousse & ice cream

macha mousse & ice cream

 
mud crab salad with winter truffle

mud crab salad with winter truffle

 
white winter truffle

white winter truffle

 
grailled lamb saddle

grailled lamb saddle

 
expresso bombe

expresso bombe

 
popcorn caramel ice cream

popcorn caramel ice cream

 
grilled ribeye

grilled ribeye

 
had 1 of the best value lunch with top quality food & good servings at au jardin on 14.11.2013.smile

had a few degustation dinners at au jardin quite many years ago. they were the best. smile the set lunches were more affordable, and though i didn’t go often, i enjoyed them at full prices when i did. so 50% discount would be a real steal! smile

we decided to order 2 menu decouverte (discovery) & 2 menu tradition. i chose the latter as i do rather good beef myself at home so tried lamb saddle instead.

the mud crab truffle (top photo) looked fabulous with huge truffle servings & judging from my friends’ exclamations, jolly good! i tried a piece of truffle, but didn’t feel it had much flavour though.

anyhow the server told us this white winter truffle was the best c/w other seasons, and it was actually white but oxidised & shrank in the fridge as time past, so they had to use up quickly enough. this was supposedly the price of gold=priciest food in the world. sure didn’t feel like it for this serving size. smile

both my friends picked the grilled ribeye, medium & medium well. sure looked good!

the chocolate fondant (lava cake) & macha mousse & ice cream looked wonderful too.

for menu tradition, both of us took the braised escargot with chorizo. escargot was good but not my favourite, more gentle & fine c/w canned top shells. i not much into the herb esacargot style but like the gratin version at dozo, so thought i tried out the braised version. i loved the chorizo, very “pang”=fragrant.chopstick

for the mains, my friend’s panfried red snapper looked fabulous, beautifully pan seared to golden. my lamb saddle was par excellence, best i tried! chopstickchopstickchopstickquite interesting the miniature tomberries!

dessert were great too. mine was caramel sauce 7 ice cream with popcorn, my friend had the bombe, which was frozen chocolate cake with curd drizzled over & milk froth.

the petit four (means little oven) macarons was not great, far too sweet, though the yellow ones with lemon flavour combined well in taste & moderated the sweetness. smile

the price of lunch with maybank 1 for 1 promo was S$22.50++pax for menu tradition & S$32.5++pax for menu decouverte, nothing less than a steal!
 
Date of Visit: Nov 14, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $32(Lunch)

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

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Sumptuous Semi-buffet  Smile Jun 14, 2013   
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Categories : Hotel

Read my full reviews & photos here=http://chefquak.wordpress.com/2013/06/09/sumptuous-semi-buffet-one-ninety-at-four-seasons-hotel-on-30-5-2013/

It’s my turn to buy the monthly dining quartet meal. & there was a 1 free for 3 paying promotion using DBS card ending May 2013, so we went there for lunch on 30.5.2013, in time for the promotion.

The appetizer & dessert buffet was prized at $38pax, and $48pax if we added a main course on the menu, which we did. On saturdays & sundays, they throw in a Moet champagne buffet at $58pax.

The suckling pig with stuffing (top photo) was nothing short of fabulous – soooo good! it was so flavourful, tasty. I always felt nothing beat chinese roast suckling pig. still do. but this was as good as it gets, perhaps different (as the focus was not just on the crispy skin but overall flavours) but on par.


The langoustine or scampi was sweet, quite good but I actually thought the snow crab legs were better. though not the very best but still very good quality, and a few of us had a few helpings.

The pork terrine in above left photo was the poorer one- could skip as there were so many good dishes. There was a better one with pig ears, which I had forgotten to take picture.

Sushi – most sushi in buffet were a waste of time! This one I only took the mayo prawn & smoked duck (twice I took meaning quite good, haha!).

The pork pate was extremely good – I took 3 pieces. I did not take the pressed foie gras which according to my friends were even better.

The excellent roast duck was almost as good as the suckling pig – both the duck & stuffing – & yet tasted different.

Nobody would believe me after this if I tell people I generally do not go for buffets. Haha!

We tried to cancel the main course but to be fair to the restaurant they said they already prepared the items once the order was placed. The waiting staff here were really exemplary – they even “ta pao” for one of us the main course as we really could not finish.

We thought the main courses might be 1/2 portions like the French servings, but here they came in full portions.

I had a medium rare rack of lamb (above left) - it was very good. I thought it didn’t look great - my first impression was that the sauce might kill it -but it turned out to be quite complementary. the medium rare tenderloin was very good too.

We had the glazed beef ribs – kind of braised then pan seared. I guessed it was good too but braised items were usually too heavy even for normal-sized meals.

My dining companions were thrilled with the dessert spread. They seemed quite average to me though. I was told the chocolate mousse was very good. The macarons were a bit too sweet for me. I did enjoy the cheese spread & condiments though.

I certainly plan to come back for this again (w/o the main course), with or without the promotion.

roast suckling pig with stuffing

roast suckling pig with stuffing

 
snow crab legs

snow crab legs

 
langoustine or scampi – sweet, quite good

langoustine or scampi – sweet, quite good

 
sushi

sushi

 
pork pate below & pressed foie gras on top

pork pate below & pressed foie gras on top

 
excellent roast duck & stuffing

excellent roast duck & stuffing

 
medium rare rack of lamb

medium rare rack of lamb

 
glazed beef ribs – kind of braised then pan seared

glazed beef ribs – kind of braised then pan seared

 
 
Recommended Dish(es):  suckling pig,roast duck,snow crab legs,pork pate,langoustine
 
Date of Visit: May 30, 2013 

Spending per head: Approximately $42(Lunch)

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

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