Saba Shioyaki @ Sangokai Japanese Restaurant

My second visit to Sangokai Japanese Restaurant. The first visit with the gindara was good so my expectations were high this time.

I ordered their Saba Shioyaki (S$12) off from the lunch set menu. The saba is a mackerel flavored with just salt. The lunch set came with miso soup, rice, 2 pcs of gyoza, a side salad and 2 slices on honeydew melon.

The miso soup was surprisingly good. I usually don't like miso soup but Sangokai's version was very flavorful. The side salad was just lettuce, a cherry tomato, carrot strips with mayonaise. The highlight of the set was of course, the mackerel. It doesn't look like it but the fish was quite big. I was only able to finish half of it that the server asked if there was anything wrong with my meal. I think that fish could have been good enough for 2 persons. The fish was very good, fresh and lightly salted. I personally would have enjoyed it with soy sauce but that might have offended the chef and every Japanese person in the restaurant.

Oh, and it's always a good sign when you find a lot of Japanese people eating in a Japanese restaurant. The chances are high that food is good because it's probably as authentic as it can get. Works also for different cuisines.

Sangokai Japanese Restaurant
327 Beach Road
Singapore 199560
Tel: 6396 7009
Fax: 6396 7010
www.sangokai.com.sg

Scallops Ramen @ Aoba Hokkaido Ramen

Another day spent at Vivo City and we decided upon having lunch at Aoba Hokkaido Ramen for two reasons: (1) we love Japanese food and (2) it had a queue which if you've been to Singapore, you'd know it would at least have decent food on the menu.

I had their Scallops Ramen. Actually it was called another name but unfortunately, I didn't save the receipt and they do not seem to have any online presence. I also ordered their Butter Corn as a side dish.

Their ramen was good and tasty although not as tasty as the one at Suki Sushi. There was a respectable amount of scallops in the dish although very tasty. It also had 2 halves of an egg, scallions and a sheet of seaweed. Overall, it was good dish. Perfect for when you need something warm in your tummy. I think their other noodle dishes would be better so you non-vegetarians/pescetarians should try those if you happen to be there.

As for their butter corn, that was a bit of a disappointment. I feel like all they did was open up a can of corn kernels, saute it in a teaspoon of butter and serve. I remember a similar dish from a local restaurant back in the Philippines called Oyster Boy. Their butter corn was served in a hot place topped with a generous amount of butter and cheese. Now that would have been worth the S$3.50 price.

Aoba Hokkaido Ramen
1 HarbourFront Walk 
#01-104/105 VivoCity 
Singapore
Tel: +65 6376 9519


Opening Hours
Daily: 11.30am – 9.45pm

Salmon Steak Sukiyaki/Shabu Shabu @ Sho Teppan

Friday night dinner was a good but exhausting kind. My friend and I ended up at ION Orchard after work and on a Friday night most restaurants had queues a mile long -- okay, I exaggerate but most of them had at least a 15 minute wait. We chose the one with the shortest queue and that's how we wound up at Sho Teppan.

According to their business card, their tag line is "D.I.Y. Teppanyaki". The menu consisted of two parts - teppanyaki (grill or dry) and sukiyaki / shabu shabu (soup based). Both sets have similar food items from wagyu beef to mixed seafood to sliced pork.

I had their salmon steak (of course!) in shabu shabu style. For the shabu shabu style, you can choose to have it with either rice or udon. Along with the rice or udon, each set comes with a vegetables (assorted greens, carrots, mushrooms and tofu), salad and raw egg. The raw egg is supposed to be your dipping sauce. Their menu said that it helps tone down the heat from your cooked meat. That didn't seem to appetizing for me so I asked their staff what else I can do with the egg. They told me that you can choose to mix it in your soup. Now that seemed like the better option.

Overall, the food was okay. The best thing about it was the soup - tasty and bottomless (they add more as it evaporates due to the cooking). The salmon was cooked in the boiling soup but it wasn't as tasty. Not pre-marinated with anything. The salad was just more lettuce, a cherry tomato and weird looking dressing. The worst thing? The heat and steam coming from cooking your own meal. Not very comfortable I tell you. But then, that's the attraction isn't it? You don't really come for the food but for the novelty of it.

The salad, the udon and the raw egg. Bow.

My salmon (I must say it was a generous serving) and my friend's assorted seafood.

Sho Teppan

2 Orchard Turn

#B3-19 ION Orchard

Singapore 238801

T: 6509 9969

www.creativeeateries.com.sg

Kakiage Soba @ Sushi Tei

After a day a hot day on the beach and cold hour in a movie theatre, nothing beats a good bowl of Japanese soba.

My friend and I decided to have Japanese for dinner at Sushi Tei in VivoCity. I had tried this restaurant ages ago but never went back. Not because of the food but because of the long queue it always seems to have -- which is supposedly a good sign when dining in Singapore. I say supposedly because some restaurants with long queues I don't like. Oh well, to each his own.

I ordered their Kakiage Soba (S$10) which is basically soba noodles in soya sauce soup with a side of fried vegetables and prawn patty. The soba noodles in soya sauce was good but the kakiage was too dry and floury for me. When you order this dish, you can actually choose between soba, ramen or udon. Each noodle gives you a different soup: miso or pork-based. Since I don't like miso and well, pork you know I can't have -- left me with the choice of soba.

And of course when in a Japanese restaurant, who can resist a plate of salmon sashimi. Sushi Tei's was very fresh and generously sized.

Sushi Tei
VivoCity
1 Harbour Front Walk
#02-152/153 VivoCity
Singapore 098585
www.sushitei.com

Telephone +65 6376 9591
Facsimile +65 6376 9592


Opening Hours
11.30am to 10.00pm daily
(last order 9.30pm)

Gindara Terriyaki @ Sangokai Japanese Restaurant

After weeks of Beerthai, Astons and Subway, my lunch buddy and I ventured out away from our regular haunts. We walked a few more blocks from the office as usual and discover this quaint Japanese restaurant called Sangokai.

I ordered their Gindara Terriyaki and a side dish of salmon sashimi. The gindara, although small in serving size, was very tasty and fresh. I had to portion the fish well or else I'd be eating only rice for the second half of my meal.

The salmon sashimi (pictured below) was also very good. Really, unless you serve bad fish, you can't go wrong with sashimi. One serving, for $3.80, had three thick slices of fresh salmon. Good enough serving size for a side dish.

Sangokai Japanese Restaurant
327 Beach Road
Singapore 199560
Tel: 6396 7009
Fax: 6396 7010
www.sangokai.com.sg

Seafood Ramen in Shoyu Soup @ Suki Sushi

I was out sick yesterday and after the doctor's visit I dropped by the nearest Japanese place which happened to be Suki Sushi at SingPost Centre.

I was thinking of getting some salmon sashimi but when I got there thought twice about it. Wasn't really sure about eating raw food on a sensitive stomach. I decided on something hot and soothing for the belly. Enter: Seafood Ramen with Shoyu Sauce.

At Suki Sushi, when you order your ramen you choose between 3 soups: (1) pork broth -- which obviously is a no, (2) miso soup -- which if you've read my previous entry is also a no for me, and lastly (3) Shoyu or in simpler terms soy sauce -- which was the winner! And a good choice at that since one of the best parts about this ramen was the Shoyu soup. It was oh so tasty and flavorful. The ramen noodles were okay but I would have gladly gone without it. The seafood in the soup were: salmon, squid, prawns and faux fish. It also had half a boiled egg, some greens -- not sure though what kind they were, and some brown things that I didn't taste coz I didn't recognize them in the first place.

Along with my ramen, I ordered their ebi tempura. My love of ordering at work here. I just knew I couldn't finish it all but I really wanted some tempura and well, you can't order just a piece or two so I was wasteful and ordered one serving (5 prawns) for myself.

In conclusion, I'd go back and just get their Seafood Ramen in Shoyu soup. I wonder if I can convince them to nix the ramen and just give me the soup.

27 Oct 2010, UPDATE: I dropped by Suki Sushi last night and it seems that they no longer give you your choice of soup when ordering their ramen. Now, their ramen comes with the pork-based soup while their udon comes with "clear soup" -- whatever that is. You can only choose your soup when you order their Char Siew Ramen/Udon. Boo for me since the char siew is a no-no. Sadness.

Suki Sushi
B1-08 SingPost Centre
10 Eunos Road 8
408600 Singapore
T: 6746 8192
Operating Hours: 12noon to 10pm
www.sukigroup.com.sg