Finally, we settled for a flatfish sashimi. We chose the smallest in the tank and it cost us W20000. The stall tender sliced the fish swiftly and pieces of pink meat was laid neatly onto a styrofoam plate. We were then asked to go into the small stall to eat our sashimi. It was actually the space he used to kill and slice the fish. It was a bit gross so we paid and found a place to sit down to eat. The texture of the meat was tender. I especially liked the meat around its fins. As for taste, the meat was tasteless. It was a big plate for two of us and we got super cold eating in the cold weather. Hence we tried to find a restaurant to see if they could cook it for us.

We were lucky to enter this stall managed by an elderly couple. The stall is located by the staircase of the overhead bridge. We ordered kimchi stew and requested the ajuma to put the fish slices into the stew. She was very kind and didn’t grumble, scold or charge us extra. The kimchi stew was accompanied with Korean black rice (Heuk Mi Ssal 흑미쌀) and cost only W4000. We had a set each and the hot stew warmed our chilled bones.

Here’s what we ordered:

The banchan themselves were already very good! The kimchi was heavenly and very spicy. The bibimbab was really worth mentioning. I’ve never eaten such good bibimbab before! The vegetables were fresh and crunchy. Other than the usual spicy-sweet chilli pepper sauce (gochujang) used to mix in with the sticky rice and vegetables, the ajuma added in very very aromatic level 10 sesame oil! It was a taste of a lifetime!

The Okdom Gui (fish) was made sweet and spicy. The meat is a little soft but very sweet and tasty. Okdom is one of Jeju’s local products. The Jeju Okdom have reddish skin, translucent eyes and have four to five white tail fins. They are caught along the coast of Jeju and Japan. They are highly nutritious and flavourful due to the rich minerals present in Jeju waters.

The pork cutlet was surprisingly huge! It could easily be shared between 2-3 people!

One more specialty about the restaurant is that they used Korean black rice (Heuk Mi Ssal 흑미쌀) mixed with white rice! It became a pretty purple-ebony bowl of rice.

This restaurant is really worth visiting if you’re on Jeju island!

Restaurant: 다올식당
Address: On the way to Manjanggul Cave (5 minutes away from cave)
Tel: 064-784-7049

Hungry and cold, we tried our luck in this shop that was still open. We initially wanted to order only kimchi stew and bibimbab but the kind ajuma was saying we do not need to order as we won’t be able to finish. Not long after, we were served with 18 banchan, 3 hot stews, 2 grilled fish and 2 bowls of rice. We were truly shocked but yet at the same time amazed at what was laid before our eyes. One of the stews was piping hot steamed egg which was super delicious. The other was my favourite kimchi stew and the third was bean paste stew. The grilled fish was very fragrant and its meat sweet. The rest of the 18 banchan were equally tantalising. We really tried our very best to finish everything on the table and we succeeded. We paid W10 000 each for this very filling meal.

The eatery stall front

Our food

Restaurant: 한밭식당
Tel: 284-3367

First of all, I would like to share on Hello Kitty Town Restaurant and Amusement in Seoul to all the Hello Kitty fanatics out there. The directions I had were a little complicated and we took quite a while to find the place. We tried asking some passerby but they had no idea about the place. So, here’s a video I made on how to get to the place:

Here’s a more detailed note on how to get to the place:
1. Seoul Metro Line 3 (Orange Line)  Madu station Exit #5
2. Walk straight after coming out of the exit for about 200m. You should see New Core Outlet on your right side.
3. Cross the big traffic intersection diagonally to Lotte Castle. (You may cut through the carpark to get to the pink building too.)
4. Walk straight down for about 100m until you see the statue in the video.
5. Make a left turn and walk straight for about 300m. You will pass by two mini marts (one on left and one on right).
6. Head towards the pink building and you will see Hello Kitty Town banners on the building.
7. Walk to Western Tower III lift lobby and take the lift to Level 3.

Here’s what we ordered:

The portion is well-sufficient for one person. The food is so-so. When I requested for chilli flakes and cheese, they gave me some fragrant curry powder and said they didn’t have what I wanted.

Menu: Download

Child admission is 7000 Won for the use of play area. There is also a small area for purchasing Hello Kitty gifts. There is nothing much interesting for the adults. Neither are the food enticing.

The Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae (Hongik University station Exit #5) area is a more attractive place for Hello Kitty fans.

Restaurant: Hello Kitty Town Restaurant and Amusement (Seoul)
Address: 경기도 고양시 일산동구 장항동 868 웨스턴타워 B동 T3 3층
Tel: 031-904-1772
Opening Hours: 11 am to 9 pm
Website:  http://www.hellokittytown.co.kr/index.php

After finishing the pancake, the adjacent shop was selling Korean Fried Chicken!! The wife was selling the pancake and the husband was frying chicken inside. Without much hesitation, we walked in and ordered a soy sauce flavored chicken.

A kind lady customer offered us 3 pieces of fried chicken while we were waiting for our soy sauce chicken. Koreans are so kind!!!

We ordered a glass of beer (₩3000) to go together with our chicken. I think it was a whole chicken that was served to us. Compared to the Korean Fried Chicken I ate in Singapore, this is so much cheaper. The taste is comparable to the one at Kko Kko Nara but at a much cheaper price.

Restaurant: 꼬꼬나치컨 Chicken and Hof
Address: near Sunrise Peak, Seongsan Illchubong, Jeju, South Korea

They offer delivery too.

The restaurant was located by the bay and the setting was authentically Korean. You have to take off your shoes before entering the restaurant. The floor had a heating system and everybody spoke Korean. It was quite difficult telling the ajuma what we wanted.

Nevertheless, here’s what we had today:

Seafood soup (해물탕), fish stew in soy and spices (생선조림) and fish sashimi (회). The seafood soup was sweet with the seawater aroma. The fish in the fish stew was very sweet but it’s meat was a little soft. The spiced stew was very fragrant and it went so well with the warm white sticky rice. The fish sashimi was arranged in order of its texture. I guessed it was arranged according to the different parts of the fish.

The restaurant was very kind to deep fry some sweet potato tempura for our lovely 7-year old child as she didn’t eat sashimi. They were so kind!

We spent a total of ₩117000. On our way back to Travellers Hotel, it snowed. Lovely day!

Tel: 796-1608
(enter the tel number to search in GINI GPS)

Just before going for rehearsals today, I had dinner at Shimbashi. They specialize in soba and I always see a chef making soba behind the glass window whenever I walk by. So today I finally had the opportunity to give it a try!

Here’s what I ordered:

This is tempura seiro ($17.80). I found the buckwheat noodles not cold enough. However it had a very good chewy texture and I enjoyed it very much. The soba dip appeared to be a little salty but that’s still quite acceptable.

I also ordered a salmon sashimi ($9.80) which doesn’t impress me at all. It wasn’t a good cut from the salmon considering the hefty price and it lacked the sweet fishy salmon aroma when eaten. Disappointing.

Lastly, after I finished my noodles, the waitress came with this red little pot filled with soba-you (the broth used to cook soba). She poured the soba dip back into its container leaving just enough to flavour the hot broth she was going to pour in. It was nice!

The Houji cha ($1.20) I had was one of the best tea I ever had in a Japanese restaurant. The temperature was not too hot and the tea was rich in flavour, yet not bitter.

My dining experience was heightened as there was a Japanese man slurping his soba away. It was a joy to watch him eat his noodles so heartily. I would definitely be coming back for more soba!!!

Prices exclude 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Restaurant: Shimbashi Soba
Address: 23 Serangoon Central #B1-02 NEX Shopping Centre Singapore 556083
Tel: 6634 4786
Website: www.res.com.sg

It was a clean place and the air-con was comfortable. The interior gave a cosy feeling. Here’s what we ordered:

The crackers tasted spicy! I was expecting some really normal-tasting crackers but these proved me otherwise!

The tom yum came in a mini ceramic furnace. It was POWERFUL! It was spicy enough yet not chocking to the throat (at least for me). The ingredients (fresh mushrooms, prawns, squids, fish) were generous. However, just to note, the fish in the soup is dory fish. So for non-dory lovers, you would have wasted big chunks of dory slices. I know of many people who cannot take the taste of dory. I’m a fish lover, so dory’s ok for me!

The minced pork with century egg was too full of the taste of basil leaves. I don’t really like basil leaves. Hence, I only took a piece of the century egg. The egg was tasteless compared to the traditional century egg porridge. So if you do not like the century egg taste, don’t be afraid to try this.

The fish was well-sliced and its presentation was good. The meat wasn’t overcooked and I loved the meat texture. The slices of fish made it easy to eat too.

The green curry chicken wasn’t the type of curry I was expecting. Probably I was too accustomed to the taste of the ready-cook pack by Dancing Chef. This green curry chicken was again too full of basil leaves’ flavour which I don’t fancy.

The toufu was average. Though toufu tasted plain and the same everywhere, the restaurant could have spent some time creating a special dip sauce to go with it. The peanut dip wasn’t that good to leave an impression in me.

Clams! Oh clams! Vongole! My favorite! The clams were considerably fat and juicy but lack a “wow” factor. I am always looking out for that “sea” aroma in shellfish – the kind of taste that makes you feel like you’re just by the sea eating freshly-harvested clams.

The stir-fried vegetables were good. I like the wok-hei it had and the various vegetables were evenly cooked – crunchy ones remaining crunchy and the soft ones juicy.

The Thai milk tea was refreshing and cools the throat after having much heaty food. The tea was aromatic.

Thank you boss for the red ruby dessert! It wasn’t reflected in the bill!  It was very nice and the red rubies were very crunchy and full of coconut flavour. However the red rubies were all stuck together and doesn’t give a good visual appeal or the ease to eat.

Bought home chicken wings and tom yum soup for my mum. She said the tom yum soup was good. However the chicken wings lacked of flavour. Probably it wasn’t well marinated as she said the wings were tasteless – not salty and neither were they spicy. She also commented the wings were small, but I thought they were normal in size? She probably expected more after drinking the aromatic tom yum soup.

The restaurant had a good flow of customers on a Friday night. So you may want to make reservations. The restaurant also serves steamboat and bbq (grill). Hence, if there are customers having bbq, you will walk out “fumed”. The boss may have to look into their fume hoods and ventilation.

Plain rice – $0.80
Towel – $0.30

There is no GST or service charge.

Restaurant: Charcoal Thai
Address: 7 Simon Road Singapore 545894
Tel: 6288 6260
Opening Hours:
Mon – Fri: 12pm – 2 pm; 530pm – 10pm
Sat – Sun: 12pm – 10pm
Email: charcoalthai@gmail.com 

A well-thought designed counter and all interior decorations gave a cosy feel.

The interior is very cosy and clean. They are just newly opened for 4 months, so please do bear with them for any glitches. They are probably under-staff and hence we waited for quite long for our orders.

set lunch menu

Soup of The Day - Pumpkin Soup

The Pumpkin soup tasted healthy and it was smooth. The portion was just nice before the main course.

chicken chop

aglio olio with prawns

I had the aglio olio and I quite like it! The pasta was al dente and the prawns were succulent. Have I mentioned before that the quality of a western food  restaurant is to try how tasty their aglio olio is? I love it! It could have been better if they serve chilli flakes or Tabasco.

cream puffs

The cream puffs were a surprise as he brought out and place them on our table. They were bite size topped with a piece of fresh blueberry. The cream inside was chilled and it wasn’t too sweet! It was very very good!

Set lunch – $15.90+
The cream puffs were complimentary by my friend’s friend.
Full menu: http://www.figosgrail.com/menu/food/

I’ll definitely be going back to taste more of their food!

Restaurant: Figos Grail
Address: 308 Tanjong Katong Road Singapore 437091
Opening Hours: 11am – 3pm; 6pm – 11pm
Tel/Fax: 6344 4807
Website: http://www.figosgrail.com

Some of the prices:

One duck – $40
Soup of the day – $16.50
Hotplate Tofu – $10.80
Poached Spinach – $10.80
Kangkong Beancure (M) – $12
Sweet Celery $10.30
Cereal Prawn – $18
Additional duck heads – $1 each
Plain Rice – $0.90
Towel – $0.30

You may request for the gravy for the duck to be served separate with the duck. Do take note that if you like duck head and neck, you have to tell them you want them. Otherwise, they won’t give it to you when you order one whole duck.

Prices exclude 10% service charge and 7% GST. Pay with UOB credit card to get a rebate voucher!

Long queue expected. Do be there early or make reservations.

Restaurant: Dian Xiao Er
Address: 10 Tampines Central 1, #04-07/08, Tampines 1, Singapore 529536
Te: 6783 6068
Website: http://www.dianxiaoer.net/

The mini van came to pick the 9 of us up at our designated location and we left Singapore customs at about 4pm. Customs was smooth on a Friday afternoon. It took slightly more than an hour to reach Kukup. Mr Lim (our host) was already waiting for us there! We got down the mini van and he walked us up to an air-conditioned restaurant for our seafood dinner. It was already getting dark at 6pm and tide was low. We could smell the sea and the buildings are just by the sea. Mr Lim helped us take our wine and beer to his resort to chill while we settle for our dinner.

It was okay only. Not very impressed with the tastes. The prawns were a little small, and the crab wasn’t the meaty Sri-Lanka crabs. The tofu dish and fish were good. Perhaps expectations were a little too high for this meal as I’ve heard people telling me how good and fresh Kukup seafood is.

Day 1 Dinner

After we finished our food, Mr Lim came to pick us to his resort. It is actually one of his houses and turned it into a homestay experience. Actually there are many such homestay in the same area. [contacts of home stay are at the end of this post] Mr Lim led us in on his bicycle. All the residents there either cycled or rode on motorcycles.

The sky was dark and we were walking on narrow walkways that did not have any barricades. One could easily fall into the mud during low-tide and into the waters during high-tide. In case you are wondering, the houses are build on concrete poles on the seabed. So when the tide is high, the water is just below the house and when it’s low-tide, you could see all the mud and everything underneath the house.

It was a confusing way to walk in and hence we didn’t venture out after we reached the house. I was totally impressed with the cleanliness of the house and the facilities! It provides everything a house has and was air-conditioned. It was so comfortable and cosy, you would be quickly feeling at-home.

Through the big porch into the gate, it was a big living room. The two mahjong tables and tiles caught my attention when I stepped in. There were 3 doors to the bedrooms along the hallway. The first two bedrooms had 3 to 4 double decker beds and the third bedroom had only 1 double decker bed with a space to lay mattresses on the floor. The guys took the first room (for security reasons) and the ladies the second room. We left the third room empty. Then it led to the dining area. Adjacent to the dining area was one seating-toilet, one squating-toilet, a bathroom and two external basins. There was a back door that led to the kitchen and a balcony.

Mr Lim then showed us how to turn on the TV, karaoke set and briefed us on some safety issues. He left us and said he would be back at 830pm for BBQ. Before we could really settle down, another man walked in. This man was selling firecrackers! He had 2 pieces of chart displaying the pictures of the various types of firecrackers he had. We bought a box of crackers (60 sticks), one 25-shot fireworks and 3 Kong Ming lantern. It cost us a total of RM$100.

We settled down and played Monopoly Deal and before we knew it, Mr Lim had already starting BBQ-ing and called us to the balcony area for another round of feasting! This time, the food was really good. But I was already full from dinner and there was a lot of leftovers. Mr Lim cooked the chicken wings really tender and the Muar otak, sambal sotong, sambal stingray and prawns were really delicious. The prawns were huge! I really enjoyed the prawns. We poured out the soft drinks prepared by Mr Lim in the fridge and put in the ice. Everything was already prepared and we felt so pampered. After the soft drinks, red and white wine came. (We bought it in JB after the customs.)

Mr Lim kept away the food we couldn’t finish and said we can use the heat from the BBQ pit to heat them up if we wanted to eat later in the night. Eventually all the food was finished up by the guys at midnight. After BBQ, we had a lot of fun with our firecrackers at the balcony. Mr Lim even had bricks prepared for the firecrackers! Then it was shower and KTV time! We slept at about 3am.

Next day, we woke up at 830am. Mr Lim had already prepared breakfast for us! There was milo, kopi-O, nasi lemak, kueh-kueh and dough fritters. We took breakfast, washed up and then it was time to visit the fish farm. He guided us on this bicycle again to the jetty. This time, he detoured to the jetty, walking along the inner part of the Kukup Laut to show us the people and temples. We took a boat out to the fish farm that took less than 10 minutes.

At the fish farm, we walked along the shaky wooden planks. There was a guy telling us the fish farm is worth a few million ringgit. Then he scooped up a baby shark, a horseshoe crab, puffer fish and a archer fish mini “show”. We stayed there for about an hour before taking the boat back. We went back to the house to pack our stuff and checked-out. Mr Lim’s wife was already in the house doing the cleaning up and there will be another group arriving at 2pm. He mentioned that the place is usually full over the weekends.

We then headed to the restaurant beside the jetty (non-air-conditioned). This time, I thought the food was much much better! The prawns were bigger. However, there was so many houseflies, we were busy fanning them away.

Day 2 Lunch

After lunch, Mr Lim got the mini van to pick us up for our departure. We thanked him whole-heartedly and left the place feeling refreshed and happy! Mr Lim’s service left a good impression on us! Highly recommended to relax and spend time with family or friends.

Homestay contacts:

The first row was our host – Mr Lim Eng Seng.

The rest are other home stay contacts I took while walking.

The interior was cosy and we were served iced water promptly. There was free bread but it was hard and tasteless. I thought the olive oil and balsamic vinegar could add some taste but it was equally tasteless. We ordered and our food came quickly. The wood oven baked thin crust pizza were one of the first dishes to be served.

These were what we ordered:

Fillet Barramundi $28
Pineapple Pizza $24.50
Wurstel Gorgonzola $25
Polanta $24
Scialatielli Amalfi $21.50
Chardonnay Chile $48

The pineapple pizza had thin slices of ham spreaded on top of the thin crust pizza. They were juicy and not too dry. The Wurstel Gorgonzola was too normal. Besides the well-made crust, the tomato paste spread and the sausages tasted too average. The fillet barramundi was seasoned with pepper lightly and baked. It was a good choice if you’re going healthy. The Polanta which was supposed to be corn cake was disappointing as it wasn’t of much corn taste. It was a really small piece and it was nothing special. The Scialatielli Amalfi was probably the best dish. The mussels were fresh and the seafood tomato pasta were delicious. Our white wine went well with everything.

Prices exclude 7% GST and 10% service charges.

Restaurant: Limoncello Pizza & Grill
Address: 95 Robertson Quay, Rivergate, #10-19/20, Singapore 238256
Tel: 6634 5117 (Reservations advised)
Fax: 6782 8885
Opening Hours: Mon: 6-10:30pm
Tue-Thu: 12-2:30pm, 6-10:30pm
Fri-Sat: 12-2:30pm, 6-11pm
Sun: 12-3pm, 5:30-10:30pm
Website: http://chope.com.sg/restaurant/limoncello/

Today, my usual clique and I finally went to eat laksa steamboat buffet that we have been talking about for months. We went there for lunch today and there was only three tables on a public holiday. It was quite good as we were served promptly and the place was not stuffy and “steamy”. Best of all, we were sitting under the cooling air-con unit.

The restaurant is clean and when you step in, the floors were not oily nor was the air smelly. You can choose 2 from 5 soup base – Signature Laksa Broth, Sze Chuan Spicy Ma-La, Chicken, Herbal or Seafood Soup. We had the laksa and herbal soup today. The laksa was fragrant but a pity as it was not spicy at all. The herbal soup was a good contrast to the thick laksa soup. However, the laksa soup didn’t get too “jelat”. It just got a little tad salty at the end. I was disappointed that they didn’t serve any laksa leaves to go with the laksa broth. Neither was there peanut sauce for a steamboat fanatic. They only had coriander, chilli oil, sesame oil, chilli padi, sambal chilli and soy sauce at their condiments table.

Besides the usual steamboat items, I was actually impressed with their readily cooked food – cold jellyfish slices, prawn paste deep-fried chicken wings, deep fried bean curd in Thai chill sauce, deep-fried wanton, spring roll and chicken nuggets. Take note that these were only cooked upon order, so the chicken wings were not cold! The wings were not dry and hard. And so were the bean curd and nuggets.

I liked their choices of tau kee, tau pok and tau pi that goes very well with laksa. Not to forget – cockles!! Neither of my friends ate them! But I totally enjoyed the cockles. How could one eat laksa without cockles???

Request for the table under the air-con unit, otherwise you’ll be sweating away.

Buffet – $18.80 per pax
Wet tissue – $0.30
Lemon Tea – $2

Prices exclude 10% service charge. There is no GST.

Restaurant: King’s Laksa Steamboat (King’s Gourmet Pte Ltd)
Address: 17 Teck Chye Terrace Singapore 545724
Tel: 6287 8010 (Reservations needed for dinner)
Opening Hours: 11 am to 11 pm

My favourite was the braised e-fu noodles with Boston lobster. I would expect lobster to be tasteless when cooked in this manner. However, it was so sweet and full of the sea flvour on every strand of noodle, sauce and the tender lobster meat itself. Suckling pig did not have the foul “piggy” taste so I could eat it! Shark’s fin was generously seen in every of our bowls. The fish was well accompanied with the  fragrant soy sauce. It was the first time I’ve eaten Alaska king crab too. This is where the authentic long crab stick meat come from! We were given a special pair of scissors each and I had fun eating them!

As for the dim sum I had with CP on another occasion, there is nothing worth mentioning. Dim sum is obviously not their forte.

Har Gao $4.20
Steamed dumpling with scallop $4.20
Siew Mai $3.80
Deep fried banana ball with red bean paste $4.20
Deep fried scallop in yam paste $3.80
Baked Mini Egg tarts $3.80
Pan-fried turnip cake $3.20
Steam ricesheet roll with shrimp $4.80

Dim sum items at 50% off from Mon to Sat and 40% off on Sundays and PH.

Tea/Water/Nut/Towel at $2 per pax.
Prices exclude 7% GST and 10% service charges.

Restaurant: Ah Yat Seafood
Address: 200 Turf Club Road, #03-01, Main Grandstand, Turf City, Singapore 287994
Tel: 68832112 (reservations recommended)
Fax: 68832022

Not bad Penang food, but definitely not the nicest I’ve eaten. Char Kway Tiao does not have the “wok-hei”. Duck mee sua which I had was no doubt tasty, but they could have been more generous on the herbs used to broil the soup. Fruit rojak was not bad. Belacan chicken wings tasted nothing near to belacan.

Char Kway Tiao – $8.30
Prawn Mee – $8.30
Mee Sua Kor – $8.80
Duck Mee Sua – $9.50
Char Mee – $8.30
Rojak – $6
Belacan Chicken Wings – $6.30

Conclusion: An expensive place to satisfy your sudden craving of Penang food, but definitely not a place you would think to re-visit.

Try Penang Food Restaurant instead.

Prices exclude 10% service charges. No GST.

Restaurant: Penang Kitchen
Address: 5 Coronation Road, Coronation Arcade, #01-05, Singapore 269406
Tel: 64666193
Opening Hours: Wed-Sun 11am-9:30pm; Mon 11am-9:30pm
Email: penangkitchencatering@gmail.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6335032923