itadakimasu (いただきます?)

Japanese traditionally begin a meal with the phrase itadakimasu (いただきます^?)  which literally means "I humbly receive". So we found ourselves at Plaza Singapura one evening and N brought S to Itacho Sushi for dinner. (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Itacho-Sushi/158303486802)

We were drawn to their value-for-money menus (typical Singaporeans), freshness* (according to N*) and were educated on the ettiquette of sushi eating.

According to this "instruction" manual, Japanese generally do not mix the soya sauce with wasabi . (I am Chinese and I love my wasabi, so, fail) and you are supposed to dip the "raw" side of the sushi into the sauce and put that side into your mouth! (new things we learn everyday!) Oh and you put the whole sushi into your mouth to preserve the integrity of the sushi.

Right.

So here's a sneak peek of what we ordered from their menu, which has a rather impressive spread. There was a 50% off certain items too!


Smoked Salmon with Black Pepper & Salmon with Seafood & Veg Salad Roll



Yellow Tail Special in Original, Sea Salt, Citrus Junos Sauce, Black Truffle Sauce & Oil


 And here's more of what we ordered in "real" life.


Salmon Seafood & Veg Salad Sushi

The Yellow Tails and Smoked Salmon

The yellow tail sushi didn't really look as fantastic as they did on the poster, but they were so yummy! Because we've decided to split the different ones, S had the truffle oil one, which she noted that the hint of truffle was so light, it was barely taste-able. (yes, truffles are expensive.) The citrus one was bursting with flavour though! The fish was really fresh, and that really compensated for everything...

Mango Roll

 N had this allllll to himself! They disappeared really quick too, 2 pops and they were gone. The mango was well chilled, sweet and succulent, nicely contrasting to the thus-far savoury fare that was on the roll out.

Una (Sea Urchin) Sushi

S said the una tasted like the ocean, and meant it in a rather surprisingly amused way. It was very flavourful, and wonderfully fresh. It was just too oceany for N though...

Bluefin Fatty Tuna Belly

This was immaculately tasty (read: fatty) and sooo rich. S adored it totally while N felt that the cuts could be a little more chilled and generous (esp. with a $22 price tag for 3 smallish pieces) S was busy having a private moment savouring it (and ignoring N). S also noted that there were 'veins' found in the cuts, which deducted precious brownie points from the otherwise indulgent affair.
.

Katsu Beef Rice (Curry Beef)

 Simple, starchy, and with a nicely made curry sauce. From all that they've seen so far, both N and S agreed that it was too simple a dish to over-rave about. There was too much rice, and the ingredients (beef  and sauce) were a little on the insufficient side. (We are being polite) One good thing about this though - it didn't have the salty, just-add-water feel to the sauce. It was sufficiently thick and jolly, which redeemed the dish a little.

Katsu Beef Rice (to be eaten)

The verdict?
Quality and freshness is always paramount, especially when raw food is involved. And in this case - sushi, Itacho doesn't disappoint on both counts. Packaged with reasonable pricing, there's definitely reason to come back again, which we most certainly will, with friends!

Score: 8/10

Popeyes @ The Singapore Flyer

Nick woke up oneday and decided that he wanted fried chicken for dinner.
It was one of those days.
And so we (read: N) did some online research and shortlisted two places - Arnolds and Popeyes.
As Arnolds was located at City Plaza @ Geylang, we decided on Popeyes, which is a more central location (less dodgey) and also since S hasn't tried it yet.
In honour of Hari Raya Puasa (which contributed to our long weekend), we decided to order the Ramadan Set Meal.


Popeyes @ The Singapore Flyer



The Ramadan Set Meal @ $15.90

What's in it:
4 pieces of chicken - we ordered 2 chicken breast meat and 2 thighs
2 Buttermilk Biscuits with Strawberry Jam
2 sides - mash & coleshaw
Cajun Cheese fries
2 Coke light

The verdict:

The Chicken: the chicken breast and thighs were succulent and tender, especially the thighs. It is very commendable of a fast food chain to have tender chicken breast, an otherwise challenging piece of meat to cook. It was juicy and tender. The thighs, according to S, was glorious. N had all the breast meat, just cos. The battered skin was crispy and very tasty. Whatever they used to marinate the chicken, it was DELICIOUS! We both loved the chicken. Well done, Popeyes!

2 Buttermilk Biscuits: Contrary to what we usually know about biscuits - dry and crunchy, these buttermilk biscuits are like scones, but softer and N LOVES them! And since he loves them so much, S gave hers to him! (Also because she didn't like the floury taste to it)
So he slathered on heaps of strawberry jam and devoured them quite happily.

Mash Potato: Found the brown sauce ok, poured over regular mash, it was like any other fast food mash. I wonder what happened to the KFC brown sauce in the 80's and 90's which seemed to have mutated over the years and became less tasty. Something has happened to the recipe, don't you think? It tastes less... palatable.

Coleslaw: Can't go wrong with coleslaw. Yummy mayo sinfulness. Even the shredded cabbage cannot compensate for its dressing. But we are not complaining. It's a good palatte cleanser.

Cajun Cheese Fries: S L-O-V-E-S the cheddar cheese gravy poured over the cajun flavoured fries, which weren't very crispy but tasted good anyways. The cajun flavouring hit her soft spot and the skin reminded us of A&W curly fries. Oh the fast food foodness which the Gen Y kids today are missing out on! A&W! We almost feel sorry for you, if not for the Carls Junior fries, which we both adored and had graced the fast food scene in the recent years. On a side note, we must say that the fries at Carls Junior is dope. Thick, crispy fries with bits of potato skin as evidence that it is not "processed" like Maccas fries. Maccas, do not feel sad. We still like you. We just like other fries better.

The Soft Drinks: Not fizzy enough. S: Personally, I don't like soft drinks, period. Especially not deflated Coke Light or any soft drinks for that matter. But it fulfilled its role as a thirst quencher.

On the whole, we loved the chicken and cajun cheese fries. N loves the biscuits and the sides were good accompaniments to our junk food dinner.We give the meal 7.5/10 for its value-for-money and its tender, juicy chicken. A should-try, if you haven't tried Popeyes yet!

Fun Fact #1101: Popeyes are from Louisana, New Orleans, USA where they also have the famous seafood jambalaya, featured in Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (Our favouritest show on Food Network Asia).

House @ Dempsey

And that's how the story goes.



Nick asked Sandy on a Fri-date and with the fish/seafood theme in mind, he came up with...

DEMPSEY HOUSE!

And if you didn't already know, the perfect way to start the long weekend ahead is a Fridate (and a lovely dinner).

So off we went to House and ordered...

The Legendary Truffle Fries

Squid Ink Paella

Red Snapper

We decided to share, because food always tastes better when shared and ordered a side and two mains. Complete with a jug of Hoe Garden.

Nick did some research online and found some good reviews about the fish dishes @ House. We tossed a coin between the Fish & Chips and Red Snapper and from the pictures, it's pretty obvious which dish won.

Suckered by the word "legendary", we ordered the truffle fries since S loves truffle and N loves to be suckered by grand-sounding words such as 'legendary'. However, when you have a name as big as legendary, you'd better make sure it is damn good. The fries were fresh from the fryer and drenched in truffle oil, which could have been more aromatic. We could taste abit of the truffle but I would have to say that it is a little disappointing. However, the crispiness of the fries made up for the lack of truffle goodness.The verdict: 6/10

Between the red snapper and squid ink paella, the latter won hands down (according to S's taste buds). While N agreed that it was good, she absolutely LOVED the dish. The risotto has a claypot characteristic to it, especially the crispy bits that were a little burnt and stuck to the pan. Squid ink was generously coated over every grain, which has a chewy consistency. The seafood was tender. fresh and  well cooked, coupled with tiny strips of cheese for that added richness baked over the risotto. The verdict? 8.5/10 - from both foodies.

Let's not forget the red snapper, which did not pale in comparison. Under the succulent, tender fish laid a bed of green soba in a gravy, which has an interesting fusion tangy-ness. The sausages thrown into the broth added a nice savoury, meaty flavour into the sauce while the fish and clams struck a good balance. S found the soba a little too soggy after soaking up the gravy and the potato cubes were just cooked, which could have been softer. However, the red snapper was the saving grace. And the gravy. The fish was cooked to perfection which made this dish a 8 out of 10, according to N. S would only give it a 6, just 'cos she is biased.

All in all, the dinner was perfect -  good food, good company, cosy ambience and quirky interiors. - what more could we ask for, really?

We would have tried the $2.50 tau sa pau if we weren't that full. But we'll save that for another time.

Cheers!
Have a wonderful long weekend and Selemat Hari Raya, our dear friends!

Signing off with all the love in the world (for food),
Us.

Peperoni Pizzeria

So far, we've been to 2 outlets - Binjai Park and Zion Road and we are happy to conclude, the pizzas and pastas from both outlets have been consistently good.
We give our 2 thumbs up!
And kudos to the Les Amis group for a job well done.

Here's what we've had at Binjai Park:

2 halves make a whole: Parma ham with rocket salad and Pepperoni Pizza

Carbonara

We also had a cloudy apple juice and Asahi beer to wash it all down.
Yummy.

Verdict:
Pizza:
Crispy thin crust which we love. But the salamis were a tad too salty. The parma ham was good and the rocket salad was a good accompaniment to the salty cured meats.
Carbonara:
The linguine was well cooked, pasta perfection and the sauce - creamy, rich and savoury. Good carbonara sauce. We can even taste the egg used in its making. It's pretty damn good.

Our tastebuds were happy.
Rating: 8/10

https://www.facebook.com/peperonipizzeria

How it all began...

Nick and Sand are foodies.
And they are a couple.
Good things come in pairs, they say.
So, oneday, the foodies decided to drive to the Bestway building where a famous ba chor mee (bcm) stall resides. (used to)
To their horror, it closed down.
Lucky for them, Nick knew about the Son of the Uncle who owned the famous Bestway bcm  stall who had a stall at Hong Lim Hawker Centre.
So they trotted down to Chinatown and found themselves tucking into 2 delectable bowls of bcm respectively, sipping fresh sugar cane in between.

If you're guessing this blog came about because of the bcm...
You are half right.
That was the context of how it all began.

This is how it all happened.
N: We could do a makan sutra lost & found.
And in unison, N and S gave the verdict: 'Lost!' to the Bestway building's bcm.
But from this sprang the idea of a food blog.
S: Perhaps we could take videos and chronicle our food adventures. Since we both love food. And you wanna be a food model.
N: Yah. And we can get P and S, (our like-minded foodie couple friend) to join us.
S: Yah. And when we become famous, people are gonna invite us for food tasting!
N: And when we have so many invites that we can't handle, we can send P and S, I and V to different places to try their food.

So this is how it really began.
And while I'm at it.

This was the bcm we had at Hong Lim hawker centre.

Hers: $4 (more chili & vinegar, please)

His: $6

BCM: The noodles were well cooked, we like our mee pok cooked just right. Not too soggy, not too hard. The consistency and springiness of the noodles was just right. Also, the wanton was home-made, so that scored extra brownie points. The ingredients used was fresh and good. Liver, not over-cooked. Just right. The pork and meat balls were savoury too. We liked the fried flat-fish and the soup was brewed with meat proteins floating in it.
Verdict: 8/10