Singapore - White Rabbit

With all the rave reviews of the White Rabbit, I have to say I was disappointed when I showed up for lunch, as were my 3 other girlfriends who joined me. Beautifully set in an old church with high ceilings and stained glass windows at Harding Road (the Dempsey area), with a very well-written menu to boot, there was unfortunately something missing from the food. While the food wasn't bad, it was definitely NOT wow! by any stretch of the imagination.

The Mac and Cheese which sounded like old world goodness called out to me - carbo queen! But it was not served as it should have been - in a hot casserole. Instead, it arrived on a white plate with gravy and greens.. also, it was too tall and there wasn't enough gratinated cheese to go round! And because it wasn't served hot, the cheese was a little cool and chewy.

Thinking we would make it up with desserts, we ordered an assortment:

Blackforest cake - totally deconstructed that it tasted nothing like the grand old dame I used to know. NOT ENOUGH SPONGE!!

The Baked Alaska and Banana Split were decent enough and managed to win the dessert quest despite their ordinary looks and tastes.

Unless someone tells me the chef at dinner is different, I am hardly likely to venture there again unless I just wanted to sit in a pretty place and have a cuppa.

39C Harding Road

6473 9965

Singapore - Nirai Kanai

Okinawa is about a mid way between Taiwan and Japan and Okinawan cuisine displays the influences from the 2 countries. Light touches with pockets of heartiness seems to be the order of the day, and poring through the menu at Nirai Kanai and the Tanglin Shopping Centre, there is an excellent balance you can strike for yourself depending on whether you feel like stuffing yourself, or just ordering snacks to down your shochu or sake with.

I particularly liked the Peanut Tofu in Soya Sauce, which was fragrant but light and smooth to down. A twist to the usual sesame tofu I've had in other places, but different in a good way.




The other dish I liked to the bone was the deep fried pork knuckle. Ok, so it's not the healthiest option but it was YUMMY!!! I love the melting collagen behind the crispy skin and the lemon wedge lifted the greasiness from the wondrous knuckles!

The other dishes we had were less memorable - the dressing on the pig ears with bean sprout salad was a little too tart for me. And the rice balls were kinda like your Chinese flavoured rice but patted prettily into a Japanese onigiri.

The other not-so-good-looking dish but which would be excellent to down with a bowl of white rice would be the silk gourd stir fried with tofu and luncheon meat. Hearteh!!!
A no frills joint if you want to mingle with the Japanese work folk in Singapore.

177 River Valley Road
#B1-01/02 Liang Court Shopping Centre
6339 4811

Singapore - Dozo

With the gloom and doom of the current "Depression", perhaps one of the simple pleasures is to eat but can one eat well for less in this climate?


Dozo at Valley Point on River Valley Road attempts to do this. Don't expect top-notch ingredients at this "Modern Japanesque" restaurant but instead, be content with sitting through a fairly competent 7-course dinner at the giveaway price of S$58.80! Yup, you heard right.


When you walk into Dozo, it's a little like walking through an upscale KTV joint with dim lights, dark/black wood with splashes of colour in the chairs and lampshades. With private rooms available, it is not a also bad place for mid-range corporate entertainment.


The mango shooter accompanying the menus were excellent refreshers save for the size and shape of the ice which did not allow the mango juice any where near the lips.. sigh .. if only they were slushie texture.

I liked the choice given to the diner at each course. With the trained-to-smile-at-will waiters, the specialties of the house were also helpfully communicated. Since there were 2 of us, we decided to share and order slightly different, save where we might fight over the food!

1. Starter of the Chef's seasonal assorted platter of smoked salmon with sweet whipped cream, seared scallop with lemon cream sauce on asparagus, and a small wedge of pan-fried foie gras on bread was not a bad start although the sweet whipped cream was a little funky for my liking.




2.1 Cold dish - the succulent king crab claw drizzled with sesame vinaigrette would have been a refreshing dish except that the crab claw was the salt frozen kind and was just too salty for my liking.




2.2 Cold dish - the beef carpaccio with shave parmesan and Japanese curry mayo mosaic was pretty tasty and the use of a crispy pastry rolled up to hold up the cone tower added an odd but pleasant crunch to the dish.




3.1 In my opinion, the Side dishes ruled. The first one of gratinated escargots topped with garlic and yuzu butter were tasty from the cheese although I did not get a hint of any yuzu in the dish, which was a little disappointing given that was what sealed the order for me.




3.2 The other Side Dish of steamed egg custard with scallop and foie gras topped with caviar won hands down even though there was hardly any caviar. The foie gras was mashed into the eggs before steaming and made the custard that much more robust from the combination and flavourful.


4. Soups were mediocre - the seafood bisque had all the taste of a stock which had shrimp and crab shells steeping but little else to add a 3rd dimension. The infusion of cepes mushroom and truffle was the same although it was the better soup because of the strong mushroom flavours and not too creamy.




5.1 Mains - the beef tenderloin on "pu ye" and granite hot stone was good. Despite a lack of marbling, it was very tender and served very pink. The garnish of deep fried shallots and too much ground pepper were not so good since they detracted from the natural taste of the beef.


5.2 the other Main Dish of oven baked Hamachi Kama on a bed of risotto was too fushiony for me. The risotto was quite tasteless and did little by way of contrast to the simply seasoned Hamachi cheek and again, had a tad too much pepper for me and little else to bring out the flavour of the fish. Rather disappointing.


6. Our iced fruity refresher was as the name suggests. A pleasant fruity drink with plenty of fruit slushing around in the pot made for a nice break after a lot of pepper to wade through.


7. Dessert was the freshly baked warm chocolate cake served with ice cream. While competent, it was not as the waiter suggested, "one of the best in Singapore". But it definitely wasn't too bad.


Dozo's concept is a commendable one in bringing simple happiness in difficult times, it is also great in bringing a variety of Japanese and European offerings to the masses.. it will surely gain its own following if it hasn't already.


#02-02 Valley Point Shopping Centre
491 River Valley Road
6838 6966

Singapore - Gunther's

The concept at Gunther's is simple - great produce, cooked simply but in the best ways possible to bring out the natural flavours and to blend them with sauces/condiments which enhance or bring tastes to whole new levels. Everything tastes like it should but just that much better!


Although the menu is going through a seasonal change and some of their signature items were not available, what was presented made up for the slight disappointment. Service was also impeccable, attentive but not overbearing.

J's carte blanche consisted of a first course of the cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar. Tossed with chopped chives, garlic and truffle, and decadently topped with the caviar, the burst of flavours would wake any sleeping appetite.

Her second course of the pan fried foie gras with a sweet preserved apricot was excellent and it had to be the the best I've had in a long while. The foie gras was crisp on the sides but juicy in the middle and topped with toasted finely chopped nuts. Definitely made up for the missing home-made torchon of foie gras, which is a signature.

For her main course, she had the grilled half smoked Anjou pigeon, fragrant of Maghreb. With a fear that the meat would be tough while trying to saw off a bit for me to taste, we were pleasantly surprised that the meat was succulent and tender to the bite.

My own lunch creation of my French must have of the oven-baked onion soup with Leffe beer and puff pastry was made from an excellent beefy broth naturally sweetened by the beer, and the puff pastry was so good I was peeling off the soft bits stuck to the bowl. My main course of braised rabbit with prunes, brown beer and Valrhona chocolate brought raised eyebrows from our friendly server - apparently women rarely order it since they may find it gamey, but if it is the restaurant it is acclaimed to be, I said it wouldn't be. He was pleased and so was I when it finally arrived and I tucked into it. The chocolate did well to blend itself into the dish and not overwhelm. The rabbit was also tender and fell off the bones easily. The prunes were a good touch and stopped it from being too heavy on the tum-tum.




Although stuffed, we were determined to have dessert and shared our server's recommendation of the fine apple tart a la dragees, with Havana rum raisin ice cream. Oh my, this has to be now the best I've had to date. The thin and crisp pastry filled with perfectly cooked apple bits and baked with crushed almonds and icing sugar oozed the kind of warmth from inside you get from sitting with a loved one in a ski lodge by the fire place with it snowing outside.. you get the picture..


Back to reality, Gunther's was still a great place to spend a rainy afternoon in hot and humid Singapore. Perhaps I might try it on a hot and sticky night next time for dinner.


36 Purvis Street
#01-03
6338 8955

Hong Kong - Simply Thai

For some strange reason, having been in Hong Kong for so long, I rarely get up to the Food Forum on the top of Times Square. My experiences there have not been bad but they have never been Wow! either. This time, in a quest for something different, we head there for a little bit of Thai, beyond our usual authentic Thai hangout the other side of Causeway Bay coincidentally called Thai Simple Kitchen. The 2 are not related.

Simply Thai on the 11th floor of Times Square was a pleasant surprise. A comfortable restaurant to dine at, the food was also very decent.

Having read about their famous "son-in-law egg" I was disappointed to find out that they don't do it anymore. Oh well, plan B, which was the following:

1. Pomelo salad with shrimp (pictured) - very piquant and refreshing from the combination of fish sauce and lime and packed a punch by HK standards

2. Sharks' fin and crab meat soup double boiled in a young coconut husk - naturally sweet from the ingredients, it needed little seasoning to bring out the flavours.

3. a grilled whole fish in banana leaf was good but a tad overcooked. It was a little big for 2 and would be more appropriate for a party of 4. The accompanying dipping sauce of spicy chopped Thai green chillis added an extra kick.

4. the fried rice with basil and minced pork topped with a sunny side egg is the best I've had in a long while.

Although known for desserts eg. the rum raisin souffle, we were just too full. Will need to try that on the next visit to round off an unfinished but otherwise great meal!

Shop 1104, 11/FL Food Forum
Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
(852) 2506 1212

Hong Kong - Yun Fu

It is true that if you expect a lot in life, love (and food is a love!), you are more likely to be disappointed. The anticipation of something, eg. through reading too much of it, creates a crescendo which may cause an anti-climax.

Yun Fu (or Cloud Mansion for those who recognise its Chinese characters) was almost an anti-climax since I thought the reviews I came across might have caused an unnecessary buzz in me and my dining companion J. Of course, the lawyer in me had already placed many disclaimers along the way.

As with most reviews you will read about Yun Fu, it is the decor and the anticipation of walking down flights of steps decked with asian statues into a basement lined with Chinese inn rooms from the "martial kingdom" days, which is innovative in its concept. We walk past the rooms into an open dining area and are led to a table reminiscent of those you might see in a chinese kung fu movie. The innovation is definitely consistent with the Aqua group of restaurants.

J kindly let me order the reviewed specials:

1. we start with the marinated lamb rack roasted with assorted herbs and tea leaves.
- the lamb was nicely pink although the meat was a tad on the chewy side and did not come off the ribs as easy as I would have liked. Because of the cuisine (which is largely Tibetan in influence) it was not strongly marinated and was natural in its flavours so if you are not a lamb fan, this dish is not for you. I am ok with lamb but did find the dish a little on the bland side.

2. the winner for both J and I was the Mandarin fish fillet wrapped in golden salty egg yolk. Deep fried to a golden yellow and served with both the head and tail in tact, and laid out fish bone style, the fillets were fluffy on the inside, and crispy and fragrant from the generous salted egg yolk on the outside. A must-try if you love salted egg yolks as we do!

3. Our fibre dish was indeed fibrous. In fact, a little too much that biting through the aged "heen choy" was too much of a challenge that I gave up. After all, I do have a visit to the dentist soon and the less repair he has to do, the better!

4. Our dim sum of minced pork dumplings with chilli sauce and spring onions were nicely done with the "skin" al dente. The insert of minced pork was ordinary though..



While decent in its offering, Yun Fu was a tad expensive for the quality of food on offer. Good place if you are taking adventurous foreigners for a visit, and if you really have a craving for minority cuisine.

Basement, 43-55 Wyndham Street
Central, Hong Kong
(852) 2116 8855

Hong Kong - ye shanghai

Shanghainese food is not one of those cuisines which attains international appeal easily.. I remember one of my worst (but funny) experiences with Shanghai cuisine was not with the food per se. Whilst trying to impress my CEO from the US back in 2006, I thought that Shanghainese food was in keeping with the company's aggressive growth strategy into China. What followed was an unfortunate comedy of errors.. as my CEO rattled off a string of items he disliked, what I ordered arrived and like clockwork, they were vinegar, sugar and sesame seeds. If anyone knows Shanghainese food, you can pretty much figure out how low I sunk into my chair by the middle of the meal but thankfully, he was game enough and the food was good enough to change his perception.. I got to keep my job of course..


Enough said, I actually like Shanghainese food for the precise things he dislikes although I prefer a chef with a lighter hand since it can get too oily for me. In Hong Kong, and especially in a restaurant like ye shanghai, you can get "internationalised" Shanghai food. And so, even though it has been open for a while, it merits a spot on the blog after my recent visit after a break of about 18 months.



One of the best places to have this appetiser especially if alcohol is being served, be it a cold beer or a nice burgundy... Crispy eel, Wuxi style is little eels deep fried to an absolute crisp and tossed in a sticky sauce of sugar, vinegar and soya sauce, topped with julienned preserved ginger slivers. Great way to wake up the appetite.
In keeping with the Hairy Crab season, we select an old favourite of baked sesame pockets but a stuffing of pure sauteed hairy crab meat and roe with bean sprouts and mushrooms. Perfect crab freshness with some crunch made for an excellent Shanghainese taco and drizzled with quality Zhejiang black vinegar, that much better!

And then, one of the long time favourites at ye shanghai, the roe crab stir fried with hairy beans (from edamame) and Shanghainese rice cakes. This is one of those addictive dishes where you try to lick every morsel because of the tastiness of the sauce and of course, we chose a roe crab instead of a hairy one, because we love the contrast of the fresh meat from the roe crab with the sauce. If you didn't have enough "meat" you might feel a little too sauced out because it is pretty hearty.

While ye shanghai may not be be quintessentially Shanghainese, it is in my opinion, an excellent way to enjoy the cuisine's favourites but not feel like a sinking grease bag afterwards...

Level 3, Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty, Hong Kong
2918-9833