Syun by Celebrity Chef Hal Yamashita

Syun is the first overseas restaurant by Celebrity Chef Hal Yamashita. 

Chef Yamashita has been a representative of Japanese Master Chefs at World Gourmet Summit for both 2010 and 2012. As a creator of the Nouvelle Japanese cuisine, he currently runs nine dining outlets in Japan itself.

His restaurant in Singapore is headed by Japanese chef Norihito Saki, who has spent a month cooking with the chef himself before the grand opening (source).



We made a dinner reservation with the restaurant for a birthday celebration, and we ordered the 7-course Kaiseki set (SGD128++ per pax) with a bottle of sake. 

Upon the service crew's recommendation, we decided on 'Kiss of Fire', a sake brew made from 50% polished Yamada Nishiki rice and matured for three years.

Personally, i thought this sake didn't wow me, but I am no sake expert. If you are looking for sake recommendation, I would recommend getting Kubota Manju instead. 

Img courtesy of Rakuten JP

The first half of the appetiser was a combination of braised kurobuta pork and Japanese marinated egg, served with mustard. 

It was a good start to the kaiseki dinner: Sinking your teeth into the tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly, and pairing it with the flavourful marinated egg.



The other half was Chawanmushi (right) and Tsukemono (left). The steamed egg was conservatively done, while the pickles were much stronger in taste. 



This next dish is wildly popular among diners: a cluster of uni (sea urchin) wrapped softly in wagyu beef. I do agree that this bite-size goodness is delicious, but I can't help but also feel that the original taste of wagyu has been overpowered by uni, and all that is left (of the wagyu) to savour was its tenderness.



Assorted sashimi was fresh:



The service staff introduced us to the next item on the menu, which she said was the Chef's signature dish.

While I must rate this signature dish highly for its creativity, the use of strongly flavoured cheese did not bring out the freshness of the cod fish. We were also forewarned that there will be bones in the fillet... which was rather surprising to me. 



The star of the dinner was its wagyu, presented daintily on a decorated slab:



If you do not take beef, you may wish to choose their seabream instead.
After trying both however, I would strongly recommend you to stick with the beef option.



We were then served assorted sushi, with a gigantic maki which the service staff introduced as their Syun special. 

It was basically an assortment of fish as shown below:



Syun's desserts were the highlight of the entire Kaiseki meal, but sadly, I cannot remember their exact titles.

The dark chocolate dessert was sinfully rich, but maintained a good  balance of sweetness:



The next dessert was my absolute favourite! Known as monaka in Japanese, the intensely rich matcha ice cream was clad between two thin wafers and served in a masu (sake wooden box cup). The shiso leaf (perilla leaf) added a minty flavour to this innovation.



If you have not tried a Kaiseki set meal before, I think Syun is a good start. For its pricing, the food served was decent and displayed a variety of Japanese culinary skills.

However, my personal favourite is still Takuma of Gion, Kyoto Prefecture. This hidden gem deserves more recognition for their chef's passion, pride, and dedication toward Japanese cuisine. Do keep a lookout for my review and photos of Takuma (soon, i promise)!

Have you tried Syun yet? Do share your views of this highly acclaimed restaurant with us!

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Syun
Festive Walk
Resorts World Sentosa
8 Sentosa Gateway

Opening hours: Tues to Sun
Lunch: 1200hrs to 1500hrs (last order at 1430hrs)
Dinner: 1800hrs - 2300hrs (last order at 2230hrs)
Reservations: +65-6577-6688 / dining@rwsentosa.com
Official Webpage here

Restaurant Week 2013: Equinox Restaurant, Swissotel the Stamford

Restaurant Week is here again!

For our first stop in 2013, the man decided to have dinner at Equinox. There were 2 different options for each course, so we chose one of each to sample what they had to offer.

Equinox Restaurant is one of the 6 restaurants located at the Equinox Complex in Swissotel the Stamford. It presents diners with an exquisite Modern European culinary experience coupled with breathtaking views overlooking Singapore's busiest district.

The 3-Course Set Dinner cost $55++ per person and if you are keen to get a table by the window, it will be an additional fee of $20.

For this post, it is a combination of photos taken with my iphone and photos taken with the man's Sony RX100. Dim lights and scenery are just incompatible with the iphone, so the difference will be rather stark.

We figured that being on level 70 of the hotel, we should take this opportunity to witness Singapore's transition from day to night. We reached the restaurant at about 6.30pm, right after work. It was really bright and sunny, so we get to enjoy a day view of our beloved island from our seat:

The meal started off with us being served 2 slabs of butter, salted and seaweed-flavoured, and salt:

The waiter will come by with a basket of freshly baked bread and introduce us to the various bread before asking us to make a choice.

We liked the black olive bread, which was complemented well by the butter. The onion and cheese bread was stronger in taste.

Black Olive bread:

Onion and cheese:

We couldn't resist taking another photo of the breathtaking scenery:

We were also presented with a complimentary appetiser, though sadly I was unable to catch and remember the name of it:

For food pairing, we have separately opened a bottle of Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial for the night at the promotional price of SGD99++.



Pre-dinner Toasting while overlooking scenic Singapore:

After much anticipation, our appetisers arrived. I WAS SOLD (I am an appearance-sort-of-person though i don't exactly look appealing myself).

It was as if you can feel the heart and soul of the chef who has prepared them. The dishes were so sincere and exquisite! The naming of the dishes aren't exactly creative though... it is basically just telling you what's in the dish.

i. Grilled Vegetable Salad, Goat Cheese, Quail Egg, Frisee Lettuce, Horseradish

Special mention to the quail egg, which comes with a beautiful golden runny yolk centre:

After tasting the salad, i must say that grilling has brought out the sweetness of the various vegetables, and the quail egg's yolk was done to perfection. However, the dish in its entirety was not the best salad i have eaten, and appetiser wise, i prefer the tuna tartare (below).

ii. Tuna Tartare, Avocado, Crispy Onion, Soy and Lime Vinaigrette
We love the gorgeous presentation, which makes the food taste even better! The tuna tartare was light, and it was refreshing when paired with avocado:

Another sneak peek at the dimming scenery out there:

As the area turns from a bustling business district to a gorgeous entertainment central, we start our main course:

i. Poached Salmon Fillet, Star Anise Oil, Braised Lettuce, Beetroot Gnocchi, Razor Clam Sauce

It was getting a little too dark to see the dish properly. On the overall, I would not rate this too high, because the star of the main course (salmon) was a little too fishy in my opinion. However, the redeeming factor was that the razor clam was fresh and the braised lettuce and beetroot gnocchi were tastefully done.

[Mental OS] Looking at the presentation, I wonder what has happened to the kokoro ('heart' in Japanese) displayed during the appetisers...



ii. Breast and Thigh of Chicken, Potato Terrine, Morels, Cauliflower, Toasted Almonds, Roasted Onion

I love this, which was much better (in my humble opinion) as compared to the salmon fillet. The potato terrine was well baked, and the chicken paired well with morels.

Next up was desserts!

i. Violet Wild Strawberry, Granite, Almond Sable, Meringue
It was definitely not as sweet as it looked and sounded. It was balanced, and you can experience different textures of the meringue, granite, sable... all intertwined together.

ii. Verbena Apricot, Preserved Blood Peach Jelly, Lemongrass Sorbet
I love the lemongrass sorbet, but i thought that the preserved blood peach jelly and verbena apricot were overly sweet. (actually, at first bite, i thought it was hawthorn and not blood peach *i need to get my tastebuds checked*)

Personally, I think that going to Equinox during restaurant week is very worthwhile, as they maintained their top service quality despite the much lower prices. However, it may be a tad overpriced for the same food quality because there are hits and misses along the way.

If you are running out of dating ideas, why not look out for the next round of restaurant week?

Equinox Restaurant
Swissotel the Stamford
2 Stamford Road
Singapore 178882

Hours:
Brunch on Sunday, 11am - 2.30pm
Lunch on Mon-Sat, 12nn - 2.30pm
High Tea everyday, 3.30pm - 5pm
Dinner everyday, 6.30pm - 10.30pm

Reservations online / phone (68373322) / email (reservations@equinoxcomplex.com)

Relax and Lepak at Tea Chapter along Neil Road, Tanjong Pagar

Tea Chapter is an established teahouse in Singapore. Started as a small joint venture by 13 tea enthusiasts on 1 October 1989, it has came a long way. One of their most notable guests was Queen Elizabeth II. Other famous guests were President Tony Tan, Former President S.R. Nathan, and PM Lee Hsien Loong.

They have since expanded and now holds the title of being the biggest teahouse in the island, selling everything from tea leaves to tea wares and even tea books. They also provide workshops to all who are interested to learn more about the oriental art.

Located at one of the many shophouses under Singapore's conservation project, this tea house provides exactly what chinese tea lovers would love -- the peace and tranquility for a few hours, be it for a quiet moment to communicate with your inner self, or for a relaxing moment with fellow tea lovers.

One thing to note though, if you are heading over during the weekends, be warned that the topmost level may be a tad noisy. In view of that, we opted for the second level (which requires a top-up amount of SGD5) when we pop by for the second time. 

I remembered Tea Chapter serving their own mooncakes with tea last year. While chatting with the staff there, he told us that though the festive set was popular, they decided to discontinue with it this year. However, they do sell the mooncakes separately at SGD14 each.

We ordered Superior Grade Dragon Well Tea (特级龙井 teji-longjing tea), and the staff patiently taught us how to make a pot of good tea and how to appreciate it. I subsequently bought a box (50g at SGD40) for Mid-Autumn Festival. 

Of course, what's good tea without good food? :D

We ordered a variety of food to go with the longjing tea:

Tea-Egg 茶叶蛋 

As compared to the tea-eggs you buy from random stalls in shopping malls and pasar malam, the Tea-egg here was much more flavourful and fragrant. As you bite into it, you can see that the richness of the tea and spices has seeped entirely into the egg.

Tea-Jellies:

Eight Treasures Tea Jelly (八宝茶冻):

Essentially the jelly version of the Eight Treasures Tea, there were bits of goodness in this jelly: red dates, longans, wolfberries etc. It is good on its own.

Red Bean Tea Jelly (红豆茶冻):

The orange bits on it were refreshing, but i think that this particular jelly is too sweet and strong flavoured to go with chinese tea. It overpowers and covers the tea it was supposed to complement.

Osmanthus Tea Jelly (桂花茶冻):

I like this flavour for the fact that it is not too sweet. Osmanthus has a light fragrance and this tea-jelly has captured the essence of it.

Chapter 7 Cookies (精选香酥):

I personally think that this is a little too filling and a little too dry, so I wouldn't recommend this. it has 7 different flavours, but both the man and I cannot determine all of them. We managed to taste almond, pistachio, rose and that's about it).

View from our seat:

Tea Chapter is located at 9 Neil Road, SG (088808).

You can make reservations by calling +65-6226-1175.

Sundays to Thursdays - 11:00am - 10:30pm

Fridays and Saturdays - 11:00am to 11:00pm

Next up, I think i will give Yixing Xuan Teahouse (怡心轩) a try.

Exhibition: MT Ex at ION Orchard, Singapore

My sis is crazy over tapes.

She made an iphone cover, 21st birthday invitation cards, decorated shelves and cabinets with these masking tapes... Anyway, she has been talking about this MT ex for the longest time ever since she watched the youtube video on it.

We finally made a trip there (on the last day yes. talk about procrastination):

I actually thought that the exhibition will be of a bigger scale, watching the youtube video previously. Hence, upon reaching the venue, i was actually a little disappointed. 

The video:

That said, the thought that the entire space was decorated by tape and tape only still impressed me much.

Upon entry... Walls and floor decorated solely with their tapes:

The colourful paper lanterns matched the taped walls and floor perfectly, and created a fun and relaxing ambience for the space:

More photos of the walls:

One of the pillars was decorated with tapes of different designs and size:

Close up shots of the various tapes (the last two are apparently limited edition and each customer is restricted to purchasing only 3 at a time):

And the camwhore in me cannot resist not taking a photo with the pretty lanterns and background:

On a random note, we walked around ION after viewing the exhibition, and pardon me for not noticing these before:

This gorgeous Peacock had me in awe with Mother Nature while i oogle at its majestic feathers up close:

The awfully cute panda (and we acted as tourists by taking turns to have our photos taken with it):

The traveller:

All in all, the exhibition was an eye-opener. How do people think of such brilliant ways to use tape other than stitching giftwraps up?

Gardens by the Bay - Tulipmania Theme

Yet another post on GBTB (well. the whole point of making annual passes is to make my money worth right... afterall, money is hard to earn :( all those OT nights and stress-filled work related nightmares...

This time, it is the Tulipmania!

Ok, I dont really check my email that often so I only know about this event when i walked past the advert outside Raffles Place MRT Station. So the immediate mental image i had was fields of tulips (you know, Virgos are hopeless romantics deep down in their hearts) and i was really keen to make a trip down.

We made our way down after work one day so it was my first night flower-sighting experience ever.

Iphone cameras are really hopeless at night. urgh.

And finally we approached our destination! The Tulip Field!!

ok, i admit that i was really disappointed to know that tulipmania was actually just a small field of tulips in the dome, but hey. with every stalk imported from Netherlands (if i recall correctly), and every stalk monitored so that visitors can catch them when they are blooming, i appreciate the pains and efforts put in by the team.

Kudos for bringing these gorgeous flowers to tropical Singapore! <3

Last but not least, shall leave you with a last photo of the tulips!