Tabletop ware

Just received a mailer recently on Royal Albert 100 years of mug series and thought about the tableware we see while dining. To a foodie like me, presentation of the tabletop wares is just as important as the food palate and quality! it is almost one of the key to a diner's appetite. Talking about tableware, I am still very much overwhelmed by the experience I had previously at Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge (See older post).

My recollection of the Royal Copenhagen tableware is still vivid as I can recall that lovely Blue Fluted series tableware that I was served there... I really love it! Accordingly, the Blue Fluted series was designed by Arnold Krog. Designed originally as the Blue Fluted Plain series in 1775. The series has much evolved and became more elaborated with the designs incorporating Half Lace and Full Lace on the exterior lining the tableware. Blue Fluted Full Lace displays the utmost variation in ornamentation and craftsmanship. The lace-like weave of the borders is so intricate that only a very highly skilled craftsman can accomplish them in all their complexity. I had an urge to purchase them. If you are interested like me too, do take a look at Etabletop - the online authorised dealer for Royal Copenhagen. Recommend to also read their blog; I have listed it on the blog list at the right.

Ministry of Food My Izakaya

Ted and me visited the Ministry of Food (MOF) at Marina Square for dinner the other Friday. This was not our first visit there. Probably our third or fourth visit. We recalled the delicious Japanese food we had and even signed up as members then so we definitely had to go back!

There was a long queue outside MOF that evening. In a while we were shown a seat for two at the side of the restaurant. The restaurant was quite crowded and appears to be a little noisy. Probably it’s the weekend crowd! We quickly ordered our food. I liked the Salmon Shabu-Shabu set (S$16.80) and had to order it. We also tried the chawan-mushi, going at a discount of S$2.80 that evening. In addition, we ordered some Ala-Cartes like the Tori Karaage 6 pieces (S$6.80) and the Pork Rice (S$4.90).

What a letdown this time! I suspect the chef might have been changed as the quality of the food appears to have slipped. The Salmon Shabu set which was served with specially made Apple sauce along with a plate of fresh greens was quite different this time round. We were served very huge pieces of cucumbers and tomatoes on the plate of greens and the slices of salmon also appear to be prepared in a hurry. Vaguely recalled the previous times we were served very delicately and nicely cut pieces of greens and salmon pieces. Somehow we just could not feel the quality we expected and experienced previously. The Pork Rice was not what we expected either. The pork pieces looked like they were prepared in a rush. Luckily for the chawan-mushi, it was great though. Soft and hot! The tori karaage (fried chicken pieces) was quite the usual.

To end the meal, we had to go for the heavenly Macha Imo dessert (S$3.00) offered as a discount to the Salmon Shabu-Shabu set. Macha Imo as the name suggests, consists of Green Tea Milk Ice-Cream served with Red Beans paste and pieces of nicely fried Sweet Potatoes. This is a very nice treat, especially so for the sweet-tooth! The dessert was served with a small instructional sheet teaching you how to savour this heavenly ice-cream! Basically, you have to mix a little bit of each thing i.e. take a little bit of hot fried sweet potato and eat with a little bit of the cold green tea ice-cream together with some sweet red bean paste. Hot mix with cold. Experience is great! YUM! Thankfully this saved the day!!

I wish the other main dishes could be better improved to the standard I used to remember. I will visit the place again because I am still a member and maybe it could have been a bad chef day that the food quality went *poof* or maybe it’s due to the heavy crowd building up these days at the place... though I strongly believe quality of food should never be compromised in any way no matter how. Well you let me know if you get a chance to visit the restaurant next time!

Ministry Of Food My Izakaya is located at 6 Raffles Boulevard, #02-138E Center Stage, Marina Square, Singapore 039594 Tel: 6334 2202.

Free Recipes from TAKE HOME CHEF

I have some copies of the free recipes by Curtis Stone (Master Chef, author & host of TAKE HOME CHEF series on Discovery Channel Travel & Living). These are for:

1) Vanilla, Pear & Cinnamon Crumble

2) Skirt Steak marinated in Red Wine and Juniper Berries

3) Whitefish cooked with Saffron, Turmeric and Leeks, and

4) Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna

Limited copies only. Please let me know which recipe or all you want. I hope you understand that postage charges will be incurred and would appreciate if you can bear the minimal mailing cost of approx S$1 for local Singapore/Malaysia deliveries and S$3 for overseas. If you are agreeable, please drop me a comment with your email address and I will write to you to confirm mailing address to send and payment details. I will send them via SingPost.

Kyomomoyama

Kyomomoyama is almost as new as The Central. The Central has been known to the in-place now for things Japanese so we decided to go and try the food there. Standing outside the restaurant, you will notice a curious crowd examining the menu as the place is new. While we were also checking out the restaurant, we happened to read a newspaper review pasted on its glass window and it seems to suggest that this restaurant was visited by an ex-Channel 8 TV host, Zhou Dai Lan (or could it be open by her?). From my recollection, I understand that when she was a TV host, she had liked all things Japanese. So, I thought maybe I will go try too !

From the exterior modern look and exquisite décor of the restaurant, you would expect the Japanese cuisine served here to be very expensive. But on the contrary and to our surprise indeed, the food are pretty reasonably priced! Expect to pay about S$15-S$30++ per person (including service charge, taxes) for quite a good Japanese meal ! Ted and me ordered quite a few dishes this time and spent only about close to S$60 for 2 of us.


To start off, we had the salmon sushi. There were only about 5 slices but each slice was quite thick and very fresh. Soft and yummy to eat. We finished them up in a jiffy, wishing there were more. Next, I order the Chef recommendation of “Maguro Don Set” while Ted decided to go with his favourite “Eel Don Set”. The rice sets did not disappoint! Look!

The don looks very much like the one I had before at "Sun With Moon Japanese Dining and Cafe" (please refer to earlier post), only much bigger serving this time. It was also served with a lovely egg yolk in the rice bowl and the quality of the rice set is quite comparable to my experience at the other restaurant. The maguro fish was fresh, nicely decorated on top of the rice set garnished with seaweeds and sesame. The rice was cooked just nice and soft with a soft tinch of vinegar.

Ted’s Eel Don Set was also a very generous serving. 4 big pieces of eels served on top of the just nicely vinegared rice. Having such a good time, we cant help ourselves but to order one more side dish - the “Mixed Seafood Kakiaage” . This was the show stealer! Not like your ordinary kakiaage, the items in this dish which are usually individually fried had all been mixed together and then fried. So, instead of your usual fried slices of prawn, squid or vegetables instead, you get slices of all these goodness fried together in one piece! Really interesting! And it tastes really good too! Soft and crispy! They came served together with the tempura sauce and radish grinds.

Overall, both of us found the food very good and price was reasonable. We will be back for sure if we are in that area next time! Kyomomoyama has only one outlet in Singapore. It is located at 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #03-87/101/110 The Central, Singapore 059817 Tel: 6534 8001.

Din Tai Fung

Its Chinese food haunt this time again! We went to Din Tai Fung to try its famous “Xiao Long Bao” (Chinese steam dumpling originated from Shanghai). This restaurant of Taiwanese origin has been rated by New York Times as one of the Top 10 Best Restaurants and has been patronised by many famous celebrities. Notably, the Hong Kong actor Chow Yuen Fatt has considered this as one of his favourite eating places.

Having visited the restaurant a few times, it has also gone into the list of one of my favourite food haunts when I go to shopping complexes too. Compared to the Xiao Long Bao I tried at all other places, the dumplings served here surpasses all including those I tried in Shanghai China. Ted and me ordered the “Xiao Long Bao” (think its costs $6.50 for 6 pieces or $8.50 for 10 pieces) which was served in a Chinese bamboo steam tray. Hot and fresh from the steamer! Delicious. The skin of the dumpling was soft and I understand that the master chef has to follow a specific standard – that is to make 18 folds on the skin in order to make one dumpling. Inside the dumpling, delicious juice oozes out from it the minute you bite into the dumpling. But be careful, woh! don’t burn your tongue because the dumpling is really hot! We also tried the Fried Rice with Pork Ribs and Fried Rice with pork slices (at about $8-$8.50 per plate). Deliciously cooked too. The only complain I have about the restaurant is its limited choice of dishes from which I can order from. Apart from fried rice and Chinese noodles, I can hardly find any other food (e.g. like other Chinese dishes or white rice) to order .

Overall, its still very good Chinese Shanghainese cuisine they serve there. Will definitely go back again! Din Tai Fung has many operating outlets in Singapore now, mainly in major shopping complexes. The one we visited was at Bishan Junction 8, Singapore. They are also at Orchard Wisma Atria, Ngee Ann City, Raffles City and others.