Dozo Japanese Restaurant

Happy Valentine's Day! Well, it's actually a day before valentine's day, but it's the thought that counts! This year, my hubby got a recommendation from a buddy of a Japanese fusion restaurant, on top of that, it's got pretty good reviews online. So he chose DOZO Japanese restaurant for dinner.



The restaurant is located in a quiet little shopping centre, so I wasn't too impressed. Besides, when we got inside the restaurant, there seemed to be a musky smell in the air! But then, as long as the food is good, everything else shouldn't matter right? So on with the food!

Upon settling down, we were presented with a bouquet of 'sticks'. Only after we tried nibbling it did we realise that they were cheese sticks!



It's pretty yummy, and no waiters ran out screaming at us on why we ate the table ornaments, so we're good. The menu is a fixed 7 course meal, where you can choose your own 7 dishes. The 1st dish is a chef's recommendation, appetizer.

The waiter asked us to eat from the lightest to the most flavor one. The scallop, the salmon, followed by the foie gras.



I looooove the foir gras, but the scallop was a little too raw inside. Still edible, but too raw I think. For the 1st course, the cold dish, I ordered the sashimi platter. I love the roe!!! I hoped the sashimi to be more cool instead of room temperature, but they were still very sweet and delicious.



Hubby had the King Crab claw with mango. The meat was very moist and sweet and it goes very well with the chopped mango. YUMS!



For the side dish, I had the gratinated escargots with yuzu butter. I don't know what gratinated means or what is yuzu butter, but I know it was delicious! The cheese and butter was gorgeous, the escargot wasn't too chewy or salty, it was perfect!



Hubby's foie gras chawanmushi was, to me, quite ordinary actually. I think when you put the 2 together, each of their magic is lost. I'd rather have a normal chawanmushi with a slice of perfectly seared foie gras please.



So far my choices were pretty good, but my crap bisque turned out to be TOO MUCH! It's just TOO crab-by, the seafood smell was TOO strong!



On the opposite end of the scale, Hubby's double boiled beef consumme was very light and yet sweet. Very good!



Finally it's main course time! Mine was beef tenderloin on pu-ye and granite hotstone. The meat is served rare, so you can let it 'cook' a little longer if you want. But any way you cook it, it was deliciously tender. I thought the accompanying sauce was pepper sauce, but it was actually grainy mustard. It was a little sweet and tangy, and it was GREAT with the steak. YUMS~!



Cobby ordered the sushi platter as he wanted some rice in his meal. Looked so pretty!



Next up was my favourite, dessert! Mine was a warm chocolate cake with a liquid centre. Delicious and perfect with vanilla ice cream!



Cobby's dessert was a little sad. It's so sad, it's funny really. Look at the size of his plate versus the size of his miserable little slice of cheese cake! Whahaha!



I was worried that he would be hungry still, but surprisingly, we were both quite full! The meal has wasn't perfect, there were good dishes and not so good ones, but overall, we had a good time eating and talking and laughing. The service was pretty OK and the place was quite casual and comfortable.

Dozo Restaurant
491 River Valley Road
Singapore 248371
Tel: 6838 6966
www.dozo.com.sg

Arashi Shabu Shabu - 岚日式火鍋

After some grocery shopping JB's TESCO, we walked across to AEON Tebrau City Shopping Centre for some sustenance. We came across this restaurant that looked a little too posh for a simple Saturday lunch, but at closer inspection, it's actually a Japanese mini steamboat restaurant with reasonable pricing.

Hubby and I both ordered the same NZ rib eye shabu set, but I had the tom yam soup base while he took the Japanese broth soup base. The serving was so pretty!

NZ Beef Rib Eye Shabu Set - Tom Yam Soup - RM35.90


You can order from their ala carte menu too, but we were just so hungry and the NZ beef set seemed quite sufficient and valuable. Overall it was a very satisfying and comforting meal, very different from it's deco.

Let's just say we'll be back for more! :)

Arashi Shabu Shabu - 岚日式火鍋
AEON Tebrau City Shopping Centre
Lot G23, Ground Floor
Tel: 07 3582080

Honjin Kushiyaki Restaurant

Hubby always drive by Adam Road and saw this NUSS Guild House with a Japanese restaurant inside. Well he's a NUS alumni, so he suggest that we go check it out on a weekend.

It was already 12noon when we arrived, but it seems quite quiet. Maybe it's due to their remote location. The staff was very friendly as they seated us and gave us a window seat. The menu looked very impressive and authentic, but it turned out to be a little more expensive than we expected. They don't have the items you see in every typical Japanese restaurant, so we took a little more time than usual to look through the menu to decide.

My friendly waitress informed us of the lunch special, which was an ebi lunch set.



Daily Special Lunch Set - $18.00
2 fried prawns, 2 fried scallops, 1 giant fried oyster - which was very sweet and tasty
Potato salad - I love the onion bits inside. Very good
Salmon and Tuna Sashimi - Super Love! I Loved it that they served it in chunks rather than in slices. The fish was really sweet and fresh with freshly grated wasabi.
Miso Soup - seemingly boring soup was jazzed up with Enoki mushrooms rather than the usual tofu cubes. Delicious!
Fruits - Watermelon and honeydew

Hubby chose the Honjin Bento from the menu.



Honjin Bento - $48.00
5 pieces of sushi
Sashimi
braised fish
tempura
braised vegetable
braised winter melon
Miso soup
Pickles
Ice cream (green tea)

Hubby was so stuffed he couldn't even finish it! They were very generous with their fish. The waitress also recommended their Grilled Saba. Sounds nice, so we ordered without asking how much was it. Turns out that the HALF a fish cost us $33.00!

Saba Shioyaki - $33.00


Wah, very expensive man... Yes yes, it was grilled perfectly. Crispy on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside. But still, $33!


I was watching Hubby enjoy his after meal ice cream and I kindly declined his offer to share (I don't like green tea ice cream). But it was such a hot day, so I thought I try one of their Sakura Ice Cream - $6.00.



Such a sweet lovely colour! I never had sakura flavoured ice cream before, so it tasted like a very light strawberry milk ice cream. The ice cream was very light, but not bland, almost chewy! And they serve it on a frozen dish so that it wouldn't melt too quickly. Smart!

The ice cream was a good way to end the meal. Yes, turned out to be a pretty expensive meal, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Turns out that the restaurant do have some special promotion for NUS Alumni, but it was for dinner, so too bad for us! Check here for more details. Probably would return, but given it's pricing, maybe on special occasions only! :)

No.7 Adam Park, Adam Road
Singapore 289926
Tel: 64634528

Chikuyotei Dining - Niku Udon

Hubby had the craving for the Wagyu Beef Sukiyaki I had the other time at Chikuyotei, so we drove all the way to Orchard just for dinner.



Me, I wanted to try something different, so I ordered their Wagyu Niku (Beef) Udon.



The serving wasn't very big, but the starchy udon can be quite filling, so that little bowl was enough for me. The Wagyu beef was, of course, very tender. Unlike the usual beef that clump up when you chew too big a piece, it melts in your mouth within a few bites. The soup was very light but tasty. Overall it was a very simple dish, just beef, leek and udon. Add a dash of Japanese mixed spiced pepper and you have a hearty meal! YUMS!

Chikuyotei Dining

It's Boxing Day. There are several Japanese restaurant at level 4 of Ngee Ann City, but we noticed that this Chikuyotei Dining was the only one without a queue. It looks cosy inside and the menu looks really good, so we gave it a try!

Turns out that their specialty was eel but they were promoting Wagyu Beef and their Hokkaido seafood specials that month, so I ordered a Wagyu Beef Sukiyaki while Cobby ordered the King Crab set meal. Both set cost $48.00. SO LUXURIOUS~! But it's Christmas! Let's enjoy!

Cobby's King Crab set, with King Crab rolls, king crab chawanmushi, king crab salad, fried king crab and steamed king crab! There's also a miso soup that tasted GREAT!



Pretty awesome, but what's even more awesome was my WAGYU BEEF Sukiyaki~!



Oh My God that must have been the BESTEST sukiyaki I've ever had. Hands down! Look at the marbling of the meat, it was pure heaven. Each slice was about the size of my face! When I put the whole slice into my mouth, I can't talk. But then again, it was SO GOOD, I really CANNOT talk. Besides, when it comes to Wagyu, the flavour would just keep on coming with every chew. So, don't gobble mindlessly! Chew slowly and enjoy~

I ate every single thing. (except the cutlery) :)

The meal definitely worth every single penny. A must try for all beef lovers!

Orchard Rd
#04-28, Ngee Ann City
S(238872)
Tel: 67388954
Fax: 67389074
Opening hours: Mon - Sun 11.45am - 2.15pm, 5.30pm - 9.45pm

Hokkaido Fair 2009

We headed to Tampines Mall on Friday (3 July) to check out the Hokkaido Fair organised by Isetan.



We started our lunch with a bowl of Toro Toro Char Siew Ramen (Rich Pork Soup)$15.00. Its supposed to be some 2005 Ramen Winner, so we want to check it out.



Interestingly the ramen is quite thick, like hokkien mee, but it doesn't have the alkaline taste. The soup is very tasty and the char siew is very tender. Yummy!

Next we tried the Mori No Ikameshi(Seasoned squid with glutinous rice) $6.80. I saw this on a TV show so I wanted to try it for myself. The squid is very tender but the flavour is quite strong, so I don't really fancy it.



Next Cobby bought a box of Hotate yaki balls (scallop) $7.50. Honestly I didn't taste the scallop at all, maybe it was too small? Perhaps the octopus would taste better since it's texture is more firm.



By now we were a little full, but I wanted to try some desserts, so queued up to try out another recommended item, the Full Moon. $6.60 per piece!



Well it's expensive but so worth it! The pudding consist of three layers. The top is a layer of mashed Japanese sweet potato, the middle is pudding and the bottom is a thin layer of caramel cream. When I try to scoop the pudding with my spoon, I was surprised to find out that it's hard! I think it's because the staff put it in the fridge, so the layers had become firm, like ice cream! I wonder if it was supposed to be like this? Or was it suppose to be eaten warm? Anyway~ It was delicious! Money well spent!

Lastly was to stop by the Dango Stick stall. There were so many varieties! I love Japanese red bean paste, so I asked the auntie behind the counter to recommend!



Even though both have red bean filling, the auntie said both are very different. And it's true! The one on the left is has a jelly like texture while the one on the right is more chewy. But both are nice!

There were so many more food stalls but by then we were already quite full. I guess next time we can actually go to Hokkaido to try out the food! Hee hee...

CoCo's Tempura Vegetables

We had vegetable tempura recently at a Japanese restaurant, so today I was suddenly inspired to make some myself for lunch!

This is a great and simple dish for parties and also great when you want to clear out the left over vegetables in your fridge. Besides, it's easy to make and delicious even by itself!!! Whoo Hoo!

All you need is:
vegetables - Shredded
plain flour
an egg
very cold water

You can choose what type of vegetables you want. I used sweet potato, carrots, golden mushrooms, capsicum, onions and bak choy.



For the batter, I mix an egg with a cup of very cold water. Then I mix in the flour until the batter is nice and thick - like a pancake batter.
*It's ok to have lumps in your batter - they are nice and crispy!

All that's left to do is to fry them! Coat a small mixture of vegetables in the batter and fry them in a small pot of hot oil till they are nice and golden brown.



While they were hot, sprinkle A LITTLE salt on the vege cakes and serve!The vege cakes are delicious by itself, but we happened to have some soba sauce in the fridge and it goes perfectly well with it too!

Enjoy!

Ministry of Food - My Izakaya

The first time we were at this restaurant, I didn't take any photos or blog down my experience as I want to know if they were worth mentioning in the first place. So the fact that you are reading this could only mean that they have managed to impress Miss CoCo's palette.

Located at the 2nd level of Parco Bugis Junction, I recommend MOF to those who would like to have reasonably priced Japanese meal and a nice place to just hang out after the meal. Yah the name is a little cheesey (Ministry of Food??!!) but they are ok. Haha... at first impression, I love the deco and ambience of the restaurant.



During the day, it is bright and airy.



In the evening, the lights are soft and cosy. So whether you are dining with friends or having a romantic meal with your loved one, MOF provides the right ambience.

Careful though, they keep the menu under the table so be careful not to hit your legs trying to sit cross-legged.

The menu is Japanese of course, but I like it that the menu not only have the typical Japanese dishes you see in a thousand eateries. They’re combinations are more creative without crossing the line of being weird. Yesterday I ordered a seafood toji with tempura set, while Cobby ordered a yakiniku bento with a salmon salad.

My seafood tori is like a little hot pot with squid, prawns, scallop with eggs, mushroom and onions bubbling in sweet and savoury soup stock. Coupled with a serving of tempura prawns and vegetables and a bowl of hot steaming rice, it was a hearty meal to fill an empty stomach.



Cobby’s salmon salad was pretty good, their self made sauce goes very well with the vegetables and fresh salmon. Unfortunately the serving was a little small. But I guess it should be just nice as an appetiser.



My first impression of the yakiniku was mouth watering. But it turned out to be a little too sweet.



But all is well because the REAL reason for my return to the restaurant is their famous Japanese desserts. If you were there, you MUST order their specialty, red bean Imo.





Japanese sweet potato, served together with Hokkaido red bean and Hokkaido Soft-serve ice cream. The combination is perfect! What a great way to end a meal. Even if you weren’t a fan of Japanese food, MOF would be a great place to rest your weary feet after shopping around. So go check it out sometime!

Ministry of Food
My Izakaya

200 Victoria Street
#02-45, Bugis Junction
Singapore 039594

www.ministryoffood.com.sg
Tel: 6338 6466
Fax: 6337 2958

Waraku - Tan Tan Udon

This is one of our favourite Japanese restaurant! We've been loyal customers since the days where they only have one outlet at East Coast Park. Today they have expanded their horizons to The Central at Clarke Quay, Marina Square, Starhub Center at Orchard and Katong. They even open a "Pasta de Waraku" but I've yet to try, so, no comment yah... If you like delicious, hearty food with generous servings in a cosy environment with good service, Waraku is a place for you!

There are many good dishes to recommend, but today I'll just zoom in on one of my current favourite: Tan Tan Udon

Wakaru is well known for their hand-made udon, which is a thick white rice flour noodle. So good you can even have it soba-style, dipping the cold noodles into a tasty sauce and slurping it up! But recently they came up with this new dish called Tan Tan Udon. They cook the udon in a slightly spicy soup with minced beef and spring onion which I find absolutely irristable!

Such a simple dish, yet so tasty! The noodles have a very nice chewy (but not hard or tough) texture to it. The plain noodles are accompanied by a very flavourful, slightly spicy soup with the occasional discovery of mince meat. The finely cut spring onion adds another level of texture and flavour to the dish. Beautiful...

Usually I end up slurping up the whole bowl. Hahaha.. there goes my diet. And this giant bowl of goodness only cost $12.80. So happy and satisfying! Burp~

For more information on menus, locations, check out their website!