Meeting Family in Melbourne April 4th 2019

Doris and Robert Saunders in Melbourne 4th April 2019

During my trip to Canberra Australia earlier this month, I seized upon the chance to do a short domestic trip down to Melbourne where my cousin Doris Abisheganaden and her lovely husband Robert Saunders live.

Doris and Robert have migrated to Melbourne Australia since the 70s and are Australian citizens living in the suburbs of Melbourne. I had a great time catching up with both Doris and Robert who were wonderful dinner hosts to this uptight Singaporean cousin.

My late father Geoffrey and her father Felix were 2nd and 3rd brothers in the family where there were 5 boys and 2 girls growing up. 

Doris gave me a wonderful insight about my Papa before he met my Mum and the things he did with the other Uncles when they were all living under one massive bungalow house off Sophia Road way back in the 50s and early 60s before my brother and I were even born !

The wonder of rekindling blood relationship made my trip Down Under all the more precious.

Thank you Doris and Robert !    

KARMA comes sooner or later ; in this case to the Watford Captain Deeny

Barely 2 weeks ago Wolves lost out to Watford at the FA Cup Semifinals ; and Troy Deeney had his say about Raul Jiminez putting a mask and calling him a 'loser'. Wolves dropped out at the death in extra time by 3 : 2 and many people were just sad that the team who played the attractive football lost. 

Well yesterday, Deeney was sent off for an elbow in the face of the Arsenal player earning him 3 matches to sit on the bench due to dangerous play. He surely must be kicking himself in the backside for mouthing off needlessly as football is a team game with rivalries and with referees who manage the state of play ; sometimes breaking a team's spirit in Watford's case.

Too bad Deeney ; when Karma comes to you just be a man not a belligerant teenager. 

Ben Foster also suffered a red face when an attempt at clearing his goal ended up with Obamayang deflecting in the poor kickout and Foster had the ignominy of picking up the ball from his own net ; the ultimate red face action of a mistake which was punished. 

So Deeney, there is an attitude called graciousness which you need to learn in life. 

Argyle Sweater - Scott Hilburn

The genuis of the 1 panel cartoon makes the reader think and apply the double entendre

to the situation.

The Argyle Sweater is one panel comic 'strip' if there ever was one. The punchline must be hit with just a few balloons or with comic timing of a maestro and someone who is into black humour. 

No slapstick, just weirdly funny. It takes some getting used to the 'frequency' but once it hits you it may be the funniest thing or not. 

Kyubey Sushi Shinjuku Japan - My Review.

Kyubey Shinjuku is located on 6th Floor of Keio Plaza 

Its preferable to book in advance.

Japan is the home of sushi, make no mistake. Above average sushi bars are plentiful in Tokyo and all the major cities across the Land of the Rising Sun, so it was a minor coup that I managed to snag a table for 2 in 2014 - yes the memory was so vivid all those years ago- for Kyubey, which is rated as one of the TOP 5 Sushi Restaurants in Japan !

Sukiyabashi Jiro is the NO. 1 in Japan and helmed by sushi craftsman Jiro Ono who even has a film after his perfection to his craft. At 93, he is still working tirelessly creating works of art and the waiting list runs into the years. 

 A meal to lift the senses and spirits. My beaming smile made me look 15 years younger !

Mere mortals like us have to accept the next best ones, hence Kyubey is the BEST SUSHI I have eaten in my life. When we arrived at 8.30 pm on a drizzly weekday evening, I was expecting to be turned away from such an esteemed place. However, the serving manager must have seen our tired and hungry foreign faces and must have taken pity on these 2 tourists. We snagged a small table near the door, and my wife and I were giddy with delight at this Anthony Bourdainish "No Reservation" success !

Much more pleasant surprises were to follow, we had the first course of sushi set of 10 pieces. The sushi was warm to the lips and the flavour was just bursting out from the fish and the sticky rice. 

The sushi was a mixture of cooked and raw delights, each one hitting all the right notes. Never had I tasted such refined creations from ALL of the sushi bars and restaurants in Singapore. The standouts were the tuna belly (toro), the squid and the sea urchin roe (Uni).

The timing of the placing of the sushi plates MUST be precisely calculated, as must the temperature of the fish meat,in order to optimise the flavour of the sushi. Truth be told, there was a burst of flavour upon putting the first piece of art-food work into my mouth. I kid you not.

The sea urchin roe probably upped my cholesterol level by 25 basis points, but what the hell, I live once and the chance to eat awesome food is to experience one of life's greatest experiences.  

Sashimi of Tuna Belly, Sardines and Threadfin 

May had the sashimi set and it went together with some chawamushi (poached egg Japanese style in a ceramic cup).

To top off a perfect evening, we had the grilled cod, which was so succulent and flavourful.

Less is indeed more.

Our wallets (mine actually) was lighter by some US$ 300 (US$ 150 per pax) but this experience will last a lifetime.

My Review 

Food :      5 / 5

Service :  4.5 /5

Ambience : 4.0 / 5

Price     : US$ 150 per pax with some sake each.

The famous cousin of Kyubey is the one in Ginza but there is a reservation fee of Yen 7000 so perhaps for tourists, we can try our luck at this 2nd outlet at :

6th floor Keio Plaza

2 Chome 2 - 1 

Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku City

Tokyo

16830

Japan. 

Sushi Lovers, this is the PLACE 

My Cosy Corner - Great Peranakan (Straits Chinese) Food

Mee Siam Mai Ham (without the cockles as some clueless guy would say) 

Tucked away on the 2nd floor of Coronation Plaza along Bukit Timah Road is a small eatery selling all kinds of Peranakan food from its 15 table shop. Run by a Mr and Mrs Ng, it is your typical 'hole in the wall' eatery serving fantastic Peranakan or Straits Born Chinese food. The really top of the line dishes are as follows :

1. Mee Siam

2. Popiah

3. Kueh Pai Tee

4. Laksa

5. Mee Rebus

6. Bento boxes

7. Udon or Ramen noodles 

Practically everybody bar the students from the nearby Hwa Chong or National Junior Colleges would opt to eat either one or a combination of the first 3, as they are REAL AUTHENTIC and very tasty.

Recognition for My Cosy Corner was given during the 2014 Hawker Heroes Awards 

Ny favourite is the Mee Siam and the Pie Tee sets. Mee Siam without the prawn costs $4.80. Not cheap considering the others sold at the hawker centres cost $3.00 to $3.50 per plate. The secret to it being so tasty must be the stock or soup, which to this day I am clueless about. I just go there and eat with gusto ; it is practically a vegetarian meal to me.

The dish consists of vermicelli noodle soaked in a broth with fried tofu, bean spouts, spring onion, and some ground chilli. Perfection in a simple dish. For boiled prawns add an extra $1.00. It is really really good ! 

My second most favourite dish is the Kueh Pie Tee. It essentially is a small cupcake of fried flour, and you fill in the ingredient of boiled radish, add on some shaving of boiled egg with a topping of parsely and some ground chilli sauce. As the true blue Singaporean foodie would say,   " Damn Shiok !!" and then give 2 thumbs up !!   

The all time favourite is the Popiah or Vegetable Wrap and Madam Ng and her husband being the sole proprieters of this wonderful eatery, personally ensure the popiah is made right before your eyes and served to you piping hot. Again it is using a rather elastic rice flour wrap (akin to the Mexican wraps but with Chinese touch to it), add on the ubiquitous radish filling which is dripping with flavour, some ground nuts,shallots and some home made brown sauce for flavouring. You can add some ground cut chilli if you want some zing to it but I normally take mine without the chilli.

Their popiah is one of the best tasting in Singapore and has been featured many times on TV and won numerous awards.

If you want to go and dine at the eatery, I think it best to go around 11.30 am to ensure a no wait time, or after 2.30 pm. The most crowded times are from 12 - 2.00 pm. 

The stall does not open for breakfast, so 11.00 am till about 6.30 pm (last order) ; hence they only serve 1 meal a day and they are closed on Sundays.

The owners are staunch Catholics and the stall is adorned with numerous paintings, murals, and magnets of their travels to Israel and the Holy Land.

Our Run 13 April 2019 - Polar M340 Review

Our hard run starting at 7.30 am yesterday 13th April 2019  

I am slowly getting more resilient to the hot weather as I try not to be so lazy and sleep in most Saturdays. Felipe has been my regular running mate these last few months and I enjoy his 'push' to get me to run faster and longer.

Do take a look at the upload of the Polar M340 onto the Youtube with all the necessary data all recorded, HR, speed and distance all in one 'dashnoard'. 

I am getting faster, and hopefully will be able to lose some weight in the process ! 

Origin Grill - Shangri La ; 13 April 2019 My Review

The 300 g Wagyu M5 / 6 . Sorry for the blurred Picture 

Williams River Cross Bred Wagyu 400 days Grain Fed M5 / 6, Ribeye 300 g

We had a celebration yesterday and one of my sons recommended trying the Origin Grill at the Shangri - La. Located at the lobby level of the Tower Wing, we managed to book a table for 4 several days in advance.

SERVICE

The service was average, as while the restaurant was booked to capacity, the wait staff were a little overwhelmed or were slightly short handed. Other than the slight disappointment on the service standard, the food was EXCEPTIONAL in my humble opinion.   

The serving of the bread was rather slow, like an oversight on the wait staff, but the rest of the front of kitchen was prompt and attentive. 

ENTREES 

We (my family of 4) had the following :
1. half dozen of seasonal fresh oysters
2. pan seared Hokkaido scallops with coconut chilli jam
3. octopus charred with smoked paprika 
4.spaghetti tossed with heirloom tomatoes and basil.   

Spaghetti tossed with Heirloom Tomato and Basil - excellent with enough Al Dente bite

The spaghetti was really flavourful, the tomatoes were sauteed and tender with the correct Al Dente (bite) done the Italian way. There was a hint of garlic and extra virgin olive oil too. The last time we ate something as good and tasty as this was in the Michelin 2 starred restaurant Seti in Milan, Italy. 

The charred octopus was very tasty, tender and not chewy at all with the paprika adding to the burst of flavour to the dish One interesting add on was an eggplant puree which tasted like one of the puree side dishes with my Indian 'Thosai'.

Hokkaido scallops were very succulent and fresh, with a good bite size to it. The chilli jam was just nice, something which you normally find in the Thai sweet chilli sauces.  

Oysters were very fresh although we found it less 'creamy' than the perfect oyster. But very good nonetheless. Add a dash of Tabasco sauce and alls good !

Piece de Resistance ; 

John Stone Grass Fed Dry Aged 35 days Ribye 500 g

Hand Selected Cattle are matured using the traditional dey ageing 

method resulting in exceptional tenderness.

MAINS : 

The steaks we ordered were 1. John Stone Grass Fed Dry Aged 35 Days Ribeye 500 g

2.  Williams River Cross Bred Wagyu 400 days Grain Fed M5 / 6, Ribeye 300 g

Both steaks were exceptional in taste, presentation and doneness. We ordered medium (not medium well or medium rare) and they were both perfect. The JS (Australian) Wagyu was lean beef and with the bone, so the meat was slightly burnt outside and cooked (not bloody like the Florentine steaks of Bisteca) just nice which brought out a very good beef taste with nice burnt notes. 

The Wagyu was marbled around M5 / 6 so the fat content was higher but it tasted  oh so good. So tender and practically melts in your mouth !

The 800 g was shared between the 4 of us, so each of us ate roughly 200 g each.

I paired the steaks with the Hartenburg Shiraz which was excellent, albeit pricey at $29 per glass.

BLACKFOREST

Drunken sacher sponge cake soaked with amarena cherryand Caribe chocolate cream with coconut soil and cherry sorbet 

DESSERT 

We ordered 2 to be shared by the 4 of us, the Enchanted Black Forest (see picture above) and the Twisted Lemon Parfait.

The Blackforest sponge cake was a little bit of a letdown, as nothing really stood out from the mix. Perhaps if there was some dark chocolate added in as wafers it would have been a standout.

  TWISTED LEMON PARFAIT

Zesty lemon confit with touched maringue, yuzu montee,pistachio sponge and almond shortcrust. 

The lemon farfait was nice, not too sweet and a perfect complement to the Blackforest sponge cake. It was a little icy (confit) and the wafer shortcurst with the cream on top with yuzu and almond was a nice touch. Lovely.

Origin Grill is helmed by chef  Heidi Flanagan

My Rating :  Out of 5 

1. Food           5 / 5      ; practically everything was excellent, especially the steaks
2. Ambience   4.3 / 5   ; it was full that night, but tables used could have been lesser 
3. Service       4.0 / 5   : only downside was they seemed to be a little stretched at times 
                                      needing me to call them for extra bread. Pacing of food was 
                                      very good though

    Overall      4.4 / 5      Excellent 

4. Price           $$$$    ; 1 glass of Shiraz costs $29 and the Evian bottle cost $19.
    Bill for 4      $ 509   : $125 per pax (approx), acceptable for a 5* restaurant. 


Will we come back again ? Yes definitely. Its really a top notch restaurant.

ORIGIN GRILL, SHANGRI-LA HOTEL
Lobby Level, Tower Wing
22 Orange Grove Road
Singapore 258350