Bistro du Vin 25 May 2019 - Michelin Bib Gourmand Singapore 2019

Last Saturday saw us triapsing to Bistrot du Vin at Shaw Centre to try some of their famous hearty French fare. We arrived at the Shaw House bistro before 7.30 and I managed to get a car park lot at the opposite Pacific Plaza Building which was a bonus. 

White Asparagus Class Mimosa

Light Mousseline Sauce (very refreshing !) 

For the starters we tried the White Asparagus with Light Mousseline Sauce which was in one word - fantastique - the asparagus was crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside and not at all bitter like those small asparagus shoots we get from the supermarket. The Mousseline sauce was very creamy (probably with alot of milk and butter inside) and was a great accompaniment to the asparagus. Excellent start to the meal.

I chose a glass of Granache which was a very mellow red wine to go with my main, which was the Beef Cheek (see below). 

Beef Cheek 

Joue de boef - Beef Cheek 

The wait staff were very professional and friendly, the seating was in a common hall and the specials were written in chalk on a huge blackboard at the top of the restaurant. I selected the Beef cheek, which is a specialty of the bistro while my wife May ordered the mixed stew of sea bass, golden snapper, prawn and squid. She gave it  a "thumbs up" and it was full of flavour.  

Bariilabaisse (mixed stew) of sea bass, golden snapper, prawns and squid 

The mixed stew was hearty and flavourful, she was impressed by the rather large pot and the servings were ample for 1 person. The flavour of the stew is strong and reminded me of the similar types of hearty stews when we went to Nice France last December. 

The beef cheek was really tender, it practically took no effort to cut through the beef and it was layered with a thick robust tasting sauce which reminded me of Bovril (?). The mashed potatoes were so tender and almost milky, I avoided it owing to my high cholesterol condition. Garnishing of chopped small parsely and carrots made the gravy so tasty. The beef cheek was a winner for me.  

Roasted Loire Pigeon with Girolettes and wild asparagus 

My elder son had the pigeon with girolettes (I guess some mushrooms) and wild asparagus and he found it rather gamey with a strong flavour much like pheasant. I tried it and it tasted lovely as I like strong tasting food. Goose Liver, cheese aged 36 months, etc all I do fancy and I would eat these more often, only if I had't my cholesterol to manage. That is Life, some wonderful tasting things are forbidden and I have to respect that.

My younger son had the Steak Frittes Oconnot Beef (marbelling 4) medium and was not too enthused ; it was rather ordinary. 

All in all a nice hearty meal for 4 , I will not give a review here as only those who are into French food and all its richness will truly appreciate trying the Bistro du Vin coupled with a nice Boujalais,  two or three.   

BISTRO DU VIN

1 Scotts Road (entrance by side of Shaw Centre)

#01-14

Singapore 228208 

Bruce Lee interview 1965

I do not own the rights to the movie, I am just copying the embedded IP address for those who visit my blog.

Bruce Lee is the real deal. 

Israel History 750 BC till 1917

A History of Present Day Israel from 1917 till 2018

Great Advice from the Motley Fool, Mr. David Kuo ; 4% rule upon retirement.

Here is some great advice from the financial adviser who goes by the moniker of "The Motley Fool", Mr. David Kuo. 

The 4% 'rule' is a guesstimate on how much interest your savings is expected to earn you yearly if you want to retire comfortably, ie. living with perhaps 70% level of your last standard of living if I may be able to quantify it. Lets say you want to retire with an 'outflow' of your savings yearly of $50,000. He suggests multiplying that amount by 25 so you need to have saved (ideally through rigorous savings, investment gains, business gains and inheritance) approximately $1.25 million. 

If you do not want to downgrade your existing property, then that amount should be kept in liquid assets. He estimates that these savings earned annually should appreciate 4% if it is still being continually invested wisely in a mix of equities, bonds, some cash and maybe a spare property or two. 

Bear in mind inflation of 3% annually will eat into the interest, so his company The Motley Fool will aim to earn upwards of 7% so that the savings saved is indeed kept intact and even growing through these uncertain times of US - China Trade Wars, the slowing down of our economies as we struggle to adapt to the new ways of doing and managing business and our lives are intertwined inextricably with our jobs, work and our companies.Our families should always be the reason we are existing, but our life's work if it can be quantified, should stand the passage of time. Our legacy is ours to create. 

Retirement can be optional, but the mind and body slowing down  and going to a funk is inevitable, but we can slow the process down by rigorous exercise, proper choices in food, living in clean environments and even taking health supplements like I do and have done so for the last 14 years without stopping.    

Another point to note is that you (and I) should be very well insured for all kinds of potential mishaps which require hospitalization fees, loss of earned income, and the slow loss of mobillity - whenever that strikes, it comes very fast as I have seen with close and dear friends recently.

Money, while it is necessary for a good life, doesn't necessarily lead to a good death, hence the thinking I have currently is to help the less fortunate people while I still have the energy and means to do so. That act itself will open my views to experiencing and maybe having empathy for those truly in need.

Death comes in whatever form, so be prepared for it, mentally,financially and physically by accepting the changes that will inevitably occur in time.  

Sushi Kou - Great Sashimi and Excellent Service

Our family have frequented Sushi Kou at Orchid Hotel along Tras Street for 3 years now. That in itself is a feat given my wife's extremely high standards in wanting to eat tasty, clean food and with the requirement of a changing menu every few months. Never an easy task.

Located along the walkway of the Orchid Hotel along Tras Street, the establishment is helmed by a Mr. Anthony Tan and his fine crew of 3 chefs and 3 serving staff.

Piece de Resistance, Sashimi 

Sushi Kou's sashimi always is excellent. The fish is freshly flown in from either Hokkaido or Tokyo's Tsujiki market and we normally order the following types of fish which never disappoints.

- swordfish

- tuna belly (otoro)

- scallops

-sea urchin (uni) ; the edible part

- salmon belly

Lately there has been in season fresh oysters, so we normally have a couple per person

Sushi Kou's boss Mr. Anthony Tan makes it a point to always seat my family even when they are quite full, so I am most appreciative of his support.

California Maki 

Depending on what we order, the bill per person easily comes to S$60 and above per person (including a couple of glasses of beer at $6 per glass). Our family of 4 normally has the following, starters of sashimi and whatever else is in season like oysters, some vegetable tempura , grilled cheek of flying fish or yellowtail.

Next, we will have the sushi which is normally the stamina rolls (soft shell crab), unagi rolls and perhaps California Maki. 

 Unagi (grilled eel) Rolls 

For the young men in our family, they will then order a side dish of a (beef or pork ) katsu don, followed with some miso soup.

To round off the meal, we will normally order each a scoop of ice cream which is not too creamy and with their typical Japanese flavours ; 1 of each so 4 to share amongst the 4 of us.

a) Green (Matcha) Tea

b) Black Sesame

c) Salted Sea Caramel

d) Plain Milky Vanilla

The facade inside the sushi restaurant

So my review with the scores below :

1. Food :  4.8 / 5 

Very fresh fish ; tasty choices and fully satisfying

2. Service : 4.9 / 5  

Almost Full Marks again, Mr. Tan and his crew must be commended for application of Ikigai or the art of focussing on the small tasks and creating the right dining mood for us.

3. Ambience :  3.5 / 5  

Some let down as the building is old and there were times when the air conditioning (HVAC) vent system didn't function properly. Fortunately they had the presence of mind to use high powered fans to enhance the cooling environment.    

4. Price        : $$$       ;
Be prepared to pay $ 60 - 80 per person if ordering sashimi, which is their speciality.

                                

Overall        :  4.4 / 5

SUSHI KOU

1 Tras Link (by the side of Orchid Hotel ; Tras Road)

Singapore 078867 

Tel : 6444 8433 

POFMA should not stifle constructive criticism

The recent Bill called Prevention against Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act is a well intended one.

My key wishes for this bill and now enacted law is that the actions carried by the Government of the day must be fair and balanced, as must the actions, posts and comments of thousands,no millions of blogwriters, people who have FB accounts, Instagram accounts and even Whatsapp accounts to exercise due restraint when posting articles, and so called "news". 

There are so many ways to 'spin' or 'frame' the event so much so that the type of language used, the facts presented, the audience the article or post intends to reach out to, and the expected response or impression created must all be well thought through. 

The spreading or passing of so called 'news' I normally check and double check the source of the 'news' for a) history b) credibility and c) ensuring that there are numerous other news outlets reporting the same event before I consider even passing the information on. If I think there is something dubious or that the 'news' will spark some unease, I will hesitate and probably not pursue putting up that post. It is obvious the more factual and unbiased new sources would be the BBC, Agency Press France, NY Times and South China Morning post although these sources also have inherent 'biases' in their articles from time to time.

Coming to the social media. This not so new media, the open sea, where there are bad people with all kinds of dubious intentions. We need to be very mindful of what we are posting, who the target audience is and what are the ramifications if any if there is indeed bad intent. 

I for one, will not be afraid of the POFMA, as if  it is executed properly, is a good check and balance of the multitude of news and so called facts there both for and against the establishment. 

There is also some doubt that the Government of the day may themselves use this as a means to stifle constructive criticism against their policies. I hope this is not the case.