Dairyworks Gouda Cheese

After trying natural cheeses, I have, apparently, develop a liking for it, I could not resist strolling over to the cheese section in Cold Storage to take a peek at the great selection of natural cheeses.

Dairyworks' packaging looks too attractive to be ignored, and I end up grabbing a pack of Gouda Cheese since I miss the slightly stretchy quality of this kind of cheese—think the texture of Mozzarella Cheese, but Gouda has stronger nutty flavour.

It tastes great either straight from fridge or melted on warm toast.

Country of Origin: New Zealand
Where to get this: Cold Storage

Note: Other brands that carry products made with 100% natural ingredients are Président (France, and not including individually wrapped cheese slices), Kerrygold (Ireland), Arla (Germany), Emborg (Germany), Organic Valley (USA), Sierra Nevada (USA), Coon (Australia), Entre Mont (France), West Minster (England), Galvani (Italy), Mainland (New Zealand), Tradition (Netherlands) and Ammerlander (Germany).

Tamar Valley Yoghurt

This is seriously good. The yoghurt is incredibly creamy with chucks of strawberry and blueberry fruits and puree mixed into it. Best of all, thus is made with all natural ingredients. Straight from Tasmania, the homeland of Tasmania Devil.

Country of Origin: Australia
Where to get this: Cold Storage Supermarkets

Organic Valley Baby Swiss Cheese

This cheese has an even more complex and robust flavour as compared to Emmental Cheese. The bitterness is more pronounced, but I can say it tastes very good when paired with butter and bread. The texture is similar to that of Gouda Cheese, being slightly stretchy when heated, so I recommend to try it on a warm toast for a different way to savour it.

Take note that I put the tag "Natural" in this post since saved for the Calcium Chloride (for added calcium?), the other ingredients of milk, salt, lactic acid and vegetable enzyme are natural.

Country of Origin: USA

Where to get this: Cold Storage Supermarkets

Tiger Sugar - Roar!

Here comes Tiger Sugar, roaring onto the shores of Singapore! After trying the Supertea's Tiger Drink, I like this beverage a lot, so naturally, I got to check out the offering of the famous Tiger Sugar. The counter is crowded, with a queue formed outside it. I wait for around twenty minutes before getting my hands on three helpings of Brown Sugar Boba with Cheese Mousse.

Well, with fresh milk and brown sugar that thoroughly seeped into the soft boba pearls, it is a winner. But I prefer Supertea's drink, whose cheese mousse is thicker and more pronounced in taste. I cannot really taste the cheese in Tiger Sugar. But to be fair, I drink the Tiger Sugar more than hour after I brought it. In addition, I am not into other food establishments in Capitol Piazza while Supertea is based in Millenia Walk, which is my favourite haunt.

Tiger Sugar is definitely worth a try since it is better than the beverages of almost all its competitors.

My Thoughts: Nice!

13 Stamford Road
Capitol Piazza #B2-32

Izakaya SHUN - Cuppage’s Best Kept Secret

It is just another day of getting our tummies happy when we head to one of our favourite haunts, Cuppage Plaza, to visit one of the restaurants in our regular list. Little did we expect to uncover yet another gem in this dingy little shopping complex. We are just trying our luck and waiting for the famed Kazu to open and then ask if we can get a table without reservation, it is at this moment that I notice a newly opened Japanese restaurant right besides Kazu, separated by a small corridor only.

After a quick search to find out that Izakaya SHUN is a sister restaurant of Kappo Shunsui, whose owner used to run a restaurant in Japan that was listed in Michelin Tokyo’s Bib Gourmand, well, I am all set to check out this restaurant!

The ambience is like that of posh restaurant bar with a bar counter, metallic tabletops, a mix of modern black plush chairs and those that have a touch of European medieval style and black walls with a brick wall at one end. And with the relaxing background jazz music, this is like the perfect place to chill and enjoy great food.

The menu is interestingly written in Japanese calligraphy style, but fret not, there are small and perfectly readable English words written below each item. The menu presented in this style sure adds on the feel of izakaya. Its offering is a mixed of everything from the usual chicken karaage to not-so-usual stingray fin. And after poring through the menu filled with Japanese words, we order Salmon sashimi, spicy pickled cucumber, snow crab’s cream croquette, chicken karaage and soba.

Otoshi, which is a small appetizer of ikura, comes up first. A great starter since each ikura is like a pearl of the essences of the sea: salty yet refreshing on the palates. The dash of yuzu added is the perfect accompaniment due to its light citrus flavour. I also like the firmness of the ikura here since like popping bubbles, it is nice to bite into it and then it goes “pop”. I also appreciate the thoughtful gesture of changing the originally intended salmon to ikura for our appetizers since we have ordered salmon and the chef does not want us to feel that the dishes are repetitive.

On our second visit, we are served unagi maki for otoshi. The starchy rice is smooth in texture and very flavourful. Pairs very well with the custard-like texture of the eel. I also like the crispy seaweed that goes with it.

While salmon is not the pedigree of sashimi, we opt to try it since it is our first time there and we want to try a more wallet friendly option. The cut is excellent, yielding slices with the perfect thickness. And served at the right temperature where the slices are cold enough to retain the freshness while is warm enough to release the flavours readily, the sashimi tastes so good! Now I am eager to try the other sashimi.

Spicy pickled cucumber is interesting in taste but the taste of preserved food is pretty strong, a bit too much to my preference since I am generally not really into preserved food stuff.

I actually prefer the kohada salad ordered on second visit. It is one of the most interesting salad I have tried. I like the strong taste of citrus generously added to the mix of slightly bitter leaves and finely sliced kohada fish. The contrast in textures between the leaves and soft flesh of fish actually works beautifully.

I love how chargrilled Pork from Miyazaki is lightly seasoned with dashes of sea salt and pepper to let the natural flavours of the pork shine through. And the seasoning is the perfect accompaniment to the flavours of charred meat. And the pork is perfectly grilled to have light hints of the coveted taste of charred meat yet featuring no burnt parts. The specialty chilli paste gives an extra kick to the taste.

A good source of carbohydrates to go with all the dishes will be the soba. I like the pretty generous amount of chopped scallions, spring onions and seaweed sprinkled on top of the soba. The hot clear soup is very flavourful, filled with the goodness of kombu and bonito. Drinking it on a rainy day hits the sweet spot. The soba is of al dente texture, which is my preference, but my companion will like it to be a bit softer in texture.

Cold soba is pretty good too.

I seldom see snow crab’s cream coquette featured in the menus, so I do not hesitate to order this one. Cutting through the mashed potato coated with breadcrumbs reveals the molten filling within. The filling is creamy with hints of umami. And the tangy coquette sauce created a nice balance in taste with the coquette.

As for the chicken karaage, my companion says it is the best. I do think that it is very good because the chicken is tender, succulent and juicy.

The young lady attending to us is very friendly, energetic, alert and attentive. I am really impressed. Just a note, the food will take a while to be served.

I totally enjoy dining at Izakaya SHUN because this place simply feels different from the others, in large part due to the dishes and the menu. The meal is supposed to be on me as I had promised. However, my companion loves the food here so much that he insists on footing the bill. He does get a shock from the price of the tea, which is $5 per pax!

So we conclude that it is better to order a second helping of house pour sake at $9 instead. That is what we are going to do the next time we come here again.

My Thoughts: Yes! I uncover another gem in Cuppage! More reasons to go to Cuppage.

This restaurant had underwent some changes, such as moving to Keong Saik and then moving back to Cuppage. Check their website for latest updates instead.

https://www.izakayashun.sg/

First Culinary Restaurant - Surprisingly Good

Actually, it had never crossed my mind to visit this Chinese restaurant located in ITE College Central building despite passing by it often and taking note of it. Since I need to look for a restaurant to have my CNY reunion dinner next year—lots of restaurants are fully booked by now, yes, the horrors—this is where First Culinary Restaurant comes onto my radar. And since we are there, we figure that we might as well have our dinner there. I did not expect much, so I am pleasantly surprised that the food is pretty good!

Crispy Prawn Pancake is the one of highlights since I like the fresh prawn paste wrapped in incredibly thin and crispy dough.

Lemongrass pork gets the thumbs-up from me too due to the interesting addition of lemongrass and the not-so-chewy texture of the meat. I also appreciate the hand drawn pictures on the serving plates. A nice extra touch.

The Qing Long vegetables is slightly firm in texture yet easy to bite, signifying its freshness.

One of the staffs has told me that there is a family specially coming down for the char siew, but since the chef who makes the char siew is not in, it is not available that day. Char siew that needs specialized chef to make? Interesting, I may go back to try the char siew. When I do that, I will update on here. The same goes for the update on the restaurant’s standard during CNY period. Update: I really go back and get to try the char siew. It is really good due to the fact it is marinated with natural ingredients instead of the usual factory made red colour char siew sauce. This char siew, like any quality char siew, has layers of fat between the meat, so it is best to share this with a couple of people.

The stir-fired hor fun is excellent, and the Prawn Mango Roll is interestingly made with rice paper.

Again, I was expecting the restaurant to look dingy due to its location at the fringes of the heartland. Yes, my bad, stereotyping. But the interior of this place exceeds my expectations. It is pretty grand actually. The layout is that of traditional Chinese restaurant, but the furnishings and decor have touches of modern influences.

Service is pretty much like that of other Chinese restaurants—efficient and pretty friendly.

With pretty good, nice ambience and convenient location (for me), this is a nice choice for heartlanders living around Ang Mo Kio, Hougang and Serangoon.

And the CNY reunion dinner gets the thumbs-up from me. Way, way better than Kai Garden. The service is especially efficient, no delay, no dirty plates and no wrong orders despite the huge crowds. And the standard of the food is good. Lobster and duck are included in the mid tier set menu instead of the usual chicken and prawns. We are definitely sticking with this restaurant for our 1st choice to have CNY reunion dinners.

My Thoughts: Nice Choice for Family Gathering

Nearest car park: ITE College Central’s carpark
Nearest MRT: Ang Mo Kio

ITE College Central
2 Ang Mo Kio Drive
Block A #01-09
Singapore
Contact No: 6481 5500

Seoul Restaurant - Best Korean BBQ Restaurant

Few years ago, a friend of mine, who is a self-professed foodie, had recommended a Korean restaurant in The Regent Hotel. I was pretty interested since I have very good impressions of Regent's lineup of restaurants due to the fact that I like Summer Palace and Basilico a lot. Though I enjoy Korean cuisine, the truth is it is not exactly the type of cuisine I will jump into trying. So I never got around to trying the food there. By a twist of fate, I end up coming here for lunch, and found the best Korean BBQ restaurant in Singapore.

The appetizers are pretty standard fare of kimchi, which is nice, as expected, sweet potato tempura, beanspouts and potato salad. In this department, I still prefer Hansik's offerings. Then again, the highlight of Seoul Restaurant is the meat, so let's get to that now.

The meat here is the best among all the Korean BBQ places I had been to. The meat is incredibly fresh and thoroughly marinated, thus yielding very flavourful, succulent, juicy barbecued meat that is imbued with the aroma of charcoal. Yes, instead using the conventional heater, we barbecued the thick slabs of meat over charcoal, and this is one of the reasons that make this restaurant a winner in barbecued meat department. And it helps that the grill station is designed in such a way that the oil will not be sprayed onto me, unlike what regularly happened when I visited other self service BBQ restaurants. The sesame oil with salt is a great condiment to go with the meat. Highly recommend the pork collar since the meat is not too chewy like the ribs, and the pork is generally more flavourful than the chicken. Another suggested way of enjoying the meats here is to go light first by savouring the BBQ chicken first, then the pork. And one more thing: the pork belly looks like the thinly sliced type in the menu, but when it is served, I am shocked to see that each slice is at least one centimetre thick! So if one wants to try that, be prepared, especially since pork belly has high ratio of fat.

The spicy soft beancurd stew with clams and egg yolk is another must order. The umami of the clams is impossible to resist.

Seafood pancake is prepared right in such a way that the ratio of vegetables to flour is high.

Chilled buckwheat noodles soup is a novelty, which reminds me of cold soba that I love. Add a splash of vinegar and a dot of mustard, the smooth cold fine noodles, soaked with the essence of the soup, is a enjoyable, refreshing treat. But I do find it a tad too chewy as compared to soba.

Service is, well, pretty okay. Kind of like in the middle for all aspects.

If I want to have Korean BBQ, is fine with travelling down to Orchard area and do not mind the aftermath of strong barbecue smell on me, this restaurant is the first to come to my mind.

My Thoughts: My Number One Choice for Korean BBQ buffet

Nearest car park: The Regent Hotel’s car park
Nearest MRT: Orchard

1 Cuscaden Road
The Regent Hotel #03-02
Singapore
Contact No: 63388548