Ginett Restaurant & Wine Bar - Nice Cosmopolitan Place

French food, impressive cosmopolitan decor and value-for-money set lunches at 18 bucks only, with all these factors, Ginett sure attracts quite a crowd during lunch time. The food is actually good. Just that while the service here meets the minimum standard of being quite efficient, I do expect more from the service given that this restaurant is of minimum mid level. Besides the front counter lady who is friendly, the rest look very stressed, to the point that I think I smile more at them more than they do to me.

Setting aside this, this restaurant is good for a nice meal at pretty good price. By the way, one needs to request the service crew to show the set lunch menu since it is written on a blackboard instead of being printed on a paper. 

Despite the attractively priced set lunch, I order Olio Scampi from the ala carte menu instead. And I love my choice. Three huge succulent fresh prawns, smooth, springy house-made linguine tossed with chilli, garlic and bacon, this dish is full of flavours. As mentioned in my posts before, I prefer linguine over spaghetti since smoothness of the surface of linguine is more evident than that of spaghetti. So yes, I like this a lot.

Complimentary bread is pretty okay though not warm and nice. By the way, the staff didn't serve me the bread, which made me wonder at first if the bread is only for set lunch order. So I asked if the bread only comes with the set meal and here it is. Mystery solved. So request for it if it is not served by the time the first dish is up.

Mille-Feuille "Grands Augustins" hits all the right spots in terms of sweetness and texture. The puff pastry is vey crispy and flaky, which is excellent. The Bourdon vanilla cream is light, smooth and creamy. This is one good dessert.

This is a nice place to dine and wine (the wines are of very good price too) on a budget or to have a quick gathering with friends or colleagues. And the good part is water is really complimentary instead of going the still or sparkling water route that lots of restaurants do. The food is good and comes at a pretty good price. Just don't expect stellar service here.

Thoughts: Pretty nice place

200 Middle Road

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut or Rocher or Bencoolen

Ganko Sushi - Pleasant, Indulgent Surprises

Decided that today I will step out of my regular haunting grounds and venture out to Ganko Sushi to try some Osaka cuisine, and oh boy, I'm glad that I did. The omakase here is so good, full of pleasant, indulgent surprises, being distinctively different from omakase elsewhere. And I like it that the restaurant also serves up ala carte items, like chirashi and sushi platter, at great prices, so I can come here for whatever occasions to just enjoy good food at a budget I'm comfortable with.

First dish of Ankimo, Monk Fish Liver, blows me away. This is like foie gras of the sea! So rich, so buttery, so smooth, with hints of the flavours of the sea. The real wasabi, which is refreshing, slightly sweet and astringent in taste, and the light sauce refreshes the palates so as to fully appreciate the richness of the liver.

Crunchy and springy in texture, yet easy to bite, I love this too. The jelly on top adds the zest to make it even better.

Kinmedai sashimi with ponzu sauce is delicious too.

The creaminess of Ika, aka squid, goes very well with the umami packed nori sauce and the refreshing wasabi. I like it that the ika was cut into rectangles for easy bite.

The Snow Crab Rice is very lightly seasoned yet amazingly flavourful. Every grain of the starchy rice is imbued with the light briny sweetness. This has me swooning in delight.

Uni, which is interestingly served with nori tempura, is so sweet and creamy. Having a bite of this feels like unlocking an achievement in my gastronomic adventure. Yes, it is that good.

Shirako, aka cod fish's milt or ... sperm, is light deep fried on the surface for some crunchiness to introduce a variation in texture. I like this twist in presentation. The light sauce and sprinkle of chilli powder cut through the creaminess of shirako well for nice juxtaposition of flavours.

Nice crispy skin and well-cooked fish that retains the juiciness of the flesh. I like it.

First sushi is Usuba Hagi, aka Leatherjacket fish. This is the first time I try this fish, and I like the clean taste and smooth texture of the fish. This is part of the reason why I like the omakase here since I get to try something new. And the shari, the rice portion of sushi, is very flavourful and holds well together.

Next is Aburi Nodugoro, flame-seared blackthroat seaperch, which is buttery and has rich umami flavour. And the touch of smokey flavour makes it even better. First time trying this too, and I love it. By the way, this is called toro of white fish to give an idea on how buttery it is.

Another yummy aburi sushi.

I always love negitoro, so I am of course very happy to see it served here. The pickles added introduces a refreshing element to the richness of fatty minced fish meat to make it even better.

Yes, the Otoro! The cut of this sushi is so beautiful. A few bites on this and the creamy flesh melts in the mouth. This is so decadently good.

Another interesting sushi of Shiro Ebi, white prawns, which is another sushi I had not tried before. And I used to think that I know lots of types of sushi since I had tried lots of omakase before. A meal here makes me realise there is more to discover, which is a good thing. The clean light umami of the small prawns goes so well with the zest from the sprinkle of lemon peel.

Anago, the more premium type of eel, is creamy and fleshy. A good one to round up the course of sushi.

Tamago Cake is super fluffy. In fact, it tastes like a cake. A very unique and cool presentation of an egg dish. I love it.

Nice, hot miso soup to warm the soul.

Japanese fruits with cream and red bean paste served as dessert. The white strawberry is delicious, the melon is juicy, and the cream and red paste is sweet bliss combination.

The stove on the left is used for preparing aburi sushi.

Located at the corner of the building with panels of glass as walls, the restaurant looks to be surrounded in lush greenery. The florals and sake bottles placed around the place add a touch of class to the modern zen interior.

If one wants to get a up close look on how the chefs, including the Japanese chefs, prepare the sushi and sashimi, then make a reservation for the counter seats since I saw that all counter seats were reserved already when I arrived at the opening time during lunch time. Service is awesome, welcoming, non-intrusive and responsive.

The mid-tier omakase here is so sumptuous that it piques my curiosity on how awesome the top-tier omasake will be and what kind of new fishes I can savour. I definitely look forward to going back.

Thoughts: Great new gastronomic experience!

9 Penang Road

#01-01

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut

Tim Ho Wan - Not bad but not fantastic either

Given the long queue of Tim Ho Wan, I will never go and try out the food there. However, since I was hanging around Plaza Singapura at nine in the morning, and there is no queue at this place, so I thought that I might as well check it out. So if you want to avoid the queue, go there before ten in the morning.

The staff at the reception is friendly while the others are quite okay in terms of service. The place is pretty cramped, plus the cantonese music blaring in the background, the Hong Kong feel is really strong.

As for the dim sum, they are not bad, but are nowhere comparable to the ones I have in my favourite restaurants—take note that the price is comparable though. The Bo Lo Bun is decent in taste, the sauce used for the char siew tends to be on the sweet side. But there is nothing exceptional about it. The same goes for the Steamed Cake that has a very silky, fluffy texture but the taste is hardly noteworthy. There is just slight sweetness with hints of egg taste. The dim sum with wasabi looks and tastes interesting, but I can hardly detect any wasabi or horseradish in it. The porridge is really a huge meh. It is so bland and has that cooked-in-the-pot-for-too-long taste, like one of those horrible porridges I had in Imperial Treasures and Jade Restaurant.

I don't mind having the Bo Lo Buns and Steamed Cake again, but queuing for them is put of question. And I will not specially go down for them either.

My Thoughts: Still Okay

Nearest car park: Plaza Singapura's car park

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghuat

68 Orchard Road #01-29A

Plaza Singapura

Contact No: 62512000