17 Mar 2012 - Army mates reunion at The Square. Furama Riverfront

Decided on the place again for its 1-for-1 promotion, for a total of 6 people.

No more snow crab legs this time round though, quite disappointed. However, the chilli crab was still good, meat was sweet, and did not stick to the shell.

The guys also enjoyed the cold tiger prawns as much as he did.

The staff also brought out a small complimentary cheesecake, when informed that amongst them was a birthday boy. Good service, and the cheese cake was delicious.

07 Feb 2012 - Straits Cafe @ Hotel Rendezvous for Mom's Birthday

This post will be going without pictures. Nobody took any.

Took advantage of the Standard Chartered Bank cardholder birthday promotion, 3 diners for the price of 2. Tried to get 6 people, but the second brother wasn't free. So, they had 5 on that day.

Apparently, the renovation works at Hotel Rendezvous just got completed. The whole place looks brighter and more spacious than before.

Got shown their table, near the window, sofa seats with cushion for some lumbar support. So far so good.

Decided to start off with sashimi, you had to go to the counter and make a request. However, was disappointed to see a whole tray of sliced salmon. Didn't seem well-chilled either. Would have preferred the chef to slice from a slab. In any case, got served up 4 slices of neatly arranged salmon sashimi. The only available sashimi were salmon and octopus. Got some plump looking oysters from the same counter too, freshly shucked.

Next, went for the snow crabs, prawns and snails. Always have a soft spot for crustaceans. The 2 young waitresses seemed a little blur, so he had to go without the clarified butter for the crab. The sweet crabs were good on their own anyway, Mom and Dad also enjoyed it. Prawns were large and crunchy, and the snails were tender. There were no food labels, but those snails had a hard beak for you to pull and get the meat out. Someone help to name them?

On another occasion, when the littlest brother asked for a stirrer for his tea, the waitress brought him a soup spoon. When asked for a dessert spoon for the shot-glass dessert, the spoon she brought was again too large to even reach the dessert. But they were enthusiastic, so it didn't matter too much. Dad eventually went to fetch the correct spoon.

The older bunch started to get tired of the cold food, and went for the pipping hot cooked food instead. The littlest brother and him went for more sashimi and oysters. Maybe the rotated chef was in a bad mood, and the oysters he shucked were all mangled. The same chef served up a messy bundle of salmon, sure gave them a good time unwrapping the slices. Totally no pride in his work. Or he intended but failed at a salmon rose, perhaps?

Everyone enjoyed the durian pengat, something like durian smoothie. Many years ago, you had to retrieve it from the tub. You could get as many ice-cold scoops as you wanted in your bowl. On this day, these were served in shot-glasses. Would have liked it cooler, and found the portion a little too small. Coming from another point of view, it's a healthy initiative. You'll have to eat lesser at one go, and you'll probably be more conscious of the intake of such sinful stuff.

To sum up, the ambience and food were good, but service could be improved. Had a hard time deciding between Kiseki and Straits Cafe, but walked away with some disappointment this time round.

20 Nov 2011 - Dining on Harvest of the Sea at Spices Cafe

Read online about an interesting "Harvest of the Sea" buffet at Concorde Hotel, priced at $48++ per person for a weekend dinner. Coupled with 15% discount for some credit cards, the pull factor just got stronger.

Checked out the inclusive a la carte menu for crabs while waiting for the single serve of lobster halves. He would go on to eat 5 different styles of crabs, cold, chilli, black pepper, steamed and butter.


While the lobsters were taking their time, he drew first blood. The salmon sashimi was really delicious, probably of the better variety. The crab was probably mud crab, claw was good, but the torso piece he had was a little mushy. Nobody can guarantee a perfect crab though.


Next plate was of smooth and juicy oysters. They would have another round of plumper ones later on. Bit into some sand/shell bits, but hey, it's seafood alright.


For the sweet toothed. He would be too stuffed with crabs and miss the fondue.


Her platter of cold seafood. Prawns were fresh and had crunch.


Then came the order of butter crab. Those shreds were probably egg wisps. The dish was very tasty, and was still dripping with butter.


Steamed crab was done with Chinese wine and egg whites, he liked it that the meat was moist and flavorsome. Notice that they were served the torso, but it would be claw-fest later on.


The lobster halves arrived, spicy sambal for him and cheese for her. Spoke to the manager and found out that these were from Indonesia, probably spiny lobsters. They didn't do Maine or Boston lobsters. Nevertheless these were succulent and went well with their toppings and had them wanting for more. Unfortunately, these were single-serve, and would cost ~$29++ each for additional orders.


From eyes of the other half.


Flipped the cleaned out cheese lobster for a mugshot.


Beef rendang, soy chicken, stir fried clams and lamb. Turf after surf for her.


He continued with his seafood feast.


Another shot of the pastry spread, about to be attacked.


Shot of the seafood counter, sporting an intermittent blue glow from under the ice.


She returned with slightly healthier stuff from the salad and cold cut counter.


He too, felt that it was time for some salad... with maybe some salmon sashimi, maybe some chicken, and perhaps also some smoked duck...


Crab and scallop soup, she was starting to engage the brakes...


Or so he thought. She sprung a fruity surprise. Kiwi and strawberries were really sweet, he seldom got any that tasted this sweet from the regular supermarket.


Tried some cheese, and heaped on a few slices of freshly replenished braised sea cucumber that was still steaming. Sneaked in 2 pieces of ebi tempura on the way back to the seat.


Felt that it would have been a wasted trip not to have black pepper crab and chilli crab, so those were placed on the order.

Black pepper crab that warmed the stomach. This time round, they were given 2 or 3 nicely cracked claws, as compared to just 1 in the previous crab dishes. An incident occurred here when he was trying to twist the pincers apart. The swollen meat snapped towards him and dirtied his shirt a little, but his mind was on the claw on the floor. What a waste.


She continued with another round of dessert while he took his time to polish off the crabs.


Was trying to catch his breath from downing the fiery black pepper crabs when the chilli crabs arrived. It was all meaty pincers, probably 4 or 5 of them.


Rotated the serving dish to be sure. No assistance of any sort was rendered to him, and she was laughing at him while he struggled with the claws. The numbers nearly overwhelmed him, but it was he who prevailed in the end. OK, no more mud crabs for a long long time....

07 August 2011 - Kiseki

He was feeling lethargic due to the stalemate with throat/nasal infection, and also sustained a wisdom tooth extraction in midweek. But she said that to recover, one should act as if he weren't sick. So they ended up going for her shopping trots.

*few hours flew by*

Then came the dilemma, to eat in town or to have beef noodles at Lai Lai. As they walked on pondering, it was decided that they eat at Kiseki since they had crab and sashimi cravings. Prices went up by $2++ to $34.80++

Crab legs and mussels. He had plenty of snow crab legs and flower crabs. Sweet stuff, but probably bad for the wound. Ate with the right side of his jaw... probably took 2 times the time to eat.


Sweet sweet flower crabs


Sashimi and skewers of pork, curry sausages and prawns. The prawns were covered in salt and barbecued, perfect to awaken the taste buds of the sick. They also had skewers of chicken liver that were slathered with yakitori sauce, good stuff.


Baked shellfish - mussels and scallops covered in mentaiko.


More skewers, just can't stop... yet.


Fried food, polished off by her


Savoury seafood soup, never fails to whet appetite.


And finally some pretty looking dessert. These were very evil though, chock full of thick chocolate, no hollow spaces.


If you're wondering about the lack of pictures, it was because he had his hands full of crab...

11 June 2011 - Nihon Mura

Went for buffet dinner at Nihon Mura AMK branch, and saw notices that it would be closing down at the end of the month. $24.99++ per person.

They had a choice of a one-time serving from the special menu.


Both of them opted for foie gras. The outside was well seasoned and very tasty. However, this had none of that melt in the mouth factor.


Next order on the list was chawanmushi. Smooth like it should be.


Some salmon (sake) sashimi to satisfy that craving. Difficult to go wrong with this.


Yellow tail (tai) had a rough texture and was tough, while tuna (maguro) was mushy.


Lobster hana maki


Chuka idako - his favourite dish of seasoned baby octopus.


Mussel mentai - mentai made up for what the mussels lacked.


Ebi tempura for something crispy


Shishamo that were probably male...


Yummy yakitori sticks


Teriyaki chicken which he shouldn't have ordered, especially when the yakitori tasted better.


All in....


Huge serving of messy soba. Smelt very flour-ish and perhaps the dipping sauce was also too weak.


Some mochi off the sushi belt


Asparagus bacon wraps that left their mouths watering. The chef probably forgot to peel the tough part of the asparagus.


Watermelon to aid disgestion, and cream puffs for dessert.


Ended the sinful meal with cup ice cream.