Boston Lobster and Sushi with Sashimi

Oceans of Seafood is one of the interesting new seafood restaurants which has appeared recently in the Singapore scene. Full of the freshest seafood, laid out like a market. One selects the seafood, and the chefs prepare and serve it at the table.

From live Boston Lobsters to Canadian and French oysters, to the freshest sushi and sashimi airflown from Tsukiji Market daily.

We decided to try the lobster...

The sample we selected was agressive, alive...and weighed 1.1kg

Boiled, and served with two sauces...one garlic and another like a Japanese teriyaki type.

The meat was very thick at the body. Interestingly at the claws, the meat seemed to have retreated somewhat within the shell...the meat, removed, looked a bit rather smaller than the claw shell.

The meat was also rather sweet, but a bit too firm...perhaps a tad overcooked? The lobster was female with a small bit of roe which was rich and marvellous.

Then we had half a dozen Canadian oysters

Very nice. A bit mild flavour, but very fresh and very creamy. Very enjoyable.

One can also order sashimi and sushi...we had a serving of mekajiki

Magnificent. Beautiful, fresh, creamy. If I had to nitpick...just a tad too cold. But still very very good.

As was the sushi plate...11 different kinds. For $35, thick cuts and very fresh, not a bad price.

Overall, quite nice, though, if truth be told, we found the raw dishes better than the sole cooked lobster, which was half the cost of the lunch. I would return for the chirashi sushi and more of the mekajiki.

Oceans of Seafood
PasarBella @ The Grandstand Bukit Timah Singapore
200 Turf Club Road #02-06 (#02-K2 to #02-K11)
64661005

Best Chirashi Sushi: The Sushi Bar at Far East Plaza

Chirashi sushi, a champion's meal, if ever there was one. Freshest sashimi, cut, placed on top of a bowl/box of rice. Just wonderful.

Not many great ones are found within reasonable prices in Singapore. The Sushi Bar, a small shop, tucked amongst the hair dressing salons in Far East Plaza. From other blog reports, service can be spotty, but the afternoon when we arrived, it was rather cheerful.

The regular Chirashi Sushi is $25, and huge chunks of shashimi, aburi salmon, salmon, tuna, mekajiki, salmon roe, roasted egg.

And the Premium Chirashi Sushi, at a seasonal price. That afternoon, it was $48.

In addition to the fish one gets in the regular but in larger quantities...for example, 3 pieces of thick cut mekajiki in the premium instead of 2 in the regular. There was the also the addition of premium ingredients, depending on what was available that morning was added. For that afternoon, uni, botan prawn, scallop.

Each, succulent, thick, very fresh, wonderful tasting. My only slight nagging nitpick was that they only used maguro, and not the best example I have eaten. No chu-toro or otoro, even in the premium version. I felt that if one is up to splurge, the premium version is well worth it. The fresh, creamy, fragrant uni and the botan prawn was alone worth the price differential.

I enjoyed the chirashi very much. The stall's speciality is their aburi salmon, which was superb in the chirashi sushi box, but also available a la carte. Highly recommended. But be prepared for the bare minimum ambience...looks and feels like a canteeen, and the spotty service. But also be prepared for excellent, fresh, value for money cuts of raw fish.

The Sushi Bar
#03-89, Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road
Mon - Sun: 11:30 - 21:30

Itacho Sushi's Blue Fin Tuna Promotion, now on till Sept 30, 2013

I have written about value for money sushi and sashimi at Itacho before. It is still one of our favourite places to imbibe some raw fish, and recently, they came up with an interesting promotion...they performed the cutting of a blue fin tuna.

The ceremony was performed in Ion Orchard...and as outlined in my Tsukiji article, the entire process is quite spiritual for the tuna master.

As part of the “Bluefin Tuna Festival”, ITACHO will launch a Bluefin tuna promotion at all ITACHO outlets (from 13 – 30 September).

For this occasion, Itacho demonstrated the tuna cutting ceremony in which the master chef filleted portions of the huge fish into tuna blocks, and then into prized cuts of the fish.

These are then used for selection of premium slices for turning them into ruby red sashimi. Tuna cutting is no mean feat and calls for one ranked in the superior skill of Japanese food culinary which requires years of skilled training, precision technique and calculated speed.

ITACHO outlets in Singapore are at ION Orchard, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, Changi Airport Terminal 3, JCube and Star Vista.

Itacho Sushi

Various outlets around the city
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Itacho-Sushi/158303486802

Itacho Sushi: Cheap and Good?

I often shy away from sushi and sashimi restaurants in Singapore. After eating well at speciality sushi-yas in Japan, one never quite gets used to the drop in taste and flavours of fish which is shipped, however carefully it is done, is not quite as fresh and tasty as being in Tsukiji market at 7am and having a sushi breakfast. But as a foodie nation, I think we are fighting back. Singapore's sushi scene has improved a lot. The top restaurants are always very good, but super pricey. And the low end ones are not worth mentioning. Enter Itacho.

Looking very much like a chain restaurant...indeed they are...with branches in at least 2 locations in Singapore, more than 10 in the place of origin Hong Kong and even in China. I did have a meal at their APM outlet in Beijing, but it was nothing to shout about. This meal, at their Ion Orchard outlet, however is something to shout about. One of the better sushi meals I have had in a long time in Singapore.

Arrive early...a long queue often forms at the rather large restaurant. We arrived about 11:40, and it was begining to fill up. I guess fresh, succulent sushi, done well needs little prose to describe, so I will mainly let the photographs do the talking, safe a few notes.

Remember this is a meal for only 2 persons...though I imagine the average Singaporean foodie might eat a bit less than this humongous meal...

A mixed platter of squid, soy sauce roasted salmon. Very good indeed. Limited to 4 pieces per person, this was offered at an incredible S$0.40 per piece!!!

The chawan mushi looked like a soup...indeed it was a shallow layer of scallops in a beautiful broth covering the traditional steamed egg with chicken and ginko nuts.

Hand roll of soft shell crab. We wanted deep fried salmon skins, but they didn't have those.

Some sashimis next....fatty yellowtail and fairy shrimps. Nice touch is to have deep fried the prawn heads, for a tasty, crispy, eat everything...every bit delicious.

More sashimi

And the grilled eel sushi...look at how large the fish is on top of the rice!

And this amazing flame scorched fatty yellowtail

This is amazingly good. The flame scorched parts have a slightly burnt, smokey flavour, and the inside of the fish just explodes in the mouth. Fantastic.

Uni rice

Creamy uni, on top of rice. Superb.

Swordfish sashimi

Assorted sushi

Scallops sushi...whole scallop on rice...

And some grilled pork sushi to round up...

Overall, value for money. In total, this was sub S$200 for all you see above. Not super cheap, but for the quality and quantity we ate, I think very good value for money.

Itacho Sushi
B2-18 Ion Orchard

Rakuichi: a taste of Japan in Singapore

retirement party for Larry the Great, with his friends

When Duncan sent out the confirmations for Larry's retirement dinner was going to be at Rakuichi, I got increasingly excited. I have been to the Far East branch several times, and always they have managed to impress. It was going to be interesting. Good food, great company.

The evening's meal was omakase by the Head Chef.

First off, the amuse bouche of seaweed in a spicy, sour liquid - possibly a vinegar.


apologies for grainy pic...it was rather dark in the restaurant

Next came the appetizer of broad bean, baby squid, Japanese tomato, pi tan tofu, mozuku seaweed served in vinegar and semi-grilled tuna belly



This was a delectable appetizer. It actually manages to tease the palate, after the bitingly sour amuse bouche. The Japanaese tomato was a great surprise, very sweet, firm.

Next up, fresh oyster served with ponzu sauce



This was served as individual servings in a huge ice sculpture. The presentation was certainly first rate.

Each of us got a whole, fat, succulent oyster:



Reminded me of a meal I had with some of my Japanese colleagues in Tokyo some years ago in a restaurant specializing in kaki (Japanese for oyster)...we had oysters for appetizer, soup, main course, and even oyster for dessert and the alcoholic cocktail.

Rakuichi's oysters were very fresh, almost live...and the taste of the sea, coupled with the rich, fat taste of the oyster was luxurious as it slid down my throat. Nice!

Next was a piece de resistance, the mixed Sashimi.



This was no ordinary sashimi moriawase you find at your neighbourhood sushi-ya. The presentation suggested that it was something special.

Comprising of very fresh Japanese Kyushu flounder, tuna belly, salmon, amberjack, sea urchin, ark shell and botan prawns. The sashimi was sliced quite thick, and was about as fresh as I have ever eaten outside of Japan.

Zoom in to a slice of tuna belly or toro:



As you can see, the marbling of this tuna is superb. Not quite a cut of otoro like those in Tsukiji, but it was beautiful. Fresh.

Wasabi was a whole root of the plant, served on a platter of sharkskin, partly ground.



This was the proper way to serve wasabi. And the thick root was testament that the Chef had indeed taken his time to select even the wasabi himself. Wasabi grows in cold, clear, running water in the streams of Japan. And large, thick ones are rare. The type normally found in tubes are more horseradish than true wasabi, and even then the wasabi is fertilizer fed. True clean green wasabi is organic, and is not fertilized.

Ground wasabi is extremely perishable, and should only be prepared minutes before being served for maximum taste.

Next was a very special beef. Matsusaka is a grade of wagyu not often found outside of Japan. In fact, I believe AVA does not allow the commercial import of Matsusaka into Singapore. Chef must have hand carried this himself, as AVA does allow a small amount for personal consumption to be brought in.



Matsusaka is prized for being one of the highest grades wagyus available. Finely marbled, in addition to just generously marbled, the flavour and intensity of the beef is amazing. Some slices of semi-grilled Matsusaka beef with burdock sauce. Semi-grilling is important as because of the fat content, the flavours are easily destroyed by heat, so rare is the way to eat this high grade beef.



I preferred the taste of the beef on its own, so removed the sauce and accompaniment, and enjoyed the beef a la naturale.

Next course was a deep-fried barracuda fish.


apologies again for poor quality of the picture. Somehow the white balance is off by a mile here, and I am not able to bring it back to normal with PS

Barracuda is not often finds itself in our local plates. This predator fish is often angled for game, and have a strong taste - similar to tuna. The flesh is very soft, moist, with a slightly oily mouth feel, and immediately melted in my mouth. Two fresh Japanese ginko nuts adorn the Y shaped leaf, and was rather tasty too.

Grilled kinki fish with kinome leaf sauce



Kichiji or “Kinki” fish is a rockfish that is found in Hokkaido. It is a rather rare fish, and seasonal. I would have preferred a more fleshy cut, but the fin/gill portion is considered prized because it is often fatter, though it is a bit more bony than flesh from the body. The portion was expertly grilled, just so, not the slightest bit overcooked...as overcooking a fish is the surest way to destroy its flavour. My portion was sweet, mild flavoured fish, slightly oily to the palate. Very nice.

Next up, Oven grilled abalone with bean curd skin:



Whole abalone half shells were covered with a bean curd skin, and within revealed the treasures of sliced abalones lying on a bed of Japanese straw mushrooms. I found the abalone a bit tough, and as it was cooked on its own instead of being stewed for long hours in rich chicken and seafood broth like the Chinese way of preparation, it was a bit bland. But the Chef managed to draw out the true taste of the abalone.

Next up, another surprise. Aburi sushi - very lightly blow torched tuna belly, flounder, and sea eel



I always love aburi. The light blow torch grilling and a sprinkling of sea salt and perhaps a tiniest bit of ponzu sauce bring out the flavours of fish. This was a delectable dish. Absolutely first rate. Fresh fish, done well.

I particularly loved the unagi...which was lightly grilled in the traditional terayaki style sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.



And finally, souo: Asari clams served in clear soup.



By this time, we were stuffed full. The soup was clear, and clean tasting, and the clams were very fresh and succulent.

And the final palate cleanser, mixed fruits served. The grapes were very sweet, and intense in flavour. The presentation, as can be seen is superb.



For me, a very highly rated degustation of fine Japanese food in Singapore, perhaps one of the best I have experienced outside of Japan. Highly recommended.


Address:
10 Dempsey Road
#01-22 Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
http://www.rakuichi.com.sg
Tel: 6474 2143
Daily: 11:30am - 2:30pm, 6pm - 10pm

Fish Market, Greenwood Avenue, Singapore

with Prof Horolographer, SJX and RobG

A friend from the Philippines visited, and a a few of us decided to get together for lunch with him before heading out to the MBF tea event at Au Petit Salut. We decided to go to Vanentino's at Rifle Range. I have known Chef Valentino for many years, since when he first came to Singapore from his native Venice some 8 years ago...then he was working as chef at Cafe Roma, just off Sixth Avenue. I always loved his touch - pasta, pizza, fish all tasted great. He then ventured out on his own, and at one stage his mother (Mama mia!) joined and he set her up at another Valentino's in Changi. He recently moved to Rifle Range, occupying a quaint shophouse...but being Deepavali, he was closed. We went to the Fish Market at Greenwood Avenue instead...nearby.

This was a quiet residential spot, nestled amongst an expensive District 10 suburb. A row of shophouses which boasts of many eating places...some quite good...like the old Shiro - a Japanese joint so exclusive that they don't take walk-ins...by appointment only...but once inside, cuisine is divine, and service quietly superb. They have recently closed to move to another place...I understand to be the former Couduroy & Fitch at Sixth Avenue. Another winner here is the French Bistro - Sebastian's. A family favourite, this is a delectable bistro...service always attentive and knowledgable. And the food always dependable and excellent.

Nearby there is also Chat Masala Too...a branch of a classic Northern Indian joint, dishing up favourites. Also in the same row is Lana Cake house, famous for what else cakes. Which brings us to the Fish Market. This is actually a fish market - you can buy fresh seafood, and have the folks there clean, and even suggest how you cook it.



But venture a bit into the shop, and there is a dining space, setup for perhaps 30 diners. The style reminded me very much of the seafood restaurants that dot Venice...shop outside, tiny diner inside. A smell of the fresh sea permeated as one enters.

As we were preparing for more food later, we decided to go light...a Shashimi platter comprising salmon shashimi, octopus, jellyfish and ginger. They usually have yellowfin maguro (tuna), but that day they ran out, and offered a double portion of salmon instead.



The sashimi was fresh. As can be seen from the pic, the glistening salmon testified to its freshness. But this was no Japanese restaurant, where the sushi chef takes pride in not only tempting the tast buds, but also provide a visual treat with the presentation of the food. In contrast, this was a fish market, the fish was fresh, but simply presented. Taste was excellent. Though I have tasted better in Tsukiji market and Tokyo, but in Singapore this one passed the muster.

RobG had a Portobello mushroom salad, and it looked very nice.



I didn't taste it, but it looked like a large, fleshy portobello mushroom was grilled with some cheese and set athroned on some garden salad.

We ordered a hot platter to be shared. This was a large plate...measuring some 12 inches across, and packed with nice seafood.



This comprised of (clockwise from 11 o'clock) char grilled lobster, wild king prawns (partially hidden), octopus in a salad, littleneck clams, greenlip mussels, gorgeous deep fried soft shell crab and calamari poppers.

This was a lovely plate. The lobster in particular stood out...firm flesh, sweet, tasty. The deep fried soft shell crab was also exceptional...the roe within provided enveloping richness to the crispy crab. Went very well with my glass of Wolf Blass Chardonnay - house pour for the day.

Nice place. I noticed that they also have Maine Lobster, and Alaskan King Crab...will come back to try next time.

Fish Market
34 Greenwood Avenue
Singapore 289236
Hours:
Fish Market 11am - 10pm
Lunch 12pm - 2.30pm
Dinner 6.30pm - 10pm
Sat, Sun, PH 12pm - 10.30pm

Photonote. Taken mainly with EF35 f/1.4L...borrowed from Prof Horolographer. Must say this is a superb lens. Nice bokeh, though not as beautiful as EF85 f/1.2L. Rich, nice colour, including the out of focus area. At f/1.4, the depth of field is understandably shallow, but I like the effects. I also tried my 85L with a macro extension tube, but the magnification is too high...too close to the food.

White balanced in custom mode, by shooting at white table cloth and referenced in camera. Small adjustments done on Photoshop Levels mid-eye dropper.