JAAN @ Equinox Complex, Swissôtel The Stamford, Singapore

After the first visit to JAAN, I know I'll return for such a great restaurant. The dining experience is up to my expectation, to be true, more than my expectation. I thought that is the limit(the best) and I'm wrong.

JAAN

Get to know that JAAN has featuring the new autumn-inspired artisanal menu by Chef Julien, I was eager to find out how the menu will be look like.

 

As usual, arrived in time and make sure to secure a window-seating. Mr. Maximilian, assistant manager seem a mind reader, he offered me an opposite side of window-seating, at the other corner, so that I can have a bit of difference angle's view. That's what exactly what I think of but I just didn't request for it in e-mail.

The whole lunch is peace, serenity and comfort, there are only 4 tables of customer, included me. It reminds me the Sage restaurant, but Sage no longer comfort for lunch, it is packs with businessmen who ruin the serenity of the environment.

From Top to Bottom:

Smoked Unagi, Pickled Apple and Kombu Jelly

Crispy Chicken Skin, Curry Yoghurt

Cantal Cheese Cromesquis, Tarragon

The amuse bouche still same, simple yet a good start. Then follow by another flavorful amuse bouche.

Wild Mushroom Tea, Cep Sabayon, Lovage and Walnuts

The "mushroom cappuccino" with a dense and creamy foam and topped with some crunchy bubu-arare for the texture.

WILD HOKKAIDO SALMON

Parsley, Apple, Ikura

I actually didn't even noticed they had replaced the Bresse chicken with this dish until I came back, maybe he had mentioned but I just didn't pay attention to it.
I'm not really like salmon, it seem a very common ingredient for me. But wild salmon is another story for me, flaky and juicy to serve with the parsley puree and the crunchy apple is a good play for the extra texture.

55' ROSEMARY SMOKED ORGANIC EGG

Smoked Rattes, Autumn Mushrooms, Chorizo Iberico, Buckwheat

The sous-vide organic egg is very creamy and gently poured onto the smoked rattes, autumn mushrooms, chorizo Iberico, buckwheat in a cylindrical bowl with a small smoking pile of burning rosemary underneath. Everyone would wish they have this egg for every morning's breakfast, perfect.

CRISPY SKINNED ATLANTIC MACKEREL

Sauteed Young Squid, Sweet Corn, "Dolce Forte"

Chef Julien came out to serve this dish himself by pouring the "Dolce Forte" sauce on the mackerel for the final touch up.
When I saw there is sauteed squid in the dish, I actually hoping that the squid won't be tad salty as last time I had for my dinner. God bless, it turn out good, the whole dish is very good with the very well-balance of saltiness from squid, sweetness from sweet corn and juiciness from the mackerel.

36 HOURS KUROBUTA PORK

Forgotten Vegetables, Autumn Broth

I have intention to compare the JAAN's kurobuta pork with the Mikuni's grilled kurobuta pork belly. Although both done in difference of method but equally good, maybe JAAN's might be better. The pork belly is extremely fork tender, it slip off from the fork then fall back to the broth, the broth splash out from the plate. It is so juicy and flavorful after long hours of cooking.

BRIE de MEAUX "TRUFFE"

Herve Mons Selected Brie de Meaux, Perigord Truffle, Hazelnut

Originally, it is Brillat-Savarin "Truffe" serve with muscovado "burned" black figs. I actually don't know what is Brillat-Savarin but seeing the black figs made me decide to give a try. On that day, I was informed by Mr. Maximilian that it was replaced with Brie de Meaux "Truffe", I also not pay for full attention and just agreed with that. There it goes, the moment it arrives on my table, I just realized that it was a cheese course. Once again, thanks God, it is my most favourite cheese, brie cheese*pungent and sharp flavor of aged French cheeses are not my kind of cheese*

The Brie de Meaux is known as "King of Cheeses", a soft combination of hazelnut and fruity aroma. The brie de Meaux is stuffed with Perigord truffle paste to serve with the sweet and nutty salad. It is so delicious, glad that I had ordered it.

Granny Smith Cloud

The refreshing pre-dessert of granny smith. The apple cloud was inspired by Ferran Adria of El Bulli. It is frothy and texture like a sticky-web under the sorbet and foam. It form by "gelatinize" whisked apply juice, resemble of uncooked-souffle. That is the effort I can see the Chef Julien pay full attention to every detail of the dish, even a palate-cleanser.

LATTE "POIVRE"

Coffee Chantilly, Milk Foam, Java Pepper Ice Cream

I have tried the Choconut 3.0, so I do request to change my dessert to others if allow :D Although personally I'm not so agree with such changing request*except for allergy * but I rarely have chance to dine at there, of course I wish not to miss out any seasonal dessert if possible.

I'm alright with any coffee flavoured dessert. The trio elements, creamy coffee Chantilly, the neutral flavour of milk foam and dense ice cream are work well as individual or combination and finally spiced up by the intensity of Java pepper. Be warned by thr Mr. Maximilian with the Java pepper, it is real pepper :p

Petit Fours

(From Left to Right)Jelly, Sorbet stick with popping candy, Chocolate rice crisp, Chocolate-coated rosemary ice-cream lollipop and Madeleine

The petit fours with the theme of childhood always be a good ending of the meal. I was like a child feeling excite when I saw it. Not the beauty mist created from the dry ice, but the loads of popping candy spread all over under the sorbet stick. I like the popping candy so much, the "explosion" is getting more fun when lot of popping candy put together in the mouth.

Autograph of Chef Julien Royer

The wonderful experience, great meal, and impeccable service, made me forgot to take a photo with Mr. Maximilian. I'm glad to get the autograph from Chef Julien, as happy as others get autograph from their favourite idols, artists or authors :D

The service is worth to praise of. This is the first and the only restaurant who has server asked me if I'm a left-handed. Oh gosh, might not be so special for other, but it is more convenience for me, save my time to swap the cutlery for every dish.

Autograph of Sous Chef, Marc Vasseur (L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Singapore) 

As well as from the Chef Marc :D

Ippudo SG @ Mandarin Gallery, Singapore

After half day of non-stop walking around the city, finally start feeling hungry and hunger. I first thought of the ramen which I actually plan to try since I have no booking for any restaurant for my first day. Ippudo ramen, the only ramen shop that I know and have a bit of research, the location.

 

 Ippudo SG

 

Before go to the Ippudo SG,of course I have shopping around the Orchard Road which has too much yummy foods, especially Takashimaya's basement food department store. When I arrived at Ippudo SG, it was around 8.30pm and I was totally forgot the long queue that others mentioned about it. The entrance has 3groups of around 7peoples queuing, and soon I found out that actually inside the entrance has another bunch of peoples queuing and reading the menu while waiting for the table, roughly 10-15peoples. I guess they have to wait for at least half an hour to get a seat.

 

Menu

 

Bar Counter Seating

Fortunately,  I get a seat at the bar counter seating after wait for 15minutes. Due to the hungriness, I didn't read through the menu, simply ordered the Shiromaru  Motoaji which has the description of "classic Hakata-style ramen". So I guess that most probably the signature ramen and I chose to top up the ramen with Shiromaru Special- flavored egg(nitamago), tender pork cube(kakuni), and bamboo shoots(menma).

Shiromaru Motoaji

Within 5minutes, the ramen had arrived. The first impression for the ramen is simple and look so plain. Then I scoop the soup to mix all the ingredient, the soup is not as thick as I expect which made me feel like the soup won't be so flavourful. I took a sip of the soup, instantly, I knew it was my Big mistake to judge a book by its cover. The milky tonkotsu base soup is so rich and flavourful, and I can say the soup is better than any ramen outlet at Malaysia. The difference is the pork bone that they use for the soup base.

They will ask you how you would like the noodle to be cook, soft to hard, I guess medium is the best. The noodle for the Hakata-style ramen is straight and thin which is quite easy for the soup to cling on it. It just feel great to slurp it while still hot, even made some noise of slurping. That's how to eat ramen.

Shiromaru Special

For $8 to opt for additional topping, it is totally worth it. I was curious why the nitamgo didn't cut into half for easier to eat. I took a big bite and I know why. Not only the egg yolk is runny, the egg white seem also semi-cooked. The nitamago is so delicious and optimize by taking a big bite on it, well, Syok!

While the pork cube is really tempting as it looks like. The fats and the meat are separate while bite on it, the fats melts, gorgeously awesome. The meat is moist, tender, juicy, and delicious.

 

 The Love Towards a Good Bowl of Ramen

 

Roughly 70RM for such a bowl of ramen, I wonder how many Malaysian willing to pay for it. But, I definately will pay for such Japanese ramen. Now, can I define the Malaysia ramen outlet as "local ramen"? Soup is the soul of a bowl ramen, now I start to learn what is a good bowl of ramen.

Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant @ M Hotel, Singapore

It is another Japanese restaurant which I visit after Mikuni. There is only one reason, one objective, for the Ohmi Wagyu, the pinnacle of beef. To being a gourmand connoisseurs, it is not easy and I think it is one of the most difficult task, which require a lot of knowledge and sometimes luck is a factor.

Most gourmands would cite Kobe beef from Japan as the best, then only I discovered the top three Japanese Wagyu, the Kobe, Matsuzaka and Ohmi. When I came across to Ohmi wagyu, I had found that Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant, M Hotel currently has serving Ohmi wagyu, other than that, Waku Ghin also serving Ohmi wagyu in the 10-courses degustation menu (SGD$400, exclude tax.). On top of that, HSR also having promotion for the Imperial Ohmi wagyu beef festive set for only $168++(NP:$268++)

Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant

 

Interior

The dining area is quite spacious and comfort.

Wafu Salad

The serving portions here are generous, that's a good thing.

Assorted Sashimi

(Hamachi, Salmon Belly, Aka Ebi, Hotate and Tai with truffle and spring onion)

Everything is good, especially the tai serve with truffle is something new for me, delicate.

Fugahire Chawanmushi

(Steamed custard egg with Shark Fin)

A real shark fin chawanmushi. The shark fin come in a whole small fin, and easily to tell you that are real. The chawanmushi is smooth and match with the shark fin.

Teppanyaki Oyster Omelette

Oyster is good, either serve chilled or cooked.

Ohmi Wagyu Beef

(Sawai Ranch, Shiga Prefecture Japan)

The awesome fine marbling of the Ohmi wagyu beef.

Ohmi wagyu beef from Shiga prefecture, also known as Omi province, thus it is so called Ohmi wagyu beef.

Sawai and Takara ranches are the only two certified ranches for export under Ohmi Gyu Export Association. There are only 2050 cattle in these 2 ranches, making it limited in supply. Each month, there are estimate of 140 heads of Ohmi cattle in supplies for the whole Japan and estimate of 700 kg for Singapore and the rest of the World.

Ohmi Wagyu Beef

The delightful Ohmi beef served up in thinly cut slices, medium rare as request. The fat instantly melt in mouth, meaty taste and flavorful. It is good on its own without yuzu sauce.

Ohmi Beef Garlic Fried Rice

The portion is really generous and the fried rice is fragant. But I was quite fulled and just taste a bit. (I ate a lot of garlic fried rice during work, so I won't take more)

Miso Soup

The miso soup is thick and rich with some sliced fishes.

Fruits

The Ohmi wagyu set is value for money for those who want to try the Ohmi waygu and it is really as good as it's prestige.

Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant @ M Hotel, Singapore

It is another Japanese restaurant which I visit after Mikuni. There is only one reason, one objective, for the Ohmi Wagyu, the pinnacle of beef. To being a gourmand connoisseurs, it is not easy and I think it is one of the most difficult task, which require a lot of knowledge and sometimes luck is a factor.

Most gourmands would cite Kobe beef from Japan as the best, then only I discovered the top three Japanese Wagyu, the Kobe, Matsuzaka and Ohmi. When I came across to Ohmi wagyu, I had found that Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant, M Hotel currently has serving Ohmi wagyu, other than that, Waku Ghin also serving Ohmi wagyu in the 10-courses degustation menu (SGD$400, exclude tax.). On top of that, HSR also having promotion for the Imperial Ohmi wagyu beef festive set for only $168++(NP:$268++)

Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant

 

Interior

The dining area is quite spacious and comfort.

Wafu Salad

The serving portions here are generous, that's a good thing.

Assorted Sashimi

(Hamachi, Salmon Belly, Aka Ebi, Hotate and Tai with truffle and spring onion)

Everything is good, especially the tai serve with truffle is something new for me, delicate.

Fugahire Chawanmushi

(Steamed custard egg with Shark Fin)

A real shark fin chawanmushi. The shark fin come in a whole small fin, and easily to tell you that are real. The chawanmushi is smooth and match with the shark fin.

Teppanyaki Oyster Omelette

Oyster is good, either serve chilled or cooked.

Ohmi Wagyu Beef

(Sawai Ranch, Shiga Prefecture Japan)

The awesome fine marbling of the Ohmi wagyu beef.

Ohmi wagyu beef from Shiga prefecture, also known as Omi province, thus it is so called Ohmi wagyu beef.

Sawai and Takara ranches are the only two certified ranches for export under Ohmi Gyu Export Association. There are only 2050 cattle in these 2 ranches, making it limited in supply. Each month, there are estimate of 140 heads of Ohmi cattle in supplies for the whole Japan and estimate of 700 kg for Singapore and the rest of the World.

Ohmi Wagyu Beef

The delightful Ohmi beef served up in thinly cut slices, medium rare as request. The fat instantly melt in mouth, meaty taste and flavorful. It is good on its own without yuzu sauce.

Ohmi Beef Garlic Fried Rice

The portion is really generous and the fried rice is fragant. But I was quite fulled and just taste a bit. (I ate a lot of garlic fried rice during work, so I won't take more)

Miso Soup

The miso soup is thick and rich with some sliced fishes.

Fruits

The Ohmi wagyu set is value for money for those who want to try the Ohmi waygu and it is really as good as it's prestige.

Mikuni @ Fairmont Singapore

Plan never keep up with the change(计划永远跟不上变化), in this gastronomic hunting journey, the Japanese cuisine definitely not in my plan, at least this is what in my mind early in the plan. I can't believe I work for Japanese cuisine up until now even though I really have not much interest on it.

Until I come across to the robatayaki at Mikuni, robatayaki is another new knowledge that I have gained from this trip. The bar collocates assorted seasonal and fresh ingredients imported from Japan, ranging from prized Kagoshima wagyu beef, bone-in kurobuta pork belly to the freshest vegetables and the Shizuoka Muskmelon.

All these colorful and wonderful ingredients obviously catch my attention, decide to put Mikuni on my list. Robatayaki, something that Malaysia doesn't have, my reason to pay a visit.


Honestly, I was disappointed with their customer service, it was a bit of let down but at the end it was solved.

When the waitress told me that the robatayaki counter is not available, definitely I felt disappointed, all of a sudden and I didn't pay more attention to what she said after that, she offers me to sit at the teppanyaki counter.

I was absently look at the menu then I asked another waitress who approached to ask if the robatayaki counter's items are available to order. I was surprised that she said available and offered me a seat at the robatayaki counter. I was totally confused. Soon, when she came back, she lead me to the counter.

Robatayaki

The traditional Japanese barbecue cooked in front of customers and served direct. The counter/bar is surrounded by carefully selected freshest ingredients on display. To order, just get the chef's attention and point at what you want for him to scoop up your choice on a huge wooden paddle and cook it right before your eyes and is served back to you on the same paddle.

Very lively setting and exciting once in a lifetime experience to come in contact with the Japanese staff as well as meeting others enjoying the evening.

Kobachi

Signature Sauces

There are four kinds of sauces to go with the meats, seafoods, vegetables and one-for-all which is Aji-panca (spicy Brazilian style dip), Aji Amarillo (spicy lemony sauce), aka-miso (red miso), and ponzu. Also, three kinds of flavoured salts (garlic, seaweed and pepper). The sauces name are hard to memorize, I get it from CAMEMBERU. Also, I agree with what she said that the grilled items are so good on their own, I just dipped some to tried out.

Kagoshima Wagyu Beef

The well-balanced marbling, succulent Kagoshima wagyu beef "lollies" are tender and flavoursome. Most gourmands would cite Kobe beef from Japan as the best while undoubtedly it is well-known and most popular, but not to forget there is a number of different regions in Japan produce distinctive type of beef as well, such as Matsuzaka, Omi, Saga, and of course Kagoshima beef.

Mount Fuji

Shochu, Apple Sour, Melon Liqueur, Fresh Lemon Juice

The food serves on a wooden paddle, as per tradition.

Bone-In Kurobuta Pork Belly

I'm very seldom eat pork, I don't like it due to its chewy fat. Until I met this lovely kurobuta pork (Berkshire pig, originating from England county of Berkshire), which bred in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan, that changed my misconception of the chewy pork fat. The aroma of the grilled pork belly is alluring even just arrived in front me. The melt-in-mouth pork belly is utterly delicious, itself is perfect on its own with any dipping sauce but squeeze in some lemon juice will give another taste of "kick".

The heavenly pork belly, divine. One of my most favourite, top dish during the trip and I would definitely return for it, purposely.

Robata Chef Tsunemori Yamamoto from Osaka

Master chef in action.

Shizuoka Muskmelon

The Japan's fruits are known as the most expensive fruit in the world. After having the wagyu beef and pork belly, I felt quite fulled. Although I would like to order the signature mushroom consomme to try but at the end changed my mind, and ordered the Shizuoka muskmelon. It is my first time try out the muskmelon, this is not cheap for the price of $50++. The muskmelon flesh is nicely ripen and unexpectedly soft, unlike rockmelon which has the firmer texture.

Kagoshima Wagyu Beef

Red Chilli Marinated Lamb Chops

Shizuoka Muskmelon

King Prawn

Teppanyaki Counter

Sushi Counter

During the whole lunch, the robatayaki room only has a married couple and me. From their conversation with chef Yamamoto, undoubtedly they are regular customer. So my prediction is most probably they have "booked" the entire room to avoid others disturb. If that is true, at least they should inform me earlier because I had already mentioned and requested for a seat at robatayaki counter while making online reservation. Who want to come from afar to try out something new with hope and expectation then leave with disappointment? Fortunately, it doesn't happen. Mikuni, is still worth for re-visit if I travel to Singapore again with enough time and budget.