Shin Kushiya Japanese Charcoal Grill (Pre-bday version)

Out with friends for my pre-bday celebration and I'm at Shin Kushiya again! Really miss my Yakitori! There were hits and misses but overall it was still as good as my last visit. Thanks to a friend who has treated us on this meal. We actually ordered too much and end up being the last customer in the shop when they are already preparing to close! Haha..

My favourite Yakitori! They are the 'must-order' items when you visit Shin Kushiya.

 One more shot. The one on the left is beef tongue, hmm so far this is the only one I don't really know how to appreciate it. :P

*Scream* Grilled Foie gras! Love the taste and melt in your mouth effect. *thumbs up*

Deep fried whole soft shell crab, crispy and tasty. Nom the whole crab! :D

Assorted seafood and vegetable tempura - taste normal but the size of the prawn is big :D

Soft shell crab with fish roe Temaki (actually I don't quite remember the name)

I didn't taste this but my friend felt it was very delicious.

Chawanmushi - I'm not into steam egg so I didn't taste it, however I'm more interested in the prawn instead. :P

Soba - I like Soba to accompany food with strong taste as it gives me the smooth refreshing feel.

Chicken skin Yakitori - I personally find the garlic taste too strong making the combination a little weird. The one at Tori-Q seems better. :P

Unfortunately, this is the worst dish of the day - Unagi rice. I placed so much hope on the attractive looking Unagi and yet it turns out to be not fresh. The meat was very tough and elastic, it gave a very strong frozen smell. Only the rice is edible. The eel was wasted. We didn't make a fuss to prevent spoiling our mood. :(

Yaki Onigiri (grilled rice ball)

Shin Kushiya Japanese Charcoal Grill (Vivocity)

1 Harbourfront Walk, #02-120-122 VivoCity

Tel: +65 6275 8766
Opening Hours:
Mon–Thu: 11.30am – 10.30pm
Fri–Sun: 11.30am – 11.30pm
http://www.shinkushiya.com/

Shin Kushiya Japanese Charcoal Grill (Pre-bday version)

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant

This Japanese restaurant is newly open in Singapore for less than 3 months yet it already attracted big crowds to patronize. 

Yayoiken is known to have created menu with nutritious balance, having 3 dishes 1 soup tradition. 1 of the dishes is normally referring to rice. I like their set menu which consists of miso soup, salad, tofu/marinated vegetables, main course and rice. They also have some ala carte dishes if you are not into sets.

Like the Japanese culture, the staffs are polite and will bow to you every time they took your order or serve you stuff. They have also attracted many Japanese customers too.

Gyoza - Very normal dumpling, I find the fillings kind of bland.

 Sliced pork and vegetables set - I love the sliced pork! It's very flavourful and tender. Goes well with rice. - $9.90

Beef steak set - It was good but I still prefer the sliced pork, even though I'm a beef lover. This was much more expensive. - $22.90

My all time favourite drink when dining in Japanese restaurant - hot green tea :P

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant

Meidi-ya Supermarket, 177 River Valley Road,
#B1-50 Liang Court Shopping Centre
Opening Hours: 10:00AM ‒ 10:00PM

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant

Smiths Authentic British Fish and Chips

For fish and chips lovers, you will probably love this shop located along Tanjong Katong Road. There are 2 more outlets as well. This is probably well known but I didn't notice until someone (who is so into good food) told me. We ordered Cod and Chips - $18, and given a number which they will call out when it's ready. Our cod and chips are wrapped in paper as all their cutlery are disposable. Just simply throw everything away without having to wash them, how convenient hahaha! :P

I love their fried Cod fish! It was nicely battered, crispy and tasty. The fish has no fishy smell, it was very fresh, moist, flaky and tender. Remember to apply the salt and vinegar given on the table. The combination is superb. Chips are a little soggy but I think that's the style of it. I guess this is the first time I grow to like fish and chips so much. :D

Interior of the shop with cozy setting.

Preview of the menu

 Fish and chips wrapped in paper.

 Tada~ My Cod and Chips! I'm starting to miss it now...

Exterior of the shop at Tanjong Katong Road

SMITHS Authentic British Fish and Chips
230 Tanjong Katong Road
Tel: 6345 9855
Opening hours: 12pm to 11pm (Daily)
Website: http://www.smithsfishandchips.com/
2 other branches located at Balmoral Plaza & Boat Quay.

Smiths Authentic British Fish and Chips

Xin Yuan Ji (新源记)

It's girls' night out last Fri! Initially we wanted to eat steamboat but some of us had too much of it during CNY so we dropped the idea and go for Chinese cuisine instead located at Tan Quee Lan street (Bugis area). It called 新源记 (Xin Yuan Ji) which offers fish head steamboat and Zi Char dishes. You can only make reservation if you wish to order their fish head steamboat otherwise it will be walk-in and there's always a queue. :P

Stir-fry Kai Lan with garlic - taste was mediocre, quite bland.

Salted Pepper Fried Chicken - quite fragrant however the dish was a bit dry.

One of my favourites - Fried baby squids, I can simply eat this non-stop. So crispy!

I supposed this dish was the best of all - Fried Yam with Salted egg. Right in the middle are ingredients like onions, prawns, chicken etc. Love how the yam blend with the salted egg sauce, very flavourful. How I wish they could give more sauce, it was too little!

Decent dinner. We spent about $60 in total. I will be back one day to try their fish head steamboat. :)

Xin Yuan Ji (新源记)
31 Tan Quee Lan St, #01-01
Tel: +65 6334 4086

Opening Hours

Daily: 11am – 1am

Xin Yuan Ji (新源记)

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) @ NEX mall

Din Tai Fung is well known for their Xiao Long Bao (soup bun/dumpling) and Tang Bao(bigger size soup bun). Despite the long queue, we took a number and thankfully it wasn't a long wait, after 15min, we were led to our table. While waiting outside we already decided on what to eat and wrote on the given menu list. This really saved time. 

Too bad their Tang Bao was sold out hence we had the xiao long bao, the meat filling was still as juicy, but it wasn't very warm, otherwise it could better. 

We also had other dishes (other than dim sum), most of them are recommended for health-conscious diner as the dishes are quite bland. Overall the meal is a satisfied one. I will definitely come back for its dim sum only.

 These were the normal xiao long bao, we also ordered the one with crab roe. Yummy!

This isn't tang bao, it's the soup from xiao long bao oozing out.

Hot and sour soup. The taste isn't very strong and appetizing. I have tasted better.

Prawn in fried beancurd skin - Crispy, fragrant and savoury. One of my favourites.

Fried Pork Rib - Tasty and quite tender inside.

Fried beancurd skins and delicious wrapped pork filling soup with vermicelli. A little bland but still quite nice (thanks to the pork filling). A pretty healthy dish.

 Special braised beef brisket noodles - soup base is quite bland, the beef has very strong taste which not everyone can accept. I personally feel the vermicelli soup above tastes better than this.

 Mixture of pork and spicy crab meat buns - this sounds delicious but when 2 of the best mixed together, it just clashes. The taste becomes weird. The original pork bun seems to taste better hehe.

The filling inside. Looks nice though.

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰)

23 Serangoon Central, #B1-10/12 NEX Mall

Tel: +65 6634 7787

Opening Hours
Mon–Fri: 11am – 9.30pm
Sat–Sun: 10.30am – 9.30pm

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰丰) @ NEX mall