Tien Court, Copthorne King's Hotel (Tel: 6733 0011)

It was more than 15 years ago since I last stepped into this hotel. Amazing how time flies. I remember it was a cocktail session with some Matsushita managers and staff. Since then, the interior has undergone a major make-over and there are more restaurants on the ground floor now. It's now run by the Copthorne group which explains the preceding name to 'King's'.

We went to the second floor where Mino-Q, the-once-popular-but-no-longer teppanyaki restaurant, is located. Tien Court is just beside it. After our many failed attempts to reserve places for lunch at Hua Ting Restaurant in Orchard Hotel, we've decided to try out this place instead risking the fact that it's just been rated "above average".

We went for the SGD 48 (for a person) - set and were served the following:

The appetizers were rather exotic. Smart fusion of technique from Thai cuisine for the crispy skin fish which has been fried to look like balls aromatized with curry herbs, and Tien Court's famous drunken chicken (chicken immersed in wine). The latter didn't go well with me because the bits of fat were still stuck to the flesh. I think most Chinese like that -but I am an exception.

Next came the sharksfin soup-oops! I haven't had this for a decade and surely felt uncomfortable gulping it down. I was glad the next dish of grilled saba came quickly, but I thought hard why it was served with mayonnaise? Perhaps the chefs thought that tartar sauce is served with fish in the Western kitchen, and thus mayonnaise could be a substitute when tartar has become the norm. Bad assumption. Saba is a really oily fish and it is never served with oily sauces in Japanese food. Thank goodness there was a lemon wedge and shredded daikon that accompanied it.

Following that was the Szechuan stir-fried shrimps. They should zest things up I thought, but the shrimps turned out bland. I know the restaurant prides itself for not resorting to MSG but if that explained the taste of this dish, it's bad.

The dessert was a hot yam paste with ginko nuts and a piece of sweet potato bathed in it. I think the sweet yam concealed the wonderful ginko instead of enhancing them. Another point down. Overall I will award the following averages:

Food: 3/ 5; Food quality: 4/5; Service: 3/5; Ambience: 3.5/5.

Probably the Cheapest Japanese Restaurant Downtown, Sun with Moon Restaurant

August 26, 2007: I went to Sun with Moon Restaurant, Wheelock Place, Orchard Road,
for my first lunch at this restaurant. Previously I'd dinner and tea.

Sun with Moon is synonymous with a great variety of desserts, evident from its colorful wall-paper of alluring Japanese beans and mochi spread across its exteriors.

The mellowed interior calms you down immediately with a lot of wood and a long panel of glass that reveals a contrasting scene of heady traffic and crowd at the junction of Boulevard and Orchard. Further there is some greenery bordering the Paterson slope. The dimness of the restaurant captures the Christmas mood perfectly when all the decorative trees in the room are also sprayed white.

I ordered a tempura and salmon sashimi set, priced at SGD 17.80-which is cheaper than many others on Orchard Road. The evidently careful matching of crockery is really a plus.

A. ordered his unagi don (eel on rice), naberyouri (hot pot dish) and nikujaga (simmered meat with potatoes) set, tagged at SGD 16.80.

The lunch crowd is there because of such prices? I wonder... Tea is great: Order a dessert and add one or two dollars for coffee or tea - which were good. The mango parfait is highly recommended. A fragrant green apple Japanese tea may just make it divine.

At the end, what would I say about this meal? A simple taste "SWEET" predominated - except for the sashimi.

Sticking to its signature dishes (e.g. kamameshi) and desserts is probably the safest bet (see my earlier entries "Sun with Moon Japanese Dining and Cafe").

Food: 2.5/5.0; Food quality: 3.0/5; Service: 3.5/5; Ambience: 4/5

Cze Char Store, Forture Seafood (Beside Tessarina Condominium, Upper Bukit Timah Road)

August 25, 2007 (Saturday): A. has suddenly become fascinated with this term 'cze char' -literally, 'cook and fry' in the Hokkien (Fujian) dialect.

'Cze char' refers to the wide array of more elaborately cooked (restaurant style) dishes that one can get at the local neighbourhood coffee shop. That means at much lower prices which are not necessarily translated as inferior taste and quality.

I recall having gone to Plaza Market Cafe at Raffles Stamford Hotel a couple of weeks ago and had a very average buffet dinner - so unexciting that I didn't think of blogging about it. It is when you have hit upon really not-quite-there eateries in slightly up-market hotels that you wish you had gone to the small neighborhood shops.

'Cze char' is new to A., although he has enjoyed some 'cze char'dishes around Singapore. Combining the first consonants of 'cze' and 'ch' is a horrendous task for him - and his best attempts resulted in 'chai chee' or 'chee char' - which was close enough.

This 'cze char' shop appears in Makansutra 2007 which is not as up to date as you may expect. A. found it in the publication in his fit of wanting to know about the great eating places in Singapore. The shop is FORTURE, not Fortune, as you would associate with a Chinese restaurant. Its name is the coinage of a fengshui master, writes Makansutra. The atmosphere is so relaxing that a Japanese man even appeared in his slippers and samue. Samue was the comfortable attire of monks when there was work to be done at the temple. It used to be made in natural fibre such as the hemp and is probably the best type of clothes for summer as the light fabric wicks away sweat quickly. Today it remains a popular attire for Japanese men in summer or at home.

The recommendations for this shop by Makansutra are the fried eggplant with pork floss, herbal chicken, fish head cooked in Thai style, and crab cooked with salted egg yolk.

With my stomach still filled with the Mini-set I had for lunch at Donguri, I went for the Thai style fish head (SGD 15) and quick sprouts-and-mushroom stir-fry (SGD 4). The former turned out an average because I prefer my own style of fish head; but the sprouts were superbly light and fragrant.

For appetizer, there was achar, the Peranakan cucumber appetizer, and I ordered just Chinese tea for beverage.

The price tag was SGD 24.90- the price of one-and-a-half packs of Marks and Spencer sandwiches in Oxford!

I really think Singapore is a great place to eat and won't be bothered by how others rate it. Just imagine if you were in Oxford, you would have to pay SGD 25 bucks to have Japanese food the quality of those served at school canteens here.

I'd return to this 'cze char' place to try out more from its endless menu, but I'll make sure I go there when I am ravenous.

New Restaurant, Akane (Chikuyotei)(Tel: 6738-1990)

August 18, 2007: A new restaurant opened at The Japanese Association, Singapore, on August 10, 2007. It replaced the previous Akane Restaurant (thank goodness), including its name. This new restaurant is run by Chikuyotei, a reputable century- old eatery that began in the Edo period in Tokyo. Its signature dish has faithfully remained as the eel, but at Akane here, it's offering a wide variety with the highest level of authencity, reasonably priced. Its outlet in Takashimaya seems a little higher in price, probably due to the Takashimaya rent.

I was immersed in a peaceful ambience when I passed the narrow passageway into the restaurant. The dining area peeps at a tiny rock "garden"(rather a pebble garden) outside the large all-glass panels. It's on the fourth level of the Japan Association but oversees no streetscape except the tiny triangular patch of pebbles and plants.

As for the food, it's "thumbs up!". The tamago yaki is not poisoned with mirin and sugar like what you'll get outside for instance. 'A' gave full marks to its koaji boozushi and the set he ordered which came with soomen (soft fine angel's hair), al dente, and beautifully garnished. I rate it as excellent as well, but the only snag is: like any healthy Japanese restaurant, it only fills up 80 percent of your stomach. The bill was reasonable - in fact, cheaper than Kuriya, the Japanese food "factory".

Each of our set was SGD 20, which came with a tiny piece of well-chilled melon and papaya at the end.

I have to say Donguri's crown for service remains untoppled, but the experience at Akane was memorable: The Japanese usherette gave Akio the wrong bill to sign on and returned the wrong membership card. He'd to go back to retrieve his card which was almost given to someone else. It's a lesson for all though, but we'll certainly go back again because it serves real Japanese food!

How I Increased My Blood Platelet Count

July 21, 2007: I thought I'd want to remember the strategies I took to increase my platelet count on the way to the hospital for the bruise on my hand as well as to do another blood platelet count-strategies that I, as a layman, thought would work. . A took me to have a feast in the midst of his heavy work load and appointments. Poor him! I remember he worked till close to 9 pm that evening...

First, the bloody viande- which was good- at Donguri. I craved for that, I remember, the minute I was discharged! Talk about basic instincts...This was my third piece of meat for the week.

I pinched bits and pieces from A.'s bentoo as well...

At the hospital, before the nurse finally drew my blood, I'd repeatedly refused to let her do it. I was terrified after having my veins penetrated so many times in hospital. This time, I was weakened further by fear. Finally after two attempts (the latter one with a thinner and sharper needle; the former shot having been interrupted by me), she managed to siphon 6 cubic ml (two short test tubes) of blood from my body...

On the way back, I'd a sudden urge for milk protein despite feeling quite exhausted- what a gluttonous dengue patient.


I hit the hay after reaching home.