Tag: orchard

Categories
Asian Chinese

Tan Yu Grilled Fish (探鱼)

Tan Yu specialises in grilled fish and can be found in over 70 major cities in China. It opened its first overseas flagship store in Singapore on 8 Dec 2017. In order to cater to the diverse tastes of local Singaporeans, Tan Yu makes use of a variety of cooking methods and offers 8 kinds of flavours for its grilled fish, such as mixed chilies, garlic, cumin, Thai style, spicy and pumpkin soup.

We have tried the restaurants at 313 Somerset (Basement 3) and at Bugis Junction (02-45). The décor is completely different in the two restaurants. The 313 Somerset one is dark, industrial, cute and quirky, and the Bugis Junction one is white, modern and airy.  They obviously didn’t go for a standard look!

Mala Limbo Fish Fillet ($40.90)

Grilled Fish

We ordered two grilled fish dishes: one with Green Pepper Flavour (which came with tofu), and the other with Mala flavour. We also chose the “golden combination” for one of them. For an extra $12.90, you can have golden enoki mushroom, crab stick, potato and lotus root added to the dish so it is a complete meal. 

Green Pepper Limbo Fish (with Tofu) ($45.90)

There is a choice of fish: we ordered the ‘Limbo’ fish (a Basa fish) at $45.90. You can also choose sea bass which costs slightly less ($42.90) or Qingjiang fish which costs slightly more ($48.90). We chose to have the Limbo fish filleted for one of our dishes. Limbo fish fillet is $40.90 and is well worth ordering if you don’t like fiddling around with fish bones as it is still substantial. Both dishes were really tasty, hot and spicy.  The fish was fresh and surrounded with chilis and peppers which was satisfying as we were craving hot and spicy food!  

Side dishes and Drinks

We also ordered two side dishes: the hand-made spring roll ($6.80) and the grilled double taste rice cakes ($7.80).   The spring roll is often sold out – it is long and pencil like and tasty. The rice cakes are made to look like fish skin, but are mochi-like with a crisp exterior and gooey interior. They are topped with a sweet jaggery-like sauce which makes them taste like a dessert though we were happy to have it with our meal as it took away some of the heat from the main dishes.

Hand-made Spring Roll
Grilled Double Taste Rice Cake ($7.80)

A range of beers are served (from $9.80 for a Tsingtao, Asahi or Tiger Beer). There are also some great homemade drinks.  We had the lemon and lime drink which comes in a carafe ($4.80).  You do need a lot to drink with this meal if you go for the hot and spicy options!

Overall: Very tasty fish and a great meal to share among friends. One fish is probably enough for 2-4 persons, depending on whether you have rice and side dishes.

Price: $$

Favourite dish: Mala fish!

Categories
American Burger

Eggslut – Scotts Square

Eggslut is an egg sandwich restaurant at Scotts Square, 6 Scotts Road, #01-12/15, Singapore 228209. It has a ground floor frontage to Scotts Road and a sleek, modern interior. Eggslut originated in Los Angeles and also has restaurants in Las Vegas, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuwait and London. 

Eggslut’s Origins

Eggslut was launched by Alvin Cailan, a Filipino-American chef, in a food truck in Los Angeles. The food truck quickly became very popular and often had long waits of up to two hours. The term “eggslut” basically means a chef who adds an egg to every dish to improve them. The signature dish in Eggslut is called “The Slut”, a poached egg on top of smooth potato puree, served in a glass jar, topped with gray salt and chives, served with slices of baguette which you dip into the egg mix.

There are usually long queues in front of the Eggslut at Scotts Square at peak hours. Umbrellas are provided in case it rains.  We chose to go in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, when we didn’t have to queue.

Our order

We ordered the Fairfax ($12): cage-free soft scrambled eggs and chives, cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and sriracha mayo in a warm brioche bun. It was delicious. The large portion of eggs were scrambled to perfection and tasted wonderful with the caramelized onions. We also ordered a Fairfax with bacon added on for $3. That, too, was delicious with good quality bacon. The brioche bun is sweetish, indulgent and tasty.

We had a side of truffle hashbrowns (S$4.50) which were crispy and tasted fantastic as they are fried in duck fat.  

The Fairfax scrambled egg burger
Truffle hashbrowns

A cheeseburger is available for meat lovers with ground angus beef, medium egg (of course), caramelized onions, bread and butter pickles, cheddar cheese, and dijonnaise in a warm brioche bun.

The total bill for two Fairfaxes (one with bacon added), one hashbrown, and 2 bottled waters (at $3.50 each) was $38.50.  The water was served in stylish containers – shame that they had to be thrown away!

Other drinks available: Orange juice, coke, coffee (but no tea!)

Overall: Delicious and a must for egg lovers

Price: $$

Favourite ‘must haves’: Fairfax and “The Slut” (+ the hashbrowns on the side!)

Categories
Japanese

Jinjo Restaurant Review

Jinjo is a modern Sumiyaki restaurant by Les Amis helmed by chef Makoto Saito. It specialises in traditional Japanese charcoal-grilled fare using prime seasonal ingredients. 

Cold Bites

The menu has a selection of hot and cold starters. From the “Hot bites” section, we chose Kotsuzui (bone marrow) ($12), Yaki Goma Tofu ($7.50), and Chawanmushi (steamed egg custard with truffle) ($12). There was a generous serving of soft, rich, creamy bone marrow which, though delicious, was slightly on the fatty side – definitely for sharing. The chawanmushi was also very tasty. Our favourite dish was the tofu, which had an interesting creamy interior under a crisp surface. It was so good, we ordered a second helping.  

Yaki Goma Tofu
Kotsuzhui Bone Marrow
Chawanmushi

We also had Sakana Harumaki (fish fritters) ($8) which was fresh and tasty, delicious Nasu (eggplant with bonito) ($12) and Umaki (Unagi omelette) ($12) – tamagoyaki with eel rolled inside ($12). This too was tasty, but eel can be a bit bony.

Sakana Harumaki
Nasu (eggplant with bonito)
Unagi Omelette

From the cold starters, we ordered the sweet and juicy momotaro tomato ($10) and Wagyu Yuba (Wagyu beef, beancurd skin) ($13).  The latter was bite sized with little pieces of wagyu in it, not a dish for sharing.

Wagyu Yuba
Momotaro Tomato

Charcoal Grill

From the charcoal grill, we ordered hotate (Hokkaido scallops) which were sweet and fresh ($14 for a plate of four scallops), chicken skin ($5), chicken wing ($6), tsukune (chicken meatballs) ($5), negima (chicken and leek) ($5), chicken heart ($5) and wagyu sirloin ($24). We also had zucchini ($5), sweet potato ($8), aomori garlic ($14), aichi onion ($7). The grilled food was simple, tasty and very satisfying.

Hokkaido Scallops
Negima
Chicken wing and Chicken Heart
Aichi onion
Wagyu Sirloin

Donabe

To end our main meal, we shared a Donabe (a Japanese rice pot) with spicy beef ($48). This takes 35 minutes to prepare.  There is also a truffle Donabe ($55) and an unagi (eel) Donabe ($35). The beef Donabe had the taste of a rich corn beef hash or stew in rice.  It was tasty but really filling and should be shared between at least two people if you’ve had a lot of starters and grilled food.

Spicy Beef Donabe

We had excellent Yuzu sorbet ($6) and black sesame ice cream ($6) for dessert.

Jinjo Ice Cream and Yuzu Sorbet
Yuzu Sorbet and Black Sesame Ice Cream

There is an extensive sake selection at Jinjo including a premium Sake flight of four sakes. 

Flight of four seasonal sakes

Jinjo also has three set lunch menus on Monday to Friday:

  • Gyu Set $42 (100grams Kagoshima yakiniku beef, onsen egg, japanese rice)
  • Tori Set $27 (Grilled chicken, chicken meatball, onsen egg, japanese rice)
  • Unagi Set $34 (Grilled unagi, japanese rice)

Each set is served with salad, pickles and soup and we will definitely be back to try it!

Overall: Simple tasting, but food is beautifully grilled and of a high quality. Would definitely return.

Favourite Dish: Donabe with Beef and the Chawanmushi!

Overall: $$$