April's Fool 2012

With a $20 voucher in hand and craving for ramen, Daikokuya was marked as the meal stop of the day.


Before even getting to look through the menu, she started bombarding him with all the stuff from office. So he got a plate of sashimi first, more time for her to get all the words out before picking the ramen. Nice looking slices with thick layers of fat, $$8.80++.


Mentai Mayo Gyoza, 6pcs for $6.80++. Not too bad, difficult to go wrong with mentai topping.


His Tokyo Chashu Shoyu Ramen, $15.80. Noodles were smooth and springy, but the meat was a little too dry. Soup was a good dip, but too salty to drink on its own.


Sapporo Miso Ramen for her, $14.90++. Loved how the egg was done, he traded a piece of meat for one of the halves. This was a better broth too.


Came some hot Kikumasamune sake, $14++ for ~180ml. Warmed the stomach and was quite sweet for a dry sake.


After ejecting themselves, she insisted on having dessert at Honeymoon Dessert, just few steps away from Daikokuya. Said that it was well-known in Hong Kong, and just steamrollered in.


Durian pancake, $4.50 for just one. Dissecting it, found that it looked to have more (vanilla) cream, but it tasted really good alright.


The glutton also ordered the mango pomelo sago dessert with bean curd, $6.80++. Plus point was that it wasn't overtly sweet.

14 Feb 2012 - Valentine's Day specials

Re-visited ChongQing Grilled Fish, still as crowded as ever. Waited for about half an hour before they got seated. So squeezy that you had to remove the table before you could get into the seat, and pull the table in again so that no one's way got blocked.

Red grouper was sold out, so they decided to try grass carp instead. Bad choice, meat was bland, and full of fine bones. Should have opted for the sea bass. Choice of soup, "numbing and spicy" flavour. Spent $53.10 for a huge fish and several slices of kelp.


Went across to Ji De Chi for icey mango dessert to douse the fire. $5 for mango mian mian bing (cottony ice), $4 for mango sago. The mian mian bing tasted weird, very buttery and had a strong doughy taste. Disappointingly different from the refreshing one they had in the past.

Mian Mian Bing, looks as creamy as it tasted, maybe more. Liked the syrup pellets in the foreground though.


Mango sago was more normal...


After that, returned home to some awfully sinful braised pork trotters. The skin (maybe more of fats) was enjoyably gelatinous at the start, but things started to get heavy later.

What a day.

17 Dec 2011 - Xian De Lai Shanghai Cuisine and Ji De Chi

Was supposed to have dinner at Chong Qing Grilled Fish, but he got distracted upon noticing "free-flow crabs" advertised by Xian De Lai (XDL) Shanghai Cuisine. No prizes for guessing where he went for dinner.

XDL offered steamboat (hotpot) ala carte buffet. Each serving was a small portion, help you reserve enough space to have a bit of everything. $19.90++ per person, $5++ surcharge for the soup base.


Some items were quite good. Scallops were sweet and did not have traces of sand, and meats were well marinated, tasted good even after cooking in the soup. Crabs came in halves. They were small but well cleaned and really sweet. Vegetables came wilted and protruding out of the plate, touching the tray and table. Very unappealing.


Did not like the service much though. Had wanted to sit inside, but the waitress lied that there were no more seats. She then joyfully proceeded to usher the people who arrived after them to levels 2 and 3. While taking his orders, she skipped away to pull customers into the shop, very rude. Orders never arrived in full, reminders were like you speaking to thin air. The only reprieve was one polite lad, who would top up their soup and drinks, and also repond to thank yous.

She claimed to be on diet, but prodded him to move up several shophouses to Ji De Chi (JDC).

Durian Sago, $6. Rich, fattening stuff for her.


Beancurd came free, Christmas promo of Durian Sago and Beancurd. Smooth and had a nice smokey flavor. Made him regret ordering his Mango Sago.


Mango Sago, $4. The pomelo bits balanced out the sweetness of the mango puree. But he was already too full to enjoy this...


All in.