Friday, June 30, 2017

Yonehachi - Grill Chicken Saikyo Scallop Okowa (Mixed Sticky Glutinous Rice) Set @ Takashimaya Food Hall [Orchard Road, Singapore]

In the Southeast Asian food culture, rice is a basic staple and many of us couldn't do without rice for an extended period of time; even for me although I am always on a carbohydrate-restricted diet. 

When it comes to the different types of rice, the one that loads to your calorie count excessively is glutinous rice; hence, I would normally reject such rice in my food unless it is inevitable like in the case of rice dumplings. 

But, the above display at the always-crowded Takashimaya Food Hall caught my immediate attention; thinking it might be fried rice in various forms, I walked closer for a better look. 

Hailed from Japan with more than 140 shops, Yonehachi specialises in Okowa which is, simply put, sticky glutinous rice and there were five types for us to choose from that day; red bean, chestnut, salmon, gomuku (seaweed, chicken, carrot) and scallop. 

If you want to try every single of them, do consider buying the pack as above that would give you all five mixes. Not exactly my cup of tea as that seems like a lot of rice; suicidal for anyone who wants to cut down on carbohydrates. 

Anway, my friend and i decided to give it a try as Yonehachi offers more than just grains. There were sets with grilled/fried chicken/fish that would appeal to the meat savage in us. 

As with Nakajima Suisan Grilled Fish in the same food hall, you need to order and make payment before proceeding to your assigned seat. It's an efficient method as we can be extremely indecisive in what we want to eat and this would deprive others of seats when they honestly need it with the food trays in their hands. 

The waiting game. 

Less than ten minutes later, my chicken saikyo set was placed on the table. The set comprised of miso soup, the grilled chicken, the okowa, pickles, salad and a cup of houji tea (roasted green tea). There were two seasonal okowa; scallop and gomuku and I opted for the former as seafood would always be preferred for their supposedly higher value. 

Mixed in with seaweed and green soybean, the scallop okowa was chockful of ingredients and tasted somewhat like my mom's incredibly popular Hokkien style glutinous rice except hers was better with a generous sprinkling of fried shallots! 

I was more impressed with the chicken saikyo and would in fact gladly pay for it without the glutinous rice which was too heavy and filling for me! 

Lightly grilled with just a bit of charred skin, it had a flavor similar to teriyaki chicken and the meat was very tender and juicy! I almost thought the meat was undercooked.

Despite my initial intention to leave maybe half the rice intact, I couldn't throw away the fact that it would be a waste of my money and hence, devoured everything! 

My friend had the salmon okowa and I got a bite with his permission; the rice was steeped deeper in flavor compared to my scallop and it was better tasting. 

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Location
391 Orchard Road, 
#B204-1/2, Takashimaya Food Hall,
Singapore 238873

Website

Menu
As above.

Pricing
Chicken Saikyo Set with Scallop Okowa - S$15.90
(No GST and No Service Charge)

Thursday, June 29, 2017

You Kee XO Restaurant (有记xo烧腊之家) - Loving the Epic Crystal Char Siew @ KSL City Shopping Centre [Malaysia]

I have known for quite some time that my favourite char siew restaurant has set up shop at a way more convenient location in Malaysia but maybe due to ageing, i thought i had blogged about it before!

So here's my official post on You Kee XO Restaurant at KSL mall; no longer would i need to take a long cab ride to Tebrau City as KSL is one of Singaporeans' favourite destinations in Johor Bahru and just a short taxi ride from the Malaysian checkpoint. 

Just like its branch near Aeon Tebrau City, there are two huge earthen urns at its KSL stall and if you have read my original post here; you would know exactly the content buried within the urns. 

They contained mini pots of herbal soup and we ordered one even though i am not exactly a soup lover in the tropical climate that we are in. Exception is when the weather is super cooling which wasn't the case when i went last Monday; it's so bloody hot! 

Soup was nice alright and there's a mix of chicken meat and pork ribs in herbal broth. Name is called 杀生汤 which translates into killing soup; not so much about poisoning people as 杀生 usually refers to the slaughter of animals, strongly discouraged in Buddhism.

Although my love is deep for you kee's signature crystal char siew, i would normally order a mixed platter, especially when it's more than just me dining. I would have included suckling pig instead of roast duck but Alex insisted on the latter.

Oh, before i forget; remember to order their blended lime juice. It's the perfect beverage in hot weather and a total thirst quencher!

Now coming back to our platter of char siew, roast duck and roast pork. Roast pork was super fatty and i can so imagine my dad picking out the fats and concurrently complaining non-stop on the health risks of ingesting too much fats. It tasted quite good and there's that crispy, nice crunchy skin on top that roast pork lovers would enjoy.

Roast duck was quite a dampener and even Alex had to admit it wasn't to his satisfaction; it was tougher and the roast duck skin didn't impress. If i want roast duck, i would have gone to the famous one near City Square mall; the same one that's said to have passed the recipe to Dian Xiao Er in Singapore.

Char siew was as expected; marvelicious!  The whole chunk of juicy fat, surrounded by just a thin layer of charred, crystalised skin peppered with aromatic sesame seeds, was irresistible and my only regret was not ordering a few packets to share with my friends and colleagues back in Singapore!

Satisfied. *burp*

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Location
33 Jalan Seladang, LG 33,
KSL City, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru,
Johor, Malaysia

Contact
+607-289-1483
+6016-771-8802

Facebook Page

Pricing
Herbal Soup (S) - RM 18.80
Roast Duck (M) - RM 16.10
Char Siew (M) - RM 15.80
Roast Pork (M) - RM 12.60
Blended Lime Juice - RM 4.50
(Inclusive of GST)

Additional Information
If you prefer to spend more time at KSL, you may consider staying at KSL Hotel & Resort! For my review, please click here. Another hotel option is Holiday Villa hotel, which is next to KSL Hotel & Resort.

Want to sing karaoke? Check out I am a Singer Family Karaoke! p.s. if you ask me, it's actually cheaper to sing at Manekineko Karaoke in Singapore.

Monday, June 26, 2017

Amazing Hanjuku Cheese Tart from Tokyo Secret @ JB City Square [Malaysia]

In my last visit to Johor Bahru with mom and the sisters, we bumped into my cousin's husband who very kindly bought us a pack of cheese tarts that he claimed to be much better than those sold in Singapore! 

I specifically traveled back to City Square shopping center today to seek out the shop and remembering it was on the fourth floor, it didn't take me long to find it despite the supposedly shrouded secrecy given the name of Tokyo Secret. A joke, by the way.

There wasn't any queue and I got my six cheese tarts in no time; am guessing that not many people are aware of its existence which was a good thing for me. Absolutely detest queuing when time is a luxury nowadays. 

Noticed something interesting on the digital signage of Tokyo Secret; four ways to enjoy the cheese tarts! Fresh from the oven, cold from the refrigerator, frozen from the freezer and reheated from the toaster! 

My intention was to bring back the pack of cheese tarts to Singapore where I would have more time to shoot nicer photographs. However, the traffic jam along the causeway appeared to be really bad and if the situation was as bad at the bus bays, chances were high that the tarts would likely be smashed beyond recognition. 

Taking advantage of the time my mom went to the ladies room (which had an incredibly long queue), I opened up the box hurriedly so that time would not be wasted! 

As I carefully lifted one up from its protective holder within the box, I can feel its insides jiggling; I had to proceed with extra caution as many pairs of eyes were looking at a strange man holding on to a cheese tart while taking photos from a huge ass DSLR, outside the washroom. 

I took a bite; Mmmmm mmmm mmmm, it was so bloody good! The buttery crunchy crust gave way to a lightly burnt cheese top that disintegrated and merged perfectly with the soft yet warm and melty cheese in the middle. 

Personally, I had tried the numerous cheese tarts in Singapore but nothing came close to Tokyo Secret Hanjuku (half baked) Cheese Tart for the textural experience and delicious Japan-imported cheese! My expression must have reflected my love for the cheese tarts as someone tapped me on the shoulder shortly and asked for the location of Tokyo Secret. 

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Location
106-108, Jalan Wong Ah Fook,
Johor Bahru City Square, Level 4,
Lot MS-03, Bandar Johor Bahru,
80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
(Near Action City on Level 4 of City Square) 

Website

Menu
As above.

Pricing
Hanjuku Cheese Tart - RM 7.90 each

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Deerma Handheld Vacuum Cleaner (DX-118C) - A Powerful Suction & It's Inexpensive! - Purchased from Lazada.sg

Ever since i moved into my own house, which was already more than a year ago, i had been wanting to purchase a handheld vacuum cleaner and i finally got one through Lazada.sg

I was expecting a vacuum cleaner but i sure didn't know there were so many helpful accessories given as well since the price i paid for it was honestly quite an eye-popper.

This 60-cm extender would allow me to reach the ceiling of my HDB flat and that's important as spiders had taken over some corners and dust accumulation on the air-conditioning trunking can be such an eye sore! 

Don't worry about the wire as it's about 4 meters long! 

It can even be converted into an upright vacuum cleaner for your floor! Now, i have my fair share of expensive handheld vacuum cleaners with horrendous suction power but this came strongly recommended by two friends and it had a supposedly strong suction at 600 W.

Want to know how well it performs? Check out the video above! 

The suction was really powerful and i not complaining of its noise as i only paid S$35.01 for it! Add in shipping and it's still less than S$40.00! 

Only problem i faced was how to store the vacuum and its accessories since the box they came with were rather destroyed by me in my haste to check out my purchase. Hmmmm...

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Purchased From

Pricing
Deerma Handheld Vacuum Cleaner (DX-118C) - S$35.01
Shipping Cost - S$2.99