Shin Kushiya @ Vivocity

Shin Kushiya

#2-120/122, VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk, 098585
Tel: 62758766

Wanted to check out the Crystal Jade at Vivocity but after walking around, we decided to settle for Shin Kushiya at level 2. It wasn't a difficult choice as both the GF and myself were huge carnivores.

First impression, spacious. Those who manage to sit near the rear will be rewarded with a fantastic harbour view, with Sentosa ferry terminal and the Merlion tower to the front and PSA to the left. Just after entering Shin, apart from the friendly staff, we were greeted with an impressive sushi bar with all the raw fish displayed like trophies. To the back of the sushi counter is the grill section.

GF is crazy about japanese food, the raw part of it that is. Whereas for me, i prefer my food cooked. There's an impressive array of grilled items from various poultry ( duck is offered here ) to beef and pork. They also have foie gras on the menu.


Being our first visit here, i'm kind of apprehensive about the quality of the food served here. However that does not stop the GF from ordering the Californian Maki, the Soft-Shell Crab handroll and the grilled pork tenderloin Don.

The Grilled Pork tenderloin is fantastic! 4 pieces of nicely grilled meat served with the usual teriyaki sauce. They were so tender and juicy that we wanted to order another serving. I had to remind the GF that we had ordered quite an impressive numbers of grilled items that were not served yet.

However, the Californian Maki was disappointing. First there was no avocado, and the rice was too mushy and they were quite stingy with the roes on top of the maki. Will give this a miss the next round.


The Soft-Shell Crab handroll was well executed. The crab was fried to a golden brown, and thankfully, dripped off excess oil. It was crispy and goes well with the handroll.
Next up, our grilled items. Pardon me b'cause i have no recollection of the exact names of the items we ate. I believe there were chicken, pork, chicken midwing, chicken skin, pork belly with asparagus, prawn, grilled pork belly with mustard sauce, chicken, pork, prawns, chicken midwing, chicken skin, pork belly with asparagus, prawn....

There's also the flavoured salt that we're supposed to try out with the grilled items. Thought it was kind fanciful for my liking but they actually tasted good. Especially the sour plum flavoured salt ; think it will go well with freshly cut guavas.Hmmm yum yum.

All in all, a great dinning experience. Food were well priced ( total damaged 2 including drinks around 60SGD ) and we were generally impressed with the food here. Will definately be back again.

Updated on 14th Feb 2007

The GF suggeted we had Valentine's dinner at Shin ( my initial choice was Ohsumi after reading about it off ishootieatipost). Dinner was still good ( had a piece of half-cooked grilled pork belly and this gentleman, might be the manager, offered to take that order off my bill. It was a pleasant surprise b'cause both GF and I totally enjoyed our dinner there. Except for the waiting time during peak dinner period (with me queueing like 45min for even a counter seat) every item was great. We had grilled foie gras and it was well executed. One bite to get it off the stick and the foie gras slide down the throat.

The chicken skin was great, the chicken was good, the prawns were meaty but somehow they dun really tasted freshly grilled. Don't get me wrong, they are still fresh but it's just that they had turn really dry.

Nearly forgot to mention an interesting drink, the Yuzu tea. I believe the drink is made from dried orange skin? It's refreshing but i really thought it could use a little more ice or kept in the fridge a little longer just to bring the temperature down a little.

Our verdict? Reasonable price, great service, but the quality of food does varies on different visits so do take heed.

Home made curry

Last sunday we had a major craving for curry chicken. So instead of getting some ready made curry, we decided to made one ourselves.



We got ourselves a fresh chicken, a packet of pre-mixed curry paste and a pack of ready made coconut milk.



Skipping the details, the curry we made turned out a little sweeter. Perhaps it was coconut milk we used (freshly squeezed coconut milk was too tedious, on the hindsight, we should have tasted the milk first). Perhaps when we had a little more time next time, we'll get off bed a tad earlier and get some really freshly squeezed coconut milk from the market.







The potatoes were boiled for 15 minutes before adding into the curry. Should have deep fried them instead but i'm not going to argue with the GF :-)







We marinated half the packet of curry paste with the chicken. The other half was fried til fragrant with some oil. I had also secretly added 3 huge spoonful of my mum's homemade chilli paste to the curry paste. To think it still came out a little too sweet than spicy (should have add salt). Could it be the curry paste?

Nasi Ayam Penyet @ Changi Village

We have been hearing about Ayam Penyet these days but hardly able to make some time to try it. i might be wrong, ayam penyet is basically fried chicken smashed with a wooden mallet before serving. We heard the secret is in their sauce.

The lady suggested trying out the famous Ayam Penyet store located near the wet market area within the Changi Village Food Centre. So after work on saturday evening, we made our way there.



The queue that saturday night was bearable. I joined a 20 odd person queue waiting anxiously to try for the first time this talked-about dish. My turn came in about 25minutes ( actually shorter wait if u minus that guy who bought around 15 take-aways )





Honestly, there was nothing to write home to mum about. The fried chicken we had was terribly dry and and GF's set was probably smashed a little before serving and mine was done "silence of the lamb" style. The rice was a surprise as it tasted really like the chinese chicken rice. All is not lost. Like what they mentioned on their stall, it's their sauce that makes the whole lot of difference.

Solid sauce with loads of chilli in it packs a powerful punch. Those who take hot stuff would love it. Those who dun, bring your money else where. For SGD$3.50 a set, i'm sure i'll be coming back for more if i just lived across the road.


We adjourned to Villa Bali after dinner. Located opposite Alexandra Techno Park, the ambience is cosy and very inviting. GF liken it to being very One Rochester-ish which i believe runs in the same theme.



Kilkenny that night was soild with a lovely creamy head although i would love to have it a little bit colder. GF had her usual Snowball ( can't seem to fathom her obession with Snowball ).

Ordered a serving of Fried Stuffed Mushrooms to nibble on but somehow the chaplet who took our order must have forgotten abt it.



It finally came half an hour late but to our disappointment. The "stuffing of chicken and ham topped with cheese" was nearly non-exisitant. Forget that we ever had it before. Left before the rain got bigger.

Overall a lovely evening with a great company.

Northern style Claypot Bah Kut Teh

Hong Ji Claypot Bah Kut Teh
(宏记砂煲肉骨茶)
Marsiling Lane Blk 19
( Quite a huge place. The coffeeshop is at the corner nearer to Blk 17)
Don't know for sure if when they are closed ( Mondays perhaps? )

The other half heard abt this place sometime back but we hardly had the chance to venture so far out from where we stay.

Chinese Singaporeans loves their Bah Kut Teh. The Hokkien version with a darker soup base and less peppercorns, and the Teochew version with clear soup and loads of peppercorns. Our version simply has only pork ribs, soup and YouTiao ( not YouTube mind you ).

Our neightbour up north has their version, which they claim to be the origin. Theirs, i understand, comes with everything from ribs to intestines to liver to stomach and has a more herbal soup base.

Legacy aside, i remember how my granddad used to bring me for Bah Kut Teh early in the morning where he spend most of the moring chatting with his friends. Having Bah Kut Teh never fails to remind me of my granddad and how hard it was for him as a settler in a foreign country bringing up his kid.




We had a small serving of braised trotters to go with the claypot bah kut teh here. Nothing fantastic abt it. The meat was hard and doesn't seem to me that they had been braising for a long time. Ah Hua's version is much better.




The claypot bah kut teh. The ingredients are extremely fresh. Especially worth mentioning are the intestines and stomach which are so tender. The ribs on the other hand should have been cooked for a longer period of time. We're not exactly looking for the Ah Hua's fall of the bone kind of bah kut but this was way too hard.




Worth A try, unless you like chewing-gums ribs. Total damage all in all SGD$13.80. Cheap but not exactly the version we like. Give me the Singapore's version any day.

Steamboat for 2

So it's a weekend, no where in particular to go. What can a couple do... the duo here at eatfatfat decides to enjoy the weekend lazing around and have a little steamboat dinner.

Considering we had a great dinner at Cartel the night earlier ( a huge slab of ribs and pork chops), we wouldn't have gotten up early on a sunday morning for anything except for food. Breakfast at Coffee Bean to be exact. Forgo Graze for Coffee Bean cause the lady wants to hit back to bed after breakfast.

After another round of bagel with cream cheese we head straight for the supermarket to shop for the steamboat dinner. We love shopping and spending time together thinking of funy and weird stuff to cook and eat.

To cut everything short, i forgot abt the rice and we nearly ended up with no rice to go with the steamboat. Thank god for the trusty electric rice cooker, the ebarrassment was quickly forgotten in 20 minutes. Trust me to let such a thing from happening. Nevertheless dinner was simple and wholesome but the company was fantastic.

They say a picture speak a thousand words. I wonder if you feel the same way too ;)

The mini-steamboat with slices of winter melon boiling in prawn stock

Sliced chicken thighs

Crab sticks and hotdogs

Chinese cabbbage

Prawns ( shelled and deveined, leaving only the heads on )

Tofu cut into cubes

Fishballs

Sliced pork tenderloin

Soy Sauce on the left for the lady and the special sauce for myself (loads of garlic, juice of one lime, some white vinegar and an equal amount of soy sauce )

Steamboat begins...

One Rochester

Wonder if anyone does still read EFF.... :) It's been a long while since i last posted. Have been extremely busy for the past couple of months. New challenges, new goals and new directions. All for a better future, i guess.

Anyway GF and i went for a drink @ One Rochester. Was supposed to check out the fantastic Bak Kut Teh at Woodlands, untill she ordered a Cheesy Lava pizza for a late lunch bite. With a full dinner out of the picture, we decided to check out the new establishment at Rochester Park which is just opposite of the MOE HQ at Buona Vista.

One Rochester
No 1 Rochester Park
Singapore 139212
Tel: 6773 0070
Email: info@onerochester.com
Opening Hours:
1700hrs to 0100hrs ( Sundays to Fridays )
1700hrs to 0200hrs ( Saturdays )
1700hrs to 0200hrs ( Eve of Public Holiday )
1000hrs to 1500hrs ( Sunday Breakfast )



We went One Rochester, a cosy joint with great ambience. It's the first house we hit after the stairs leading to up from the carpark. Lush foliage and stone paths leading to various pockets of seating areas for different crowds. We were ushered to a small little section with the whole area to ourselves( Not much human traffic today, sunday evening perhaps? ). Kind of the place you would like to bring your SO to laze around and chat over some drinks and nibbles.

An extensive range of wines and drinks, but the non-alcoholics might have to stick to the SDG$6 soft drink or SGD$3.50 ice water ( bottled ). Ordered the Lychee Martini for myself and Anita for the lady.

( Special note form the GF : Anita is just a fancy name for Fruit Punch )
The accompanying nibble for my drink, Fish Tempura.

Looks promising. GF loves the place and the setting at One Rochester. Can't wait to check out the rest of the guys at Rochester Park ( Min Jiang, Graze...). Especially the Cast Iron Pan breakfast at Graze which i read off Chubby Hubby

many many years ago on this day...

I was born :)


Check out my birthday cake. This was bought from Polar as they are the only one around that have the cute cartoon characters on their cakes. Not that i particulary like that, just that a little kid running around in my place love Elmo to bits. So for my birthday, i decide to get a "Elmo" cake.




So that's why there's 2 names on it. One's mine, the other's his.




Ever since taking on my present assignment, I have been having less dinner at home. So for this year, i told mum that i felt like having steamboat.

The spread was fabulous. There were fish maws, fish balls, mushroom balls, cabbage, vegetable, sliced fish, pork liver, meat balls, prawns, hotdogs, squid and lots of love.

My darling sponsored thinny sliced Shabu-Shabu pork belly and tenderloin. Wow, this was super good and worth every cent.


I'm a happy guy this day. I thank god that i'm blessed with love, being able to spend my birthday with all my love ones, enjoying a hearty meal of home-cooked steamboat.

Oh, dad bought lots of satay back too and we ended up eating lots of food tonight. Which is a good thing ;)