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.