Food - Bisdak Babbles

Archive for the "Food" Category

Gluttons Bay

September 8th, 2009 shiera

Makansutra Gluttons Bay. Some just call it Makansutra, most people call it Gluttons Bay. It is basically one of the great places in Singapore where you could be a glutton! Not only because of the delicious food they offer, but the price is acceptable even for someone like me. The place made me feel like being in one of those grill restaurants in Cebu City. In there, you could find stalls selling a wide variety of seafood. Pick out something and they could grill it for you…

So sorry I can’t give you a better photo. Anyway, just a quick overview of what we feasted on. We ordered that yellow rice. I don’t know what’s it called, but it was delicious. I’ve always loved shrimp, but eating it with oat meal? mmmm…

The grilled sting ray was also delicious and was very spicy!

But my favorite was the crunchy “baby” squid. It was sweet and salty at the same time, a real appetizer!

Here are the gluttons who vowed to visit that place again…

For more information about the Glutton’s Bay, you may visit their website: http://www.makansutra.com

Food, Singapore

Coffee addict

August 20th, 2009 shiera

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I love coffee! I always start the day with a mug of coffee. While I was still in Japan, I had to visit coffee shops on weekends for English sessions. On weekdays, I always had canned coffee. Since I arrived here, I’ve only settled for instant coffee. The vending machine at the office has canned coffee but the taste is not good. I’ve bought once, took a sip and ended up throwing the rest. But I guess too much instant coffee is taking a toll on my health. Maybe I should buy one of those coffee makers, instead? There are very cheap ones but I really hope I could get one of those Capresso coffee makers. I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy the search for good coffee beans.

Food, Things I love

Just like nabe

August 17th, 2009 shiera

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Before leaving Japan, I had chances of eating one of my favorites especially during cold seasons: nabe. I love putting meat into the pot but I love tofu most. I thought there’s nothing like that here in Singapore, considering that this is a tropical country. I went out with colleagues one Friday. I was told that we were going to a “steamboat” restaurant and by that description alone, I thought that food are just placed in a steamboat-like tray, but here’s how it really looked like:

Just like nabe, you just put all the raw ingredients into the boiling pot. The pot is divided into two: plain and hot and spicy. I have to admit, the soup stock in that restaurant is more delicious than my favorite ready-made kimchi flavored I tried in Japan. The hot & spicy is even more delicious!

*It took me more than a week trying to recall the word “nabe”. My Japanese words are slowly evaporating!

Food, Singapore

Japanese Gourmet Town

August 1st, 2009 shiera

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I have noticed a Japanese restaurant somewhere in Vivocity during my first visit. That miniature of an okonomiyaki seemed to haunt me. I couldn’t stop thinking how it tastes so when I met up with friends last weekend, I suggested to go there for lunch. Okonomiyaki is one of my favorite Japanese dishes and I was hoping I could find a restaurant here that serves okonomiyaki that is as delicious as the one in my favorite restaurant in Osaka. The place has this very “Japanese feel”. They only played Japanese pop music and they have a wide variety to choose from the menu. There’s this wall that’s really eye-catching that Kay and I couldn’t help but do the “Japanese pose” and have our photo taken:

I tried to capture the whole wall but my cellphone’s camera just couldn’t:

Some of the food we ordered:

Of course, seafood okonomiyaki:

How was it? Far from my favorite restaurant in Osaka’s okonomiyaki. At least I would no longer be “haunted” by it. Maybe I should try to learn how to cook okonomiyaki. Perhaps after a dozen of tries, I could somehow get a little bit of how true Osakan okonomiyaki tastes like.

Food, Singapore

Hokkaido in Singapore

July 6th, 2009 shiera

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I miss the “real” Japan taste, so I was ecstatic when I received a flyer about the Hokkaido Fair at the Tampines Mall from July 3 to 12. I dropped by last weekend and the venue was crowded.

The usual comment that I heard from the customers? “It’s not so cheap.” If you’re used to the prices in Japan, you’ll find the prices at the fair acceptable because based on the computations I’ve made, I think they have just directly converted the prices to SGD. But I’ve stayed in Singapore for more than 3 months already so I find it not so cheap also. But Hokkaido doesn’t come to Singapore often so I just ignored the guilt I felt and bought Hakodate Maru Cheese Cake and … mentaiko! I miss the ramen in Japan so I might visit the fair again before it ends.

The booth owners are really from Hokkaido that I was so happy to speak in Japanese again, but alarmed at the fact that I’m slowly forgetting the basics. I also miss how the Japanese treat their customers. I wish that would be the same here in Singapore, too.

Food, Japan: exposed

Japan taste… almost

June 10th, 2009 shiera

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More than two months of stay here and I still keep on babbling about Japan. One of the things I miss most is food. I miss even those food that I can possibly cook, like the tonkatsu (deep-fried breaded pork) and tempura (deep-fried breaded shrimp). Most of all, I miss sushi and sashimi! So when I found this sushi restaurant in Tampines 1, I was like a moth drawn to light. The restaurant’s name is:

Guess what, they have guru-guru sushi/kaiten sushi! Yep, those sushi on plates going around through a conveyor belt.

Their sashimi and the sushi sprinkled with mentaiko (marinated roe of pollock) tasted good, close to the ones in Japan. It also had the melts-in-your-mouth feel. And the best way to conclude the meal? Macha ice cream! It is not as creamy as my favorite brand, but I was still glad I get to eat macha again.

You could occasionally hear the staffs greeting customers with “irrasshaimase”, but in Singaporean accent. One reminder though. Open only one of those wet tissues when you really need one coz when I checked my bill, I was charged I think around 30 cents for that. Also, I don’t think they serve green tea for free.They also have ramen but will try that maybe in December when the weather is cooler (I hope).

Food

Missing Ramen

May 29th, 2009 shiera

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While browsing through my photos, I saw this…

I think this was the last ramen set meal I ate before I bid sayonara to Japan. I am not really crazy over ramen. I only crave for it during cold season and almost avoid it during summer. But looking at it now, I hope I could find a good Japanese restaurant here that serve a ramen as delicious as the ones in Japan. Does anybody know a good ramen place in Singapore?

Food

White Day sweets

March 17th, 2009 shiera

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Let me give you a short recap. Valentine’s Day here in Japan is a lucky day for the guys. They receive chocolates from the ladies, some of which are just “obligatory” chocolates, some are expressions of love. “Obligatory” chocolates are just those generic chocolates and are usually given without special wrapper. Whereas expression-of-love-chocolates are the expensive or handmade ones. Usually, the guys give something back onWhite Day, March 15th. May it be obligatory ones, or the expression of the same romantic feelings to the girl who gave him chocolates.

On my first Valentine’s Day here, I distributed obligatory chocolates to both men and women teammates. In return, I received cookies during the White Day. Last year, I gave nothing, I received nothing. This year, I didn’t bother, but at my current office, the guys gave all of us ladies “obligatory” sweets. There are only six people in the office. Two are Japanese guys, so Kay and I only received these two packs of “obligatory” sweets:

Experiences in Japan, Food, Lifestyle

Got deceived by plastic cakes

February 17th, 2009 shiera

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Two Japanese friends and I were 100% sure that there were still layers of cakes available near the counter as we entered the cafe. I’ve been obsessed with cheese cake lately so I was really thrilled to see that only a slice was taken from it. But when the waitress took our orders, we were surprised to know that only a few slices of cake were available. I was lucky to get the last slice of cheese cake. But how did it happen? Maybe there were lots of orders? But the cafe was not fully occupied at that time.

We we were about to leave the cafe, we took a closer look at the display. Alas! Those were just the plastic cake models. I’ve featured a lot of these in my previous posts. They look so real that you couldn’t really pick the real and the plastic apart!

Here’s another batch of plastic treats:

Japanese curry

Beef doria set

Experiences in Japan, Food

Wordless Wednesday #30: Plastic Spaghetti

February 4th, 2009 shiera

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I have always been amazed by the displays at restaurants here so I always take loads of photos. They look so real that they could make your mouth water…

Check out the Wordless Wednesday HQ When I first saw these 7 years ago, I honestly and stupidly thought that these were just preserved food! Yep, embarrassing, so let’s just keep this between the two of us, OK?

Food, Wordless Wednesday

Sukang pinakurat atbp…

January 30th, 2009 shiera

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Our orders from that Filipino store in Tokyo arrived this afternoon. Just a glimpse of what I bought:

Yes, I also got a bottle of Sukang Pinakurat from Iligan City!

I guess I’ll be having canned goods feast in the next few days.