It’s a staple here! I remember it’s made with goose liver. Sounds unappealing to many but I promise you that it’s worth the try! Totally delish and now it comes with in-house kombucha! Nice!

This was the last savoury course by Chef-owner Shigeru Koizumi from our dinner last night.

A simple yet stunning dish, it featured Sanma (Pacific Saury) cooked with ginger and spring onions. After being presented to us as shown in my photo above, one of the chefs went promptly to work, breaking up the grilled pieces of Sanma to mix them in (rather aggressively I might add but not that I mind - aggression is sexy...) with the rice. By the time the contents of the pot was scooped into the waiting wooden bowls, the fish had become so fine and well-integrated with the rice grains, it was nigh impossible to tell them apart.

Fresh (not chilled, nor farmed) ikura was spooned on as the last touch. The taste was truly sublime. Of course I had to have seconds.

Can you believe One MICHELIN Starred @lerouy_ will turn 3 this August? Time has flown since my first visit where I recall being blown away by Chef-owner Christophe Lerouy’s modern French cuisine.

My most recent meal was just as superb, especially when a favourite dish showed up (who else loves that salted and baked cabbage? 😋😋). Once we sat down, Chef Lerouy got us rolling with a welcome glass of Crémant from his hometown in France and a series of four small but immaculately prepared bites that had me sighing blissfully. They were: a creamy foie gras with apple wasabi and smoked sardine, a delicate parsley root tart with ikura and grated parmesan, whipped Muenster cheese with bacon and cumin, and a tiny tube of Iberico pork and sauerkraut broth.

We then tore into a warm, crusty sourdough, darting between the four flavoured butters of truffle, sumac spice, bamboo charcoal and unsalted as spreads.

Chef @sara_lee1030 presented the appetiser, a light and refreshing creation showcasing Japanese mackerel, tomato, burrata cheese, sorbet of gazpacho and a drizzle of black olive oil.

Then Chef Lerouy reappeared with his long-time signature, the impossibly juicy wedge of cabbage accessorised with anchoiarde, lardo and lime. It’s pure joy to inhale.

If I had to nominate another favourite from that meal, the magnificent Carabinero would be a serious contender. Such extraordinariness of sweet crustacean, quietly confident spices, perky carrot, bright pineapple and slightly sweet, creamy butter milk.

Both TH and I found the large plump Kunihiro oyster wrapped in beef tongue very appealing too. Loved how it came decked out with girolle mushrooms in a lagoon of warm frothiness.

Following that, a course featuring pan-fried foie gras, Korean abalone, shiitake and black garlic in herbal duck tea. I did find the reduction liquid a tad salty to be frank, but tasty nonetheless.

Bringing up the rear for the savoury dishes was a flawlessly cooked Iberico Pork Pluma, plated with pimenton and eggplant purée. I was bowled over by the texture and flavour of the meat, and don’t recall having had pork feel like that in the mouth before. It’s utterly delicious.

Chef @inpikleon did the honours of presenting the dessert, a composition of Chisote strawberries from Cameron Highlands, sorrel sorbet, fromage blanc and light ginger sauce.

We also had some petit fours with our coffee. The raspberry fruit jelly, dark chocolate dome, “cream cheese” chouquette were lovely enough but the one that wow-ed me was the feuilletine “waffle”. I could eat a dozen of it!

This lunch took place barely a month after I was at @metasingapore with my friend SZ but when every meal is such a pleasure, repeating it can only be a good thing. This time it was with TH who‘d never been and was eager to go.
Snack game, as always at this One-Michelin Starred restaurant, was really strong. I found the sablé cookies, whenever they appeared, to be exceptional, like the Parmesan-flavoured one in the bite that came topped with foie gras mousse and verju gelee, and the raspberry version as petit fours at the end. The “prawns in two ways” turned out even better than when I had it previously because the texture of the brioche was lighter. Extra tasty too was the modern haemul pajeon (Korean seafood pancake).
Familiar and much-loved courses followed - the compact but richly-flavoured, uni-crowned chawanmushi, Meta’s signature Irish oysters dressed with a Korean touch and the tuna akami tartare with egg yolk jelly, crispy feuille de brick and a dome of @caviarcolony’s kaluga caviar.
After that, since I’ve had the “abalone with grains” a few times, the chefs decided to prepare something yet-to-be-launched for me. It starred a giant Irish scallop with crab sauce and chive oil and was a revelation - its simple appearance belied the overwhelming tastiness.
Then my lunch returned to regular programming as the much-talked-about Samegarei (rough skin flounder) and razor clam arrived, trailed by one of my all-time favourites at #metasingapore - the BBQ Wagyu beef with burdock rice plus a bouquet of dressed fresh salad leaves to finish up with. All flawlessly executed.
To my surprise, we had new sweet endings. The pre-dessert had multi-spice-poached pear, pear sorbet, a white cloud of ginger espuma and a sprinkle of fruity Timor Pepper from Nepal. Then a mushroom creation which I will state for the record, is my favourite dessert to date by Pastry Chefs Gail and Rachel. In that were nashi pear lightly coated in kimchi powder, cocoa soil, shiitake mushroom ice-cream, cocoa nibs snow and mini shiitake mushroom meringue. I think I have a thing for mushroom desserts so this suited me to a T.

For his birthday dinner this year, T.H. was clear about where he wanted to dine. And this decision was made a few months ago when our dinner at @basquekitchenbyaitor left him hugely impressed.
I know many people specifically visit this restaurant to savour their Txuleta and/or Turbot that are grilled on the Josper, but we had the Tasting Menu by Chef-owner @aitortxuchef. Leaving it to chefs to decide what to feed me has always been my preferred because I believe they would want to share creations that best represent them, not to mention those they are most proud of. And that’s how we spent the evening enjoying the following:

1. A yet-to-be-launched premium pintxo of mushroom glazed uni on toast topped with freshly shaved white truffle. Outrageously yum!

2. Another incredible premium pintxo of decadently delish “egg on egg on egg” action featuring caviar on a cured Japanese egg yolk and bottarga.

3. Piping hot and crunchy truffle croquetta with a creamy core of black truffle aioli and more white truffle to finish. I’ve always liked this a lot.

4. Very tender and flavourful abalone that’d been sous vide for 48 hours served on sourdough and blanketed in a “Donastiarra” sauce.

5. Housebaked sourdough with the restaurant’s as-fab-as-ever smoky butter.

6. An exquisite creation of poached Kegani hairy crab meat with Kaluga caviar, mixed greens and chive oil.

7. Hearty course of meaty cep mushrooms with cured japanese egg yolk and marigold - I simply couldn’t believe how satisfying this was.

8. An interesting dish starring sea anemone rice with plankton aioli and sea succulents - ice plant and sandfire.

9. Very flavourful pan-fried red mullet smothered in beef tendon crackling puffs and a sauce of its own bones, liver and such.

10. Tasting of the sea, a mussel consommé with creamy bouchot mussels and goose barnacles hidden under the foaminess.

11. For the meat course, T.H. had his favourite A5 Miyazaki Wagyu tenderloin with foie gras, autumn truffle, pumpkin purée and jus, while I got the incredible lamb that had bowled me over the last time. It was every bit as mind-blowing as I remembered.

12. To enjoy with our meats, we had what T.H. christened the “King Of Chips”. I must concur as the heap of huge and chunky, triple-cooked chips were perfection - mealy inside, crispy out. The white truffle shaved on was lovely but not necessary because frankly, the chips were outstanding on their own.

13. “Heaven on Wheels” rolled up next and Sham prepared for us a selection. By selection, I mean nearly every cheese on that trolley, including those from the Basque Country. You could probably have spotted my beaming smile from outer space. So great was my happiness.

14. Palate cleanser was a yellow-on-yellow vibrance of mango ice-cream, tangerine sorbet and marigold petals.

15. For dessert, Chef Aitor served a flan with the most luxurious mouthfeel, and it had the excellent company of housemade chamomile ice-cream and yuzu dust.

16. Petit fours were thoughtfully packed by Chef @ippinn_ for us to take home because after that cheesapalooza and desserts, we could not imagine taking another bite.

To pair with the parade of seafood and red meats throughout the night, @jaureguiberryvincent recommended an atypical red which we found really lovely.

Thank you Team @basquekitchenbyaitor for a most memorable dinner.

Here’s another Bánh Mì from my current list of favourites.

Walked in randomly for a pre-dinner and discovered they serve some great Bánh Mì. Bread was slightly warm upon serving, crispy exterior and soft interior. Most importantly, there was pâté.

$9

And if you have sudden cake cravings late at night, Voyage is opened till 12am from Fridays to Sundays.

Chef Jonathan hopes to present quality plated desserts and cakes to people without having them to worry about the cost.

The signature cake is the Cynthia ($9), a petite gateau featuring rose chantilly cream, lychee bits, raspberry compote and genoise sponge shaped like a rose.

Interesting note: Chef created and named this cake after his girlfriend as it is the first “rose” that he has given to her. So sweet…

To read about the NEW Cafes in Singapore: bit.ly/cafe2019
#DFDCake

Ordered 1 of each flavour they had at Windowsill Pies. All of them were great. Personal top 3 are Banana Bourbon, Apple Frangipane, and The Grasshopper (chocolate mint). But frankly you can't go wrong with any of them.

The cakes were really really good! Soft, fluffy, creamy, etc. Each cake had its own distinct and rich flavour which I love🤤 Besides, the interior design of their packaging looks so aesthetically pleasing too!

Truly #nofilter cos the food and drinks from @hvala_sg have never disappointed me since I visited them years ago. The ambience is always nice, but the price of food might be a lil s(tea)p HAHAHA #punny

• Matcha Goma Latte: 7/10
Felt that the matcha and goma were fighting with one another to shine through in this drink so maybe drinking them separately would be better :,)

• Hojicha Petit Gateau: 8.5/10
This was an amazing cake with layers of sponge cake, mousse and cream. I’m actually not a hugeee fan of mousse but I liked this combination!! The hojicha choc ganache on top was also smooth and added another dimension to the cake!! 👌👌 but yes, this cake was really quite petea-t for its price ($8.80) 😅😉

• Matcha Mont Blanc Tart: 8.8/10
I love Mont Blanc Tarts (which are typically of a chestnut base) and I was so thrilled that the matcha chestnut cream went so well with the cake beneath the cream!! YES there was cake enclosed within the tart shell!!!!! 🤤Somehow, I couldn’t find this on the menu during my recent visit there but if you see it, PLS TRY IT AND LEMME KNOW.

• Matcha Hojicha Latte: 8.5/10
It was such a good marriage of matcha (which wasn’t too sweet NOR bitter) and hojicha (with its classic roasted fragrance)... this was truly a match-a made in heaven 🤪🤪🍵

I think this post was quite tea-larious, what-茶 think? 😉
#bbcmusteat

Kueh Salat with a twist
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Sticky rice is made with butterfly pea flowers for that natural blue colour, then layered with pandan genoise and topped with sea salt pandan custard
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9.5/10: I rarely give such a high score but the cream was so light and not jelat! The puff exterior was also crispy and didn’t turn soggy throughout the whole meal. My love towards this cream puff remained the same on both visits so here’s to hoping that the quality and price of this cream puff will never drop