Shin Kushiya

Most of the restaurants in Vivocity that we wanted to go to had long queues at the entrance. So we decided to go for this Japanese Restaurant with the shortest queue. We didn't have to wait for more than 5 minutes before it's our turn.

Type
Japanese

Salmon Sashimi



That had to be the first time I see salmon sashimi served on ice.

Garlic Rice (9/10)



My hub and I liked it very much. It really brings out the fragrance in both the garlic and the rice. What a great combination. Yums!

Left to Right (all 'xin' dishes, marked as recommended)

1) Chizu Maki - Mozzorella cheese wrapped with pork slice (7/10)
Initially, I thought it's pork topped with cheese, but it seemed like it's cheese wrapped with pork slice. Now, that's a lot of cheese! Something unique worth trying.

2) Gyu Karubi - Beef

3) Nikuzume Shiitake - Mushroom with chicken fillings (9/10)
This is a wonderful creation! The mushroom is soft, the chicken filling, tasty. Grilled to perfection.

4) Tsukune - Minced Chicken (9/10)
One bite and I know it's very well-marinaded. Good stuff!



Shoyo Yaki Onigiri - Rice (6/10)



Basically grilled rice. Nothing special about it.

Hotate Maki scallop wrapped with pork slice - (3/10)



I don't like the strong fishy taste and smell that comes with it.

Soba



Kuro goma heaven - Black sesame ice cream w home made black sesame cream and choc wafer (6/10)

To be fair, the slightly lower rating is due to the fact that I don't like the taste of black sesame. The chocolate wafer tasted better.



Service
üüüüü
Pretty prompt and friendly service

Ambience

It's the black and red theme again!

Price
$$$$$
$60 plus for both of us. My hub said that it's pretty value for money, since we ordered such a variety.

Place
Vivocity
#02-120

Organic Cafe Xperience

JN and I had just so much to talk about, we know we have to meet again. Poor JN was caught up at work, so while waiting for her, I had ample time to do some shopping and explore Novena Square 1 & 2 thoroughly. It was fruitful as I managed to get christmas presents for all my sisters. One less thing on my very long to-do list... :P

When JN arrived, I suggested that we go 'park' ourselves somewhere instead of shifting to another place for dessert after dinner.

All the talk about organic food has gotten me curious. I asked JN if we can go to Organic Cafe Xperience, as I have read a few good comments about this place and she readily agreed.

Type
Western

Carrot Soup (8/10)
I thought that was one good soup and a good change from the usual corn/chicken/mushroom soup. The vegetables on top of the soup broke the monotony of the all-carrot flavour. Anybody care to enlighten me on what this vegetable is called? It's always spotted in organic dishes, somehow...



JN and I were pretty undecided over what to choose for the main course. Both of us couldn't decide between the Grilled Chicken and Fish and Chips as they looked equally good. It was like a minute later that we realised that we can actually share the two main courses! ^-^>

Fish and Chips (8/10)
Not too bad. I like the crumpy crust of the fish.



Grilled Chicken (8/10)
The sauce was good. This photo tells pretty much eh?



Our dessert (8/10)
You can't go wrong with a chocolate ice-cream... :) oh, unless you are talking about KXXX's ice-cream. :P



Service
üüüüü
Their waitresses/waiters are friendly but too on the ball, clearing plates and showing our bills when we are not ready to leave yet. :P

Ambience
Typical cafe

Price
$$$$$
$15.90++ for set meal of soup, main course, dessert and drink. Pretty value for money

Place
Novena Square
#01-53

Aji-Teh Revisited

We were at Sim Lim shopping for gadgets. We managed to get what we wanted except for a photo printer. Bought a S&M adventure game too! It was rather ex... Forty plus, but I guess it's pretty worth it as we can play the game together and relive the times when we first played the very first season. :)

I was pretty hungry after all the walking (we passed by certain shops for at least 5 times!) and we decided to find a place to settle our dinner. My big fat mouth shouted excitedly, 'We could go to Bugi---s' Before I finished my sentence, I knew I am in for it. Still, I tried my luck to change the topic, but to no avail. My hub cheekily replied, 'ya hor, we can go to BUGIS Aji-teh to have dinner'. My hub was full of grins when he said, 'I didn't think of that place until you mentioned' Thanks lor! >_<"

It's not that I detest Japanese food. It's just that I have very limited choice of food where Japanese food is concerned and we have it almost every week. >_<"

Some Corn Butter Ramen (8/10)

8 is for the soup! Unfortunately, the ramen tasted like rubber bands. It's a good thing that I wasn't the one who ordered it. :P My hub didn't even finish half of it.


Curry Katsu Don (9/10)

One of the best I have tasted. The pork was crisp on the outside, as it should be. The curry was mild and yet thick enough to satisfy my taste buds.

I told my hub that I don't have to worry again if he were to come to Aji-Teh often. At least I now have a favourite dish to rely on.

My words came a bit too soon because later at night, I puked my dinner out. Of course, I wouldn't say it's the definitely the Curry Katsu Don that I have eaten. But I am very much inclined to think that way because that's the last thing I had before it 'happened'. :P

Price/Service/Ambience/Place

Xiao Xuan Feng Revisited

Just before watching 'The Bee Movie'...

This menu looked good. The black chicken didn't appeal to me though. :P



I was like o_O when I saw such a big bottle of lime juice. When the waitress saw my reaction, she laughed and said, 'too big a bottle, eh?' The lime juice's not bad. Not too sour.



Black Chicken soup (3/10)
Ok, that's my biased rating because I don't like black chicken in the first place. Those who like tonic-ky soup would probably find this superb.



Fried Rice (7/10)
Pretty dry. Still, it managed to satisfy my craving for fried rice that day.



Chye Sim (7/10)
Pretty ordinary.



Fish (8/10)
The thin coating of the sauce on the smooth and tender fish complements the dish very well.



Mango pudding (3/10)
Both of us didn't like it.



Almond Jelly with longan (9/10)
Always a safe bet and always my choice of dessert. Cooling and refreshing!



I have always liked the smell of almond. When I was young, Ah Mah liked to cook Almond Agar Agar for us. I would help her with the nitty gritties like stirring the mixture and opening up the almond syrup bottle. I used to spend a good 5 minutes sniffing (like a drug addict) the aroma of the almond syrup. I only stopped doing so when my Ah Mah asked for the syrup to be poured into the mixture. :P

My hub used to loathe the smell and taste of Almond. That's something I cannot comprehend... :P Anyway, he has opened himself up to the wonderful world of Almond recently.

If he is going to be a convert, this bowl of Almond Jelly certainly played a big and important part. He actually liked it! :)

Price
$38++ for the meal (excluding drinks)

Service/Ambience/Place

Cz'zar

The Japanese restaurant my hub wanted to go to was under renovation. The advertisements for this new restaurant caught our attention. The menu looks good and price are pretty reasonable too.

Type
Singapore Chinese Food! The cover of the menu shows 'Singapore Inspired Cuisine'. Wow. Our very own 'brand'. I look forward to the day when this restaurant expands to other countries and do us Singaporeans proud! :)



Quality

String Beans (8/10)

Cruncheee.. :)



Cz'zars pork chop in special sauce (8/10)

I forgot the full name for this dish, but it was sweet and flavourful.



Beancurd dish (7/10)

Pretty ordinary. I asked my hub if the darker tofu indicated that it is of a different flavour. It turned out that the difference in colour is because the darker one was more burnt than the rest, that's all! LOL.



Glass Jelly (6/10)

We were given 2 glasses of free glass jelly dessert because we presented a certain credit card (can't remember which one though). Glass Jelly was never my favourite, nor cherry, nor aloe vera. I took a few bites of glass jelly but finished up the aloe vera. Thanks to my hub who kept reminding me that aloe vera is good for the face. I can only say that women would do anything that is believed to make themselves prettier. :P



Durian Pudding (9/10)



I was really full by the time I finished the aloe vera. So when my hub wanted to share with me another dessert, I told him I can only take one spoon of it.

There was no stopping after I took my first bite of the durian pudding. It was so smooth and delicious that I ate slightly more than half of it. :P It's not too sweet and you can even taste the durian chunks. My hub cheekily asked, "I thought you only want to have one spoonful?" >_<"

Ambience
Pretty 'class' with red and black as their theme.



Service
üüüüü
Their service was good and the waiters and waitresses were friendly throughout, until it came to billing. We have to wait around 15 minutes for the credit card to be returned.

Price
$$$$$
Slightly above kopitiam's tze char's price.

Place
Great World City #01-371
Kim Seng Promenade (S)237994