marvin lowe photography

I have procrastinated long enough. The food blog will be hosted at a new domain, www.plebeianpalates.com. Do relink it if you would like to read more about food. As for this blog, it’s going to hold more personal stuff for me.

Jazzfoodie: I was so excited when Marv revealed he was bringing me to Kaisan for my birthday dinner treat, and we had the omakase. When Marv called to make reservations for counter seats, Chef Thomas was curious, explaining that only his regular customers would request for those seats. We told him we’ve only been there once previously for lunch, and this time, would like to ‘watch him in action’. We had an enjoyable and ‘educational’ meal, put utterly at ease with Chef Thomas’s chatter and elaboration of the dishes and the origin of the produce (fresh Japanese imports).

Steamed Sweet Corn

J: This dish thoroughly surprised me as I’m not a big corn fan. We wondered about the flavour as we were told a single cob costs $12.00! This was the sweetest corn I’ve ever tasted and it was totally unmarinated and unsalted.

V: On the other hand, I am a really BIG corn fan!! I even like the music they make. That’s how much the humble corn has influenced me.=p Well, this corn apparently comes from hokkaido, if I remember correctly. I have to say that this is the one of the best corn that I have eaten. It has a sweetness which rivals the purest honey.

Sliced Momotaro Tomato

J: The freshness was delightful, with a hint of sweetness and no sourish tartness that sometimes ‘bites the tongue’.

V: Momotaro means Peach in Japanese i think. This freshly sliced tomato dish sure had some peachy qualities. It was refreshingly juicy and there was a sweetness to it. It sure did help to whet our appetites for the dishes to come

J: I think “peach” is “momo” in Japanese!

Sashimi Moriwase

J: The delectable slices were huge; the toro meltingly tender and the scallops sweet.

V: The sashimi platter consisted a selection of white fishes like Sea Bream, Snapper, scallops and Toro being the only red fish on the plate. The white fishes had a mild sweetness while the scallops were both juicy and sweet as well. On the other hand, the toro had a wonderful melt-in-your mouth oily texture.

Stir-fried Beef with Shitake Mushrooms

J: While competently executed, the tender cubes of beef were not exceptionally in the typical marinade of (probably) soy sauce, mirin and brown sugar or honey, while the accompanying shitake was plump and ‘juicy’ enough.

V: Although this dish wasn’t exactly a knockout, it was still rather tasty. Although done in a simple manner, it is still able to highlight the juices of the beef and the mushrooms.

Steamed Bamboo Clams with Mentaiko Mayonaise Dressing

J: This was our first time eating this and we savoured every morsel lovingly. The clam steamed to perfection was laced with the rich creamy taste of mentaiko mayo and together with some chopped spring onions adding a subtle zing, produced a simple but amazing dish.

V: After reading about it in so many other blogs, the Bamboo Clams was something that i really wanted to try. We were in luck on the day we went and there was fresh Bamboo Clams available. I loved how the mentaiko mayo complimented the clams. It defintely lived up to the hype and expectations.

Grilled Hamachi

J: I love the occasional grilled fish cheek, simple with minimal marination and some grated daikon on the side. Here, the fish was not over-cooked, yielding flaky mouthfuls of tender meat.

V: This was a simple dish and at first glance, I did not think much about it. I thought it would be like the usual Grilled Saba we usually get at medicore places. However, this was no mackeral but Yellow Tail. It was done in a simple manner which brought out the best in the fish.

Uni Sushi

J: I like how the uni did not have the overpowering metallic taste, and instead had a slight tasty creaminess to it.

V: The uni served had a rich creamy intense flavour and had lightly sweet fragrance. It went well with the seaweed laver, the salt in the seaweed accentuated the sweetness of the uni, making it sweeter and very delightful.

Anago Sushi

J: This was probably my 1st time tasting the sea eel, and it was quite delicious with just a little sweet sauce despite being presented in a ‘drier’ form than the more commonly served unagi.

V: Anago, unlike it fresh water cousin, the unagi, is a salt water eel. It is slightly dry as compared to unagi but is still as tender and sweet. Here at kaisan, they use the anago to wrap around the rice. This gives us a general helping of the eel which was brushed with a sweet sauce as well.

Toro Sushi

J: Toro, toro. Nothing else to say except for lingering memories of delightful mouth-watering fat.

V: Tororgasmic. Simply fantastic. Chef Thomas generously gave us double servings of this. This doubled the fun and it really made our day.

Ikura Sushi

J: I’ve always loved how the marinated salmon eggs pop juicy and slightly salty into my mouth, and this time was no exception.

V: It was such a delight to have it pop like bubbles and the juices squirt in my mouth.

Inaniwa Udon Soup

J: The noodles were very smooth and palatable, rounding off the meal nicely.

V: The broth was light but strong in flavour. The noodles were slightly al dente and springy, making it very delectable. It was a nice and hearty manner to end the meal.

Matcha Ice-Cream

J: In all, I enjoyed the omakase experience at Kaisan tremendously and would look forward eagerly to future visits.

V: The Matcha Ice-Cream was very smooth and had a slight bitter tannin which tampered with the overall sweetness, making it a very enjoyable rendition.

The entire Omakase has been an eye-opener, Chef Thomas’s careful planning allowed us to try a large variety of items. Besides preparing these items with excellent execution, his affable character made us feel at ease and made the whole experience very enjoyable. Kaisan is defintely a place that I will be looking forward to return.

Straits Restaurant is a critically aclaimed Singaporean Restaurant based in the States. They serve Singaporean and South East Asian Food. It operates mainly in the West Coast Bay areas of San Jose and San Francisco. The owner and Exectutive Chef, Chris Yeo, is Singaporean and was a graduate of SHATEC. After leaving SHATEC, Chris went into Hair Styling for a couple of years before making the transition back into cooking when he opened the Straits Cafe in San Francisco. He has since gone on to open a few other branches in the Bay Area.

During my last visit to San Francisco, we dropped by the Straits Restaurant. Having been on a long road trip already and being denied any form of decent Asian Food in Florida, this visit was like a breath of fresh air. We settled comfortably into the chic stylish restaurant and found familar dishes on the menu.

Popiah

Popiah here is served in a very artistic manner. Quartered and arranged neatly on a sleek plate, dark sweet sauce and chilli sauce lines the plate. The Popiah here is light in taste, but it lacks the punch of the flavour of freshly chopped garlic, which might have been removed to suit the local palate.

Satay

The Satay here were huge and juicy. It was nicely grilled but lacked the smokey charcoal flavour we get back at home. The gravy given was again rather light, probably moderated to suit the locals as well. The gravy isn’t as thick as the one we get back home and being placed on flat plate, it wasn’t as easy to get the gravy to stay on the satay.

Sayur Lodeh

Sayur Lodeh is some kind of a Curry Vegetable dish. As you can see from above, the dish looks pretty dry. There isn’t as much curry gravy as I would expect in a Sayur Lodeh. Nonetheless, the curry used was still lemak(rich) and flavourful enough for me.

Origami Seabass

Origami Seabass is really a fancy name for Paper Wrapped Fish.The Seabass was baked in parchment with ginger, longan, shiitake mushrooms and rice wine. The fish used was fresh and the stock it was baked in enhanced the fish with hints of sweetness.

Potong Kari Ayam

Potong Kari Ayam is our classic Curry Chicken with Potatoes. The Curry was rich with flavours, the potatoes were sweet and the chicken was tender. This really brought a taste of home back to us. This rendition of Curry Chicken is not too spicy, has a rich lemak flavour and is slightly sweet. It went perfectly well with white rice.

Tamarind Beef

The beef was tender and the sauce had a pepperish taste to it. It had a very Thai feel to it.

Banana Crepe with Ice-cream

The desserts were a little dissapointing. I expected to see variation of classic Singapore desserts like Ice-Kachang or Chendol but there was none. Instead they had a Banana Crepe with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. The only thing tropical about this dish would be the Banana. It came across as an average dessert, nothing spectacular about this.

Dessert Platter

This dessert platter consisted of a brownie like cake with a cream filling, a Pistachio Parfait and some Chocolate Tart with a scoop of ice-cream. Again, nothing to scream or shout about. The dessert section was probably a little dissapointing. I had hoped to see more than the usual western desserts.

Overall, Straits Restaurant is one of the place to go to if you miss Singapore and you stay in the Bay Area. The quality of food here is excellent although they have made changes to adapt to the local context. One thing I am pleased to note is that they try their best to mantain the authenticity of the dishes. You will not find Singapore Noodles, Chop Suey, Chow Mien or any Fortune Cookies here. It is really heartening to see Singaporeans bringing Singapore’s food and culture to this part of the world and do so well.

Straits Restaurant

VinnytheMarv: This is yet another back-dated post. We visited Akane to celebrate my mom’s birthday and to bid farewell to my sister. Akane is a very esteemed Japanese restaurant opened by the godfather of sushi in Singapore, Nogawa-san. Many of his disciples have gone on to open their own successful Japanese restaurants, such Shiro at Greenwood. Although he has two other restaurants, he frequently comes into Akane. Maybe because it’s located right in the Japanese Association and he feels more at home here. Lately, there has been rumours that he would returning home to Japan and retire. Whatever the case, he has done much to raise the standards of Japanese Food in Singapore. So…Thank You Nogawa-san!

Otoshi

Jazzfoodie: This appetizer was crunchy and tasty enough albeit a little dry. The lime juice squeezed over provided a nice zesty flavour to the dish.

V: This was a very simple dish. I believe squid was lightly grilled with salt, hence it was a little crunchy and dry. It was just ok.

Spring Vegetable Salad

J: This was pleasant enough although it tasted almost like a western salad.
V: I am not a big fan of salads and this did not really win me over. One thing unique about this salad was that there were tempura bits in it. Apparently, one half of the vegetables were made in to a salad while the other was made in to a vegetable tempura. Crumbs from the tempura were added into this salad so as to give it more bite and flavour.

Tempura Spring Vegetable

J: The batter was light and not too oily, while the vegatables gave a nice crunch.
V: I love tempura and this tempura batter was good. It was light and not overtly oily. The vegetables were not your regular vegetables too. Some of these greens are unique to Japan which made it rather interesting.

Sashimi Platter

J: The sashimi of premium quality was sliced rather generously and was smooth and delectable.
V: This has to be one of the highlights. The fishes on the platter were of the highest quality and fresh as well. There was Salmon, Otoro(Tuna Belly), Amaebi(sweet prawns), scallops, Aji(horse mackeral) and Tai( Sea Bream). My favourite has to be the Otoro. It was rich in flavours and it had nice soft flavour as it melted in my mouth.Truly wonderful!

Yari Ika or Teriyaki grilled squid with egg

J: I love squid, so naturally I like this dish. While the sauce was decent, the dish wasn’t exceptional.

V: I love squid too. This was a fascinating dish because hidden in the squid was a nice runny egg. The egg oozed out when i took a bite and it was really good. The egg went really well with the squid.

Tuna Belly Soup or Otoro Negi Ma Nabe

J: This is the BEST soup I’ve ever had! I love soups, but this was really, really good! The broth was lightly flavoured with vegatables, while the otoro was lightly poached (as seen on the outside), but meltingly fabulous on the inside.

V: This was an amazing soup! It tasted really surreal. When the waitress brought it over to cook by the table, it looked like an ordinary unassuming dish. There was just ordinary vegetable stock or so it seemed. Then she added the Otoro and that must have been when the magic happened. The soup was rich with flavours but light on the tongue, while the Otoro still preserved its melt in your mouth kind of flavour which was really magical.

Mushimono or Hokkaido Crab

J: The crabmeat was extracted onto individual plates for us, and its sweetness was contrasted nicely with the salty and lightly tangy ponzu dip.

V: The crab was nice and fresh. I believe it was simply steamed before serving. The crab meat was firm and sweet and went well with the sauce or even on its own.

Mebaru or Grilled Snapper

J: The fish was fresh and the dish was nice, but not particulary ‘wow’.

V: This was just ok for me. The fish was fresh and went well with the sauce too.

Kobe Usui Yaki

J: The juicy and tender thinly sliced beef encased the crunchy asparagus, creating something truly yummy.

V: The beef used here is Kobe Beef and it was awesome. There’s minced garlic in the beef wrap and this made it even tastier. The Asparagus had a hint of sweetness and this complemented the juicy beef and fragrant garlic.

Yasai Inaniwa

J: The noodles were so smooth, and together with the vegetable broth, they were a fitting end to the savoury part of the meal.

V: A very simple dish with a very elegant taste. The noodles were smooth and very slurp-worthy while the broth was light and fragrant. There were juicy mushroom bits that made this dish nicer too.

Macha Ice-cream

J: Dessert was quite ordinary, but overall, it was a great 1st dining experience at Akane.
V: I wonder why Japanese deserts are so boring. Either you get fruits or Matcha Ice-Cream. They seem to lack creativity in the desserts department. Still, this was an awesome meal and there’s no doubt I would be coming back here again.

Day 2 started with a bang thanks to Jerry’s innovative warm-ups. He started a new Taichi routine based on the tune of Beyonce’s “Irreplacable”. It’s really silly but it’s so catchy at the same time. Best of all, he does it with such conviction that it really gets you all choked up in laughter. I am not sure how he came up with it, but it was really brillant!

The first session of the morning started off with a great time of worship that just moved into a time of ministry. I had to leave earlier with the ever affable Jerry to pick up lunch from mainland Singapore. After lunch, we had another session with Auntie Debbie. Her voice was so much better as compared to the previous night. It was a great workshop session that saw Joachim and Jing-En tying the knot. That was one of the highlights of the workshop.hehe.

We then had the last session of games which was aptly called ” A Crazy Afternoon”. With games like the Stocking Gladiators, it was really a crazy affair. The objective of the game is simple. Wear the stocking on your head. Swing your head as vigorously as possible so the ball in the stocking will be able to entwine with your oponent’s stocking. Then you pull as hard as you can and hope you are able to yank out your opponent’s stocking. Last man standing wins. This was probably the most hilarious game and a game which most people enjoyed. Something really new and innovative.

The other games were pretty fun too. There was touch frisbee, which is a hybrid between touch rugby and ultimate frisbee. Another simple game saw the campers pair-up as they try to feed their partners water-melon while they remain blind. The last game saw them swimming across the waters to the opposite “island” and collect alphabets. They had to shout out across the waters and the rest of the group members had to form the alphabet. Unfortunately, this game was brought to an early halt by the Lifeguards at Sentosa after they deemed it too dangerous. All in all, it was a great time of fun and relaxation.

We had a great final night. After the night session, we had one more activity called “Prata Night”. Many of us were left puzzled with this event called “Prata Night”. We couldn’t decipher if it was going to be some kind of mystery game or a game where we had to make prata. But it was just as simple as its name, a night of Prata and curry. So we had Prata for our last supper at the beach. The camp comm took this time to give out some awards and sabo people at the same time.

Shaun won an award for being the most Kiasu Camper, simply for jumping off the stage during alter call, when he was supposed to be playing the guitar. Zhengxin became the most eligible camper after he tried to push the award to Ern, Joachim and Jing-En unsuccessfully. For the records, he “proposed” to Crystal Goh and Randolf accepted it as a proxy for Crystal. She is henceforth to be known as Crystal Lam.=p just kidding.

This bring us to the end of camp. Jeanette preached an invigorating final mesage that serves to inspire all of us and to keep the fire burning brighere. PJ also shared something very personal to her heart which I felt was really bold of her and it really brought us closer as a ministry to be able to pray for her.

I had a great time at camp. It was a timely reminder to be dependant on God’s strength. The high calling of leadership will be difficult and choices will have to be made. Stands must be taken and there can be no compromise. It will not be easy, but with God, all things are possible.