Aoki

I have been wanting to try aoki's mazechirashi for ages, but I only got to eat here until very recent. Aoki is a Japanese restaurant located at Shaw Centre by Les Amis Group along with the famous Bistro Du Vin and Les Amis. It named in honour of their executive chef, Kunio Aoki. 

When I walked into the restaurant, I then realize y is this place always fully booked and so hard to make a reservation. Well, first is because of the top notch food quality, second, the place is so small and the seating arrangement is limited. But it has a great ambiance and really feel like an authentic Japanese eatery.

We were seated at the counter facing Mr Aoki and his chefs. They were serious at work. 

We ordered Mazechirashi ($40) that came with salad, miso soup, pickles, dessert and Nigri Sushi Tokusen ($55), nine types of sushi and one sushi roll, came with salad, chawan mushi, miso soup and dessert. 

After we placed the order, we were served with Otoshi ($3) which means appetizer as well as hot towel and green tea. 

We started the meal with salad. The greens were fresh and crunchy, but it is also something you will get in any other places.

Chawanmushi, miso soup and pickles. They were decent but ordinary.

The legendary mazechirashi. Hands down one of the best chirashi don. The assorted sashimi includes toro, uni, ikura and many more. Toppings to rice ratio was like 3:1, the portion is very generous and filling! Every mouthful was a luxurious burst of flavour. Definitely worth the price tag.

The Nigri Sushi Tokusen was fantastic too! The freshness was unbeatable, every sushi was of outrageously good quality. Most of the fish slices just melted in my mouth like instantly.

The set lunch ended with a trio of Japanese desserts consisted of sesame pudding, vanilla ice cream and yuzu jelly. I enjoyed eating all of them very much, not overly sweet, which lead to a perfect ending of the meal. 

The bill came up $120++ for two of us. Not a place that I can afford to come often for lunch, but recommended to all the Japanese food fanatics.

Aoki

1 Scotts Road 

#02-17 Shaw Centre

Singapore 228208

6333 8015

Lunch 12pm-3pm

Dinner 6.30pm - 11pm

(Mon - Sat)

Reservation is highly recommended

Axis Bar and Lounge @ Mandarin Oriental

My sweet pie is finally returned from London and will be working in Singapore soon. I'm simply over the moon about it :)

We went to axis bar and lounge at mandarin oriental for afternoon tea on one of the weekday. The design is chic and contemporary, which is perfect for either enjoying a selection of light bites by day or having a glass of champagne as night falls. It is located 4th floor, the waitress seated us right by the window overlooking the beautiful city skyline.

The afternoon tea set (S$42++ per person, S$80++ for two) comes with selection of tea from TWG and 4-course delicate treats. The good thing I like about axis bar and lounge is they change their afternoon tea menu every month, so you don't need to worry eating the same thing during the next visit.

The first course is Singapore sling jelly. I have never tried Singapore sling before but I love this jelly. It tastes like fizzy cherry soda, a very refreshing starter indeed.

Second, we had 7 types of tasty morsel with a local twist. From inner left: BBQ kurobuta pork wrap with lettuce & mayo, mini kaya sandwich, light curry egg salad petite sandwich, smoke salmon open face with laksa aioli. From outer left: otak canapé with black pepper creme, rojak sald in mini scone, light spice chicken compression with pineapple salsa.  Every bite is a surprise to us and we very much appreciate chef's creativeness. 

Next is scones and savoury pastries. While I'm a big fan of buttermilk scones, I find their banana scones and golden raisins scones are equally good too. It served with jam, clotted cream and butter, I personally really like the clotted cream. For pastries we had chicken rendang puffs and Singapore chili crab pies. 

Last is the 3-tier stand sweet treats. On the first tier, we had lychee rose montblanc and kumquat and walnut tea cake. Second tier, basil mango almond tart and pandan creme brulee with caramel chips. Third tier were peanut chocolate snicker bar and sesame macaroon. There were hits and few misses, mostly because I think it taste too sweet, but this is just my personal view. I am just not that into sweet food anymore. 

The service is impeccable and friendly. This is why I love to have afternoon tea at hotels, I get what I pay. 

Axis Bar And Lounge 

5, Raffles Avenue, Marina Square

Singapore 039797 

Mandarin Oriental

+65 6885 3500

Afternoon Tea

3 - 5pm (Mon - Sun)

Reservation is recommended 

  

Chikuwa Tei

I don't know why but I always craving for chirashidon recently. Perhaps too many people post photo on Instagram. And I really like to torture myself by searching #sgfoods #sgeats etc every night before I sleep. What kind of hobby is that?

So I went to Chikuwa Tei on one of the Sunday. It was full house as expected. I have no complaint on the service, as there were only few waiter/ waitress to serve all the patrons. When you catch their attention, they are actually quite friendly. My only gripe is they don't take your name while you wait to be seated. For a first timer like me I don't really know what was I queuing for (that was not even a queue everybody just stand wherever they like and the entrance is so small) 

Chikuwa Tei offers wide range of foods and the prices are mostly affordable. You can see almost every table will order their chirashidon. 

Chirashi Don (S$25)

It is a bento set that comes with appetiser (daikon pickles), miso soup and fruit. The sushi bowl consists of shake (salmon), mekajiki (swordfish), maguro (bluefin tuna), tai (sea bream), tamego (egg) and ikura (salmon roe). Every piece of sashimi cut into thick slices and very fresh! I also love how they seasoned the rice, went very well with the raw fishes. It was very satisfying.

Ishikari Nabe Teishoku, Salmon Head and Veg in Claypot (S$16)

The portion of this soup is very big, taste was just nice and the vegetables were full of flavour. William claimed that he never had such a fresh salmon head before. 

Tendon, Rice with Tempura (S$14)

I am a person who will forever order tendon whenever I eat at jap restaurant so although there are a lot of other better, more interesting choices on the menu, I chose to stick with tendon. But it was disappointing, the evilest comment ever: sakae sushi done it better.

Overall, my experience with Chikuwa Tei is still positive. If you are craving for some good quality and pocket-friendly jap food, this is the place u must go. 

Chikuwa Tei

9, Mohamed Sultan Road #01-01

6738 9395 

Mondays - Sundays 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm - 10pm