Kaiho Revisited - Cuppage Plaza

Kaiho Sushi has always been J's and my favourite Japanese restaurant. They have the freshest ingredients from Japan and every meal there is guaranteed satisfying! Nowadays we visit Kaiho for maki rolls as they're the yummiest! The maki rolls are not specified in the menus and they are always different each time depending on the ingredients available, so every visit's a surprise!

Chef Bernard started us with Horenso (spinach) salad with Goma (sesame) sauce.

The meal was followed by scallop maki rolls

Maguro tobiko (Tuna flying fish roe) maki rolls

Soft shell crab with salmon maki

Grilled chestnuts

Tempura prawn maki roll

Last dish was otoro ikura maki

The meal was ended with the very sweet Japanese musk melon, so refreshing and satisfying!

Kaiho Sushi is located at:

5 Koek Road, Cuppage Plaza

#03-01/02

Tel: 6738 1315

Closed on Monday

Cheers!E

Fukuichi - Triple One Somerset

Fukuichi is a new Japanese restaurant which offers fresh foods in season. Somewhat like Kaiho but more of a family restaurant. The food here was pretty authentic and very fresh, wonder how long they can keep up with this.

Shirako (fish milt) in ponzu sauce, was very fresh and oh so creamy, yums!

Negi toro handroll: Not bad, the toro was quite generous

Chawanmushi: nice and silky albeit the not so smooth appearance

Ankimo (monkfish liver): Some call it the Japanese foie gras... you've got to love this dish... it's so creamy and fragrant

Tatami iwashi (matted baby sardines) my favourite Japanese snack. It is available on a mat and all you have to do is toast it for a very short while and it's ready to eat with japanese mayo and flying fish roe (Tobiko)

Unagi yaki was nothing special

Tempura which consisted of 2 prawns, lady's finger, carrot and eggplant was good but nothing special

Salad with fruits and daikon goma ponzu (raddish sesame citrus based) sauce was nice and refreshing for a palate cleanser

Our sushi/ sashimi set was fresh but taste was so so, did not like the california maki and the tamago

Mentaiko Gindara yaki (Grilled cod with spicy cod roe topping) was ok, doesn't it look like otah? Will try the miso or shio yaki next time....

Miso dengaku (Miso marinated eggplant) though came with 2 kinds of miso, was nothing compared to Melbourne's Ocha which serves the best.

Our dessert which was complimentary was quite interesting.... the green tea pudding was not too sweet, red bean paste was nice with it. But the fried taro on top was a nice compliment as it was actually taro chip with salt.

Fukuichi is located at Triple One Somerset, #02-11/12

Cheers!E

Black - Triple One Somerset

Black Coffee Dessert Bar is my favourite place for a good cuppa coffee (for teas, I'd choose Rose Veranda at Shangri La anytime)... Since this place came about, I have not stepped into Coffee Bean, Starbucks or any other cafes. However, everyone has their own preference to coffees, teas, etc... This place is also quiet most of the time so there is no problems hanging out with friends, or spend some time reading and chilling. Their waffle with fig and honey ice cream or simple vanilla bean ice cream is also nice.

Cafe Latte with coffee art, nice!

And the matcha latte with the same art :)

Black is located at Triple One Somerset Level 1 entrance

Cheers!E

Cumulus - Melbourne Sep 2010

My friend N introduced me to this hip and happening restaurant. We arrived at 1130AM on a saturday morning and it was packed! No seats at all and so many guests were standing around! We left our name for lunch at 1215PM and came back later.

The menu

The very busy bar area

My cocktail which I forgot the name, but it was rather refreshing, something citrusy.

Soft shell crab with chili and lime was average

Foie gras parfait with toasted brioche was not much of a foie gras taste but more like a mousse, creamy spread for the brioche, not too bad if you do not expect full pure foie gras terrine kinda dish. If 'parfait' meant perfect... hmmm i'll leave it to your comment.

Globe artichokes and asparagus barigoule, salt cod aioli & soft boiled egg may seem like the simplest and unattractive dish, but man, this was my favourite.... It was one of the yummiest salads I've tasted, and I'm not a salad person.... check out the perfectly done orangey red egg yolk below... no artificial colouring added, nor any enhancement done to the pic....

As we left without trying any desserts, I got some mini caneles, they were wonderful, must try even if you do not get a table. They're available off the sweets counter.

And you can find cumulus at...... Overall, I still enjoyed the meal and of cos the lovely company of N!! Hugs!

Cheers!E

Stalactites - Melbourne Sep 2010

Stalactites is my favourite Souvlaki restaurant. Don't expect good service, it's a simple greek eating place. But they serve delicious grilled chicken wrapped with lettuce, tomato, tzatziki in flat bread toasted perfectly. It is huge mind you and I could not just shove it into my mouth and take a big hearty bite.... I had to turn it all ways and manage my way through, or open the whole wrap up and eat it like a 'pizza'.

Check out the cross section of my chicken souvlaki

When it's unravelled

The location

Enjoy!

Cheers!E

Phillippa's - Melbourne Sep 2010

Phillippa's have been my favorite bakery in Melbourne since I tried their Belgian Chocolate Brownie, followed by the Date and Walnut Blondie. Most or not all of their products are handmade. Since then I've been buying them for friends and relatives when I'm back in Singapore.

Check out their extensive range of confectioneries, cakes and pastries. They have dairy products, freshly baked pies, tarts, breads, and cakes as well.

Every trip back to Melbourne, I would have to pay Phillippa's a visit, either to have a cuppa or buy pastries. This trip, as usual, bought the brownie and blondie back to Singapore.

Other than that, I got the Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread which was a pretty light cookie and the Ginger Crunch which reminded me of the Hong Kong Kei Wah ginger cookies. But the ginger crunch had that extra touch of ginger butterscotch like glaze which was very nice.

Cheers!E

Little Cupcakes - Melbourne Sep 2010

Cute little hideout along Degraves St (off Flinders Lane) offers delectable mini cupcakes @ AU$2 each. There were a couple more cupcake cafes in the city but not sure if they have these mini ones like Little Cupcakes.

Heard about this cafe and their cupcakes, decided to give it a shot. I'm not much of a dessert person, as I'm picky about sweet foods.

Exterior of the cafe

Their marketing gimmick or nicer put, promotional card

Raspberry White Choc: Real raspberry studded in creamy vanilla cake with white chocolate frosting. My favourite of the lot!!!

Strawberry: Classic butter cake with strawberry frosting. Light fragrance of strawberry, however, a tad too much frosting for a mini cake. Overall it was nice.

Devil's Dark Choc: Bittersweet chocolate mud cake with Lindt bittersweet dark chocolate frosting. Pretty good!

Orange Poppy Seed: Rich orange and poppy seed cake with a hint of orange cream cheese frosting. Not bad.

Cream Cheese Choc: Moist chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. Was having second thoughts ordering this but turned out to be good!

Cream Latte: Moist coffee flavored cake with coffee and cream frosting. Sufficient coffee taste, it was decent.

Belgian Chocolate: Moist chocolate cake with Belgian chocolate frosting. Nothing fantastic, was decent.

Cheers!E