Shin Yuu Japanese Buffet, Greenwood

Fresh sashimi slices, baked scallops, tuna belly, baked mussels, tempura, mushrooms and many other delicious Japanese food in this quaint little Japanese restaurant. Sitting inside cozy Shin Yuu while a light rain fell outside, hungry from the long walk from Third Avenue then incredibly full from the lovely spread and beer, it was a good comfortable night which ended with yummy Pistachio ice cream under Udders. So much fun to spend time with a good old friend, her husband and his friend! I laughed so hard, especially when they recounted their hilarious tales from their trip to USA and Canada. Till next time! :)

(P.s. This post is actually so outdated that "next time" had already occurred and we had another yummy steam boat xiao long bao buffet at Holland Village where I exhibited such great intellect and took the circle line in the wrong direction. The journey took 20 stops and I wound up being late despite leaving as early as I could. In other news, it was still good fun to catch up with them, hear funny stories about life, and feast!)

16 Greenwood Avenue

67634939

12:00 to 3:00, 6:00 to 10:30

Shabu Sai at Orchard Central

It was the boyfriend's birthday last month and his friends very kindly brought us to Shabu Sai at Orchard Central for a dinner celebration. I really like steamboat buffet because we can eat a lot and I am very fond of the soup bases in steamboat! So we arrived in high spirits.

The prices of the steamboat buffet are stated above. You can add $1.99 for free flow drinks which was what we did. The mushrooms, vegetables and sushi were arranged neatly along the counter and kept fresh with the constant flow of cold air from the fridge. I particularly love the large range of mushrooms which they offered. It was really a field day for a mushroom lover like myself. 

The meat was delivered fresh from the freezer to your table when you order them. The slices of meat were thin since its a shabu shabu restaurant and arrived at your table in neatly arranged rows on small black trays. The arrangement was immaculate! And I like the fact that the meat comes straight from the freezer. Keeps it fresh. You can choose between pork, beef, and chicken. Some of us had pork and chicken while the others had beef. 

As for soup bases, each table had a choice of two. Our table had the spicy and tonkotsu shoyu soup bases. The tonkotsu shoyu soup base was incredibly salty! We were told to add plain water to dilute the stock base but no matter how much water we added, the soup base was still really salty. The spicy one was not spicy at all. It tasted pretty mild and quite yummy. So no surprise that I preferred cooking the meat in the spicy soup base. 

It's a convenient location and a good comfortable place to have a steamboat buffet. Shabu Sai seemed a little short on staff when we visited but other than that, it was a decent experience. Thank you to the boyfriend's friends for the birthday celebration for him! :) 

Orchard Central #08-09/10/11

Irodori Japanese Restaurant: Ikoi or Irodori?

The boyfriend's birthday was on a weekday and we decided to have the celebration on Sunday instead. Didn't manage to make a reservation for Ikoi so I suggested Irodori instead. Situated at River View Hotel directly opposite Miramar Hotel (which is where Ikoi is), Irodori seems like an attractive alternative so I made a reservation for the ala carte buffet dinner.

The selection at Irodori was definitely more extensive than that in Ikoi. They have a wider spread of food items and more variety for selection. We studied the menu happily for a long while and drew up a long list of the items we wanted.

Both of us are avid fans of dobin mushi (seafood teapot soup). We like how the soup tastes clear, refreshing with the sweet essence of fresh seafood. The dobin mushi at Irodori was really awesome! We had numerous pots and the fantastic thing about Irodori is that the Dobin Mushi here is free flow! In comparison, Ikoi's Dobin Mushi was a complimentary dish so each couple only had a pot to themselves.

A must at all Japanese Buffet: Salmon Sashimi. This was our first order and it was splendid. Thick juicy and very fresh. The cuts were good and the sashimi was really sweet. However, our second order of salmon sashimi was disappointing. The cuts were quite poor and the sashimi slices were still attached to each other at the end because the sashimi was not cleanly cut.

The king prawns were complimentary and was nice! Fresh, well-grilled and very juicy.

The tempura was decent. It was not completely mind-blowing but it was not pathetic either. The batter was good and the tempura was crispy.

Buta enoki which refers to pork wrapped around a bunch of golden mushrooms. I have to confess, I am an ardent fan of mushrooms and I am particularly fond of golden mushrooms because they are just so crunchy. This dish was fabulous. I love the crunchy golden mushrooms within a layer of grilled juicy meat.

Mushrooms fried in butter and bacon cocktail. The mushrooms fried in butter consisted of a large portion of golden mushrooms and very little shitake mushrooms. The butter sauce was not too oily nor greasy which was a plus. The bacon cocktail was really average. Nothing much to say about it.

This was supposedly California maki but somehow it did not taste like california maki at all. But anyway, this was pretty decent and if it was a wrong order, we are glad to have it.

Speaking of wrong orders, Irodori got our orders mixed up a couple of times. Our first batch of orders came quickly and accurately without a glitch and we received all that we ordered. However, our second batch of orders became a bit of a problem. We received 4 chawanmushi instead of 2, our orders went missing, and after waiting for a really long time, some of our orders from the second batch simply refused to materialize. So we called for the bill and left.

Between Ikoi and Irodori, I like the wider selection of food in Irodori but I enjoy Ikoi's consistency and ability to deliver. Irodori seemed unable to handle a large crowd and when the room started to fill up, our orders started to get messed up too.

#03-01 River View Hotel

Ssikkek Korean BBQ, Tampines One

Oh dear, having BBQ for two consecutive weeks is hardly my idea of a healthy diet and is making me feel so   "heaty". In fact I was feeling so heaty that I went over to Tampines Mall immediately after my dinner at Ssikkek and bought some chrysanthemum herbal tea!

I came to Ssikkek Korean BBQ at Tampines One with high hopes because I was absolutely in love with their Novena branch. Ssikkek at Novena was still using the traditional grill and aluminium foil the last time I visited but the meat was so well marinated and so fresh. I always end up sitting outdoors when I visit the Novena branch and it was hot and sticky, but I had always enjoyed my meals there.

Ssikkek at Tampines One was slightly different. It was fully air-conditioned and every table was fitted with the new smokeless BBQ grill. The only similarity was the long queue outside which meant that we had to wait quite a while before getting our seats. We had a group of 10 and we waited approximately 15 to 20 minutes before getting our seats. Not bad for such a large group and better yet that they did not insist for all of us to be present before letting us in. 

Prices are shown above. Pretty reasonable for a BBQ buffet, if you ask me. Each customer has one free bottle of mineral water and all other drinks will be charged accordingly. I wasn't aware initially but apparently every group only had two hours in the restaurant and your relevant time is noted on the receipt which they left on the table. I find two hours rather reasonable though I can imagine some people being unhappy that they aren't allow to hang out longer with their friends and families.

Now the selection. The selection of meat, cold dishes, seafood and mushroom was decent. To say there was a spread would be a lie. For some reason I feel that there are less choices here as compared to Novena, but another small voice in my head refuted that thought. So frankly, I am unsure. 

What I am sure, though, was the quality of the food. The pork belly was not marinated at all and was really bland. The chicken was pretty well marinated and I liked the chicken. The bacon was by far the best which was the main reason why I had more than ten strips of bacon with golden mushrooms over the course of the meal.

You could get the waiters to change the grill for you when the charred bits become too thick and they usually get it done pretty fast. But frankly, service was mediocre. They were quick to get things done but they did not seem like they really wanted to do the work. Our grill was leaking and quickly forming a puddle around my feet so I informed the waiter about the leak when he came around to change the grill. He did not even so much as look at me when I told him nicely about the leak. My boyfriend thought he did not hear so he repeated my comment. The waiter then lifted his head and snapped that he knows about the leak and proceeded to walk away. The good thing was that he eventually returned with a mop to clean up the puddle.

I guess if I wanted to have Korean BBQ in future, I would make the trip to Novena instead. 

#04-22 Tampines 1 

Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant

Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant was formerly at Heeren, and now has its new home at Level 8 Orchard Central. The queue was really long when we reached, snaking from the entrance all the way to the escalator. You have to pay before getting a stamp on your hand, and ushered in to your seats. We were a fairly large group, so we had a long table in a separate area which was quieter than the main dining area outside. It was good, as the place was more spacious, and we could chat, leaving the area only when we wanted more food outside.

The pricing was reasonable for the wide spread offered in Kiseki, and the quality of food was fairly decent too.

There is a counter at the side with all the sashimi, Alaskan crab, sushi, and scallop. The sashimi was fresh, with fairly good cuts, and sweet. The Alaskan crab looks incredibly meaty, though I didn't try any myself, but it looked delicious. The scallop was very fresh and sweet as well.

The picture below shows the counter with the cooked food, including zosui (Japanese Porridge with Chicken), tempura, yakitori, and black curry too! I was surprised that they had zosui and was happily helping myself to more. The zosui was good, tasty and light and huge chunks of chicken. The batter on the ebi tempura was slightly too thick. The chicken yakitori and shitake mushrooms were good!

You could take the clips on your table and clip it at the counter for Pasta (Vongole, Bacon, or Mushrooms), grilled meat, or hotpots (Seafood Hotpot and Udon). I tried the Vongole Cream Pasta and it was good! The cream was light and tasty and the clams were fresh and juicy. The grilled meat, and Seafood Hotpot were fairly decent.

I was completely swept off my feet my the dessert counter, which is situated slightly apart from the main food counter. There was a large variety of mousse, cheesecake, macaroons, mochi and ice cream. I was especially fond of the Tofu Cheesecake, mochi, and chocolate macaroon. 

This buffet is indeed value for money, and I enjoyed the wide spread of tasty food. Will be back!

Update 6 June 2013: I went back last week for dinner with the boyfriend and oh my goodness, the food was completely lack-lustre, the selection had dwindled tremendously, and even dessert failed to get me excited. That was how bad it is. I am not going back ever again unless somehow, miraculously, they improve their standards.

#08-01 Orchard Central