tesss

I’ve been curious about Araki for awhile now and with the reservations running long after the 8 days feature, I had to just get my dinner reservation set before it gets too ridiculously long to even wait for. So then, this 8 seater restaurant operates like this – they do not start till everyone at the table arrives and we were late so – dinner started late for all. My super apologies. Chef does a quick introduction of the dinner menu ahead and he begins preparing our portions whilst the servers attend to our beverage needs and pretty much every one breaks into their own private chatter. Chef interrupts with the introduction of the dishes – the not so interested diners continue their own conversations and everyone gets served. I’m not sure if I actually like this arrangement, because it’s a one man band mostly and we literally wait out for our food to be served and sushi is fine because the pacing is reasonable but when it comes to more complicated dishes where plating is required, the

~Invited Session~ In the latest edition of the Private Chef Series, Raffles Hotel Courtyard teams up with renowned food writer Annette Tan, who is the chef behind private dining establishment,  FatFuku .    I have always wanted to try Annette’s dishes and her menus ares rooted in traditional Peranakan family recipes and brought forward to modern times with whimsical additions and surprise techniques and ingredients.   She has been in hot demand since starting FatFuku  in 2017, and brings with her several of her signature dishes to the Raffles Courtyard.       Mee Siam Rosti was a great hit of the night.   We started the night off with Mee Siam Rosti. Think of a traditional pan fried rosti with the potato swapped out for a cake of mee siam. Sambal prawns and quail eggs adorn the little cakes and topped with a gravy heavy on peanut flavours, this is definitely a crowed favorite. Don’t worry if you cannot handle spicy food, this one is quite mellow and won’t leave you sweating in the hum

The visit to Shabu Shabu Gen has been one on the cards for the longest time and reservations are easy to get (major plus point these days) and we were possibly just one of the three occupied tables for the night.  The menu at Shabu Shabu Gen is short and very simple. There are sets and ala carte orders. The sets comes with vegetables, rice or noodles. Dessert is separately charged and it seems they only offer fruit.  We start out with a beef appetizer, braised beef and it's super tasty!  The trio of sauces that accompany, I ended up liking all 3.  A5 BMS Ribeye 8-12 ($180) Kagoshima beef A5 VNS 8-12 Sirloin ($235) We definitely splurged out on this meal with such high quality beef and when they arrived I questioned if there was even enough to go around. The marbling was beyond beautiful and I was cautious not to overcooked my precious portion.    Ribeye clearly had more fat and sirloin more flavour. Both were very outstanding and the portion given was more than enough actually. I

 ~Invited Session~  I've never had Russian food or even Ukrainian food so this opportunity to experience both came at the right time! Located at Maxwell Chambers, the restaurant stands out for the mannequin drapped in finery that stares right at you, at the entrance. I'm not sure how diners take to it at night but it would definitely suit Halloween very well. Dumplings.ru is the brainchild of Russian owners, Vadim Zoubovski and his wife, Alena Zubovska. Missing the comforting taste of their grandmothers’ home cooked Russian food, they began preparing Russian dishes with the very same recipes they grew up on. So yes, I was all ready for some hearty homecooked Russian food!    Shuba ($9.90) Salted Herring Salad   Beetroot and potato salad does not sound like much on description but this is totally something I will order again. Tastes way better than it looks! The salted herring like smoked salmon, gave the dish a savoury kick amidst the sweet flavours of beetroot. Yum!    U