Leecher's Birthday 2015: NOX, Dine in the Dark

 

Since we had japanese omakase dinner for Leecher's pre-birthday celebration, I decided that we should try something different for his actual birthday. Thus, we headed to Nox, Dine in the Dark for Leecher's actual birthday celebration. As the name suggested, patrons basically dine in the dark relying on the other senses - taste, touch, smell and touch - on the culinary journey. 

Upon arriving, we were ushered to a table in the main hall. I ordered a Rubus Pink cocktail, which was an exquisite combination of raspberry, vanilla and the aroms of rosemary. Leecher went for wine-pairing menu instead, where he get to enjoy 3 selected wines to match every course of his dinner. We opted for the drinks to be served upstairs during dinner.

  
 That was the only amuse bouche that you can see before adjourning to the dining hall. Before heading upstairs, there are a couple of items to take note:

1. All personal belongings are to be kept inside the locker. 
2. (if you like) Pay a visit to the toilet first. 
3. It is totally pitch dark in the dining room, apart from a tiny red source that comes from the security camera.
4. Always follow the instructions of the server.
5. Call for the server if help is required. 

In short, stay put at the table and don't move around unless necessary. When we were ready, our server appeared at the door leading up a flight of stairs. He is visually impaired but he acted as our eyes in total darkness. I put my hands on his shoulders, with Leecher behind me, as he guided us up the stairs and into total darkness. He moved about swiftly and I had a hard time catching up. He led us to our table and guided us to the chairs. It was pitch dark, akin to 伸手不见五指. Our server gave a short introduction on what was on the table - fork/spoon on the left and right, plate in the middle etc. When the dishes were served, we had to eat in a clock-wise direction starting from 6'0 clock. Initially, I had my eyes opened but decided that I should probably close it since I can't see a thing anyway.

We had a mystery 3 course meal which came with 4 small tapas sized dishes for each course. It felt like going through a blind test. We had to guess what we were eating for all the 12 dishes presented. I told Leecher jokingly that the chef don't have to worry about plating; just cook, put into plates and served. I basically scrapped my food off the plates, as I wasn't sure if I'm missing out any food that could be "hidden" at a corner, lol! 

After the meal, the server will led you back to the main hall where you will regain your sight. My eyes took a while to adjust after being in total darkness for some time. Then, a questionnaire will be given where you have to write down what you think you had earlier before they reveal the pictures of the dishes on the tablet.

Birthday cake for the birthday boy. This tiny cake costs me $20 as I couldn't bring my own cake into the restaurant.

Rather grainy pictures as the camera doesn't work well in dark environment. Nevertheless, happy birthday my love. Another year older, so make sure you are one year wiser!

Thanks for the wonderful experience, Nox! 

Nox, Dine in the Dark

269 Beach Road

Singapore 199546

Tel: +65 6298 0708

Leecher's Birthday 2015: Koji Sushi Bar 米花

The initial plan to revamp the wardrobe halted when my taobao loots didn't arrive in time. That pretty much freed up the time allocated to this project. Thus, before I get started on another K-drama, which will probably be our focus for the next couple of weekends, I decided to channel the time to blog #solittletimesomuchtodo

 

Leecher kicked off his first wave of birthday celebration at 米花 Koji Sushi Bar. Located at China Sq Central, Koji Sushi Bar is helmed by Chef Benny Cheong who works at Shunjuu Izakaya (another Japanese eatery along Robertson Quay). This was our virgin visit to this place, even though we worked around the area. 

 The menu placed outside the restaurant. Their best selling item is the donburi rice bowls (starting from $17), where they added crispy tempura bits into the rice for that extra punch. Besides rice bowls, they also offer sushi set (of 5 pieces), ala carte items and omakase dinner  where advance reservation is required. 

 

Dressed in blue even though it wasn't Monday :) That morning, I stood in front of the wardrobe thinking of what to wear. Then, I decided to grab for something from the back of the wardrobe and this dress appeared in my hand. Guess that it must be fate, since it was a match with the bag that I was carrying.

 

 A penny for your thoughts, my dear?

 

Birthday boy also wants a pic in front of the shop, heh! #copycat

 

Indoor & outdoor seating are available. We were ushered indoors to our seats as we came for omakase dinner. Our first omakase experience was at Teppei, which won my heart & soul. I was looking forward to be wowed again by the chef's creations, just like how it was at Teppei.

 Japanese ornaments decorating the place.

Ready to kick off the evening?

 Before that, drinks first! We get to pick our own sake cup. Birthday boy Leecher got to pick first and he picked the cup that I was aiming for :( So, I settled for the white cup instead. 

 
Round 1 of sake for the birthday boy! Kanpai かんぱい

I'm not a fan of sake, so I let Leecher have my share after 2 rounds of  かんぱい. This sake was quite smooth, with a tinge of sweetness and easy to drink.

 

My alternative drink - Calpis shochu. Leecher initially confused it with korean Soju 소주, ha! Well, I think he is not entirely wrong as shochu and soju are made from barley and sweet potatoes. Shochu originated from southern Japan and it is consumed on ice, with hot water or mixed with fruit juices or tea. Soju, on the other hand, comes from Korea and is usually consumed neat. Though shochu has an alcohol percentage of 25%, I couldn't taste any in my drink as it was very much watered down by calpis.

Couple (dinner) date on a Friday.

    

As the sake warmed our stomach, we were ready to begin our omakase dinner. First dish: tofu with century egg and roe. A weird combination? No, I was amazed at how everything tasted fantastic! It was a great start for dinner :) 

  A platter of 3 different dishes appeared. Thumbs up for presentation, don't you feel that spring is here? Yes, the flower was edible (we asked the chef!). Truffle with sea urchin, seaweed, topshell with seasoned garlic.

 

Building pyramid with plates, interesting. These plates of salads were stacked right in front of me, so I couldn't resist a shot .... or more ;) It acted as a shield between me and the chefs, depriving me of a chance to catch the chefs in action. This was a pity as I wanted to learn a few tricks from the masters. 

 

A colourful plate of salad with light dressing to whet the appetite. Nothing spectacular to shout about.
 Sashimi consisted of kampachi belly, toro, salmon, swordfish, seabream and sweet shrimp. So fresh and tender, yums. 
 
Yellow tail cheek served with a slice of lemon, topped with japanese escargot. The fish was very tender and juicy, but rem to look out for bones. The piece that I had came with some small bones, which meant I had to be really careful with it.

Sea urchin, but I don't recall any dishes that came with it.

Halfway through dinner, I spotted the prized bottle - crispy tempura bits. The chefs were busy preparing for donburi for takeways, ranging from their popular sashimi rice bowls to pork cheek rice bowls. In fact, I went back 2 weeks later to dabao their rice bowls for dinner & I really loved the tempura bits. It added the extra crunchiness in the rice, which can get pretty addictive.

 

Wagyu beef sukiyaki! We each had our individual pots with 7 slices of wagyu beef.

     
 The agony of waiting, lol! So we spent our time beating the eggs as we waited for it to be ready.
  

 As I opened the lid, I noticed a tiny insect crawling on the bed of vegetables. I signaled for the waitress to come over and pointed it out to her. A new pot came immediately, but to my disappointment, it came only with 3 slices of beef. From 7 to 3, hmm .... it doesn't add up, right? The above pic was taken from Leecher's pot, which had 7 slices of beef.

  
After waiting for an eternity, we were ready to tuck in! The soup was tasty, but there wasn't much ingredients for me to eat, since it was mostly filled with vegetables. 
 

We got 2 sushi - scallop and fatty tuna (if I rem correctly). We also get to brush the soy sauce onto the sushi ourselves. Well, I almost choke on the wasabi that was hidden beneath the slices. Dessert came in the form of pudding with okinawa kuromitsu, topped with strawberries at the side. Given my level of (high) tolerance towards sweet stuff, this pudding was way too sweet for my liking. #disappointment

Thanks Kaiwei for the birthday treat ;)

The aftermath of 2 very full people, who can't walk 10 steps without taking a break, hee! As for my verdict - endure the long reservation wait and head for Teppei for a satisfying omakase meal. Alternatively, Koji's donburi is your best bet.   

Koji Sushi Bar

3 Pickering Street, China Sq Central

#01-42 Singapore 048660

Tel: +65 6225 6125

Opening Hours: 11.30am till 3pm, 5pm till 10pm (Mon-Sat)

Restaurant Week, 2014 edition: J's

The 3rd stop for Restaurant Week is J's, a Latin-American restaurant nestled along Purvis street. As I swing open the front door, I was greeted warmly by Joy, the Managing Director of the restaurant. Joy introduced herself, ushered us to our table before excusing herself to attend to another couple who arrived at the front door. 

With a name like J's, the first thing that popped into my mind was J represents Joy, which is the name of the owner. Later, I realised that not only does J represents the culmination of the many years that Joy dreamt of owning her own restaurant which provides quality food & good service, J also signifies Joy's desire to create a space for her son, friends and community & the Upper Room (located on the 2nd floor) is available for such use.  

 
As we sat at the table, I was half waiting for them to provide us with a menu. Well, I was in for a surprise when the scroll of paper placed in the empty glass was the menu.

 

Wow ~ I wasn't expecting a personalised menu with my name printed on it :) What a lovely surprise! Leecher was disappointed that he was simply addressed as "Guest", haha! Well, I told Leecher that he can always have the honour of making RW's reservations next time, to get his name printed on it, tsk tsk. 

 

Posing with our my very first personalised menu :) It seemed to me that the smaller establishments are making an effort to provide personalised service to differentiate themselves from the big players. I still recalled seeing a personal place-card when we visited Little Diner's last year during Restaurant Week. Sometimes, I think these little gestures go a long way in customers' memories.

There were only 2 starter to choose from, so we ended up with one of each to try. 

Popper & Meatball, which consisted of chipotle meatball and jalapeno popper with citrus couscous and mixed greens. Leecher (unwillingly) had mango and avocado salad, consisted of mixed greens with mango, avocado, walnuts, feta cheese, citrus couscous and citrus dressing. I have a special liking towards citrus couscous & I even finished the mixed greens on the platter. What an achievement, haha! 

Break time before the main courses arrived. Take a break, snap a picture, lol! 

 

With 3 main courses to choose from, we decided forgo the vegetarian paella and instead, opted for beef & fish. 

Leecher's order of Barramundi Filet, served with pan roasted fillet of wild caught barramundi with baby vegetables, mushy peas, potato laces and jus reduction. When the plate arrived, it was like a work of art! I had to take a couple of pictures to capture the essence of the plating while ignoring Leecher's dagger-like stares to start eating.

   

As for me, I opted for the usual Sirloin Beef, consisted of grilled Australian grain fed 120 days beef sirloin with cabbage, leeks fricassee and saffron rice puree. Joy came over to the table once again and explained that the sirloin beef is one of their signature dishes (the other being Chicken "Adobo" which was not offered as part of RW's menu). As I sank my teeth into the beef, I was surprised to find that it was really juicy and tender!

  

The mandatory "main-course" pic before we start dinner proper, heh!

 

Moving onto desserts & once again, we tried the 2 options that were available. 
 

Chocolate & Lemongrass ice creams. Needless to say, chocolate ice cream worked wonders for me, but somehow lemongrass ice cream tasted really weird. Even though it was refreshing, I couldn't bring myself to take another bite. On the contrary, Leecher loved it and before I knew it, he finished everything, lol! We also had churros layered with salted caramel bananas, fresh mangoes and coconut-infused mascarpone sabayon. I've always paired churros with chocolate sauce, so this new pairing was quite innovative even though I'm not a fan of bananas. Another of their mouth-watering desserts is "Bocas Negras", a flourless chocolate cake that I would to try for the next trip. 

 J's 

 7 Purvis Street

 #01-01 Singapore 188586

Tel: 6887 4787