Kushi Dining Bar | ThumbsForFood

Hi! It has been long since we did a review on japanese buffets in Singapore. Thank you Kushi Dining Bar for the invitation to try their new menu!

Kushi Dining Bar is a pioneer in the concept of premium Japanese ala-carte buffet in Singapore. It has been around for more than 6 years now and was previously at Hotel Windsor. The head chef behind the restaurant, Ryan, has more than 20 years of experience and is very helpful in serving up their signature dishes for us. 

One thing that caught my attention was that they had many regular customers when we visited on a Friday night. For foodies who are always looking out for new dishes and creations, you will be happy to know that the chef actually make changes to the menu on a six-monthly basis. Perhaps that is the attraction factor that pulls back all the regular customers. Kushi Dining Bar's latest menu will feature a mix of familiar favourites, as well as, new additions that are not so commonly found in other restaurants.

Some of their well-loved favourites include the Pitan Tofu, Lobster Porridge and Pork Cheek (Ton Toro). 

I am a fan of Pitan Tofu, so I was really happy to see that it is one of the chef's specialties. What makes it different from the rest is that even the tofu is handmade by the chef. I have tried many Pitan Tofu, and usually, it is the sauce that can make or break it. But for this, the tofu is really unique! There is a layer at the bottom of the tofu that has crabmeat in it.  This is definitely something that will keep me coming back.

I have heard a lot about the Lobster Porridge and I have to say that it did not fail my expectations. It is the watery kind of porridge, more of the Teochew style. The broth was full of richness and had hints of freshness from the sea. If you are a seafood lover, you should definitely have a try at this! Of course, the lobster meat was not as flavourful and was a little tough compared to the grilled lobsters we normally have but all the richness is really in the porridge broth! 

Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) 

My favourite dish of the night has to be the Ton Toro (Pork Cheeks). To be honest, it is really sinful but I cannot ever resist the temptation of yummy food. Love the melt-in-your-mouth kind of meat!

Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) 

Of course, the chef also brought us the new additions to the menu. The highlights are the Anago Tempura, Cheese Tempura and the Shiro Maguro Aburi Sushi (White Tuna Sushi).

Even though I am a japanese food lover, I have never tried Anago Tempura before. Well, if you are thinking what is it.... don't worry, I was also curious as to what was the difference between Anago and Unagi. Anago is basically the Japanese term for saltwater eel and is often used for deep-frying while Unagi is the term for freshwater eel and is usually barbequed with sauce. The Anago Tempura will appeal to Unagi lovers! The fish is sweet, with a soft texture. 

The Cheese Tempura, however, did not appeal to me. It was a bit too heavy, perhaps because I finished a stick by myself. If you have a small appetite, share it with your friend!

The White Tuna Sushi (Shiro Maguro Aburi Sushi) was really delicious. I love anything and everything aburi-ed. The white tuna is lightly torched and it is something that you will not commonly see in other places!

We also tried some other popular dishes at Kushi. If you are a Hamachi collar fan, you would be happy to know that it is included in their premium buffet. The Hamachi collar was grilled perfectly, with a sprinkle of salt, soy and citrus. 

Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) 

Waygu beef (Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) )

Garlic Fried Rice (Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) )

Grilled Ika (Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) )

Oysters (Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) )

 Sashimi Platter (Picture by +Dariel Quek (YummyFoodBook) )

Overall, I had a good experience at Kushi Dining Bar. Other than the usual items that we see in japanese buffets, Kushi serves up their unique dishes which makes it stand out from the others. 

They have 3 different menus for buffets: the Classic, Premium and Gourmet. You can check out the pricing and menu details here ! 

Personally I will go for the Premium buffet as it includes some of my favourite items such as the Hamachi Kama, the waygu beef and tuna belly! It will be good to check out the menu to decide which buffet is more suitable for you!

Kushi dining bar has limited seats, so it will be good to make reservations prior to going down!

I will be doing a post on my favourite japanese buffet restaurants in Singapore, so stay tune to our blog!

Thanks again to Kushi Dining Bar for the invitation (:

Kushi Japanese Dining Bar
36 Newton Road #03-01
Hotel Royal
Singapore 307964

Opening Hours:
1130am-230pm (last order)
530pm-930pm (last order)

Till then,
Z

Pince and Pints | ThumbsForFood

I'm sure many of you have heard about the opening of Pince and Pints. We were quite excited to try this new restaurant after hearing many raving about the lobsters here. After braving the 2hrs plus queue on a Sunday, we managed to be seated. The seating capacity of Pince and Pints is actually quite small. The whole dining vibe was relaxing and casual, which made us feel quite comfortable. 

We tried their Bee's Knees Cocktail ($14) as recommended by their staff. It is actually a concoction of gin, Manuka honey and lemon. This would definitely be a favourite amongst the ladies as the drink is quite light and sweet. 

Bee's Knees Cocktail

We also tried their Ginger Beer ($12). It was our first time trying ginger beer. The first taste of it made us wince. But, it actually went really went with the lobsters throughout the meal, giving a good balance of flavours. Got to say this drink kind of grows on you!

Ginger Beer

Currently, Pince and Pints serves up 3 different items on their menu. We decided to give all 3 a try that night. They are all priced at $48.

First up, Lobster Roll that is served with Mesclun salad, fries and garlic aioli. The Lobster Roll consists of a whole lobster that is shelled up for you and served in a butter roll. The butter roll was really good! As you can see from the photo below, the lobster fillings are like bursting out of the roll. So, with each bite, you'll definitely enjoy the succulent pieces of meat. The garlic aioli sauce was really good as well. It makes quite a good dip for the fries too.

Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

Next up, the Live Whole Lobster. We chose to have it grilled. This dish definitely took centre stage. The meat of the lobster was super succulent, juicy and fresh. They use a whole boston lobster so the meat was quite a good portion as well. We love that the grilled smoky taste lingered in the meat. The herbed butter sauce was also delicious.

Grilled whole lobster 

Flesh of the lobster

Chilli lobster was the third dish on the menu. It was quite considerate of the staff to pace the serving of the dishes so that we could savour each dish fully. This dish is a rendition of the signature Singapore Chilli Crab. The gravy was really quite good, with quite a good balance of sweet and spicy flavour. It was served with mantous that were served hot. We ordered an additional serving of mantou at $3.50.

Personally, I would choose to order the grilled lobster or the roll the next time round because I felt that the freshness of the meat could not be fully savoured in the chilli sauce. 

Chilli Lobster

Chili Lobster served with Mantou

Overall, we felt that for the price, the serving was generous and the quality of the lobsters were unquestionable. We felt that perhaps a better queue system could be put into place such that diners do not need to queue physically outside the store and thus, make the overall dining experience more positive. 

Pince and Pints 

32-33 Duxton Road 
6225 7558
Monday-Saturday 
5pm-11pm 

Cheers,
Y

Les Bouchons Rive Gauche (Robertson Quay) | ThumbsForFood

For a special occasion, like a friend’s birthday, we would indulge ourselves with good food. This time, after hearing much about Les Bouchons, we decided to visit it.

Personally, I prefer grilled steak compared to roasted. I like the grilled charcoal taste that lingers on in the mouth. Les Bouchons’ steaks are grilled which make it a plus factor to try it out. As we had a relatively large group, we made reservations and was seated at the outdoor area. Not bad a location as it was along the quayside and there was some river breeze.

For starters, they have baguette rolls that are unheated and basically quite cold and hard. As we were still waiting for a couple more friends, we decided to give the cold and hard rolls a try. Surprisingly, it tasted quite well despite its unappealing demeanor.

After starters they served a serving of salad to each one of us. It’s a pity that I did not take a photo of it. Well, it was basically greens and some cherry tomato in balsamic vinegar. I prefer balsamic vinegar on my salad compared to Caesar’s dressing, so it went pretty well with me.

After that, for our mains! A point to note is that if you would like to eat while waiting for your other friends to arrive, please inform the waiter or waitress about serving your course first. We were pretty starved waiting for them to prepare our mains as they thought we were waiting for our friend and proceeded with our order only when our friends came. 

They serve an array of sauces to go with the mains! There is horseradish, mayonnaise, mustard and a sauce that had a mixture of herbs that I could not identify.

For our friend who does not eat beef, she ordered the grilled salmon, priced at $32.80.It came with half the plate filled with fries. The salmon was cooked well done and even. However, I feel that the flavour is too bland as there wasn't any sauce or garnishes on it.

Next up, Grilled Ribeye Steak with "Vigneron" Butter priced at  around $38. My friend chose medium well-done as she does not like her steak to be bloody. I felt that there was nothing particularly special about the steak. Flavor-wise, I preferred the grilled steak at Hog's Breath. I felt that it was palatable but nothing very out-of-the-ordinary.

I ordered Sirloin steak as I wanted something different. I guess the steak went well with horseradish. Another good point would be that the serving is rather hearty. I guess personally I would prefer steak that has sauce to go with it as well as sides to complement it.

There were not much choices for mains and since their specialty was steak, I kind of expected the steak to taste different from other steakhouses. Hence, tastewise, I was not particulary satisfied. Also, as we were there to celebrate a friend's birthday, we brought our own cake along. The restaurant imposes a $10++ charge for cake cutting.

Our rating: 6.5/10
Must Tries: Steak

Overall, the price is quite reasonable for steak. However, if you're looking for variety, this would not be a place you would like to visit.

Cheers,
Y