Singapore: Aoki

Aoki at Shaw Centre (Orchard) has officially replaced Tatsuya as my favourite Japanese lunch spot in Singers. While the set lunch choices may be more plentiful at Tatsuya, Aoki makes up for it in quality and its signature trio of Japanese desserts!

Stepping inside, one gets a sense of how intimate and serene the place is – tread carefully with light footsteps! Ladies who lunch here are very poised and often Japanese. Every single piece of furniture and crockery here looks zen and exquisitely made. We sat at the gorgeous sushi bar as I booked late, but previously I was given one of the private booths (though it’s rather claustrophobic it’s a private room at no additional charge/min spend). Love the wishbone chairs at the bar – my absolute fave :)

Each diner gets an otoshi cover charge ($3), but it’s seriously worth it given all the other extra items and service (hot towels, tea etc.) we get. First up, a little amuse bouche of konnyaku (devil’s tongue), which btw did you know is almost zero-calorie? It’s amazingly filling for something like that!

Next up is a garden salad in a yuzu sesame dressing. Japanese salads are always a delight!

I’ve had the maze chirashi ($35) here before and it was TDF so I had to bring my mum back to try it. As expected, it was again really, aMAZEing! The sashimi was cubed to perfection (as a home cook, I can attest to the difficulty of cubing things to equal sizes), extremely fresh and of superb quality (none of those odds and ends); all seating pretty on top of perfect sushi rice. The uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe), toro (fatty tuna) and maguro (tuna) bits were my fave. Often you get not-so-fresh uni and funky maguro even at better Japanese restys, but the ones here are clearly many cuts above the rest (pun intended)! Even the tamago (egg), which I usually abstain from was so good – not overly sweet with a light dashi and charred taste. This would definitely be my last meal, if I had a choice.

Only freshly grated wasabi here, for your consumption, please.

Even the tsukemono (pickles) served were so unique! Other than the usual yellow one, I haven’t tried the other three before. The pink one was ume flavoured pickled radish – totally delicious! Even the normally pedestrian miso soup was boiled using prawn heads. Such attention to detail and quality puts Aoki on the top of my list!

I was honestly so stuffed I couldn’t even finish my rice (the sashimi:rice ratio must be like, 2:1), but I had to make way for dessert! Unlike many Japanese restys where dessert is usually just watermelon or a matcha ice cream, dessert here is an elaborate, lacquer boxed affair! That day I had warabi mochi, umeshu jelly and coffee ice cream but I’ve also had milk custard pudding and cherry blossom ice cream before. Absolutely pampering :)

Genmaicha was also thoughtfully served to aid digestion towards the end of the meal. And how cute is my owl cup?

I left in such a blissful state and my mum who just had her first taste of uni (and very good one at that) was super pumped by the meal too. Happy belated Mother’s Day, Ma! Regretted a little that I didn’t step out of my comfort zone and order the nigiri sushi platter because my neighbours had it and that looked really good too! But how can I say no to such awesome maze chirashi? Now that I’m convinced, I’m definitely coming back for the omakase one day!

Price: $$-$$$$$ ($40-60 for lunch, >$200 for dinner)
Location: 1 Scotts Road, #02-17 Shaw Centre, S (228208)
Tel: +65 6333 8015
Opening Hours: Mon to Sat: 12-3pm, 6.30-11pm. Last seating 30mins before closing.
Website: http://www.aoki-restaurant.com.sg/

Singapore: Bistro Du Vin

I was looking for a French place for an early Father’s Day celebration and decided on Bistro Du Vin at Shaw Centre (Orchard). I’ve never tried it earlier despite the Les Amis Group brand name as the decor was a bit try-too-hard-to-be-authentically-French for my liking (though I actually do like the decor…yes I’m weird like that), but I finally decided on doing so after reading a few good online reviews.

As mentioned, it looks exactly like a Parisian bistro that was transplanted all the way to Singapore. No detail was spared in recreating an authentic look and mood. For a moment, I really thought I was in the dreamy City of Lights with strains of La Vie en Rose playing in the background.

The menu here is classical French bistro fare. They do a very reasonably priced 3 course set lunch at $30++ although quite a few options come at an additional fee.

To start, we were served a lovely French loaf with a thin crust and very fluffy insides. Ice water was offered (and repeatedly refilled throughout the course of the lunch), there is none of that sparkling or still snootiness here. I’m impressed.

For appetisers, my mum had the green asparagus with escargots and Hollandaise sauce (+$3) which was delicious. I loved every element of this, and their Hollandaise sauce was very good. If you haven’t had asparagus with Hollandaise, try it! It goes really well with the sauce, along with salmon and poached eggs.

The salted cod brandade with toast, soft boiled egg, Espelette hollandaise (+$3) was also another good dish, although I personally felt the portion was a little too big for an appetiser. The cod tasted fresh and not fishy or overly salty, and the sweetish yolk of the perfect soft boiled egg provided a good complement to it. The Hollandaise here had the addition of Espelette, a French red pepper that gave it a little piquant kick.

To balance the richer dishes, we also had the tomato soup with garlic croutons which tasted like it was made from scratch (sour alert!) and was the ultimate comfort food.

For my main, I chose the baked Norwegian salmon and prawns with champagne butter sauce because I wanted something light. It came in a such a generous portion I probably would have been contented with half. The salmon was cooked perfectly and the sauce was very moreish, not too rich with a heavy dash of citrus. The bonus roasted prawns were also really huge and crunchy. Yums!

My mum had the duck leg confit, brussel sprouts and mustard sauce (+$4) which I felt wasn’t as good compared to the one in restaurants such as Skyve and Pamplemousse. The skin could have been crispier (only some bits were very crispy) and the meat much more juicy. Though I appreciated the wholegrain mustard sauce, I preferred if it was in a separate sauce bowl for dipping or pouring so it won’t make the skin soggy. Props on boldly serving brussel sprouts as a side though, this rarely seen in Singapore vegetable is an acquired taste but I do like it!

My dad’s roasted spring chicken, sauteed mushrooms, bacon and garlic was very well marinated and moist (even the breast meat). It was such a huge portion at half a huge chicken too. He commented that the bacon wasn’t crispy but I’m not sure why it was even here. It could have been taken off the plate and it would make no difference to the dish to me.

For dessert, I had the apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream (+$3). Their version had slices of tart green apples laid on top of a wafer thin filo pastry. While it was crispy, I much prefer the version at Ember that had a lovely crumbly crust and a juicy apple filling. Perhaps I should have gone for the banana crumble with chocolate ice cream or the cheese plate instead.

My dad’s gratinated pineapple with champagne sabayon and coconut sorbet actually tasted much better than I expected. The warm pineapple was very juicy and had slightly charred top. Thoroughly refreshing. When paired with a light champagne sabayon and a coconut sorbet, this dessert simply screams beach holiday in the tropics! I only wished the coconut was lighter in taste and mouth feel – more towards coconut juice/pulp and less of coconut milk.

My mum’s creme brulee was also one of the best renditions I’ve tasted. Crispy caramelised top – check, smooth custard generously studded with vanilla beans – check, not too sweet – check.

Tea or coffee was also included in the set lunch and I was pleased to find out that they serve Clipper Tea, a British tea brand involved in fair trade that I’m partial to. Service wise, the front of house team at Bistro Du Vin was faultless – very efficient, warm and attentive.

While there were some hits, I thought the food was not bad, but not great (I can think of restaurants that serve a better duck confit, a better apple pie etc). But overall its charming setting, great service, hearty portions and reasonable prices are big pluses. The set lunch offers quite a few options and it’s relatively quiet during lunch, so you’ll get some privacy if you’re having a business lunch.

Price: $$-$$$
Location: #02-12 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, S (228208). There’s a second branch at Zion Road.
Tel: +65 6733 7763
Opening Hours: Daily 12 to 2pm, 6 to 10pm
Website: http://www.lesamis.com.sg/