#aikuceeats

Value for money Quality Michelin French food

The Lunch Menu is 52++ for 3 courses and 88++ for 4 Course Omakase Menu. Very worth it for the experience, ambience and each dish was like an art piece. Do ensure that you have enough time to eat a relaxed pampering lunch as we came at noon and didn't leave till after 2pm. The set up of the restaurant reminded me of Odette.

Starter

Anchovy | Aioli | Puffed up cracker | Fish Roe

What a satisfying crunch it was!

Appetizers

Hamachi | Beetroot puree | White horseradish yogurt | Blackberry

It was a generous serving of Hamachi wrapped in a layer of seaweed. A zero carb sushi option. There were so many flavors in this dish that I had to clean it up with the warm bread that they would offer. I personally liked the Olive Bread the most (with whole olives inside), followed by the Sourdough, and then the Baguette last. The bread was served warm and the staff would offer top ups throughout the meal.

Lemon Verbena | Ricotta | Bonito vinegar | Sliced Tomato

A vegetarian option that was nicely presented, but I would order the Hamachi again without a question (and I don’t even eat beetroot)

Mains

Confit Barramundi with olive oil | Zucchini flower stuffed with beetroot | Passion fruit sauce

I could not really taste the Passion fruit but it was a refreshing sauce that did not feel jelat in any way. The wait between the appetizer and the main course was almost 30 minutes but the food was served warm and the fish was tender and juicy. The cracker on top gave a different texture to the dish and I believe it was a fish cracker.

French duck seared and roasted | Crusted with parsley | Daikon | Blueberry sauce

Both mains had a bokchoy served with it. The daikon (in red) was served on figs (if I recall correctly). The french duck was cooked perfectly and the blueberry sauce paired well with the duck. From the other side, the duck looks like a stone with moss growing on it (it’s actually parsley). My favorite of the 2 mains

Dessert

Mango | Coconut | Pineapple

Sweet and fruity. The Mango was a thin layer, almost jelly-like but what I’d go back to Rhubarb is...

Peanut butter | Smoked Hay Ice Cream | Chocolate

The smoked hay ice cream was absolutely delightful. A scoop of charcoal black icecream with peanut butter and chocolate. I wasn’t able to finish the cake but I finished everything else on the plate plus the charcoal cookie. Yum I was sad when I finished the dish cause I would definitely would have loved more.

Petir Fours

Chef Paul came out personally to deliver the final dessert. Lychee Jelly, chocolate, and the tiny strawberry madeleines (my fav of the trio).

Tea/Coffee I believe is charged separately.

Tendon Kohaku had a 45 min wait when I arrived there at 545pm on a Saturday. We got seated at 630pm and was given a simple and straight forward menu to order from. Having been in line, I knew what I wanted to order already though. Basically if you come to Kohaku, you’re here for the tempura don. In terms of spice level, there’s spicy and regular. I had a bite of the spicy and it was a bit numbing for me – so no guesses needed on which option I had opted for. The non-spicy option was quite a sweet sauce. I would advise to not complain about what seemed like a lack of sauce at first glance cause the sauce may have trickled down onto your rice. The tsumemono was white radish with yuzu in a gingery sauce which complemented the tendon well

In terms of what is in your don, on the menu it said prawns, chicken and vegetables. What you actually get is 2 prawns, 2 generous pieces of chicken, 2 long beans, 1 crab stick, 1 baby corn, 1 pumpkin, 0.5 mushroom, 1 thick piece of ika. That’s a lot of value in terms of condiments for S$15.00++. The set comes with a hot bowl of udon with spring onions at S$19.50++. I’m not sure whether the set is worth it but if it’s your first time there, it’s nice to try. Their udon was thinner than the typical udon we normally see but was chewy. I would not have complained if I was given this bowl of udon to eat (and I don’t even like udon in the first place)

The tempura was served freshly fried and lightly battered. The chicken was tender, prawns felt fresh and just cooked. In fact, the vegetables did not lose their “juicy-ness”. I guess the most surprising condiment was the squid/ika as I’ve never had squid in tempura before. Although the hotel was fried, I didn’t feel gross like I was afraid that I might have felt.

They didn’t charge for the water and I observed that they were quite prompt at refilling the green tea (S$2). The music that was playing was Japanese instrumentals which made you feel like you were in Japan or a ninja. While waiting, I was able to see the chefs scurrying and hard at work. It was also somewhat reassuring for me to see the chef add new oil in the pot for frying. For this price, I would see myself as a returning customer. As we left the restaurant, the line was roughly ended where we had started queuing.

Riverside Good Food at Zion Hawker Food Centre is just opposite Great World City. The stall sells a variety of food including hokkien mee, oyster egg, and popiah.

I’ve been here at night before but not lunch. At 1pm on a weekday, it was still easy to find seating for 5 pax. I decided to eat at this store because of how clean the store seemed to be. I also saw that they had a best of 2017 awards which means they must have been recently recognized.