Dozo!

Dozo

Today we went for Japanese cuisine (: Located on the 2nd floor of Valley Point, a little shopping center near Redhill, Dozo is a little hidden gem. The name means 'please', and the food, service and ambience is fantastic!

Dozo only offers set menus, either in 6 or 7-courses.

Prices for which are $39.80++ and $59.80++ respectively.

Here's the old man scrutinising what's offered...




and the vain girl who only takes unflattering photos of me




Before this, Chubby and I went for hot yoga as it happened to be right next door. It was so-so... But this post will be about the food (:

We were the first customers at 11.30am and were led to a private room which was elaborately furnished, and had a full-glass window, providing excellent lighting.

The enthusiastic waiter (I suspect head waiter) was very enthusiastic (and corny), providing his suggestions for the restaurant's signature dishes. He also generously offered to let us have all 6 desserts (we only have four people).

We were given a yummy refresher of Mango Sorbet!





There were also yummy noodle sticks, served in a vase. They were refilled quite a few times!




Okay on to the good part.

The Starter (which is a single choice) consisted of small portions of foie gras, smoked salmon and scallop. They were all delightful morsels.







The foie gras was a juicy burst of flavour, and served on a small piece of bread.




The smoked salmon was topped with whipped cream and on a bed of mint leaf, resulting in a surprising salty, sweet and bitter minty sensation.




Compared to these two, the scallop was a bit bland, but still good.

The 6-course differs from the 7 in the cold dish, where there are various choices such as crab salad and sashimi.




Both parents ordered the 7, and Sashimi, of all things! Could have tried something else instead. This was served with salmon, herring fish with roe, and squid with roe.




It was very fresh and delicious, but could have used more variety.

Following this was an appetiser. Chubby ordered the Beef Tendon, which the waiter offered to change to meat, seeing as how she didn't eat tendon.




It was really great on his part. Parents had Escargot, and I had Foie Gras Chawanmushi.







I didn't try either of theirs, but Chubby really liked the beef. My chawanmushi was good, but the taste of foie gras might be too slight for others.

Next was soup. Of which we ordered only Mushroom with Truffle, and Crab Bisque.




Both was very thick. The mushroom soup was served with black truffle, and it was not overly creamy like Soupspoon's which meant one could eat it without getting sick after awhile. (I still love all of Soupspoon's other soups though)




The crab bisque had a strong but not overpowering crab taste, and had small bits of crab meat inside.

Next were the mains: three of them had Beef Tenderloin on 'Pu-Ye' & Granite Hot Stone, while I had the Sake Infused Grilled Unagi on Hot Stone, both of which were recommended by the waiter.

They were all happy with their beef, which reminded them of our favourite Macau restaurant and dad's favourite ever beef.




Its not wagyu, sorry for the error. But still good.

Mine had sake poured over the unagi (what a waste!!) and after a LOT of steam...

This is around 5 minutes after the pouring, there is still steam.




There was sadly, no sake taste at all! I would have preferred the sake left alone for me to dip unagi in (:




It was also served with some sort of buttered rice, I'm more a fan of plain rice.

Would not have this again, as I can't taste the sake.

Then it was time for desserts and drinks!

There are six choices for drinks, we had the Iced Fruity Refresher, Iced Mallow Apple Melody, and Iced Grapefruit Glory.




Look how pretty the serving is.




Mine came with some flowers inside, the rest had fruits and apples.

THEN! The happy birthday girl got a cake!

Decent smile first...




Starts showing her true colours...







Still happy




Blows candle, one year younger!




After this, they brought in the six desserts...

'Mo-cha' Creme Brulee:




If you love green tea, you'll love this. Completely matcha-infused!

French Cream Cheese Cake:




I didn't like this, the cake was too thick and hard.

White Sesame Panna Cotta with Black Sesame Ice Cream:




Not a fan of sesame!

You can see the photos get worse in composition as I am pressured to faster shoot so they can eat...

Napoleon of Red Bean and Yam:




This is rather good, and interesting. Slightly sweet, so if you only eat sweet desserts avoid this.

Japanese 'Mo-chi' served with Red Bean and Matcha Ice Cream:




This is GOOD! I loved the matcha ice cream, and the mochi was soft and sweet, didn't stick to teeth too.

and *drumroll* their Warm Chocolate Cake served with Ice Cream!




Loved by all (even the choc-hating mom), the best warm chocolate cake I've ever had. the cake was not too thick, and the chocolate inside was really liquid and flowing. YUM!

We will be coming back again, made a reservation for end-April (: Can't wait!

Forlino's, Wednesday

Forlino's at One Fullerton




It was a disappointment, after reading the many commending reviews.

We tried the Degustation Menu, which had a steep price of $120.

What degustation means in layman terms: the tasting of various small portions of signature dishes so it can be better appreciated.

Going offtrack with photo of the old man:




Well, the food was decent, but far from stunning. Considering the price-to-taste ratio, we will not be returning.

The meal started with an Amuse Bouche, also known as a chef's selection, a sign of things to come.

I forgot to take a photo of the veal as was too engrossed with the bread. Also, I do not eat veal (:




The bread was warm from the oven, and was crisp on the edges, soft in the middle. It came across as a bit too oily, and the sea salt could have been sprinkled more generously. Also, after awhile, the bread became rather tough.

Next was the Swordfish Carpaccio with Blood Orange, Tomatoes and Capers Olive Oil.




This was served on a bed of rocksalt, and it was good. Until I bit into some parts which seemed to have melded with the rocksalt. It was akin to biting into a chunk of salt... not a good experience. It would have been better served on a plate alone instead of on salt.

Let's go offtrack again with a photo of chubby's new camera:




Following the carpaccio was another appetiser, Scallops on the Shell with “Arneis” Wine.




The greens accompanying this was good, fresh and crunchy and topped with balsamic vinegar. However, the scallop though being plump and juicy, was a tad overcooked and as a result too firm. The sauce was delicious though.

After this, there were two mini mains.




The old man was not fond of the Risotto “Carnaroli” with Saffron & Bone Marrow, as the risotto was cooked in cheese. It reminded me of macaroni and cheese, replaced with rice. Well their cheese was definitely more expensive cheese, but the memory remained the same. There was a small chunk of bone marrow on top, which I did not have, being the mammal lover I am. As I passed it to the old man, it shook like a jelly! Scary.

Let's have another break with the birthday girl:




Then, another mammal was served: Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek, Mash Potatoes and Tarragon




It was served in a cute little pot, and smelled rather good. Apparently it did not taste good, as both mom and chubby did not finish eat and kept complaining. Probably the worst wagyu beef they had eaten. The beef was said to have lots of tendons, was stringy, and the sauce was... disappointing. Well we never have high expectations of stewed beef but this was bad. Poor old man now hates all wagyu, he has had bad experiences ordering wagyu (: Perhaps its a sign to not eat beef anymore!

Then it was moving on to desserts!




Three-Milk Robiola Cheese with Organic Honey Selection

The cheese was good. It reminded me of a cheese I love (but have forgotten the name with my short term memory). Rather soft, and strong-smelling. Yum! I enjoyed this, but unfortunately it was a very small serving, with a small slice of bread, apricots and figs if my memory serves me.

This was also one of the better parts of the meal:




Summer Berries with Honey Icecream and Crispy Pancake.

The pancake was very thin and crispy like its name. Like a sweet wafer that melted in your mouth. But now when I think of it, egg rolls pop in my head. The ice cream was also very good, it had a faint vanilla taste, but I couldn't place the honey. Unfortunately, the summer berries were very sour, and there wasn't enough ice cream to offset this.

Another impressive one was Coffee served with Petit Fours.







The coffee was a strong brew, I suppose Italian in origin? Good coffee makes me a happy person. The petit fours consisted of a cookie, most possibly amaretto, little white meringues, and a chocolate truffle.

The truffle had a nice creamy and slightly bitter ganache, very very very very good!! I was sad to see this in a small piece. The meringues tasted like meringues, what else, but were not overpoweringly sweet.

It was rather strange that the restaurant was strongest in its desserts, but the others were really disappointing.

Go try it for yourself: there's a 1-for-1 on all set menus with UOB and HSBC credit cards.

Oh yes, do NOT try their drinks at all costs.

I ordered a Long Island Tea, which was not on the menu but the server said was easily done...




Let's say it did not taste anything like the real mccoy, but resembled it. And it was so overpowering it felt like drinking straight from the bottle. And, it cost $30.

I think I can have a Duck Tagliatelle with Foie Gras at that price.

etta james

Anyone, quality earphones or not, should listen to Etta James' At Last:



(:

Leica CL

I keep wanting to sell off my CL, but I can't seem to bear parting with it.

And I keep thinking that I can't get many good shots with it, due to not being comfortable using it. Then I look at the flickr pool and see so many rubbish shots and I wonder if I'm being too hard on myself.

I still think of the leather case on ebay that would go beautifully with the camera, but if I sell it, the case will be a waste of money.

Brought it out for a spin again recently, and the believed-to-be-dying meter became alive again after some wiping of the battery and contact points. The shutter was so soft and quiet too, it seemed like the camera was making me reconsider.

But, I need the money, and I need to buy a film scanner too with my load of film piling up...

Decisions, decisions.

barber

Dying Trade?

Leica CL / Nokton 40mm f1.4 / Velvia 100F