Bistro Marx by Thierry Marx : Probably the Most Expensive French Toast in Japan

Tokyo isn't short of Michelin-star restaurants and it isn't surprise to find overseas Michelin-star chefs venturing into the local market. One good example is Bistro Marx by chef-owner Thierry Marx of 2-star Sur Mesure in Paris. For the price and the location in glitzy Ginza, Bistro Marx is more like a upscale fine-dining restaurant than anything else. 

I haven't read much about his legacy but I know he started his training as a baker and pastry chef before moving on to the culinary cooking. He even established bread school back in 2013. I wondered why he chose to open a restaurant instead of a bakery. Nonetheless, his signature Brioche Feuilettine (only limited to 30 per day), besides his Pain Perdu and Marx Burger, was one of the items highlighted by local media.

My visit was an unplanned one on a Sunday afternoon, during which the afternoon tea menu was only limited to desserts and tea. As a French Toast lover, I instantly picked his Pain Perdu which came in the option of half size (1 cube) for ¥900 and full size (2 cubes) for ¥1800.

The Pain Perdu was soft and custardy, but not as creamy or pudding-like as the ones from Grain Traders, which perhaps makes it more qualified to be called a French toast to the french toast purists. It was served with both maple syrup and caramel syrup, of which the latter' burnt bitter taste might be a little strange with bread. The vanilla ice cream was too sweet, but just right when you mopped them with the pain Perdu. This is no doubt delicious, but hardly superior than the ones from Mercer Brunch so I felt it was overpriced.

The Marquise Chocolat was a trio of moist, fudgy baked chocolate cake with a slightly crisp edge. But that's only a part of the story. It's actually hollow within, filled with generous amount of chocolate ganache which was concealed from the eye with a paper-thin chocolate sable.


Paired with the tangy raspberry coulis, this is rich dessert for serious chocoholics only. I loved this more than the Pain Perdu and probably more worth the splurge because it's chocolate.

My friend who visited the place for dinner commented that the food was good. With a "million-dollar" sky view overlooking the crowded streets of Ginza, this might be a

[BISTRO] 11:00–23:00 daily
[BAR] 23:00–26:00 / Closed Sun/PH
7F GINZA PLACE 5-8-1 GINZA CHUO-KU, TOKYO, JAPAN

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Open Farm Community @ Dempsey Hill : NEW Farm-to-Table Menu

Crispy Jurong frog legs, root vegetables & lemak inspired curry, garden curry leaves – $26

Farm-to-table cuisine seems to be the trend these days with more restaurants championing the use of local produce in the dishes. After Wildseed Cafe, I had the opportunity to visit Open Farm Community, a dining concept by Spa Esprit Group that celebrates eating local with familiar flavors and ingredients close to home. In fact, the cuisine was nothing short of bold, delicious flavors and I was impressed by how local produce can be so versatile.

For instance, the Garden Pea Soup ($22)  is a creation that literally walked us through the outdoor garden with the garden knife beans soup base topped with super snap peas. It was at the right consistency and seasoning level, injected with an intense salty twist by the Jamon Ham. 

As the name suggests, the "lemak inspired curry" (see top pic) is none of those Chinese or Indian style curry we are familiar. I would say it's a more reduced, or simplified version of curry that is truly heady on the aroma of curry leaves and coconut milk. Filled with root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, the curry is so gentle on spices that won't leave your belly burning. But the danger here is that you might only recall the curry but not the crispy frog legs from Jurong farm after the meal. 

I usually prefer a Steak to a tuna tartare because the flavors are stronger minus the fishy smell. Here, the chef has done an excellent job for this Steak Tartare ($26) by marinating the beef with ginger chilli, spring onion and coriander puree. Meshed it up with the organic egg yolk and there's you go- beef tartare on crispy garlic crouton. Fresh but not muddled. 

From the mains, I was terribly fortunate to try two fish items. The Roasted red snapper ($32) is just like those served in most western restaurants but localized with the garden roselle & hibiscus ketchup. The calamansi & sesame cucumber salad helped to cut through fishiness, if any at all. But flavor-wise, I prefer the Red Grouper burger ($30) with its sharp, tangy chucky tartar sauce paired with pickled cucumbers. A pity that the squid ink bun was dry and rough, otherwise this would score well in my books.

The BBQ half chicken ($36) was a terrific dish with its robust sweet-smoky hickory sauce and tender meat. Even the sweet corn ragout on potato fondant was so highly-executed that I won't mind having a plate of that alone.

While I only had one dessert that night, I can safely conclude that the desserts are no less remarkable. This Lemon Grass Sago ($18) looked like a typically avant- garde dessert but the taste would spark an instant deja vu on the palate. The sago seeds are being cooked down to a soft creamy mash in three kinds of milk, served with pandan banana custard (think kaya but uber fresh and aromatic), banana chips and cocoa cookies.

Some people might wonder why the price is still quite high despite the use of local ingredients. My wild guess is that the prime location in Dempsey Hill does affect the pricing as well. It is most certainly not a place for everyday dining. But for those looking for quality food in a comfortable, close-to-nature, environment, I can say this is one of the top options in Singapore.

Reservations highly recommended

Open Farm Community

Address: 130E Minden Road, Singapore 248819

Mon-Fri 12pm to 4pm, 6pm to 10pm,

Sat-Sun 11am to 4pm, 6pm to 10pm
Tel: 6471 0306
http://www.openfarmcommunity.com/

This is an invited tasting

steak tartar marinated with ginger chili, spring onion & coriander puree, garlic crouton, organic egg yolk – $26

Garden holy basil gnocchi, pickled okra, lemon grass dressing – $26

BBQ half chicken, sweet corn ragout, potato fondant, mustard frill salad -- $36

Red grouper burger, chunky tartar sauce, pickled cucumber, local green salad – $30

Roasted red snapper, calamansi & sesame cucumber salad, garden roselle & hibiscus ketchup, pickled cucumber – $32

Pandan & banana custard, ginger biscuit, lemon grass sago, sugar cane sorbet – $18

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Umezono Chabo うめぞの茶房: Traditional Wagashi Reinvented in Kyoto 京都最新甜点茶房，吃出不一样的和菓子

Umezono Chabo is the latest concept by Umezono which also owns Umezono Cafe & Gallery that seeks to inject a new lease of life into yokan (bean paste jelly). It's one of the traditional Wagashi which I avoid at all costs because it tends to be too sweet and cloying. It's not even a jelly to me because it's so firm, just like eating a block of bean paste shaped in typically a square or rectangle.

I picked the lemon because I thought I wanted something perky and sour. Yes, the acidity hit the bulls-eye but the sugar was way off. Imagine how much sugar it must have contained if I still find it sweet amidst the sourishness. On the other hand, the Matcha turned out to be the one that I prefer because the matcha taste was very pronounced 

Even though the sweets have moved with times, the ordering rules here are still stuck in God-know-where. Hmpf......a drink order is a must regardless whether you are ordering any of the main sweet. It still sounds quite ridiculous even now although I understand their considerations for business operations. But that's the way it is.

Umezono Chabo うめぞの茶房

〒603-8223 京都府京都市北区

紫野東藤ノ森町１１−１

1130-1900 (takeout ok)

http://umezono-kyoto.com/nishijin/

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Barrio by Mex Out: New Breakfast Menu at Vivocity Outlet

Mexican, served fresh. 

That's the heart of Mexican eatery, Mex-out, that has been known for its Mex-American cuisine which is influenced by both the ancient Mayan and Aztec culture, as well as modern Bajan California and the Carribean. It's said that everything here uses the freshest ingredients. For instance, the Guacamole is made fresh daily using with fresh avocados and seasoned with just the right amount of lime 

Having heard so many delicious stories of its food at first outlet in Far East Square as well as its beer-inspired casual restaurant, Barrio by Mex Out @ 313 Somerset, I finally came to its latest outlet at Vivocity which is decked in a cheerful mode, with walls and place mats in bright primary colors. 

Be it the Smashed Avocado on Toast or the Breakfast protein salad, these hearty dishes took off with excellent guacamole on the right level of consistency and seasoning. I'm usually a bread person in the morning but I can foresee a change with the Huevos Ranches, a plate of tasty rice grains tossed in some mildly heady chipotle chilli powder with black beans and a fried egg.   It was meant to be eaten like a tortilla but I concluded that they were already delicious on their own.

If the guacamole from the breakfast dishes can't satisfy you enough, get the Loaded Nachos with smoked chilli con carne, corona cheese and melted cheddar ($13.60) from the regular menu. This will likely last you from the start to the end of your meal. 

But this place also doles out some mean tacos, quesadillas and tortas too. The latter category merits some serious investigation as "tortas" aka Mexican-styled sandwiches, looked like any American burger but tasted better than most. The butter brioche bread was utterly crisp, bolstered with a super-rich filling of pulled pork, pickled red cabbage and Alioli--a combination both colorful and tasty. 


I was a little disappointed with the Fish Tacos  ($13.40/2pcs) as there was too much fried batter and the Alioli did not liven up the meat very much. Even though the dash of lime did impart some acidity, I thought the sauce could be a little more zingy. 

Spice-wise, the food doesn't get hotter than the Stuffed Jalapeños with Cheese (4pcs/$8.40). These mini chilli pepper bombs are crispy on the outside and gushes out a mix of cheese and juice as one bites into it. The mild fiery sensation only popped by for a minute or so and by then, you would have gone on to the second or even third chilli pepper like me. 

There is only churros with hot chocolate sauce for the dessert menu. But with so much food-coma inducing food already lined up at the start, I don't think we need too many sweets either. The cinnamon sugar-coated churros, in its most primitive form, was delectably crisp and aromatic. 

There's a breakfast churros version is dusted with icing sugar instead of cinnamon sugar and served with a yoghurt sauce. But I highly recommend the classic chocolate, even though it tasted a little like those bottles of Hershey chocolate sauces. After all, you can always choose not to dip your churros in them. 

Heard that this place collaborates with Mexican distillery, Sauza Tequila, which was founded since 1873. With so many dishes boasting intense, bold flavors here, I think anyone would need some margaritas for an authentic Mex-out experience. 

This is an invited tasting

Barrio by Mex Out @ Vivocity 
#01-116 Vivo City
1 Harbourfront Walk,
Singapore 098585
Sun-Thu: 11am-11pm
Fri-Sat: 11am-12am
http://www.mexout.com/

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[NEW OPEN] Gelateria TIE-AN @ Shibuya : [新登场] 東京の和风冰淇淋店

Looking for another Japanese gelateria shop after Ouca? Tie-an is the place to go. Located in the basement of Shibuya Hikarie, Tie-an is gelataria selling ice cream flavors that are inspired by Japanese ingredients and traditional Japanese desserts. Think strawberry Daifuku, Mitarashi dango, condensed milk Ichigo, Edamame Raspberry White Chocolate served in a cup with a rice cracker biscuit from SENBEI BROTHERS.

Opened just recently in September 2016, this place also serves soups as well as savoury and sweet crepes. The ice cream is served in a cup and sold at a minimum of 2 flavors (441 yen) I decided to go with 3 flavors (540 yen) since there's too many delicious flavors that I want after a few samplings.

The five-grain chocolate was smooth and bitter with a toasty aroma from the grains. The other two were Matcha Biscotti and Strawberry Condensed Milk, which were not too bad but I still prefer the gelatos from Far East Bazaar.

The use of healthier ingredients like soy milk and cane sugar might explain why it melts faster than average. It wasn't too sweet but I wished the scoops were as big as those shown on their official website.

Gelateria TIE-AN

Shibuya Hikarie B2F

2 Chome-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tōkyō-to 150-8510

Daily 10am-9pm
http://tie-an.com/

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Yuji Ajiki : Back for Seconds and Blown by Croissants

It's back to Yuji Ajiki to try out other items and I uncovered yet another gem here- the croissants. I can't say it's not the best croissant in Tokyo (because it's located outside Tokyo) but I can say it's the BEST CROISSANT in the Kanto Region. That's an even bigger disclaimer even though I've not scoured every single croissant in Kanto. 

But who cares? I'm sure I'm not the only one who will rave about his croissants. The Croissant Yadokari (¥360) caught my attention for its jumbo size and quirky shape. Only ONE is produced each day and I was so happy to get it even though I didn't come for this. Neither did I know about its existence beforehand. 

As the old saying goes, the early bird catches the worm. This is a big delicious "worm" that should be awarded 5 Michelin star. It's so sturdy yet light and crisp, shattering into pieces as you pry apart and pluck the tender bread. 

Meanwhile, the Croissant Geso (¥360) is another croissant tree monster in sugar glaze and Pearl sugar. If Yadokari is the crispy cro, this is the crunchy cro that meets the ideal standards of "zaku-zaku" with the golden baked effects from multiple foldings of dough. Don't bother about that Zaku Zaku in Harajuku. The world-class pastry is found here. Perhaps the next best one would be the Kouign Amman from A Tes Souhaits. 

As for the cakes, they were totally different from what I had previously except for the Black Figs Shortcake, a seasonal twist to the strawberry shortcake. Just like before, the sponge was still as delicate and tender, matching impeccably to the fresh cream and fruity sweetness. 

However, the mousse-based cakes like Buochon de Champagne or the Anabana did not impress as much as those I've had previously. Perhaps one reason is that it lacked the Creme beurre component which positioned them at the same levels as the mousse cakes from other patisseries. 

Printemps looked like a cold, icy princess but it isn't too difficult to understand her. On the almond tart base was a nice swirl of rare cheese mousse with three berries compote in the center, completed with curvy white chocolate shell. Sweet, sour and mildly cheesy, 

Nonetheless, the classics such St Honore still shone as one of the best I've ever had. The tart shell is unbeatably crisp and butter, holding up a billow of Tonka vanilla beans-spiked fresh cream and an unctuously creamy core of vanilla beurre. 

That are some desserts that borders on too good to be true and this is one of them. I was totally dazzled and bespectacled by such a humble yet grand creation that I kept asking in my heart, "How could there be such a perfect pastry on Earth?" 

Yes, probably only here at YA

Since I had a fantastic baked cheese tart at his disciple's shop, I couldn't leave without trying the master's version. Perhaps the addition of seasonal fruits made this a little sweeter but other than that, I couldn't tell much difference. 

Ok...my world has been shaken by the croissant. If you are one who always flock to Gontran Cherrier every single time you visit Tokyo, it's time for a change my friend.

This will change your life.

Click here for previous visit and details of the shop. 

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Silk Road @ Amara Hotel : Celebrating Ah Ma's Birthday with Excellent Chinese Food and Restaurant Service

It's a yearly affair to celebrate Ah Ma's birthday at a Teochew restaurant but for her 80th birthday this year, we decided to try out Silk Road in Amara Hotel, since I've heard several good reviews about this place. This restaurant has been around since 2001 and is one of the earliest places that serves authentic Sichuan cuisine in Singapore 


Since it will be CNY in less than a week's time, we took the opportunity to try the CNY set menu for $128/pax. We booked a private room for a group of 14 and the food and service--from the start to the end--were truly impeccable. 


Before the Eight Treasures Yu Sheng, we had the mandatory longevity buns were unprecedentedly fluffy and delicate. But it was the first time for everyone to have crispy fish skin and golden silverfish in the luxurious Yu Sheng which came with sliced abalones, cured salmon, jellyfish, ikura roe and tobiko roe as well. The chef's special Spicy Sichuan Garlic Sauce wasn't as fiery as I would love, in fact, rather sweet for me, but it was a refreshing change to the usual dressing. 

The Double boiled free range chicken soup with shark bone's cartilage and dried scallops was nourishing and creamy but it was too salty.

Fortunately, the same issue did not happen for the Steamed Free range chicken infused with salt (白切盐鸡). The chicken was beautifully cooked to a tender soft with a glistening shine on the skin. It came with a side of minced ginger in shallot oil but I thought the meat itself was already flavourful to stand on its own. 

The Soy-glazed Baked Cod with Bonito sauce (日式焗鳕鱼) was the best dish that evening. The fish was uber fresh-so good that even my Ah Ma who usually don't take commercial fish gives her full thumbs up. It was melt-in-the-mouth tender, with bonito flakes and sake-Mirin sauce that gave the fish a delicious umami dressing. Simply faultless buttery indulgence at best! 

We all know that sea cucumber is one of the highly prized delicacy especially during CNY and this came in the dish of Braised pork knuckle with sweet chestnuts. The theatrical piece of pork knuckle received a generous pour of the aromatic dark sauce but all flavors have already been absorbed into the meat thanks to the 6-hour long slow cooking process. You can imagine all the ladies at the table were aiming at this collagen-rich dish.

The Deep Fried Prawns with Golden Pork Floss gave everyone a nice surprise as the floss is mixed with curry powder! Aromatic but not spicy, the prawns were another hit with its sweet succulence. 

But the steamed fragrant rice with Chinese sausages was the faultless finale of indulgence. It's nothing like those sizzling claypot rice with dark soy sauce. Here, the rice worked magic with a special blend of fragrant soy sauce that made it so irresistibly delicious. Not to forget the salted fish and two kinds of sausages (Sichuan sausage and traditional Chinese sausage) that brought additional sweet-savoury flavors to the dish. 

Desserts were originally Nian Gao and fried Sesame dumplings but the restaurant was flexible enough to accommodate a change to either a choice of Mango Pomelo and Lemongrass Aloe Vera Jelly. 

Before the desserts, we had the Longevity noodles (寿面), as a traditional practice for the birthday dinner. But little did we did not expect the restaurant to arrange it in such an exquisite manner. Understanding that everyone was already full to the brim, the chef and his team had tastefully prepared them in mini portions, plated with a sweet lotus paste-filled "flower" and the "寿” character written with raspberry sauce! The longevity noodles are quite unique because they are thick and chunky la-mian handmade by the noodle chef. The toothsome texture reminded me of udon and the broth was very tasty.  

But the most touching moment came when the noodles chef presented Ah Ma with a special version that had a longevity figure hand-crafted using noodle dough! What a talent he is! Ah Ma was so happy and couldn't stop grinning.  We were truly grateful to the restaurant team for going the extra mile to make the dinner such a memorable one for my ah ma and my family. In fact, we learnt later that the chef from Sichuan actually took the entire afternoon to create the figurine! Full marks for effort and sincerity. 

Being a huge fan of Sichuan cuisine, I'm already eyeing the spicy chicken, mapo tofu and spicy handmade noodles for the next trip. If you are still searching for an excellent Chinese restaurant in town? Look no further. This is it. 

Silk Road @ Amara Hotel Singapore
165 Tanjong Pagar Singapore 088539
Lunch: 11.30am to 3pm daily
Dinner : 6pm to 10.30pm daily
Reservations and enquiries:
Tel: (65) 6227 3848
Email: silkroad@amaraholdings.com
For menu : http://singapore.amarahotels.com/promotions/2017-chinese-new-year-silk-road/

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