Happy Three Months Ethan

My wonderful little boy

who smiles and gurgles all day long

who refuses to nap and wants to play

who holds his head up high so proudly

is now three months old

Happy Three Months Birthday Ethan

You are the light and blessing of my life.

Saboten, Parco Marina Bay

So after last week's not-so-good experience taking 45 min to drive to Parkway Parade and park there (no pun intended), it was back to Millenia Walk this week to continue the streak of eating at Japanese restaurants. A mighty craving for fried food led us to Saboten. Saboten is a famous chain restaurant specialising in fried breaded tonkatsu from Japan, and in fact we had eaten at the Kyoto branch a few years back during our memorable Japan trip.

As in the Japanese outlets, each set comes with refillable servings of shredded cabbage (with a choice of yuzu or sesame dressing), Japanese rice, and miso soup. I went for the Mentai Cheese with Loin set (SGD 23, above), while E ordered the Hiroshima Oyster with Loin Set (SGD 23, below). While waiting for our orders to be fried up, we occupied ourselves by grinding sesame seeds into powder, before heaping generous scoups of the special tonkatsu sauce and mixing up the entire concoction for dipping the tonkatsu into.

We were not disappointed. The batter was light and crispy, yet did not feel oily or greasy. Each piece of pork loin had a cut of fat encased within the golden brown batter...ooh.....delightfully sinful and fatty juiciness with each bite. E's huge and fat Hiroshima oysters were also a hit with us, but my mentai cheese rolls were nothing special. Both of us had second helpings of the shredded cabbage, this complemented the fried food very well and we consoled ourselves that this helped to soak up / negate some of the oil in our digestive tracts!

Definitely an affordable and convenient indulgence, we'll be back when the craving for tonkatsu hits us again.

Saboten
#P3-01,Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk

Hard Rock Hotel, Resorts World Sentosa

Ethan: Mummmee mummmee, may we go for an overnight outing, pleeeese? I promise to be a good good boy.

Me: Alright, off we go to Sentosa! We're staying at Hard Rock Hotel cos Dadddee has to be there for a work function.

Ethan: is this where we will sleep tonight? yipppee!!

Ethan: wow, mummmee mummee, the toilet is so bright and sparkly, it hurts my eyes.

Me: when you are older, you can play in the swimming pool and take fun rides at Universal Studios. But no visits to the casino! Gambling is BAD.

Ethan: mummmee mummee i am sleepy.. ZZZZZzzzzzz....

Table 66

It feels like it has been a seriously long time since I've sat down to a proper, multiple course western meal. Of course, it has only been two and a bit months since Ethan arrived, but so much has changed!

Table 66 - named after its address (on 66 Tras Street) - had been favourably reviewed by many food bloggers in the past year and thus it came to mind when we were searching for a nice lunch place after running some banking errands in the CBD area. Chef-owner Vincent Teng is formerly from Desire at Scarlet Hotel, which I had also long wanted to check out.

E and I opted for the 4 course UOB special set lunch menu (SGD68 for two). We started with a cream of broccoli soup which was palatable, but otherwise undistinguished - thus, no photo.

The starter of Hokkaido scallop tataki with pineapple salsa on the other hand, was excellent. Lightly seared large and sweet scallops, still moist and just barely cooked on the inside, perfectly complemented by the sweet pinepapple salsa with just the right tinge of sourness.

It got better though, my main of confit salmon was excellent. One seldom raves about salmon because it is such a yawn-inducing dish but this was truely an eye-opener. Meltingly moist and tender flesh, with cracklingly thin crispy skin, salted just right! I marvelled - how does the chef achieve this effect?

In comparison, E's main of grilled beef medallion with veal jus reduction in red wine butter was only just okay, though I think both of us are a bit spoilt from eating too many good steaks.

Finally, dessert of hazelnut mousse praline with chocolate feuilletine crust. I didn't care for this, as I felt that it tasted more like banana mousse instead but E said that he could taste the hazelnut flavour.

Table 66 feels very honest and down-to-earth - a small menu selection that is well curated and this carries through to the interior furnishings which are simple and clean. I wouldn't mind going back there if I'm around the area but for me at least, this wouldn't merit a special trip.

Ramen at Nantsuttei, Millenia Walk

The last time round when we were having our ebi ramen at Keisuke, we saw the snaking long queues at Nantsuttei and I made a mental note to try it some time. After dropping Ethan off at my parents' place on Sunday, it only took 10 minutes to arrive at Millenia Walk and fortuitously, there was no queue at all this time round at Nantsuttei. Perhaps we were early? Or the initial excitement has since faded, Singaporeans are notoriously fickle.

I ordered the Chashu ramen (SGD16). The ramen was nothing very spectacular, since I prefer a more crunchy / bouncy texture. The broth had a very strong and pronounced pork flavour but the black garlic oil did not add much to the dish, and the chashu was not quite fatty enough (ah, memories of that fatty pork cheek at Santouka). However, the crushed raw garlic cloves were a surprisingly good addition to the broth. Beware of salt and MSG overload however, merely half an hour later I was panting with thirst.

I was not too impressed when E pointed out that the ramen servings were cooked by an automatic machine. The cooking baskets automatically rise from the hot water when a preset cooking time is up...

Nantsuttei
P3-06, #03-02 Millenia Walk
www.nantsu.com/sg

I have the Whole Bed to Myself

Ethan started cooing and gurgling with delight upon finding that he had the entire king-sized bed to himself!