His Food Blog's Reviews
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Although located in a dingy tiny coffeeshop, Sik Wai Sin is nothing short of a stalwart in Cantonese-styled Tze Char (literally means “cook and fried” in dialect). In order to bring out the best in each dish, HFB quickly realised that one do not have many choices when it come to dishes to order – almost every table was eating the same fare!
Stir-fried KaiLan with Garlic was well fried, and wasn’t over-cooked – with stump of the vegetables still retaining crunch. The savoury sauce was flavourful, but dish was oily overall.
One of their signatured dishes, the Homemade Tofu Fried with Giant Prawns, in Egg Sauce was a joy to consume. The tofu was well woked with aroma, and the prawns, lip smacking juicy and crunchy – certainly a brilliant pairing with a bowl of rice.
The Steamed Minced Pork with Salted Fish certainly brings back the good old memories from my grandparents’ time. A dish, which HFB would claim to be traditional, he reckons not many youngsters nowadays would take to this dish because of the fishy smell (from the salted fish). Although another nice dish to go with the rice, HFB finds that the dish was slightly overcooked and thus, the meat was slightly tough. A pathetic serving of the salted fish, nevertheless any extra and the dish will be too salty for consumption.
The Steamed Fishhead is probably their trademark dish, and it was inevitable that one would find this on almost each and every table. Comes in only one serving size (big that is – we tried asking for small), the humongous fishhead can easily feed a handful of adults. Covered in Bean Paste and Pork Lard, it’s probably the latter that sets it apart from the many other steamed fishhead out there. Rid of the muddy taste of a typical fresh-water fish, the fish is fleshy and tender – so much so that even a non-fishhead eater has plenty of meat to go for. Go with a spread of the bean paste and a piece of lard and “nirvana” is the only word that came close to mind.
The last among all dishes served, the Sweet and Sour Pork wasn’t really worth the wait. Although the pork is nicely coated with an intensely tangy sauce captured via an incredible high heated wok, HFB found the meat a little too tough to chew – probably from over-frying. Since being served last, the meat also gets to one towards the end.
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Complimentary bread served with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette although came warm was nothing extraordinary.
Le Zuppe, or soups was Minestrone alla Genovese ($6.90), the classic Italian vegetable soup. There are different variations of minestrone soup – divided into different villages or towns, each customise to regional or seasonal ingredients. And in the traditions of Genoa province, it is distinguished by the generous use of herbs in its preparation, and specifically the addition of Pesto. HFB really loved this soup! A delightful surprise from the usual minestrone that is watered down and tomato-based, their version was intense in flavours from the herbs, yet light on the palate.
A must for all mushroom lovers, the Fungo di Portobello ($14.90), was a huge grilled Portobello mushroom dish garnished with bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives, drizzled with their own house dressing. Every bite of the thick mushroom produced a juice-gushing moment. However, HFB just wasn’t used to the fact that the accompaniments, especially the bell peppers came contrasting cold (although HFB was assured by the staff that that’s the way they served it) and was also pretty disappointed that a rotten leaf of purple lettuce was left unchecked and dished out to us.
Listed as a new item in the menu, the Foie Gras de Canard ($27.90) was pan-fried and topped with Caviar & accompanied North East Atlantic Langoustine & Smoked Salmon. HFB clearly wasn’t impressed with this dish – the duck liver was too dry for his liking, and the langoustine and smoke salmon didn’t add any value to this dish – harshly speaking, it was akin to 3 separate items put scrappily together that didn’t gel at all.
One of their house favourite, the Prosciutto Di Parma con Rucola Pizza ($26.90), is topped with Parma ham sourced directly from Italy and HFB’s personal favourite – Rocket Salad! Also special request to add shaved Parmesan Cheese as topping was addressed. HFB ranked their version a close second to Da Paolo’s Pizza Bar purely due to the fact that it’s more costly.
What really hit the umami spot were the desserts that night. The Chocolate Fondant ($12.90) oozed yummy molten chocolate when one breaks the exterior crust, and the paired vanilla ice-cream definitely aid to its cause. Slightly expensive considering the serving portion but definitely worth it if you consider Morton’s charges theirs at $25.00.
One should definitely not leave Ristorante De Parma without giving their signatured Tiramisu ($12.90) a try. Aesthetically well presented with what HFB considered a sizeable portion, it was definitely one of the finest tiramisu HFB had tried. Everything from the sponge, to the Mascarpone cheese and alcohol level was so well balanced that HFB wouldn’t mind dropping by just for it after dinner.
Special mention to the service staffs that HFB reckon was pretty well trained and polite.
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Stepped past the seemingly discreet sliding door and one will be ushered to an elegant bar that offers a great selection of wines by the glass and excellent cocktails – HFB can imagined this to be a perfect after-work to-be-seen setting for chic finance executives and lawyers to mingle at and network.
Make a left turn, and one will find the sombre interior of the small dining area coerce on you – call me unsophisticated but HFB certainly didn’t take to the air-of-pretentious atmosphere of the restaurant.
Also, having a row of smartly dress yet clueless service staff standing at the side of the passageway greeting and staring at HFB while he is seated with his peers add on to his already discomfort.
Kudos to the Complimentary Bread & Balsamic Vinaigrette, which was one of the better renditions that HFB had tried – certainly no one will complain if one goes for a second serving.
For the Antipasti e Insalate, HFB plumped for the Capesante Al Taleggio, or Grilled US Scallops with Porcini Mushroom and Truffled Taleggio Fondue ($25.00). Being a big fan of porcini mushroom, the sautéed nutty flavoured shrooms along with the intense creamy truffled Taleggio cheese was divine. However, HFB felt let down by the textured scallops that were slightly dry for his liking – he thought Sage, The Restaurant did a better job with their Seared Hokkaido Scallops with Normandy Sauce.
What’s an Italian dinner without pasta – the Linguine Al Granchio, or Linguine with Crab Meat and Vodka Sauce ($30.00) was commendable – nice aromatic vodka-infused tomato-cream sauce integrated with the flavours of the sea from the crab meat was simply blissful. However, the serving portion was definitely pathetic and HFB could easily wolfed down another plate with ease.
Dessert was Fondente Al Cioccolato, or simply Molten Lava Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Gelato and Raspberry Coulis ($18.00) – it didn’t wow me but definitely not the worse I have eaten. However, accolades must be given to the hazelnut gelato that everyone around the table seemed to enjoy it.
Overall, 4 of us choked a total of $428.00 including a bottle of wine and taxes. HFB felt that the pricey wine was a total rip-off and service although professional, lacked cordiality.
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With slightly more than 100 items to choose from, HFB was absolutely spoiled for choice. So being the Kiasu Singaporean that he is, HFB did his share of research and zeroed in on a few items. For appetisers, it was kick-started with the much raved about Yukke Sushi, or Marinated Beef with Egg Yolk, and it was rightly so – nicely seasoned with spices and sauces such as sesame oil and soy sauce, a raw egg yolk was cracked on top, giving it a smooth velvety taste. The beef was thickly sliced thus granting the person consuming, a nice bite.
The trio of Tuna (Maguro), Salmon (Shake) and Sea Bream (Tai) Sashimi though were disappointing. Although served chilled, it just didn’t tickle HFB's fancy and tasted flat and uninspiring.
The Gyu Tataki, or Marinated & Lightly Grilled Raw Beef was also lacklustre; so much so that HFB thinks the one he had in Bangkok was better.
Surprisingly, the Teiru, or Oxtail Soup that looks boring when served tasted yummy. The gelatinous meat from the oxtail was simply amazing and my only nitpick was there was only one piece floating in the soup.
Once done, the real show begun, and the raw food was set in place. Salmon was thick but filling, thus HFB advise one to go slow and concentrate on other dishes instead.
The Hotate, or Scallop is a MUST try - served whole and juicy, two servings were ordered that evening.
The Kaki Butter, or Oyster with Butter was another orgasmic experience for HFB. Fresh and meaty, cooked it just right and a sweet juicy feasting experience await.
The Ebi, or Prawn was of medium size – nothing fanciful.
The Buta Karubi, or Pork Belly came nicely streaked in fats and tasted wonderful when grilled.
Vegetables were a much welcome break from the meat and the Mushrooms were delightful.
Very high in fat content, it is no wonder the Tan, or Beef Tongue is considered a prized item in Japanese BBQ. Slightly chewy for a bite, however HFB didn’t really fancy it much that night.
The Karubi, or Beef Belly Tender was better appreciated. Slightly marbled – allowed the fats to cook slowly, and what one gets in return is a nice juicy piece of meat.
However, if one think that’s the finest, one would be thrilled to know that the Honetsuki Karubi, or Belly Tender with Rib is one notch better. It tasted so scrumptious that no words can simply describe it and if HFB is to come back to this restaurant, this dish would probably be the reason!
Overall, HFB thinks this is one of those places he will visit if he craves for meat and feel like pampering himself with a treat.
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Soon enough it's time for one's hair wash before the cut and HFB think its the longest he ever had for a wash head massage (25mins to be exact). Although HFB have to admit it's not the best he had tried (KRplus offers better head message amidst a shorter one), it was still enjoyable nonetheless.
Jack, was my hair stylist that day (dolled in his professional yet trendy black outfit of course) - and I am surprised that he is pretty skillful for someone his age. I leave NEXT a happy man satisfied with both my $37.45 haircut and wash/massage. You can be rest assured that I will be making my appointment with them for my NEXT haircut (lame!).
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Hmm.... quite ex for a haircut leh.
23 Oct 2008 at 12:49 pm