Camemberu's Reviews
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[See my original review at Camemberu.com for over 20 photos, sorry I can only upload 5 here]
I had heard it can get really crowded but it was empty when I arrived today at lunchtime with my friend. As such, we didn't encounter any service problems or slowness that seemed to plague the restaurant in its earlier days. However, it did fill up considerably still past 12.30pm but service did not suffer too much. The waitresses (some seem to be from Myanmar) were quite patient and even took the effort to recommend popular dishes when we seemed stumped by the wide menu choices.
One of the chief reasons Singaporeans love a Japanese a la carte buffet is the unlimited orders of sashimi. At Minori, you get a choice of salmon, tuna, yellowtail, snapper, black king fish, octopus and cuttlefish. However, I think sashimi at Ikoi's is sliced much more generously, and tastes better too.
I will go through the rest of the food just very briefly. We ate a lot of dishes - really easy to do so as the portions served are very small. The potato salad was creamy but light-tasting, served on an interesting raised glass platter.
The California maki was messy but tasted passable. We had a repeat portion of this.
Handrolls here are not spectacular. Mainly because the dried seaweed sheets they used had a musty odour. Probably an inferior quality or type of seaweed used. And it wasn't crisp nor easy to bite through.
Minori also differs from Hanabi in that it offers grilled skewered items, mostly of chicken parts. The "buta to garlic" is probably the only pork item there, fatty pork belly cubes strongly laced with garlic. The tebasaki (chicken wings) strangely butterflied here, tasted a bit too plain. Kawa (chicken skin) was not crisp enough.
The tsukune (minced chicken meat balls) were huge. They and the yakitori tasted alike. Just all right. Lacked serious punch.
This is the SMALLEST ever tempura moriawase set I have ever seen. Two prawns and three thin slices of vegetable. I guess it's a small eater's single portion only. Average tasting, and the batter could be lighter.
The Kabocha korokke - pumpkin croquette- was a pleasant surprise. Sweet creamy pumpkin mash greets you as you bite through the crisp breaded exterior. It can be really hot though, so beware.
Moyashi itame (teppanyaki beansprouts): Plain looking but intensely garlicky beansprouts from the teppanyaki section. Not bad.
Morokyuri miso (cucumber with bean paste) appetiser: Refreshing kyuri (Japanese cucumber) in this appetiser but I didn't care much for the miso bean paste - a bit too close to "taucheo" (Chinese bean paste) for my liking.
Sushi isn't their forte, I guess. Or maybe I just really don't like that dried seaweed that they use. It made me long for the good quality, crisp seaweed that Sushi Kikuzawa uses.
Hiyayako: Two bites and this one dish is gone. Cold tofu in soy sauce topped with bonito flakes and scallions.
Everything here is in tasting portions. Which is nice too, it lets you try more dishes from across the menu. The saba shioyaki is all right but your mind is on the next item already.
Momo sarada (peach salad): This was quite nice, a sweet fruity salad with a tart, soy-sesame dressing. The peach is of the canned variety, of course.
Fukahire chawanmushi and Pumpkin chawanmushi: There are two kinds of chawanmushi here, the kabocha (pumpkin) one just has the addition of a layer of pumpkin puree on top. The mixture is a really surprising attack of flavours on your palate - both sweet and savoury combining to jolt your senses. The egg custard is quite smooth. and has lots of nameko mushrooms at the bottom. Yum.
Tori karaage (fried chicken nuggets): This was one of the unexpected highlights. I thought they did their tori karaage really well. There is no oilyness on the surface and the meat inside is tender and juicy. Nicely seasoned.
Gyuniku shogatayaki (beef with special sauce): I have seen people rave about this here. It's like a richer-flavoured version of Yoshinoya's beef. The soft beef slices taste almost buttery. We got served a really large portion too.
Shake Wafu Teppan (salmon with special sauce): The salmon teppan special dish was too salty and sweet for me. Very strong hint of mirin (sweet rice wine) in the soy mixture.
Salmon sashimi: Understandably, they aren't the most generous with their sashimi servings. Don't expect the best of fish slicing skills here either. Some of the sashimi were still sinewy. But for the price, I don't think anyone will complain.
Nankotsu karaage (chicken cartilage): This is very similar to the tori karaage, just that it involves the breastbone cartilage. I just love cartilage. Is that really odd? I remember even my Japanese friend looking at me strange when I ordered this at Nanbantei in Tokyo some years back.
Minori serves free-flow green tea and water as part of the buffet. Alcoholic drinks and desserts (mostly ice cream) are available separately. If you don't want the buffet, you can opt for their set meals.
In summary, Minori's food is fairly competent across the board but is still very average. Much like a jack-of-all-trades but master of none. The variety is undoubtedly better than at most joints, but many of the dishes involve same ingredients done differently (as sushi, maki, handroll etc). Personally, in terms of all-you-can-eat places, I'd rather head to Ikoi or Sushi Kikuzawa for a more fulfilling experience.
MINORI DINING AND SAKE BAR
(full buffet menu available online but prices not updated)
81 Clemenceau Avenue #03-15/16 UE Square
Tel: 6737-3353
Open: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6 to 10.30pm
Lunch $28
Dinner $33 (price raised)
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Where can you get this awesomely delicious burger? Take note of this name - the Smok'inn Frogz Kitchen! Tucked behind a bar quaintly named "Bar Bar Black Sheep" in a corner kopitiam at Cherry Avenue (close to Sixth Avenue).
They've got lots of other dishes too, all featuring generous portions. The beer-battered fish (S$12) gives you three large slices and a boatload of fries, along with the side salad. The fish is fresh but the batter, although crisp, is a little thick and oddly has a hint of banana fritter scent in it. Have the Malay chefs been secretly frying "goreng pisang" in the oil before this? Haha!
The other burger, for those staying away from red meat, is the chicken burger (also S$12). Slices of well-caramelised grilled chicken doused with a Thai-style sauce, sandwiched between soft, lightly toasted sesame seed bun. Honestly, the beef burger is way better and worth all the cholesterol, purines, saturated fats and whatever else evil that lurks in red meat. Just go for it!
Actually almost everyone of us wanted the beef burger but that would leave us with very few dishes to shoot. So we picked a few other dishes, I chose the prawn linguini (S$14). It is really good value-for-money, what with six huge, crunchy prawns. But I do like my food a bit stronger in flavour, so personally I would have used more garlic, salt, pepper and chili. Thank god I packed home the beef burger for hubby - it was so juicy and delicious, I wolfed down half of it! Hubby liked the caramelised onions but not the sauce though. Good patty nonetheless.
I had been wondering why the stall is called Smok'inn Frogz, until southernoise told me it's owned by a Frenchman. Ahh! Makes sense now. There he is in the kitchen with his jolly helper. They are all very humble and friendly. You can click on the photo to see a bigger version for the menu details. No service charge or GST here.
You can enjoy a beer from Bar Bar Black Sheep - they have unusual stuff like the "Little Creatures" pale ale (bottle shown above). The atmosphere here is casual, laid-back and almost does not feel like Singapore. There is also a North Indian stall at the rear, where you can order tikkas, kebabs and tandoor items. Do I need to mention the beef burger again? Still probably the best thing here! lol
- 1 more comment »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!The burgers look yummilicious!! I want!! *slurps*
05 May 2008 at 12:28 pm
Good good. HFB can organise this outing as well. Wahahahaha
05 May 2008 at 3:10 pm
One of my favourite outlet. Try the escargot...YUMMY!!!! Home made beef burger - THUMB UP!!
07 Nov 2008 at 10:07 am
Unfortunately, it was less than enjoyable. The tables are incredibly tiny, possibly to deter people from over-ordering. Despite an early hour and reservations, they squeezed us (two hulking adults plus an extremely wriggly toddler grabbing everything within arm's reach) at a table that was smaller than a schooldesk! Our request for a larger table could not be accommodated, so most of the evening we were uncomfortably cramped.
Foodwise, there were a lot more MISSES than HITS. Sashimi less than fresh, bland handrolls, awful deep-fried items tasting horribly alike, shocking mystery meat for some items (like what you'd imagine kangaroo or emu ass might taste like), unimpressive tempura, incompetent kushiyaki and poor noodle dishes. Are they trying to do too much?
Yes, there was stuff that I did like but these were few - the jellyfish, unagi fried rice (although clearly reheated via microwave), nice and smooth chawanmushi, and the yakiniku beef (even if overly salty and bits of it were stringy and chewy).
Looks like things have gone downhill. Service was terrible. Green, foreign waitresses and an unpleasant manager. We left before we ate our fill. Quite honestly, for the same amount of money, you can get much, much, much better food across the hallway at Wahiro.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!mm I'd have to agree that the place is pretty cramped...
04 May 2008 at 6:12 pm
I feel like I've hit the lottery. Hubby who normally loathes steamboat actually likes this place and would come back again (in fact, he doesn't want to go anywhere else!). Most of our experiences with steamboat have left us quite disappointed. Here, at Paradise on Earth, the food not only looks and tastes fresh, it's really quite value-for-money. Very pleasing on both eye and wallet.
About 60 items (meat, seafood, vegetables and dishes) plus dessert come free-flow with the buffet price. They also have a premium menu (house specialties) of about 30 items that you can order separately. You won't be complaining about lack of variety here (got a sudden craving for live bull frogs and geoduck? no problem).
They have about five soup choices (you can have two). They are well-known for their satay flavoured soup - we liked this better than their hot & spicy (mala style) soup. Others are fish head, dried scallop and tom yum.
You must try the fried rice here. Looks like plain old Yangzhou fried rice but it's delicious - the first time I had it, I took three bowls! I like the sweet-sour-spicy dipping sauce too. Oh, they also serve you a nice plate of achar - pickled pineapple, carrots and cucumber (that will later appear as a $2 charge on your bill). However, there is no GST and no service charge at this place. Hurrah!
Lunch: S$15.80 for adults; S$7.90 for children (under 12)
Dinner: S$17.80 for adults; S$8,90 for children
Weekends and public holidays, add S$1 for adults and 50 cents for children
PARADISE ON EARTH
200 Tanjong Katong Road
Singapore 436998
Tel: 6345 9272.
Daily 11am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm.
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Wow. it's not too ex. Can bring everyone there to try. thanks!!
04 May 2008 at 6:17 pm
And this is not just cereal prawn but butter cereal prawns! Extra fragrant, yummy and still crisp, despite being a takeaway. I ate even the skins and tails (not the heads though, although I peeled the tasty batter off them). And I love the crispy bits with curry leaves and sliced chili padi.
Do not try their fried rice or horfun though...they are the blandest ever!
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!WAH cereal prawns... *yummyyyy*
04 May 2008 at 6:13 pm