Sakae Teppenyaki

Sakae sushi recently branched out to the Teppenyaki business in their first all out table top cooking outlet at Tampines Century Square. Boasting 33 outlets all over Singapore, the green frog logo has more or less solidified its presence and made a handsome profit. So how does the Teppenyaki outlet fare?

Location: Century Square Basement #1-31

Price Range: $26 per head

Website: http://www.sakaesushi.com.sg/

The Counters

Our Chef of the Day

Located directly opposite Sakae sushi, the new outlet is surrounded by tanks carrying live lobster, oysters and crayfish. There were about 3 cooking counters which can hold up to 24 customers at any one time. Everything looks clean and well distributed.

Soy sauce, garlic, spring onions and chilli powder

Classic Juice ($4)

Ordering drinks usually come across as a big no-no for me when i visit restaurants due to cut-throat prices and generally bad tasting drinks. Not this time though, the juice is delightfully refreshing with the stronger taste of peach complimenting the lighter tasting apple juice. I have been scouring department stores ever since for this beverage, anyone with information on this please let me know.

Vegetable salad with crab meat, seaweed and assorted greens

The complimentary appetizer was light and fresh with crunchy greens like lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage. Not too bad but nothing special either.

Normal Japanese Rice

This is just simple sticky Japanese rice. However, it is possible to ask for garlic fried rice which would prove to be a much better choice as we witnessed it fried with butter, garlic, bean sprouts and eggs. The result was pretty pleasing for the nose but we unfortunately did not have that. Oh! This is at additional charge of course.

Pan Fried Salmon and Garlic Fried Beef Tenderloin

Mayonnaise Oyster and Pan Fried Foie Gras (Goose Liver)

Chawan Mushi and Toufu

Pan Fried Chicken Cubes in Teriyaki Sauce and Wild Shittake Mushrooms

The above are shots taken as the items were cooked and placed on my plate. The completed picture is below.

The Completed Chicken Set ($17.90)

My gf had the chicken set and basically, i got to try almost everything. The chicken cubes were sweet and fragrant but a little on the tough side when chewing. The salmon is really hard and hardly held much taste which is a stark contrast from the toufu which was a tad too salty and the oyster, which is the most delightful of the lot, fresh and sweet. The mushrooms compensated the lack of bean sprouts and were soft, fragrant and chewy at the some time.

The Completed Beef Set ($19.90)

The beef set came with a generous helping of beef which i perceive as tenderloin since there is a distinct layer of fat present in it. The goose liver is smooth and evenly pan fried to goodness but compared to Humble house and Zambuca, they have a long way to go. Toufu and mushrooms are the same as the above and the Chawan Mushi was very good. It was smooth, fresh and sweet because we saw the ingredients as it was prepared. Nicely done.

Bill

A rather satisfying Teppenyaki meal if i do say so myself only came at the cost of $51.32. Not too expensive but if the location could be improved on a little more, this might be worth another look.

Score: 6.5/10

Last Word:
The variety it offers in the set meals are a refreshing take on a tired Teppenyaki menu. Still, you can't fault them for being innovative. I would describe this as a fusion of old school cooking with new world tastes. The question to be had is whether this gives them an edge over the competition who relies on not changing to meet demands. My answer to that is: Wait and see. I can't say i didn't enjoy the meal but somehow it still feels like something is lacking. Probably the posh feeling or maybe i just prefer ala carte ordering. Still, worth a look for budget consumers.

Jurong HillTop Restuarant

Jurong Hilltop Restaurant was an ad hoc dinner we had due simply because the other venue we had planned has been closed down (oh the horror!!) and so, since i traveled half of Singapore already to be there, I wasn't going to leave till I at least had a semi-decent meal. And since blogger friend FatPig was there to bring us up the hill, we persevered, climbed and conquered huge-O Jurong Hill for our little rendezvous.

Address: Jurong Hill above Jurong Bird Park

Contact: 62663522 or 62651538

Price Range: $30 per head

The Feeling Of Being Horribly Lost

The View From the Top (Jurong Island)

The Path into Restuarant


The Entrance

I'll be honest, i would almost never have found the place had it not been for my friend. There was a long winding dark road up to the restaurant which simply isn't the kind of road i would willingly drive up for fun. And when we found it, i was surprised to see many people already there, which was quite a surprise as this location was, to me at least, an extremely ulu place. So maybe it serves good food @ a reasonable price?

Appetisers

The appetizers were pretty normal but served its intended purpose of whetting my appetite.

The Chef In Action

We had a moderately young chef who was quite chatty with our overly friendly buddy we brought for a treat.

Stir Fried Venison with ginger and pepper ($16)

The venison was tender and sweet but i suppose its possible to have almost the same quality at normal zhi ca outside minus the show and having a lot more msg and oil. So, in light of health concerns, i'd prefer this one.

Pork ($14)

I found the pork a tad dry at first but later discovered some parts to be more evenly cooked than others. Still, a pretty nicely done dish (that means alot mind you, i'm not a pork lover)

Tofu ($8 for 2 servings)

A must-have staple dish for me. The tofu they have is of the egg bean curd variety which is decent, smooth and soft in texture but i can't help feeling its possible to get this from any grocery store outside. It certainly doesn't look or taste like it was made in-house nor does it feel imported but i may be wrong. Still, tofu is something i must have whenever its offered and this is passable.

Fresh Mushroom ($10 for 2 servings)

As the name implies, fresh mushroom is indeed fresh. Nicely done, succulent and tasty. Pity about the portion though, which was rather small after being split into 3 portions.

Bean sprouts Aka Dao gay

The filler section for the menu. You can't expect to be full after eating only the meats do you? And also, which teppenyaki would be complete without a good healthy serving of bean sprouts? This one was good as it didn't have the 'greenish' vegetable taste that happens when bean sprouts are not cooked properly. It was neither too salty nor too oily either which is very good.

The preparation

Love the flames!

Sirloin Steak Completed ($22)

From what i understand about the fire procedure, its very dangerous for the chef as his hands may have residue of oil and catch fire during the process resulting in severe burns. However, its supposed to be a necessary process to cook the beef to a suitable level of 'doneness'? Correct me if i'm wrong please.
For the sirloin, the initial reaction is that its still a little tough maybe because it was slightly overcooked. It thus lacked the juiciness of whole steaks which i liked but in its cube form, this is still quite good. FatPig did comment that the meat wasn't really fresh though.

Bill

The meal came up to be about $85 for 3 people.

Score:

Ambience: 7/10
Food : 6/10
Value for Money: 6/10
Portion Size: 6.5/ 10
Service : 6/10

(Could have been more if it wasn't for this irritating waiter who couldn't do his basic job of 'waiting' and kept barging in to feel my tea cup)

Overall: 6.3/10

Last Word:

The place was pretty nice despite being found in an out-of-the-way location and i'm pretty sure its been there for quite some time given the number of people who willingly trekked there to eat. The food is pretty good and portion size was reasonable since it could be split by 3 people filling us up reasonably well. Its worth a visit for the experience and some nice Japanese Teppenyaki. The peace and quiet is also very much appreciated after the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Just a shot of the guy who was the star of the day

Taken when we were relaxing with our complimentary ice creams after our meal. This guy is Terry and he volunteered to have his face put on my blog. He's single, so girls, go get him!

Ti Amor

This was where we hung out after our not-so-filling meal for more finger food, chat and simple drink. Ti Amor is found across Mcdonald's in Serangoon Central, do visit it as its a pretty nice place to chill out as you can see. =)