Teppei @ Orchid Hotel

Considering how difficult it was to get a dinner reservation here (waiting list is around three months), I immediately took up the offer when my colleague said she had an available slot.

For dinner, Teppei does it 'Omakase', which means "I will leave it to you". So diners typically just tell the chef what they do not want to eat, and leave the rest to the chef.

A rather traditional Japanese setting

The layout of the restaurant was quite traditional, where diners sit at the counter surrounding the chef. The chef will then serve the dishes on the counter. 

We all took the $80 set (most expensive one). If I recall correctly, we had three choices - $60, $70 or $80. To be honest, there were so many dishes that I couldn't really keep track of all of them. The employee serving us was also quite inexperienced and couldn't answer most of our queries.

A cold platter consisting of six dishes. Nothing really stood out.

Sashimi platter

Their sashimi were all reasonably fresh. But the ootoro (fatty tuna belly) definitely lost to the one I had at Hashi Restaurant.

Minced tuna hand roll

This was one giant minced tuna hand roll. Ladies were served first. Men were served later but get an extra large portion instead. 

A very simple dish, but I found this to be one of the best. Since it was freshly served, the seaweed was still wonderfully crispy, and the minced tuna was also refreshing.

Fugu (Puffer fish)

Coincidentally, I just read on the news that in Japan, several people just died from fugu (puffer fish) poisoning. This was the best puffer fish I have ever tasted. Okay to be honest, this was only my second attempt. The fish was well-grilled and lightly seasoned - this was also one of the highlights for the dinner.

By the way, 'fugu' comes from the Japanese word 'fuku', which means to swell. Very apt term given how the puffer fish puffs up when feeling threatened.

This tasted like some sort of corn, which had been grilled. It tasted a bit like popcorn.

Mackerel sushi

Soup with bamboo

The taste of bamboo was very strong in the soup, so if you are not a fan of bamboo, this is definitely not for you. My colleague gave this a miss.

While this didn't fare too well in the taste department, it scored some points in terms of uniqueness. I still do not know what fish this is, but its transparent body was certainly intriguing - just look at its skeleton!

Wagyu beef

When we asked our waiter what insect this was, he just smiled shyly and shrugged.

Crab soup

The soup was deliciously sweet and well infused with the taste of crab.

Eaten raw, this unknown vegetable tasted extremely fresh and refreshing.

Assorted sushi

The conclusion? $80 for an omakase dinner was very worth it. In the value aspect, Teppei scores quite high, as well as in the uniqueness category. But for taste, I would rather pay more to get better quality elsewhere. For Teppei, I will still stick to their famous bara-chirashi don during lunchtime instead.

Cornerstone @ Bishan Park

There was an adoption drive being held by HOPE Dog Rescue at Cornerstone today, and since Canopy was still undergoing renovations, we decided to have brunch here.

Benny, $12

Their version of Eggs Benedict. The egg yolks were runny, so that's a plus - but probably the only plus. The texture of the egg whites felt wrong, as if they were a little too raw. The hollandaise sauce pretty much faded into the background, and the ham was definitely cheap and of lower quality. Only the hash browns were good, being delightfully crispy and yet not too dry.

At least the egg yolks were still runny.

Queen Royale, $14

This was almost exactly the same as the previous Benny dish, but simply with the ham replaced with smoked salmon. The smoked salmon was quite terrible, to be frank - it was tough, dry, and ridiculously salty.

Luncheon fries, $12

Luncheon meat cut into the shape of fries and deep fried. This was done quite well; the meat still maintained some of its juiciness and yet wasn't too oily.