Zento Contemporary Japanese Cuisine

I like Zento already coz despite it being an American offshoot, shoyu is house brewed & nama wasabi is served alongside my sushi. The latter alone earns double bonus from me.

I never thought I could ever reconcile with the American brand of modern Japanese. Good California rolls I love yes, but otherwise I didn’t think I could bring myself to stomach fancy pants varietals of the cuisine which I hold in high esteem. And so it was with trepidation when I went Zento.

I ate with an open mind and I went away pretty stoked that I did. The food delivered in spades and thankfully so. At least I enjoyed what I ate, good enough for me to come back and explore the menu further.

The menu’s quite varied and run the gamut from cold & warm appetizers, futomaki, riceless maki, sushi rolls, kushiyaki, entrées (spring chicken anybody?) to desserts so there’s bound to be something for everybody even for the most finicky. I skipped the starters and hot entrées and went straight for the inventive sushi rolls which I was here for anyway.

Mango Sashimi

I had the Mango Sashimi to start. It’s actually a riceless maki taking on a sashimi salad-like nature. Lovely. Think summer gỏi cuốn, with maguro, sake, hamachi, creamy avocado & sweet mango strips wrapped in translucent Vietnamese rice paper and laid on a house honey mustard dressing. This healthy maki pairs smooth avocado against fresh meltingly delicious sashimi and dressing is sweet and lemony. American style Japanese by Indonesian wrapped up in a Vietnamese cloak. Fusion in all sense but it’s right up my alley.

Green River Roll (1/2 roll)

I also chose the Green River Roll which included toro, eel, avocado, and plum paste with dried seaweed flakes outside. I love avocado everything, the toro for its rich mouthfeel and the sweetish plum paste was good compliment to the luxurious maki without being too overwhelming. This maki would have been many notches better if short grain Japanese rice had been used instead of long grain Californian rice. Those rice grains just stubbornly refused to stick together. I’m also wondering where all the eel went.

Volcano

Volcano is definitely one of the more popular makis rolls at Zento & is Chef’s wife Dynan’s favorite too. It’s a “modern futomaki” stuffed with shrimp tempura, avocado, smoked salmon, crabstick and masago (capelin roe), then deep fried before it’s served with a special dressing of house spicy mayo. Modern yes but nothing new to me though coz I’ve tried Nara’s special maki rolls and they were unexpectedly delicious. (even Sushi Tei serves some exotic makis no?) This maki is pure cholesterol in every crevice, deep fried, prawns, roe, mayo… go figure… but heck I like it for its textural contrast and the judicious use of tangy mayo for that extra piquancy boost.

Crunchy Spicy Tuna & Avocado handroll

The Crunchy Spicy Tuna & Avocado handroll is easily my favorite today and is one handroll you’d have never held before. This is a temaki wrapped in soy paper instead of your usual savory seaweed. Soy paper I’ve never for the life of me seen or even heard of, but it sure is the most novel way to overcome lao hong seaweed which in every thinkable way impairs the enjoyment of partaking in sushi. The soy paper is deliciously chewy and a little springy. Though a tad insipid on its own, the piquancy of the tuna fillings and yummilicious crunchiness of the crispy batter all made up for it.

An avant-garde temaki but delectably so. Crunchy, spicy and savory all at once, a really unexpectedly delicious handroll which I’d enjoyed thoroughly if not for the weird long grain Californian rice used but I reluctantly let that slide. Sorry I’m beginning to sound like a broken record but really.

Chef Gunawan Wibisono was a former protégé of both Nobu & Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto and Zento at Dempsey is the first Asian outlet of his renowned restaurant, Zento in Philadelphia, United States. However impressive his portfolio & praises sung, you’d only know if his cuisine is agreeable until you tried them yourself. Proof of the pudding (or sushi) is in the eating & I’d say the food, though not mind-blowing, is pretty interesting and good to eat at Zento. If you are a hard core Japanese purist, this might be not your type of sushi but sometimes it pays to be adventurous and take a step into the unknown. You might just be rewarded with a pleasant surprise.

Zento Contemporary Japanese Cuisine
18B Dempsey Hill
Tel: 6474 0378
Open: (Lunch) 12pm-3pm daily
Sun-Thu (Dinner): 6pm-10pm, 6pm-11pm (Fri, Sat)

Sara Lee 谢谢你!

My Sara Lee stash (yes I'm mad about Sara Lee)

I grew up eating Sara Lee and I'm still lovin’ it.

When tastebuds get jaded or when desserts disappoint, there's always Sara Lee to fall back on for my sweet treat. Sara Lee cake somehow strikes a chord with me & it never disappoint.

My favorite Sara Lee has got to be the all butter pound, I love the rich butter aroma & taste of it, followed by chocolate swirl (not pictured here), the latter is a butter pound with swirls of chocolate. I like to eat them frozen straight out from the freezer. A slice or 2 with a glass of cold milk always make my day.

Sara Lee 谢谢你!





I'm having a slice of delicious Sara Lee all butter pound as I'm typing this. Do you want some?

Do you like Sara Lee like I do? Which is your favorite Sara Lee pound cake?

Besotted with Cedele

Blueberry Maple Cake

I haven’t been sussing out new places to eat recently coz I’m so smitten with Cedele I’ve been returning over and over to nosh on their healthful sandwiches, main meals and very delicious cakes. Health has never tasted so good.

“Deliciously moist wholewheat cake with fresh blueberries and frosted with maple syrup frosting. Organic unrefined sugar used.”


Mmm... just typing this makes my tummy pine for it again coz this must be my favorite cake here. This Blueberry Maple Cake has a lovely fluffy texture & softness and the maple syrup frosting is delicious. I love this a lot more than Cedele’s carrot walnut cake even. It’s so good & tastes wholesome! I thought the different ingredients melded very well together. Imagine having blueberry pancakes drizzled with maple syrup, now add an element of health. It’s that mouthwateringly droolsome.

Note that unlike the carrot walnut, this cake is not available on a daily basis, so unless you lurk around Cedele everyday to know well enough their cake schedule, chances of you getting it are quite bleak. Do try it if you happen to spy it on display. I’m on the prowl now. I love this cake!

Pink Beet Cake

“Moist and not so sweet, made with Grapeseed Oil & fresh beetroot. One of a kind, great antioxidant & highly nutritious.”


I believe this Pink Beet Cake was introduced a few weeks back for Mother’s Day & it’s now quite a regular in the display fridges. This is quite like your favorite carrot walnut cake, made of wholewheat & spiced with cinnamon, but here the shreds of carrot are replaced by beetroot strips and the sides generously studded with chopped macadamia nuts. The pink cream cheese frosting didn’t taste particularly special though. Not too bad, but between this Pink Beet Cake and the carrot walnut, I’ll choose the latter.

Caramel Sea Salt Cheesecake

“Very smooth cheesecake with a toffee sweet & salty combination. Perfect with coffee/ tea.”


Now now now... this Caramel Sea Salt Cheesecake is definitely mint new. Has anyone seen it yet? It’s every Sea + Salt + Caramel + Cheesecake lover’s wet dream. It’s no secret that I harbor a profound love for all things sea salt caramel so yep it’s a dream no longer. Cedele’s cheesecakes are surprisingly rich and very luscious. Caramelly, toffee-ish, velvety smooth and you can taste the salt in every rich mouthful. Almost too rich. Yes I know I’ve used a lot of rich in the above sentences but truly it is. And indeed you’ll need a cup of coffee or tea to mitigate its richness.

Blueberry Crumble Muffin

“With blueberries, topped with walnut streusel, made using organic unrefined sugar.”


I normally won’t be eating muffins from just about anywhere coz they’re not worth the calories but I simply love muffins from Cedele. My favorites are the 2-Berry, Orange Cranberry & Blueberry Crumble muffins in that order. They’re really delicious, very moist and jam-packed with fruits & nuts. And when they say blueberries & walnut streusel, they mean Blueberries And Walnut streusel. How not to love?

Almond Apricot Slice

“Almost flourless cake made with 100% ground almond, diced apricot & currants”


I like their loaf and slice cakes too. Besides the blueberry almond & red apple oat slice, another of my favorites is this almond apricot slice. It’s wholly made of ground almonds so it’s healthy and just scrumptious. Lovely to eat warm and perfect to go with your afternoon tea or coffee.

Did I say I’m smitten with Cedele? I could nosh on Cedele’s sandwiches and cakes for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, all meals, indulge all I want and not feel a tinge of guilt.

It’s becoming an addiction.


Cedele
With outlets islandwide

Ben & Jerry's Flipped Out

Photo from Serious Eats

Now This Is something I'll definitely approve of... Hope Ben & Jerry's will launch this new over the top (sic) flipped out ice cream dessert here soon!

Now watch this video. This dessert is cool. (no pun intended) Doesn't it make you want to lick your screen?

"And in the matter of seconds, the fudge starts dripping down the sides looking oh so luscious... it's like a... fudge sundae out of your freezer... "


There is no willpower when a sundae is involved. Urgh... now I'm craving ice cream!

Kissed From A Rose

Madeleine Rose

Hmm... these rose-scented cookies are strange... they’re really goo...oood, buttery, crumbly and elegantly tinged with essence of rose. It’s not at all sweet, only very subtle so not all cloying and is a luscious treat to go with your afternoon English tea.

But strangely, despite it being so delicious, after you daintily nibble on one of these precious Victorian butter cookies, you’ll feel so sated it doesn’t make you reach for more. How odd.

I was wondering why, so after some pondering, I took another... then another. Soon they were all gone.

The friend was so sweet to pass me some of her favorite Madeleine Rose cookies she got from The Cookie Museum, her latest cookie haven. Good though that they’re not addictive coz these cookies are quite pricey. I hear it costs a dear $38 per 500g tin so it’s not your everyday butter cookie. I usually don't fancy flowers in my sweets but I’m totally besotted with these pure pink rose cookies it may be a little dangerous for me to mosey into Esplanade Mall at this point in time.

She just came back from a nice holiday & bought me goodies from the land of all things maple. I love maple! Can't wait to receive them!

Thank you m.!

The Cookie Museum
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-02/04 Esplanade Mall
Tel: 6333 1965
Sun-Thu: 12:30pm-10:30pm
Fri, Sat: 1pm-11:30pm

Hokkaido Fair at Isetan

Yubari melon soft serve ice cream 1 – when I walked into the fair

What comes to mind when you see this?

Hokkaido butter milk candies, fresh sea salt caramels, kinako & sea salt caramels

Yes peeps, The Hokkaido Fair at Isetan Scotts is back, this time billed as the largest Hokkaido Fair ever held out of Japan so they say. Scuttled down on the 1st day to check out the goodies before I have to jostle even for breathing space in the weekends. Yups, the fair is on a very large scale alright. I definitely couldn’t miss my favorite Yubari soft serve ice cream, it’s new, then also got myself the usual Hokkaido milk candies & fresh sea salt caramels, scrambled cheesecakes yummers! (yes you hear me right... scrambled cheesecakes), soufflé cheesecakes, pure pumpkin flakes for soup etc. (see end of post for cheesecakes updates)

scrambled cheesecake & soufflé cheesecake

Then there’s everybody’s favorite seasoned dried scallops, stuffed squid, crab bentos, squid ink gyozas, king crab steamed mantous, very hot-selling potato curry buns yada yada... there’s even Premium Sapporo draft beer at $3.50 per paper cup. :P

But what I’m most taken with is this salt caramel croissant from Pullman Bakery. The Japanese are really the smartest food engineers. The West use salt caramel in confectionaries, these geniuses make salt caramel croissants. Clever. Got myself one for breakfast tomorrow yums. Can’t wait to wake up!

salt caramel croissant

It’s only the 1st day damn. Doesn’t look like a lot I bought today here, but these are discounting the snacks & munchies I bought to fuel up as I meandered my way through the crowd. Round 1 Day 1 and I’ve already spent a bomb. Trust me when I say this coz my caramels alone already cost $25. Sometimes I wonder if such fairs are hazardous.

Yubari melon soft serve ice cream 2 – when I finally decided to walk out of the fair

Updates (20 May):

1. Just had the scrambled cheesecake. It's really delicious! Do try them!

2. There are 2 counters selling soufflé cheesecakes, buy yours from Otaru where you'd get the scrambled cheesecakes. The counter by Hakodate just next to Otaru sells them too, but don't get the soufflé cheesecakes from there, the woman has an attitude problem. Service at Otaru is excellent.

3. Salt caramel croissant is pretty darn good too! Urgh... now I need to return to get more.

Hokkaido Fair
19-29 June Isetan Scotts Supermarket Basement
3-12 July Isetan Tampines, Tampines Mall Atrium Level 1

Toast by Marmalade Group

Toast is one of my favorite places for sandwiches & wraps before Freshly Baked & Cedele came along. I used to frequent the café at Takashimaya quite a bit a couple of years back. I’d usually come in here circa 2-ish for a late sammich lunch thereafter relax with magazines or a book. A cupcake or two for sweets then I’m good to go.

I like their masala chicken with mango and avocado Caesar wrap, the field mushrooms with spinach quiche is real good & packed with ingredients. And if I’m feeling virtuous, I would go for a combi ½ + ½ salad of roast pumpkin (can you tell I love pumpkin?) with tofu & chilled buckwheat soba salad which is pretty much what I did for tonight’s dinner takeout continuing on today’s healthy eating theme. Their smoothies are really yummy too.

smoked salmon & avocado wholemeal wrap

This my healthy lunch treat for today. I had a smoked salmon & avocado wholemeal wrap, smoked salmon for omega-3 & avocado for good fats & Vitamins. This absolutely hit the comfort spot for a satisfying wholesome and guilt free lunch. It isn’t expensive, very nutritious and most importantly delicious!

Hope you had a healthy lunch too coz it'll make you feel good!


Toast (OUB Centre)
1 Raffles Place
#01-09 OUB Centre
Tel: 6534 1755
Mon-Fri: 8am-6pmSat: 8am-3pm (Closed on Sundays)

Toast (Takashimaya)
Mon-Fri: 8am-7pm
Sat: 9am-7pm
Sun: 10am-6pm