Food-at-Large

Let's Kinn Thai is a hole in the wall Thai eatery located in a sleepy corner on the 2nd floor of Tanjong Pagar Plaza.

Whilst most customers will be there for their tomyum hotpots (which Miss K says is so so and gets pricey rather quickly with add-ons), it is their ala carte menu which deserves more love.

We really enjoyed their pad thai which was sweey and savoury, with a nice wok hei. I must warn though that we have been back quite often and their pad thai can be a little hit and miss! They have a tendency of serving it too "wet" which means you don't get the distinctive wok hei flavour at times!

Char also serves a good roast pork but unlike the char siew, it's really hard to justify paying so much more when you can get comparable roast pork elsewhere.

I was really surprised to learn that Char is celebrating its 9th anniversary this year! I mean it didn't seem that long ago when I made the trek down to its OG outlet at Guillermard Road soon after its launch. The char siew was excellent but I did wonder how long it would be able to survive when its kopitiam competitors were able to serve the same dish (albeit less shiok) at a fraction of what they were charging.

I am glad to be proven wrong though. I was back a couple of months ago at their new outlet at Jalan Besar. The char siew is still excellent - soft, tender and juicy with a sweet savoury glaze. I do wish though that their char siew had a little crunchier char but that's me nit-picking.

At $35 for 200g each of their signature char siew and roast pork, it remains pricey. But I guess it's okay once in a while!

Saketoshi was very very generous when they hosted a group of us at an #Eatup.

After our tummys were filled to the brim with their donburis, they served us "desserts" in the form of a special off the menu item, uni seaweed tempura to close the meal.

A crackling seaweed tempura is topped with a generous dollop of sea urchin and shoyu and truffle caviar. The concept and execution of this dish is great but I wish they used a slightly more buttery creamy smooth (i.e. luxurious) type of uuni. Yes, this will make an already pricey dish even more expensive but if you are going to splurge, you might as well go all the way right?

Overall, I rather enjoyed the meal at Saketoshi. The service is good and the servers were friendly no matter even though we were annoying (hahaha) guests who couldn't stop dropping our chopsticks. Needless to say, I will definitely be back!

P. S. Thanks to the good folks at Burpple and Saketoshi for hosting us for the #Eatup!

Sometimes the most expensive item on the menu may not be the best. This was definitely the case at Saketoshi as every #burppler at the #Eatup preferred their signature beef don.

Yes, like the premium seafood don, it suffered from the problem of wet mushy rice. The beef though was simply superb. It was tender, juicy and literally melt in the mouth.

I find myself hard pressed to think of another place which serves a steak bowl this good at the price. What's better is that it is also part of #BURPPLEBEYOND 1-for-1 deal!

I think it will come as little surprise that like most of fellow #burpplers at the #Eatup, I settled on the most expensive donburi on Saketoshi's menu, their Ultimate Seafood Donburi.

I mean who can resist the promise of anago, pan-seared Hokkaido scallops with mentaiko mayo, foie gras, ikura, tobiko, onsen egg and scallions over Japanese white rice served beautifully in a donabe (or Japanese clay pot).

I like that the scallops were giant, fresh and tender and the anago sweet and flaky. The foie gras though was kinda disappointing as it was lumpy rather than rich and smooth.

The biggest letdown though was the rice. It was wet and mushy throughout and I actually checked with the service staff if it was cooked in the donabe (which is hard to manage in terms of temperature) but the service staff said that it wasn't.

I was kinda expecting better at this price-tag but it's worth a try with the #BurppleBeyond 1-for-1!

I have similar misgivings about Saketoshi's panko oysters. Like scallops, I believe they are best eaten fresh and raw.

I literally had to eat my words, seeing how much I enjoyed their deep fried breaded oysters. The oysters were plump and juicy, and the panko batter light and airy.

I must say I have been impressed thus far by the array of dishes Saketoshi has served up for the #Eatup thus far!

I am personally not a big fan of deep fried scallop because it usually ends up dehydrating the scallop and ruining its texture. I was therefore a little sceptical about Saketoshi's scallop ikura which features deep fried scallop topped with mayonnaise, tobiko and ikura.

To be honest, you cannot go wrong with the combination of subtly sweet scallop, creamy mayonnaise, and the briny ikura and tobiko. To their credit, the scallop remained moist though on the dry side.

At $24 for 2 relatively small scallops though, I found this dish a little too expensive to stomach 😅😅😅

I usually love my fried squid but Saketoshi's ika geso karage (deep fried squid tentacles) with ghost pepper mayo was probably my least favourite appetiser of the night.

The squid tentacles were a tad overcooked and therefore a little tough. I was rather excited about the ghost pepper mayo but it was rather meeeeh than fiery.

For $15++, you get 10 pieces of moist and tender deep fried chicken thigh. I like that the batter was thin and crispy. Definitely great with beer or sake!

For those with #BurppleBeyond, you get to enjoy 30% off your final bill!

For the very last Burpple #Eatup of 2022 (yes I know I am damn slow), we were hosted by the good folks from Saketoshi, a rather eclectic Japanese style izakaya with 90s mandopop in the background.

They served us a huge array of appertizers including these goma (or sesame) wings. Besides the sesame seeds sprinkled on the golden brown chicken wings, I am not too sure why they are called goma wings. That said, you can't go wrong with wings which are tender and juicy with a crispy thin chicken skin. Just great with beer or sake on the side!

I usually spend my weekend mornings reading and nursing a cup of teh o, in a sleepy kopitiam on the ground floor of a multistorey car park which is hidden behind the SINOPEC Yishun petrol station.

Helmed by a former sous chef of Park Royal Oh My Don is a Japanese stall specialising in donburi that opened early last year in the aforesaid kopitiam. Despite little to no fanfare, it attracts a steady stream of customers throughout the morning.

For $7, you get a good salmon don with mentaiko sauce. I like that they use short grained Japanese rice topped with furikake as the base for the don. I also like that the mentaiko sauce was not too rich and creamy which complements rather than overwhelms the natural sweetness of salmon. It is also nicely plated with an onsen egg in the centre and tobiko and seaweed scattered all over, and served with wooden spoons and chopsticks!

This is a good salmon Don that wouldn't feel out of place at any of the mid-market casual Japanese eateries and is a steal at this price!