Ichibantei & Taiwan Food Fair

19 September 2010
I didn't expect to eat that much, all that feasting and fellowship in Liang Court and Clarke Quay on a Sunday night. It started in Ichibantei, where we ordered sushi, ramen, tonkatsu, miso soup, soba, sashimi...and here are my favourites.

Salmon belly miso soup

You can't go wrong with salmon belly, or fatty meat, for that matter.

Sushi set - about $24++

Of course the sushi in Tokyo Tsukiji Fish Market is better, but I'm in Singapore after all. This is good, the raw items were fresh and rice nicely balanced with vinegar. Somehow I'm missing the sweetness in the raw tuna, which I don't get often in Singapore. Why is the tuna better in Tokyo?

Baked Salmon with Cheese Mentai (I think)

Yum yum. Sweet and savoury in one mouthful.

And then as if it wasn't enough, we left Liang Court and walked to Clarke Quay where there was a Taiwan food fair in-conjunction with the Mooncake Festival.

And boy was the place jam-packed with Singaporeans who were willing to pay almost double the price compared to it's native price, and queue for hours for stinky beancurd and bubble tea. That said, we were part of the hungry pack who spent $30 and more than an hour to buy Taiwan snacks and bubble tea.

The fried oyster omelette was so-so only. The only dish pictured twice above is called 棺材板 (literally "coffin board"). It buried an overflowing starchy mess of mixed vegetables that was surprisingly good, especially eaten with the crispy bread. 

The "zui kuey" look-alike is sweet and is firmer and chewier than our local favourite. And the dumpling at the bottom made of glutinous rice, prawns, mushrooms and topped with cured ginger was flavourful and pretty addictive.

There were other snacks that I didn't feature. Being in a big group meant we could share the fun in planning how to queue up strategically and the food.

And it makes me want to go Taiwan.

Ichibantei

Liang Court Shopping Centre #B1-50

Medi-Ya Supermarket

177 River Valley Road

Walking distance from Clarke Quay NEL station