The bear and I are fine. We are blending well with the humans. The reason for the long disappearance is Teddybear’s fault. He got hungry one fine day and decided to eat the notebook together with the router.

Sigh. Bears. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.

Note: Clearly I’m joking. It’s just one of those lame excuses like “my dog ate my homework.”

Nick is back. You know the guy that was leaving for Canada in the previous entry? Well, he came back a couple of weeks ago, and this time there’s no mention of when he’s leaving. I guess he’ll be around for a while. He kinda hooked up with Nikki. They’re in looove, or so I heard.

Anyway, the humans that the bear regards as friends, called for dinner. I was invited so I dragged along lil Phoebe (my pink Canon PowerShot E1). There was a reason for doing so – photos for this entry that I’m writing right now!

I believe this wasn’t my first time at Sakae Teppanyaki, but it was probably the first with the bear and at the Cineleisure outlet (or not, can’t really remember). I’ve never quite liked teppanyaki really.

Note: Teppanyaki is a style of Japanese cuisine that uses an iron griddle (teppan) to cook food. The word “teppanyaki” is derived from teppan, which means iron plate, and yaki, which means fried or broiled.

The bear ordered the beef set so I decided to get the teppan sukiyaki beef set. We both like beef even though we are both bears.

Before the main dishes, we were first given a triplet saucer with chilli powder, shallot and soy sauce.

Then the appetiser – Japanese salad.

I’m not going to rate this dish because it’s not cooked. You get what I mean.

The beef set consists of:

Beef
Dish rating:

The beef was good! We ordered medium rare and we got medium rare. I expected it to be either too tough or too raw but it turned out almost just right. Not perfect, but close enough. I’m picky so…

Teppan Chawanmushi
Dish rating:

The bear didn’t like the chawanmushi so he kinda dumped it on me (not literally). The chawanmushi was served by using an onion as a bowl. The dish had a nice aroma probably because it was left to steam on the griddle.

First they emptied the white onion leaving only the outer layer. After that the chef poured in the egg and covered it for a while. When it was half-cooked, the chef added the rest of the ingredients (e.g. the prawn), filled it up with more egg and then covered it again.

I’m not a big fan of chawanmushi either but this was really something different. Different in a good way – soft and smooth, it basically melts in your mouth.

Assorted Mushroom
Dish rating:

The assorted mushroom looked dry but was in fact juicy, rich in taste and balanced out the other dishes. Out of all the dishes, this was perhaps my favourite.

I really like mushrooms, it goes all the way back since primary school during a trip to the mushroom farm. But that’s another story for another time.

Foie Gras
Dish rating:

This dish was smoky charred on the outside and creamy inside. I wouldn’t say I like it but I definitely do not detest it. In fact, I wouldn’t mind having another round of it.

I’ll be frank here; I’m not really familiar with this dish. According to Wikipedia, it is supposedly a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage (force-feeding) corn, according to French law, though outside of France it is also produced using natural feeding.

According to the menu at their official website, the set includes two more dishes – cuttlefish and rice & miso soup. I think we skipped it or something like that. Either that or the bear gobbled it up before I could get to it.

Beef Set
Price: SGD19.99 + 10% service charge and prevailing government tax

The teppan sukiyaki beef set includes:

Sukiyaki Beef
Dish rating:

The sukiyaki beef was served in a pretty unique manner (as you can see above).

The chef folded a aluminium foil box on the fried pan. After doing so, he boiled the soup together with some sauces. When the soup was boiled, he added in the beef slices then followed by the egg, vegetables, and topped it with mushroom. Once that was done, he closed them with a big round cover and let the heat cook the food. Voila, it’s done!

Sukiyaki soup was meant to be sweet (and kinda salty), and it was, even the beef. Initially I wasn’t too comfortable with the taste but eventually my taste buds got the hang of it (I’m into sweet stuff anyway, just needed a little getting used to).

Duck Meat
Dish rating:

I didn’t like the duck meat it was tough, too tough for my liking. Plus, they were pretty stingy with the servings. There were only two slices (or perhaps three but the bear got to it before I did).

Half Shell Scallop
Dish rating:

For the half shell scallop, the scallop and the shell were cooked separately. After the scallop was cooked, the chef placed the meat on the shell and served it.

It’s okay, nothing that I would complain about, but also nothing spectacular for me to compliment.

Vegetable
Dish rating:

This dish is out of my jurisdiction. For one, I do not eat greens. The bear liked it though, he gobbled up the whole plate. He gave it a three upon five star rating, I didn’t bother asking why. Based on the grin on his face, I didn’t really need to.

Unagi Brown Rice
Dish rating:

Unagi brown rice is basically fried rice with chopped unagi and some mixed vegetables. It’s fragrant and not oily. I’m a rice-fan, so to speak. So, as long as it isn’t burnt, I have no complains.

There’s one thing about this dish that puzzles me. I really can’t taste the presence of unagi at all. So, why is it even called unagi brown rice? This is truly a mystery.

Miso Soup
Dish rating:

According to Wikipedia, miso soup is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called “dashi” into which is mixed softened miso paste. Although the suspension of miso paste into dashi is the only characteristic that actually defines miso soup, many other ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes, and personal preference.

Again, I find myself unable to complain or compliment this dish – average.

Teppan Sukiyaki Beef Set
Price: SGD20.99 + 10% service charge and prevailing government tax

This was a good place for casual dining. Although slightly on the pricier side. The overall experience was pleasurable. Largely because of the company – Nick, Leon, Dennicce and my bear.

One upset, while clearing the seats beside me, the server kinda split the soup all over the table. Fortunately, nothing landed on me. Otherwise, the experience would have gone from pleasurable to horrible. It was truly a close call.

Sakae Teppanyaki
Cathay Cineleisure
8 Grange Road #04-01
Singapore 239695
Tel: +65 6333 8370
Website: http://www.sakaeteppanyaki.com
Service rating:

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