Zen Shindo Art Cafe@Marina Cove

It was my birthday last wed. Mike reserved a table at Zen Shindo Art Cafe for a nice dinner. It was our 1st time there and I immediately like the place as I stepped in.The restaurant was quiet and dimly lit with soft jazz music playing in the background. I quite like the comfortable ambiance and also hope the food will not disappoint me.

As we were quite early, only 1 table was occupied with a couple and we were ushered to a corner table covered with black cloth sprinkled with rose petals. I guess this is specially arranged for reserved table only. The young waiter was patient and took time to explain to us the menu and his recommendations. In the end we ordered the 4 course Lobster Set menu at $88.80 for 2  plus 3 jumbo oysters air flown from US at $6.80 each.

Here is the list of our menu

Appetizer
Foie Gras (goose liver)
Sashimi Revolution

Soup
Drunken Lobster Soup x2

Main
Thai Red Lobster Curry Laksa
Spicy Green Mango Lobster

Desserts
Red Wine Ice-cream
Double Bolied Bird Nest

Meddling with this tea light while waiting for food to serve.

Jumbo oyster was very fresh and succulent. Sadly they left only 3pcs.

Foie Gras. Has the usual nutty taste but I thought it had a burnt after taste. Mash potato (yellow strip along plate) was good.

Sashimi Revolution. A very pretty dish with assortment of sword fish, salmon & tuna. I think it was named that way becus the fish was not totally raw but slightly charred & smeared with savory sauce. Swordfish however cud be fresher. It also lack the usual buttery taste.

Drunken Lobster Soup. Not the chowder kind but chinese style. Were given small bowl of chinese wine to add according to our taste. Those who dun like wine can opt this out. I like it due to the heavenly winy taste. But the poor lighting of my camera phone didn't do any justice to this delicious soup..I can just go on & on drinking it..

His innovative way of digging lobster flesh.

Thai Red Lobster Curry Laksa. Thick and super filling. Had this tinge of penarakan taste with strong spice & thick coconut milk. Mike was unable to finish it though..

Spicy Green Mango Lobster. Dish was so beautifully decorated that I admired it for a while before tucking in. Suspiciously looking chawamushi dish is actually mash buttered potato. It came with some greenies & halved lobster with spicy seasoned green mango. It was tasty & I had it all wiped out except for the potato becus I was too filled up from the previous dish.

Close up view of the lobster.

Double Boiled Bird Nest. Very impressed by the artistic appearance with the unique caramelized sugar floss. Mike liked the refreshing bird nest for a change instead of the usual saccharin sweet dessert.

Lastly, my long awaited Red Wine Ice-cream. Glad it was not overly sweet and it has got the distinctive taste of my favorite red wine. Mine came with sugar floss also :) Potion was a bit too small and really got me the urge to order another serving! Can u see the word 食到食管? It shud be written as 馆 actually. Didn't realise it until typing the chinese word. Shall I tell them on the next patronage?

The sun was coming down & I had problem taking proper pics due to my limited phone features(some were taken wth mike's flash). More people were coming in and tables getting filled up. We left the restaurant around 8pm as we wanted to watch the movie 'Prince of Persia:The Sand of Time' at tampines mall. I was so bloated & Mike too probably becus of his big bowl of laksa. The bill came up to $120++ partly due to the oysters we had.

I was a actually a bit uncertain at first about this restaurant when I came to the entrance. The loud mastercard ad on the awning gave me a not so good feeling but luckily I was quickly comforted by the ambiance once stepped in. This place serves interesting fusion food at affordable price and the service is satisfying.The imperfection of this place is it is quite crampy and I remember having to speak in super low voice so the couple near us cud not hear my ramblings on the food. Also this place has no restroom and nearest we can go is Macdonald next door. But overall, the ambiance and food had compensated the bad and both of us had a great time there. Wudn't mind coming back for the interesting dishes and soothing ambiance. Thanks dear, enjoyed that evening.. luv u:)

Zen Shindo Art Cafe

1000, East Coast Parkway

Marine Cove, Unit A-8

Singapore 449876

Tel: 6449 3221

More pics - Fish Mart Sakuraya

Found more pics to share. Lesser choice this round, varieties could have been wiped out during the delivery days  +________+

A close up view of very fresh salmon

Not forgetting the hand rolls

Fish Mart Sakuraya

This is always Mike's choice when we are deciding what to have for dinner at parkway parade. Place there serve very fresh sashimi at a very reasonable price. If you have been there before, you know it is not exactly a restaurant but more like a japanese mart with wooden tables squeezed at the back of the store. Yo do not find typical japanese menu in this place as they serve mainly sashimi, assorted maki & hand roll. Like at a real fish market, the chunks of fresh fish are displayed in the counter refrigerator and you choose the pieces that you like the most and they will bring it over to your table once the chefs have properly prepared the sashimi.

Initially they started with like 3-4 small tables, but as of today, the shop has converted almost half of its size to accommodate the increasing no. of customers. The types of sashimi available varies from week to week and season to season. Fresh sashimi comes in twice a week in tue & fri. On these days, this place will be packed with customers so be sure to come early. Few of our usual selections are salmon belly, swordfish, amber jack, see bream. Sometime we get seasonal items like sanma, half beak, sea urchin, geo duck, huge clam and many more..

We went there again yesterday and tried a new sashimi of half beak (see translucent flesh top right in the pic). The meat is surprisingly sweet & unexpectedly crunchy. This plate of sashimi cost around $80++ and I supposed it will easily cost over $100 at other exquisite japanese restaurants.

One of my favorite ~ unagi hand roll 

If you’re a fan of sashimi, this is a great place to be ;)

Fish Mart  Sakuraya @ Parkway Parade
80 Marine Parade Road
B1-83D
Singapore 449269
Tel : 6345 3714

Intro

I thought I should briefly introduce myself again and the purpose of this blog.

I notice I have been posting many non fishing topic in my main blog 'Minibaker' so I thought it is time for me to create another space so things will be more organized. "Minibaker' was created originally to record all my baking stuffs but it ended up being a fishy blog instead! After all, it happened because I pick up fishing as an interest and started blogging at the same time.

Back to self intro, I am a singapore born chinese girl with an avid love for making and eating good food. I believe in consuming and using organic products which are non-synthetic and using eco-friendly food packaging. During my free time, I love to bake nutritious soft bread and whip out nice dishes that I call 'my own comfort food'. I have an exceptional liking for japanese & korean cuisine which I have spent hours in the kitchen experimenting with recipes I got from the internet & cookbooks. My bf Mike luv to cook also but when he does, I 'll just relax & let him serves:)

I am also a coffee junkie as nothing please me more than a cup of smooth cappuccino & preferably with some home baked pastries. Also explained my blog title 'Minikopi'.

Well..so much for the 'brief' intro. Glad to have your support and wudn't mind u flooding my blog with comments and advices that would be of good help to me.

Have a kopi & relax~~~