Chefs Affair Cookout Boot Camp Comic Strip

Chefs Affair Cookout Boot Camp !

Hello all Chef-wannabes present @ Costa Sands,

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who made time to be at Costa Sands to be part of our 1st ever Chefs Affair Cookout Boot Camp ! For some, it has been almost a case of AWOL, while for some, plenty of assignments due plus being at combat against unrealiable wireless connection to the internet. It also appears that we did not get to visit any of their "facilities" except our good ole bed which gave us such comfortable rest.

It has been a really fun time of relaxation and catching up with one another. Although we did spend a little more time on food, nevertheless, any other moments apart from food has been equally exciting esp. on Tuesday night !

For a start, I have all the pictures on my camera uploaded to my flickr account under "Chefs Affair" (click link to visit album)

Highlights:











I will be happy to make a copy of the pics and video clips taken into a CD-R for you all who were there. Of course, we are looking to remaster some of our clips to make it spicy ! Do look out for them !

I have calculated all the expenses spent on the BBQ and the breakdown is $13.00 per person. I do apologise to those who didn't get to eat as much as they would have liked, we will do a better job of feeding you next time !

Thank you all for your contribution in any way to make this cookout successful and memorable !

Since our attempt at a Wraps Party has been unsuccessful this time round, we are most likely to organise another Wraps Party in December when Nat and Landy had finished their exams.

This is your organiser speaking, *haha*
Shirley

Sun with Moon Japanese Dining and Cafe

Elena, Esther and I went to this restaurant 2 months ago and was quite impressed with the decor and also their food. The price wasn't as exorbitant as we thought it would be since the place looks too classy.

Anyway, we thought pictures speak a thousand words .... so it's better to wow you guys with photos instead !











Sun with Moon Japanese Dining and Cafe
501 Orchard Road #03-15 Wheelock Place
Tel: 6733-6636

Introducing the Chefs Affair

chef
n. A cook, especially the chief cook of a large kitchen staff. [French, short for chef de cuisine, head of the kitchen.]

af·fair
n. 1. Something done or to be done; business. 2. affairs - Transactions and other matters of professional or public business: affairs of state. 3a. An occurrence, event, or matter. 3b. A social function. 4. An object or a contrivance. 5. A matter of personal concern. 6. affairs - Personal business. 7. A matter causing public scandal and controversy. 8. A romantic and sexual relationship, sometimes one of brief duration, between two people who are not married to each other.

As you can see, we are bunch of contributors who are no where near chef status yet but are highly interested in food - both the creation and the tasting affairs of it. We will not only chat about food, dream about food, eat food, drink food, shop food, critic food, compliment food on this blog; but will also share recipes, exchange secrets of the culinary trade and promote the joy of hunting, cooking & eating (food) !!

Kopan Night 4th August

"Kopan Night" !!!!!!!

You must be thinking what on earth is Kopan Night ?! Anyway, this is really long awaited ... because our anchor member of Chefs Affair (most likely to succeed as gourmet chef Malcolm !) had been away in US on holiday for almost 3 mths and as a result, we have been a bit quiet and low-key. But fret no more ! We are now back with a bang !!!

Boy was it a night .... it was Korea + Japan !! Almost like a repeat of World Cup 2002 where the host nations were Korea and Japan. Talking about Korea, did I say I was there last Dec for a family vacation ? Anyway, I found out that Korea was originally spelt as Corea. However, it wasn't well accepted by Japan and after some outbursts, it was officially changed to Korea so that Japan will come alphabetically before Korea ! Talking about stamping its authority ...

First of all, must really thank Malcolm's parents for opening up their house to us. We had his whole family partake in the pigout with us !! Sorry it took a little too long for the food to arrive and when it has arrived, it wasn't piping hot !!! We will do a better job next time ...

So what did we have on the menu ??

Malcolm made his newly-learnt Bibimbap dish from Korea ... short of the stone bowl, most people love it ! Oh yeah, we promise not to rate our own food, else, we will fail miserably, so this event is purely eye-pleasure for you all ... photos and more photos ! We must have spent a good 15 mins trying to take pictures before all the spoons and chopsticks tucked in ...

Elena prepared Japanese Curry with carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and chicken in them ! I made an assorted tray of breadcrumbed stuff - from Corokke to Ebi Furai to Mushroom Furai to Dory Furai ... yes, furai here and furai there !! For Corokke, I tried 2 kinds ... one with bacon bits and another with sauteed minced beef and onion bits. I have to apologise that due to lack of milk in my fridge the potato was less creamy than it should have been ! And well, by the time, the food travelled a good distance of 15 mins in the car, it has gone a little cold and non-crispy ! But hey, food is food ... and we had a good time of fellowship and makanship and movieship and laughship.

What better activity to do after all these food to relax with some nicely prepared plate of oranges, strawberries & pears (compliments of Uncle Sebastian and Aunt Juliet) in front of Big Momma House 2. Highly amusing movie I would say. Kept me entertained and laughing from beginning to end for awhile !!

Thanks to all who took the time to prepare the food and for those who came to join in the fun ! For those who are celebrating joyous occasion - Elena's graduation, Weiyang's enlistment in 4 wks, Malcolm's homecoming, Melissa's Tioman hols tomorrow (!!) .... wow ... you all sure have lots to look forward to. It was really fun and a very different crowd experience .... all centred on food.

P.S - Malcolm, we can keep dreaming about our themed shophouse cafe ... maybe we can get investors to sell the idea to and we can run the operations and become business partners. After all, you are the one with the gourmet skills and I'm the one with the creative ideas .. hahaha .... now now now ... we need people with the money to buy in our ideas ! Any potential and interested stakeholders ?

Handle Bar Outing

Latest Update by Shirley: Prices of Fish & Chips has increased for $16 ... still a huge portion, but for the price ... it's now a luxury item !

Review by Malcolm:

In the midst so much fishy activities going on, I decided to stay out of them for this time so as to stay out of trouble. I had the Cheese Burger @ $12. It was a big beef burger with chips.Chips were very nicely done, crispy and tasty. And it came with a huge beef patty and melted cheese on top on it, slightly dry though. But, The burger buns were HUGE, and plain. Just imagine yourself eating four plain slices of bread. It could do better with sauce on it.

The thing that really impressed me was the place itself. A nice place to chill and hang out, it really felt so laid back, so relaxed. And you have to check out the toilet. Its cool, and they have a cue ball as the tap handle with mutliple motorcycles side mirrors as mirrors. Cool.



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Review by bobochacha:

This will be a really weird entry, not so much of the venue, food or the ambience, but for the simple fact that the restaurant has been located a stone's throw away from our old church at Lock Road and we have never once visited this place !! Every weekend we are in church, this place just has the makings of what a nice alfresco laid back dine and chill out place ought to be ! Plus the fact that it is THE place where you get to see lots of bikers in their bmw, harleys & what-nots ... the crowd can seem a little 'intimidating' !

Anyway, we received a spy food report that Handle Bar serves up good beer-battered fish & chips (I also heard they have good "slap your mama porkchops" - what a strange name for a dish !!) So, it was really a "self-invite" to this makan session last evening for anyone and everyone who can make it. I like this concept ! Post a date, time and venue and whoever wants to come and can come, just join in ! You just never know who's gonna be there and it makes a nice fellowship group too. Being the exams period, I guess some folks who are probably salivating wishing to hear more about the fish & chips had to take a rain check, while others for some reasons of their own decided not to join us. All in all, the highlight was not just the fellowship, it's more for the fish !!!

Okay okay, I know you all are getting impatient, but good things come to those who wait .... organiser was obviously late ! It was a nice cool weather (heaven-blessed by keeping the mozzies away) and the only thing which was marred was probably some tea-light candle on the table so that I can see my food ! But it was okay I guess, being a bar, I think tea-light candles can be quite sissy !! No drinks menu .... hehehe ... feel a bit lost .... does it mean they can make ANY drinks you want ? I ordered a Strawberry Daiquiri .... not bad ... although I would have preferred my drinks a little more chilled.



Since the mission of the outing was to verify the taste of the fish & chips, it should not surprise you to read that 4 of us with the exception of Malcolm all ordered "Beer-Battered Fish & Chips" !! They have the beer-battered and breadcrumb version for those who don't fancy the deep-fried flour batter type at SGD $12.00. Oh yeah, no food menu too, everything is written up on this chalkboard where you can stand in front of it and scrutinize like checking your uni results (well, 15 years ago short of the internet)

When our food finally arrived (after a round of high-carbo cheese fries which at some point I ended up ordering it as "fish fries" and the waiter giving me a really puzzled look) ... voila !!!! Surprise surprise, the fish & chips portion was extravagant .... yes, lots of fries and quite a large piece of fish too !! Happy moment .... happy food ... happy mood .... okay, by this time, you can tell everyone is dying from starvation because some folks in our midst starting talking funny .... (you know who you are ... )



Look at this serving !! Who can beat that ??!?! When I press my knife into the first cut of the fish, I could hear this really low hissing crispy sound made ... yes ... the batter is light and crispy ... but it was welcome by the tenderness of the dory fish ! What I like about it is that there is no "frozen dory" feeling ... you know how some stalls make their fish and you instantly know it came out from those frozen packs of cheap dory and sutchi fillet fish selling at Giant Hypermart ? Not too strong a tinge of beer in the batter (not sure if this is good or bad !) which I feel was delectable enough for me without overpowering the natural taste of the fish. The chips were nothing spectacular for me, but it wasn't soggy, so that's good news. The only let down was a somewhat "red wine infused" tomato sauce which I decided to refrain from indulging in. I know it sounds weird, but there is just this red wine taste in the tomato sauce which we can't make out if it was intentional or a sauce gone bad !

The conversation that night went off tangent many topics - the interesting one was the "Carol story" (current detective story on TCS8) Even with really unconvincing acting, it seems most of us are getting highly entertained and trying to piece all the clues to gether to crack the crime. We are only on Day 14, and there are still 6 days to go before the crime is cracked ... oops, sorry I digress ....

So, what was the damage that night ?!

Fish & Chips SGD $12.00
Cheese Burger SGD $12.00
A glass of Heineken Beer SGD $5.40
Strawberry Daiquiri SGD $9.00
Lime Juice SGD $4.50
Cheese Fries SGD $8.00

No GST charges, just the basic service and cess charges. But for a wonderful night out (though no stars in the sky), nice relaxed ambience, and great friendship - priceless ! Thank you all who were there and make the evening fun ....



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Review by elenana:

Remember to make reservations in advance or you can stand there and queue for the night, especially during the weekends.

Gyu-Kaku

Gyu-Kaku is a Japanese Yakiniku restaurant which originates from Japan. Back in 2004, when I visited Hiroko in Japan, this is the place she took me to where I have my first experience in Beef Tongue ! Contrary to what most people think and associate with beef tongue, it actually is a very gastronomical experience !

Anyway, Elena and I visited Gyu-Kaku after I chanced upon the outlet in Chjimes almost 2 mths ago. I know I have to visit this place someday and indeed I wasn't disappointed. What's so special about Yakiniku ?! Well, they use a special japanese stove which uses charcoal. Yes, you will call it the typical BBQ we have grilling meat right ? But this is BBQ with style and aircon ! :)

Anyway, after going through the menu which serves lots of nice and yummy food, we decided to try the Ninja set since it is our first visit. It gives a nice decent portion for 2 person which comprises of :

Raw Cabbage with sesame seed oil sprinkled over it
Assorted lettuce, arrowhead salad with sesame oil
Tare Karubi (Beef slices with garlic, lemon pressed soyu sauce)
Tongue Shio (Beef tongue)
Pork slices (with lots of fat !!!)
Teriyaki Chicken
Ika with butter and garlic (Squid)
Sanchu
Rice
Almond Jelly as dessert

We decided to order some additional dishes - Shitake mushrooms which was really yummy when we grill it over the fire, Black Pepper Karubi (more beef!) and the famous Wagyu Beef. Seriously, if you have never tried it before, do find the chance to. Once you tried Wagyu, you will know why it's choiced and premium beef. I tell you, I was really salivating !!!

Oh yeah, the restaurant at UE Square has a nice ambience, although the aircon was a tad too cold for us, if not for the fire over the charcoal which kept us warm. The interior is mostly black and makes it really mysterious and sexy. There's a section which has sheer curtain to partition off the section, which looks really cozy there. They also have alfresco, but those who prefer to enjoy the nice warm weather in Singapore.