Akanoya Robatayaki

This restaurant was a last minute decision to pre-empt an otherwise boring weekend stuck in town. We decided to splurge a little on some good Japanese food and Akanoya came to mind. Located in the Orchard Parade Hotel downtown Singapore, the restaurant was a noisy, bustling joint that seemed to have created an authentic dining experience right out of Tokyo. Even the waiters appeared to be mostly Japanese.

Food was served robatayaki style, prepared, cooked and handed to you via a long wooden paddle as you sat in front of the counter and watched the chefs at work. We ordered an array of dishes, from grilled tatami fish, vegetables to seafood, beef, pork and gingko nuts. Highlights of the meal were the jumbo prawns, wagyu beef and Hokkaido crab legs.

Only top quality ingredients could transform a simple grilled vegetable or fish into a mouthwatering feast. All this can sometimes make robatayaki a pricey indulgence that some would be unwillingly to pay for simply grilled food items.

Akanoya is located at 1 Tanglin Road, #01-01, Orchard Parade Hotel, Singapore. Tel: +65-6732-1866.

Mr&Mrs Bund for lunch

Ok, I have to admit, I can't seem to get enough of this restaurant along the Bund. Food is excellent and always innovative and not too experimental, service is very good by Shanghai standards, and to top it all off, the location is perfect for a meal out on the Bund.

Few restaurants draw me back to this part of town as often as Mr&Mrs Bund, save for M on the Bund and Jean Georges. Typically, out of habit, I would head to M on the Bund for my last supper (heheh) on my last day in town, but today I felt like trying the the lunch at Mr&Mrs Bund. I was pleased to discover that they had a reasonably priced lunch set menu, with a number of my favorite dishes on it too.

But today, I opted to try only new dishes, so I picked the grilled cold chicken breast starter, the black rod steamed in a bag and their signature dessert, Lemon and Lemon tart. The chicken starter was an unusually large serving, but tasted fantastic even when cold.

The black cod was excellent as usual, and was always my favorite comfort food here. The dessert was quite interesting, consisting of a large lemon served on a plate with a biscuit. As I broke the skin of the lemon, I found lemon cream, orange slices and sorbet inside, quite the visual treat. The waiter informed me that the candied lemon rind was edible too.

Overall, I was pleased with my lunch experience, and this will definitely be on my list of top lunch venues if I can find the time while in Shanghai.