I am officially in my late twenties + one month T_T

It is not so much about growing older... It's more of having to conform to society's requirements of what I am supposed to achieve at this age and then realise I'm nowhere near. 

I have no idea why I'm not that big on birthday celebrations especially when my parents held birthday parties for my siblings and I when we were young. There was always a huge cake, nuggets, hot dogs, frozen fries and a table full of food. Funny how I don't care for birthday presents nor celebrate extravagantly on my birthdays when I'm all grown up. Probably because I don't need an occasion to eat cakes haha. As long as the day is filled with delicious food, I'm contented.

So anyway, the 25th of July fell on a Saturday this year and I had brunch at Artistry with my girlfriends! Food wasn't too bad overall, the best was probably the french toast.

The girls and I hung out a little more after brunch till it was time for me to head home to prepare for dinner with H. H made a reservation at L'Atelier Joel Robuchon @ RWS and we were both reallyyyyyy excited to dine there ever since that super awesome lunch we had at Joel Robuchon Tokyo exactly 3 years ago on my birthday too! We rarely splurge and indulge ourselves in such an expensive meal, probably once a year, so it was well-deserved! 

I believe the restaurant bakes the bread in-house. I really enjoyed the croissants and sundried tomato ones!

H and I both ordered the Discovery Menu so we each had about 10 courses. There were some hits and misses but the thing about fine dining is, it doesn't matter what you serve me because I will finish everything even though I don't normally eat that certain food. For example, artichoke. Everything on the plate just tastes yummy I don't know why?!

This was probably my favourite for the night! Sea bream with caviar! I couldn't figure out what was that green web vegetable looking thing but it was awesome.

Said artichoke. Tempura style and it was aahhhmazinggg

OMG. FOIE GRAS. OMG.

Dessert was incredibly yummy. I especially love the chocolate dome!

Lemon madeleine to go with coffee/tea. This is definitely one of the best madeleines I've ever had, loved the subtle lemon flavour in it!

Anyway, I didn't mention or post pictures of our main dishes (quail for me, beef for H) because they weren't exactly fantastic and we did not enjoy them at all. Everything else was good though!

And that was how I spent my day! :D

It Was My Birthday!

I didn't spend my birthday this year in a foreign land because H and I had a wedding to attend but we are making up for it by visiting Perth today! Have always wanted to visit down under together, rent a car and just go on a road trip! As H couldn't take too many days off work, flying all the way to Melbourne/Sydney would be a waste since we are unable to fully tour the cities in <5 days, so the nearest Australian city it was! :D

Birthday outfit:

I was in the mood for Spanish tapas so my birthday dinner was at Sabio by the Sea at Quayside Isle. They do have another outlet at Duxton which doesn't take reservations.

The restaurant takes up a huge stretch so you definitely wouldn't miss it. I love the open-concept, industrial design and chill vibes of the place but do note there's no air-con even if you choose indoor seating. Thankfully, the weather wasn't too hot/humid in the evening!

I LOVE Spanish tapas and I've been spoilt rotten by all the fantastic tapas I've tried in Barcelona so there is already a high benchmark.

First dish - Jamon Serrano (50 grams)

MUST ORDER whenever you visit a tapas joint!

Dry cured Serrano mountain ham which was so yummy?!???!!

Chorizo Iberico

I love chorizos because they have a tinge of spiciness - my favourite kinda sausage!

This was worth ordering too *slurps*

Pan-fried Calamari

It was good but nothing fantastic.

H loved it though.

Then again, he loved everything we had that night haha

Patatas Aioli (Fried Potatoes with Garlic Mayonnaise)

I was looking forward to this plate the most because the ones I had in Barcelona 

were sooooo good like you couldn't believe that potatoes could actually taste so good 

when they are just fried and drizzled with sauce.

These tasted just like your average potato wedges with garlic mayo >:(

I was immensely disappointed cause they were nothing like the cubed patatas 

drenched in slightly spicy mayo I had. 

But H loved it. 

Told you he loved everything!

Mussels in Tomato Sauce

This huge bowl was pretty worth it for $16! 

Cooked with tomato sauce, onions and red wine (?), the sauce was yums!

Spanish Omelette

Very simple ingredients of potatoes and onions in the omelette 

but one of my favourite Spanish dishes!

Sadly, the rendition at Sabio's wasn't that good 

because they seem to have forgotten the seasoning.

We were already full after having the above but dessert was a must!

I was bent on having churros to make the meal complete 

then I realised the churros were coated in sugar which I don't really fancy... 

(I prefer icing sugar)

Then I saw the House's Signature Dessert - Salty Butter Caramel Lava Cake.

OKAY SET!

BEST. DESSERT. EVER.

The salted caramel wasn't sickening sweet so it leaves you wanting MORE.

And the salted caramel ice-cream was the best I had.

I would've licked the plate clean if the couple beside us wasn't that prim and proper...

What could be better than chocolate lava cakes?

Now you know.

Winning dish!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention my glass of Red Sangria was just so-so.

Passionfruit Meringue Cake from The Patissier which was yummy! 

The Patissier does have pretty decent cakes.

I wish for happiness every day of the year.

xx

Still in Tokyo...

 Pretty roses for me when I woke up on the morning of my birthday :)

2.5 months late but Finally! 

My birthday post where I was Queen for the day!

H brought me to Joel Robouchon, a 3-star Michelin restaurant for lunch.

Very personal and attentive service. 

The waiter took time to explain the dishes to us each time 

he served us a course which was thumbs up so we know exactly what we were eating 

right down to the tiniest detail.

 Very elegant interior!

 Pretty diamantes dressed our dining table

Amuse bouche,

Tasted like tomato mixed with berries

Even the almond on the spoon was yummy I couldn't believe it!!

 H had the poultry and duck liver galantine which I wasn't too keen on

 My entree - sautéed squid with edamame, edamame puree, squid ink 

and I cannot remember what's that yellow string thing at the top.

Every. Single. Component. That makes up this dish was SO GOOD 

I can still vividly remember the taste!

For fish, H had the dory

 And I had the pan fried isaki!

 My accompanying eggplant

 And for meat, I had the quail!

If I remember right, that's duck liver pate on toast.

*thumbs up!*

 H's grilled wagyu beef

I quote, 

"The best I've ever eaten," and 

"It literally melts in your mouth."

 Pre-dessert to clean our palate

H's fresh mango and yogurt smooth cream

And my Orizaba chocolate dome with coffee mousse.

Can I just say this was sooooo delicious????!!!!

Very rich chocolate yet doesn't make you feel sick after a few mouthfuls.

You can taste all the different flavours!

 Coffee dessert!

 The Joel Robuchon building at Ebisu Garden

 What a pretty face with the trimmed brows hahaha

 You know, just posing at my chateau ;)

 Birthday outfit :)

Prince Charming... *love eyes emoticon*

The staff gave me lemon brioche bread as a birthday gift!

As expected, it was niceeee!

So soft and sweet!

Then we were off to do some shopping after lunch at Harajuku till dinner time
'cause that was where our dinner was at!

Birthday dinner was in a cave with an extremely long name!

I found it randomly because this other affordable Michelin restaurant
was fully booked for dinnerthe entire week we were in Tokyo
(and we called a month in advance!!) 

and I wanted kaiseiki style.

 Restaurant entrance

Agaru Sagaru doesn't accept walk-ins and the waiter/chefs speak limited English.

We were lucky H's ex-colleague who's a Japanese helped us make the reservation! :)

 That's the boss on the extreme left

He speaks veryyyy little English but he tried his best explaining every dish to us.

100 points for effort!

Menu was in Japanese so we settled for the 8-course set menu 

which everyone else in the restaurant was having as well.
I didn't know what I was eating but I finished everything.
An adventure for the tastebuds ;)

It was a feast for the eyes sitting by the counter 

watching the chefs work and anticipating our next course!

 A type of eel (forgot the name) with the omgsuperyummy accompanying sauce!!!

 Tamago with some warm salty gravy!

We licked the bowl clean :)

 Fishcake noodles shaped like sushis

Refreshingly different and very good!!

The dish I looked forward to most 'cause I love baked potatoes!!!

 But it was a tad disappointing :(

I don't know if it's because I changed it to fish that altered the entire taste...

But this dish was pretty dry.

 Cannot remember what this was :(

But it was good and the flower can be eaten! haha

 Not the best sushi platter I've eaten and I can never swallow raw chewy squid :(

Desserts

Tomato sorbet, mousse, jelly and cake!

This set menu was surprisingly affordable (Tokyo's standard) at 4000yen (~$64) per person 

and I would recommend it to anyone who has never tried kaiseiki style Japanese dinner.
The chef mentioned that they change their set menu every month
so you probably wouldn't get to try what we had in July!

But of course, it can't be compared to the amazingggg lunch we had earlier ;)
To more Michelin meals!