Laksa & Grilled Fish

I should be more diligent about the diet. It's not about sugar or fats or oil. Those are easily sorted and I'm not into those anyway. I just have a problem with salt — I love it too much. I'm just lucky that the kidney readings, cholesterol and blood pressure levels haven't been affected. Still. In addition, I have slackened off and grown careless with shellfish and beef. I generally ignore chicken and eat it sparingly in a year, so that quota will remain. Need to decrease beef intake by A LOT, and drastically cut shellfish although I really like them. I ought to get back to a stricter diet to bring down those allergens in the blood. Popping antihistamines like candy isn’t a solution. I would have cheat days, of course, but those wouldn’t be a binge, and it ought to be done in moderation.

Lunched at 15 on Stamford by Alvin Leung twice in two weeks crossing 2020 and 2021 because it’s a nice place, and the Amex discounts are great. Heh. It's conveniently located lah, and the menu offers plenty of choices in terms of fish and vegetables. Meat eaters won’t be left out either. I really like the kitchen's trademark Asian twists to the sauces and the treatment of ingredients. 

Prawns & Gin!

Ended the year with a lovely lunch with V. I must meet her before the year was out, and I'll see her regularly again in this year. Shared a refreshing Yellowtail Amberjack ceviche marinated in yuzu gel, scallion oil, garlic, chilli and ponzu. This item might just be my favorite combo for ceviche at this restaurant. I didn't feel like champagne or prosecco. Decided that gin should accompany the spices in the meal. 

Today, I was here for the laksa, which isn’t part of the food discounts. Didn’t matter. I wanted to try, and it was worth it. Absolutely delicious. The laksa held a bit of fire, but didn't go overboard. I didn't want to pile on the sambal either because the rich stock was delicious. I didn’t really want to think about the prawn heads and shells in the stock and gravy. Hurhurhur. However, that would be killer to the system, already. So I gave up the gorgeously grilled prawn (which smelt divine) and reluctantly handed it over to V. Who happily nibbled it all. 

Grilled Fish & Wine!

Began the year with a long-awaited lunch with M. This is like our quarterly meet. I don't get to see her often, and lockdowns reduced the dates, so this afternoon was precious. M is pescetarian, and doesn't do raw fish. 15 on Stamford's menu offers her plenty of choices. She had a Norwegian salmon with konbu ponzu, bonito egg curd and shiro miso broth. It was a relief to see it appear without being drowned in gravy. I do like how the restaurant goes gentle on sauces and gravy. It's not voluminous and the sauces are light on the palate too. I suppose one could request for all sauces to be served at the side too. 

Somehow, the kitchen got our orders confused with another table's, and I ended up with a complimentary New Zealand King Salmon ceviche marinated with kaffir lime, honey, pineapple, Thai basil, toasted Jin Long Yu rice powder and sakura ebi. Kinda hilarious that it appeared on the table because this is one ceviche I haven't tried. I brushed away all the sakura ebi. Not eating them. Okaaaay, while the marinade is a great combination of curing juices, I'm not hot about salmon or sakura ebi, so this is definitely not my favorite ceviche. I opted for a Hiramasa Kingfish with ketchup shallot vinaigrette. It was a huge fillet, and I was stuffed. Fish can be so filling. We shared the grilled eggplant in saikyo miso and nanami chilli pepper, and blanched morning glory in shallot oil, and to go easy on the pork lard.