Where To Eat: Say Chiizu, Lavo, Huoyanshaiziniu And Kimme

Here’s one more pretty snack for your Instagram feed: Hokkaido-style cheese toast boasting comically stretchy cheese. Say Chiizu (“chiizu” is how the Japanese pronounce ‘cheese’) is actually a Thai brand with six outlets in Bangkok. It has opened its first franchised Singapore outpost with an ambitious four outlets islandwide. One of the local franchise co-owners is Tanglin actor Nat Ho (who also co-owns Taiwanese bubble tea brand Bobii Frutii; its Clementi Mall outlet shares a space with Say Chiizu). At the moment, there are just three types of cheese toast on the menu at this takeaway kiosk: Original, Charcoal and Chocolate (all $3.80). Each sandwich features Hokkaido milk toast hugging “a blend of fresh cheeses” which includes housemade mozzarella. As Say Chiizu had started out as a cheese fries shop in Bangkok, there will also be cheese fries offered at a later date.

Four outlets including #B2-K16, VivoCity, 1 Harbourfront Walk, S098585. Open daily 10am-10pm. Last orders at 9.45pm. www.facebook.com/saychiizu.sg

Move over, Ah Zong Mian Xian; grilled beef cubes has rapidly won the hearts of the hungry crowds thronging Taiwan’s night markets in recent years. And now, two young Singaporean F&B towkays have set up a takeaway kiosk at Plaza Singapura selling just that. Called Huoyanshaiziniu (which means ‘diced, flamed beef cubes’ in Mandarin), the stall will open sometime end Jan or early Feb, serving Angus rib-eye beef cubes cooked on a teppanyaki griddle. You can choose from three types of seasoning for your bite-sized beef — garlic powder, seaweed powder and yakitori sauce. Owners Sean Lee, 23, and Cheo Tian Feng, 21, had created their own brand which they named after the beef cube dish. The two pals are fresh out of NS, and this is Sean’s first foray into F&B, while Tian Feng’s family owns the No Signboard chain of restaurants. The menu will offer only Australian Angus rib-eye beef cubes served on their own ($6.90 for 130g) or as a rice set with Japanese rice ($8). Local staff (instead of a Taiwanese street hawker) will be behind the grill. Oh, and don’t expect wagyu anytime soon. “We have experimented with different types of beef and found that Angus rib-eye works the best [for this dish],” Sean explains.

Opens end Jan/early Feb, #B2-49 Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Rd, S238839. www.facebook.com/pg/huoyanshaiziniu

Set up by one Michelin-starred Meta’s Korean chef Sun Kim (Kimme is his nickname), this bistro is a casual spinoff of Meta’s refined mod European cuisine with Korean inflections. It’s helmed by Singaporean chef Louis Han, who previously worked as sous chef in Meta. Compared to Meta’s five or seven-course tasting menu ($108 and $148), the price for dinner at Kimme is around $70-$100, including drinks. Light bites include the Shima Aji Tartare ($36, pictured), chopped fresh striped horse mackerel dressed in soy and mirin, and finished with grated salted egg yolk and Oscietra caviar. Fans of Korean fare can share the Bossam ($35; feeds 2-3 pax): 12-hour slow-cooked pork belly marinated in Korean soybean paste, soy sauce and coffee powder, served with endive leaves, homemade Ssamjang (a spicy fermented bean paste dipping sauce) and white kimchi. Wash it all down with Korean-inspired cocktails such as the Cosmo’Seoul’itan ($22), a twist on the classic Cosmopolitan, shaken with vodka, pomegranate lime vinegar and ginger liqueur.

47 Amoy St. Tel: 6514-1588. Open Mon-Sat. Noon-2.30pm, 5.30pm-11pm. Last orders at 11pm. www.kimmerestaurant.com