Christmas Buffet at STREET 50 at Bay Hotel

I have featured STREET50, a restaurant tucked in a boutique hotel just off the bridge from Sentosa. The food is rather interesting, and they make seasonal changes to the menu for National Day, Christmas, etc. Today, I managed to preview the Christmas menu which I find rather interesting. Thanks to Wendy and Xiowei of Pink Publicists for inviting and hosting.

The Christmas menu features a huge selection of delicacies, amongst which I highlight some in this post.

I start with the featured drink...the Glitter Jubilee...rather refreshing concoction with rum, and flakes of gold.

But on to some of the dishes...I found the Honey Baked Chicken Ham to be quite good.

A Street 50 Signature complete with Cranberry Chutney, Peach Compote, Mint Raita & Chestnut Sauce, the ham was nicely seasoned, and very tender and moist on the palate. This is available for take away as well.

A Tender Duckling Breast with Cranberry & Calvados was next. 

Succulent duckling breast accompanied with fresh cranberry sauce and apple brandy. I found the duck a bit on the gamey side. I am not particularly thrilled with the gamey flavour of duck, but I know some of you are rather fond of this. Apart from that, the duck was perfectly roasted, the meat slightly pink on the inside, and nice and honey brown on the skin. The duck was very tender, with a sliver of fat under the skin. 

I loved this dish, on the regular menu, but also available for their Christmas buffets

Called Tom Yum Flair, it has a strong lemongrass flavour which is very tom yum, yet served with spaghetti and seafood, featuring fresh mussels and half a rock lobster. I found this to be very good, if a bit spicy. I had mixed feelings about this dish when I first tried it a couple of years ago, also here in STREET50, but this time, I found it very satisfying. Definitely a thumbs up for me.

We ended with a sweet note of their version of a Christmas Trifle with cranberry. 

Suberb. Rich but not coy. Sweet but not overly so. Beautifully balanced with the tart and sour accents offered by the fruits. Very nice. 

Interesting menu offering...quite complicated, with many options on pricing for lunch, dinner and on the actual holiday dates and eves. Prices range from S$38 for lunch, S$48 for dinner and $88 for the holiday dates, with specials for senior citizens and kids (who eat for free with each paying adult). Conditions apply.

STREET 50 Restaurant and Bar
Bay Hotel, 50 Telok Blangah Road
6818 6681

Paradise Pavillon

Paradise Group is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Singapore dining scene. Their restaurants maintain a rather high standard throughout, but a few of them are outstanding. One is the Taste Paradise, another is their Paradise Inn. And today, we feature their Paradise Pavillon.

The first thing that catches the eye and one's nostrils as one enters the restaurant is the huge ovens used for roasting ducks. Peking Duck is a delicacy in China. Indeed, I have recently tasted the best of the best in Beijing...the Da Dong Restaurant's Peking Duck is par excellence. Da Dong was certainly the best interpretation I have tasted. The very famous Quan Jude, also in Beijing pales in comparison. And in Singapore, Imperial Treasure's Super Peking Duck restaurant in Paragon is one other temple for Peking Duck. And recently, Paradise Pavillon.

The chefs in charge of the ducks, I understand, were trained in Quan Jude, and they use apple wood to produce the fire and smoke to roast the duck. But more on this later.

We were there for a banquet, my mother's birthday dinner, so we began with a special appetizer.

From foreground, the grilled Hokkaido scallop, the chilled Japanese cucumber and cheese bacon roll. All rather tasty, but I feel, perhaps the cucumber was a bit of a "cheat" to a meal which is rather expensive. But from a taste and presentation standpoint, it was very good.

Next up, double boiled superior shark's Fin with fish maw in shark's cartilage soup.

Yes, we do still eat sharks, but we also eat all the shark. The meat is used elsewhere, and in this dish, we have the shark's fin and cartilage. The soup was superior stock, very nice, thick, tasty. The shark's fin provided some crunch and texture which contrasts to the soft, tender, almost melting texture of the fish maw and the firm crunch of the cartillage. For me, this was the highlight of the evening's dishes.

We were then served pan seared king prawns with black truffle

The prawn was certainly very large. Nice, fresh, crunchy. The seasoning was a tad strong, but still quite delicious. I hardly tasted or felt the presence of the black truffle safe for a tinge of the aroma.

Next dish is the steamed live Marble Goby with chilli

This a very traditional dish, though at home, most would use garoupa instead of a live fish like marble goby. The fish was fresh, of course! and the steaming was done perfect. Just a bit pink at the bone, but the meat cooked throughout. Presented in this fashion, the fish was delicious. Tender but not overly so. Sweet, rich, fresh.

The Peking duck was next

Brought to the table whole, like in Da Dong, but an additional cost privillage in Quan Jude in Beijing. And carved insitu

Interestingly, the a sliver of only crispy skin was served to be eaten with sugar...a presentation pioneered by Da Dong, and not practiced in Quan Jude, where the chefs hail from. This style of presentation is also used in Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck.

And the rest of the duck was sliced skin and meat, to be eaten with wrapped around the pancake.

For me, the shadow cast by Da Dong is just too long. Nothing compares to the supreme taste of their duck. So this too pales in comparison. But nearer to home, I think Paradise Pavillon's duck also loses out to Imperial's.

After the duck, a braised edamame tobu with crab meat and chinese spinach in Tham's brown sauce was served

Much like a dumpling...the brown sauce, given its interesting name...the restaurant never did explain who Tham was or why the sauce was attributed to him. The dish was tasty, but not spectacularly so.

Noodles next

Fish noodles...where the noodle is made from fish is getting more common. Fish meat is mashed and made into noodles, and wok fried in shrimp stock. I found this dish to be quite nice. The noodles were more springy than regular flour made noodles...perhaps the mashed protein of the fish entangle with each other to form this springy noodle. And the stock very nice.

And for desserts, two style of pastry

Quite interesting too, but nothing special.

Reasonably tasty dinner, especially banquet style for a table of 12, but I felt a bit expensive for the quality of the food. The shark's fin soup was the highlight, and the Peking Duck, which I was looking forward to all evening was a minor let-down.

Paradise Pavillon
8A Marina Boulevard, #02-01 Marina Bay Link Mall

Saveur, now in Purvis Street as a restaurant!

Saveur...a little French stall in a coffee shop in Joo Chiat makes it big...after a while (I am not sure how long) in the coffee shop, the owners decided they wanted a restaurant. Reopened at Purvis Street, at the premises formerly occupied by Restaurant Ten, long queues form just before opening.

We arrived at about 11:40am, opening time was noon, and we were already second in the queue. The line grew to more than 20 pax by the time the restaurant was opened...and as it was barely 2 weeks old then, we observed the staff across the road at Gunter's curiously peeking out to look at the queue.

Much has been said about the food...once opened, the service was brisk and quite nice. Orders taken, and very soon...what seemed like perhaps a minute or so, the first course arrived.

As we were in the vicinity of Gunter's...and the menu offered it...we had to have the angelhair pasta. Served with prawns and caviar:

But the boys at Gunter's can rest easy. Other than the size of the serving was probably 3 times larger at Saveur and the price a quarter of theirs, Gunter's still hold my best experience with chilled angel hair pasta with caviar.

The Saveur's version was served room temperature. I guess it must have been prepared earlier, and perhaps even plated earlier. The angelhair was dry, and almost tasteless. I had to ask for a little more olive oil to add some flavour. All the flavour was in the prawns, which was a tad over-seasoned. I think the dish would be better if some of the flavours from the prawns had somehow migrated to the pasta giving some life to the otherwise dead tasting angelhair. Not my favourite dish.

I ordered the duck confit...a must eat dish according to many in the blogosphere

This was also pre-prepared...I expect the confit to be prepared before...afterall it takes a long time to confit a duck, but I expected it to be nicely crisped in the pan before service. The duck was crisped, but not nearly enough. The meat was mild flavoured...which I quite liked. Overall, not a bad confit...especially considering that it was $8.90...even cheaper than at La Petite Cuisine.

Lionel had the beef burgogne.

I took a slice to taste...it was a tad heavy in seasoning...but only a tad. But was nice, tender, melt in your mouth beef cheeks. For me, perhaps this was the best dish, though I am reasonably happy with my duck confit.

The mains are served with some vegetables, mushrooms and sat on top of a dollop of mashed potatoes. We suspected this was not made in-situ, but prepared from the instant powdered style. It was smooth, creamy, and tasted mildly of potato. Not the same as the superbly flavoured one served by Damien D'Silva at the now defunct Big D Grill.

Overall, considering the price, I enjoyed the meal. Cheap. But if you are intending to saveur (pun intended) the delights of French cuisine, you will be disappointed...especially if you are well versed with the French culinary capabilities found elsewhere in Singapore and of course France.

Saveur
5 Purvis Street #01-04
6333 3121
12-3pm, 6-9.30pm
Walk in customers only

The Well Tempered Wok: Imperial Treasure: Super Peking Duck

Lunch to introduce the world premiere of the MBF Horological Machine No 4

The world premiere of Max Busser's HM4 was done in Singapore...and a number of collectors, journalists were invited to view the timepiece and for lunch. The watch can be viewed in my report here. Here is the report on the excellent lunch.

It is one thing for a restaurant to specialize in a singular, spectacular dish, and quite another to proclaim it proudly as part of its name. As the name implies, this branch of Imperial Treasure restaurant specializes in Peking Duck.

Imperial Treasure is reputed to be a spin off from the very successful Crystal Jade. Many foodies proclaim the cooking at Imperial is even better than Crystal Jade. I have been eating at the Imperial Treasures branch at Great World City for a while, and on this occassion, had the pleasure to sample the greats at the Paragon outlet.

We started with starters...of course...which is a selection of 5 treasures...cured ham, jelly fish, slow braised mushroom and bean curd. Very nice. The flavours very intense.



A double boiled yellow melon soup with diced seafood was next:



The melon was used as a container...steamed till soft. The soup was rather tasty...with a good breath of the sea and a wonderful aroma.

Fish was next:



The fish was a lightly steamed cod. The fish was steamed just perfect. Fish, especially oily fish like cod is quite easy to overcook...rendering the fat, and making the dish unpalatable. Cooking it perfectly will make the dish come to life, and nothing more is needed but a splash of soy sauce, and aome sprigs of spring onion and ginger to coax even more out of the dish. Shiok fish.

Often, the simplest of dishes are the ones which show off the skills of the chef, but sometimes, a complex dish is needed.

The speciality of Peking duck is one such interesting dish. The duck is a prepared according to a complicated recipe...long and very skill intensive, laborious process to get the duck just right...perfectly crispy skin with a beautiful golden brown glistening finish, juicy succulent meat.

The chefs at Imperial Treasure are grandmasters at the art.

The entire duck is delivered into the kitchen, with much pomp and some fanfare...akind to how a 3 starred Michelin restaurant would present their piece de resistanc. Each duck, glistening in its glazed skin is delivered whole in its own trolley:



The glazed skin is the prized part of the duck. Like the Rochat duck which I had at Hotel de Ville in Crisser some years ago, which also glistened. This duck was resplendent. Beautiful colour. Wonderful texture:



Gorgeous! The skin looked like it is no longer attached to the meat within, but appears to be separated from its own flesh by a layer of air. Indeed, this is part of the technique of the Peking Duck. The chef appears...and skillfully, with just a pitched fork and sharp knife, removes the skin from the duck.

The presentation, as it is plated is also interesting:



Typically the duck is sliced such that the skin and a sliver of fat is removed from the bird. This is dipped into a sweet bean paste, and wrapped with a sprig of spring onion into a lightly toasted pancake. But in this case, the chef showed his virtuosity by not only delivering the duck in a somewhat traditional manner as shown left, but also included a small piece of pure duck skin...no fat, just brilliantly crisped skin, au natural. And advised it to be eaten whole with a touch of regular sugar. I must say, this is the first I have ever encountered duck skin to be eaten in this manner...but the chef knows his duck. Amazingly to me, the sugar brought out the dark mollass flavour of the skin (no doubt because most of the glazing is done with a mixture of malt syrup and vinegar). Perfect!

The rest of the duck is served in a duck shaped dish...skin and meat together.



This was also rather nice. The skin remained light and crispy and the meat a bit powdery...but not quite...still quite moist and juicy, cooked just perfect. Exceptional, and I dare say, one of the best ducks I have ever had, including several samplings of Peking duck in Beijing, Hong Kong and even the famous Four Seasons in London as well as the aforementioned Rochat at Crisser.

Fish maw served with live prawns were next:



Again, the chef's ability to control his cooking is well demonstrated. Perfectly cooked...the maw requires long cooking to render it soft and gelatenous in texture. The prawn only needs a short while to cook, as its meat is low on collagen and connective tissue. Both were cooked perfect, allowing the flavours of the ingredients to shine. The two small broccoli only adds to the color and visual impact of the dish, but also complements the taste of the maw and the prawn.

Vegetables were sauteed lettuce stem with lingzi mushroom



Incredibly simple...simmered vegetables - unusual choice too...lettuce stem, which is often just thrown away is simmered till almost tender, operative word being almost...a demonstration of the well tempered...still crunchy and have absorbed the braising liquid well. The mushroom had a great umami flavour, and complemented the vegetables well Tasty.

Noodles was in the form of Mee Pok stewed with egg plant in an XO sauce



What sets this apart from the $3 bowl of mee pok tar (bah chor mee) you can get at hawker stalls around the island is the braising liquid used. The mee pok was cooked just right...I am not sure if the Chinese, or Cantonese have the concept of Al Dente, but the term serves the texture, and feel of the noodles rather well. The sauce, which is also the braising liquid is quite specatcular. Savoury, it is rich and full bodied on the palate. Punctuated with spicy and pungent slices of cut chilli padi, this makes a very good mee pok.

The dessert is an unusual one. Two light steamed buns apperared. One lighter than the other.



Within the darker one, black sesame paste. Within the lighter one, a very light custard paste. Delectable.

I have included the Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck Restaurant as one of the restaurants, which to me qualifies to be known Well Tempered. The chef(s) demonstrated their ability to select excellent fresh ingredients, but also mastered the control of the fire to ensure that the dishes are able to fully develop in flavour, taste and visual impact.


Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck Restaurant (Paragon)
290 Orchard Road
#05-42/45 Paragon
Tel: 6732 7838

Tateru Yoshino - Tokyo, Japan

One of the newly minted Michelin rated restaurants in Japan, Tateru Yoshino is a gem within the busy Shiodome area. Perched atop level 25, at the looby level of Park Hotel at the Shiodome Media Tower, this is a very small eatery - only 22 seats. Chef Yoshino prefers to keep his restaurants small to ensure high quality of cooking and service. The restaurant was brightly lit, with sunlight streaming in from the large windows.

This restaurant is one of two which were awarded the coveted Michelin 1 star belonging to gifted chef Yoshino. Co-incidentally, Shiodome Park Hotel also features another 1 star Michelin restaurant within the same premises.

As I usually stay at the Park Hotel, I took the opportunity to visit and have lunch with my wife on 21 April 2008. The set lunch was very reasonably priced at Y3675 for a 4 course meal comprising of Amuse-bouche, soup, main course, petite dessert, coffee/tea.

The Amuse-bouche was a breaded deep fried quail's egg, and tuna. Despite being deep fried, the egg had a light, crunchy crust, and the insides still soft.

The soup of the day was pumpkin soup. Very fine, subtle taste. As is typical of Michelin style restaurants, the soup featured a fine foam, with a sprinking of thinly sliced parma ham.

Kin had the duck breast, which was stuffed with foie gras. A magnificiently piece of duck was roasted, and then pan fried, and served with a stuffing of the some very good goose foie gras.

The skin was perfectly seared, crispy, and the thin layer of fat just below the skin would burst into a wonderful flavour in the mouth as one bites on the morsel. The foie gras was tender, creamy, and extremely rich. Tasty!

I had the veal, seasoned only with Japanese sea salt and pepper. The veal was done just right, with a hint of red within, and perfectly seared on the outside. The meat was tender, juicy with no hint of fat.

Dessert and petite fours was next. Dessert was a wonderful sorbet of raspberry, and a small slice of mango flavoured cake.

Petite Fours was a good selection of various sweets. We had one of each. The macarons are a speciality of Chef Yoshino...3 different types were offered.

Interesting meal. A typical one star Michelin meal in Europe would cost at least Euro80 per head, even for lunch, so Y3675 (which converts to approx US$36.75 at time of the meal, or S$49) is pretty good value for this very high level of cooking and very attentive service.

gastronomie francais tateru yoshino
Park Hotel
Shiodome Media Center
Tokyo

http://www.tateruyoshino.com/english/top.html