The Square @ Novotel Clarke Quay

Usher in the Year of the Monkey at The Square Restaurant at Novotel Clarke Quay. Buffet dinner is competitively priced at $58++, and one gets to enjoy free-flow of soft-drinks for buffet dinners on 8th and 9th February. Not only that, there is also a do-it-yourself yusheng station for that toss of prosperity and good health.

The Square is located at Level 7 of Novotel Clarke Quay which is just beside Liang Court.

interior

ready for the year of the monkey

DIY Yusheng station

The Square has included a small little print-out describing the "11 Steps to Lo Hei". A very nifty little guide, if I may say, that's complete with auspicious phrases for each of the step. How useful!

ingredients prepped and ready

fast forward to #10 - 甜甜蜜蜜 (sweet and loving relationships)

and finally, for floor full of gold (满地黄金)

Huat ah! 发啊！Prosper!

For this yusheng, we had it with sashimi grade air-flown fish. Hmm, I wonder if yusheng can be mixed with say the prawns or oysters from the cold seafood section? It is a buffet after all.

lovely prawns and oysters

For those who loves their roasts, The Square will be rotating the meats on a daily basis. On our day of visit, there's roast chicken and lamb.

For crab lovers, they do have chili crab on the menu.

chili crab

The Square also offers live-cooking station, where one could order local delights such as laksa, clear noodles soup or tom yum, or a hot off the pan risotto and selected pasta from the western counter. These are ala-minute portions.

to be cooked upon order

Found ee-fu noodles and braised sea cucumber with mushrooms. Of course, must sample. Don't miss the chance to grab those collageny sea cucumber and braised-till-soft mushrooms. Yums!

braised ee-fu noodles

braised sea cucumber with mushrooms

Don't worry as there are still international dishes to cater to diners whom would like to have salads, cheeses and breads. Discovered lamb tajine and it was quite good, in terms of the tender meat. However, this could be a tad too gamey for some.

cheeses

bread

lamb tajine

Here was what I had, at the buffet.

white wine (non-buffet item)

鱼生 (yusheng) - salad for starters

oysters (slurps) and prawns - appetisers

chili crab, lemon fish, braised fish maw and mushroom, chicken wrap, roasted lamb with mint jelly, mustard, relish and onion jam - main course

Oh, there was fish maw soup as well. Do get the black vinegar to go along with the soup. So comforting.

For desserts, the must-try for me, was still the durian pengat. Not to be missed! On top of that, I had all sorts of favourite kueh and biscuits. Some festive ones too.

dessersts from top left (counter-clockwise) - bread and butter pudding, chicken bak kwa, tartlet, nonya kek lapis and pineapple tart

festive goodies - love letters, green pea biscuit and not sure what's the name for the white one

Check out Hungrygowhere for The Square Lunar New Year promotion and to reserve a table.

Thank you to Novotel Clarke Quay's team for having us and HGW for the invite. Gong Xi Fa Cai, 万事如意!

Jewel Cafe and Bar @ Rangoon Road

First time trying the mains here. Last visited for coffee. Seated upstairs, and it was a tad warm though the air-conditioning had been turned on to full blast.

We had three orders of prawn capellini, so that ought to be good! I'd likened the capellini to Western mee kia. Had a taste and it was pleasant. Looked pretty, with bonito flakes dancing ontop of the soft capellini strands.

umami prawn capellini

chili crab pasta

Mine was chili crab pasta, that came with deep fried super crispy mantous. Tasted just like your regular chili crab; spicy, sweetish and eggy. Pasta and mantous? Carb on carb combo! Portion was good and you won't feel hungry after this plate.

Warning though, it was pretty spicy. Probably not if you're accustomed to chomping down on chili padis but this plate did pack a spicy punch. Thankfully, the heat doesn't linger for too long, before it gets reignited on the next bite.

Desserts portion were huge too, so it's better to share.

apple crumble

Chunks of apple that tasted of cinnamon, hidden underneath a pile of crumble and topped with a large scoop of ice-cream, drizzled with caramel. Not too sweet, with slight sour notes from the apple.

Liked the chocolate brownie lots. So soft!

If you have The Entertainer Singapore App, this is one of the place where you could utilize it. One-for-one main course.

TODAI @ Marina Bay Sands

Can you believe how fast time has snucked past? Still remembered when TODAI first landed in Singapore. In a blink of the eye, fast forward to 2015 and TODAI is celebrating its 4th Anniversary! 축하해요!

As such, TODAI Marina Bay Sands is offering a March promotion of "Experience Birthday Dishes around the World at TODAI". Interesting to not only find out, what dishes do the other cultures eat during birthdays but we get to taste them too without having to leave the country.

experience birthday delicacies from various continents

When we think of TODAI, what's the first thing that came to mind?

cold crab legs

steaming hot

There were plenty of people during weekdays, so only managed to snap a few photos for your viewing pleasure.

oysters

sushi

pizza

tempura items

desserts - chocolate fountain

When thirsty, an iced cold draft beer is always a welcomed.

draft beer, order from table (alcoholic drinks not included in buffet)

My choice starters? Crab leg and oysters. Liked the briny oysters best.

cold seafood

The sashimi was pretty good too, especially the swordfish and salmon belly.

sashimi moriawase

Done with the cold, in with the hot food. But before that, a swig of that beer. Yums.

oxtail stew, spicy pork belly, beef short-ribs, crispy tempura pumpkin, teppan beef tenderloin and escargot

The oxtail was likeable. Tender yet firm texture, sweet sauce but not overly so. The short ribs was thin, slight chewiness, sweetish but tasty. The paper thin pumpkin was crispy but a tad oily but deep fried pumpkin always tasted soo good!

Beef tenderloin, best eaten when sliced into smaller pieces. I gobbled one (hey, it looked bite sized okay!) and it was hard to chew but when sliced into quarters, it transformed into tender flavourful bites.

Escargot, was one that I couldn't fathom. How do you cook an escargot that it became so tender yet crunchy? Similar to button mushroom texture. Amazing.

deep fried battered scallop balls, grilled wings, sausage, more crab and stir fried asparagus with prawns

Back to birthday dishes, what are the customary food that one eats? My Hokkien grandma would cook mee sua soup with pork and mushroom slices, and a hard boiled egg for her sons' birthday.

Chinese custom usually associates longetivity in birthday dishes such as longetivity buns and noodles. Live long and prosper!

shoutao 寿桃 - longetivity bun

yi mein 伊麵 - longetivity noodles

In Korean shows, we always see the birthday boys and girls having miyeokguk, or sea vegetable soup in the mornings of their birthday. This soup is highly nutritious in calcium and iodine, and women consume it after giving birth.

miyeokguk 미역국 - seaweed or wakame soup

But I didn't know that Japchae is also a birthday dish. Nice. Love these sweet potato noodles that's chewy and smooth.

Japchae 잡채

From the exotic countries of Nigeria and Ghana, here are its birthday dishes; Jollof Rice and Oto.

Jollof Rice

Jollof Rice is kind of paella-like, in the sense of its moist rice texture and taste. Appetisingly sourish, and with some spices.

Oto

The Oto is a sacred dish, and eggs in Ghanaian culture symbolizes purity and fruitfulness.

But where's the birthday cake?

From Russia, we have the 4-layer birthday cake. It's a doppleganger of rainbow cake! Rich, buttery creamy and not too sweet.

Russian 4-layer Birthday Cake

At TODAI, one gets to experience not only tasty food in its abundance and variety, but also an appreciation of different cultural context and meaning, especially in these birthday dishes from around the world.

After a whirlwind tour of the world cuisine, let's wind down by having desserts.

For some, dessert would mean wine and cheese.

Sauvignon Blanc (not included in buffet, chargeable)

cheeses

For most of us, desserts mean cakes, sweets and ice cream!

pretty

cakes galore

If you are at TODAI in March, you may even get a chance to win TODAI Free Pass. Check out the March promo at TODAI's website.

Special thanks to Brandon and Nisha for your hospitality, and HGW for the invite.

잘 먹었습니다~

TODAI SINGAPORE

Location: #b2-01 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018972
Contact: +65 6688 7771
Website: http://todaisingapore.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/TodaiSingapore

Skyve Wine Bistro @ 10 Winstedt Road

Been here countless of time for bar snacks and drinks, and this was the second time we ordered main courses.

Grilled Whole Boston Lobster @$49++

Quite an enjoyable dish. The lobster meat was sweet and succulent. Spaghettini with ample sauce of crushed tomatoes and reduced cream, what's not to like?

First time having a Malbec as well. Spicy but not overly, smooth and easy on the palate.

Malbec

Sous Vide Grilled Angus Ribeye @$40++

medium rare

On hindsight, medium would be better as our medium rare doneness turned out to be pretty rare! It doesn't have that metallic tang though it looked rare. Tender and easy to chew except when one bites into the ligaments.

The truffle and potato mash was a favourite. So yummy.