[Media Invite] Bountiful Spring Reunion - 20 January to 09 February @ Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel

With Lunar New Year just round the corner, let me show you what Food Capital under the helm of Executive Chef Jackie Zhang, together with his dedicated culinary team, has prepared for us.

But first thing first, there's an "Early Bird Discount" for Lunar New Year Eve Reunion Buffet Dinner and Fa Cai Yu Sheng Takeaway. Enjoy 20% off when you reserve by 5 January 2020. Hurry!

Fa Cai Yu Sheng

Let's start the year right by having a platter of this auspicious dish. Salmon or Abalone? Your choice.

mega sized Yu Sheng

huat ah!

Enjoy Lunar New Year Festive Buffet early, from 20 Jan onwards right till 9 Feb 2020. Available for both lunch and dinner at $68++/$88++ respectively.

Lunar New Year Eve Reunion Buffet happens on the 24 Jan 2020. Dinner: $98++/ $138++ (includes free flow of bubbly, house wines, soft drinks and juices).

Indulge in bountiful treasures pen cai, lap mei fried rice with seaweed crumb, stir-fried prawns with chili and curry leaves, yam paste with gingko nuts, dumpling with osmanthus honey and more.

festive decoration

pen cai (盆菜)

And I'd take a glass of M Wine red with the savoury flavourful food. Let's start with the salad aka the Yu Sheng. Traditional flavours and not too sweet. Lovely crunchy crackers in it.

Fa Cai Yu Sheng (发财鱼生)

M Wine Red

Next up, one could enjoy the cold seafood section from the buffet. And, the de-facto for me? Oysters, of course! Juicy, plump succulent oysters...so yummy!

plump, juicy oysters

One could pair it with a variety of sauces, ranging from sweet spicy to a bit spicier. Nothing too overpowering and the highlight, was indeed the lovely flavourful oysters. So satisfying.

fresh oysters and spicy sauces

After which, let's nourish our body and soul with a bowl of hot ginseng chicken soup. Boiled with seawhelk, chicken and bamboo pith, the soup had a slight bitterness to it that's attributed from the ginseng. Flavourful and felt awakened after that bowl.

ginseng chicken soup

Then, we moved on to the main highlight that was the pen cai. Noticeably, the ingredients for the pen cai included prawns, sea cucumber, abalones, roast pork, roast chicken, dried oysters, dried scallops, mushrooms, black moss (fa cai) and vegetables.

sea cucumbers

Here's a portion of the bountiful treasures of the pen cai. Flavourful plate with many treasures indeed.

bountiful treasures of pen cai

For the chili prawns with curry leaves, its pretty much localized flavours and with the prawn texture remained slightly crunchy.

chili prawn with curry leaves

To usher in the Year of the Rat, the fish has been transformed into a "Squirrel" 松鼠. I shall not comment on whether it is cute or not, but the fish was superb! Thought it was squirrel fish at first (in keeping with the theme) but Chef revealed that they used grouper as its meat was more suitable for this dish. Don't miss this dish if you see it!

"松鼠" 石斑鱼 (sweet and sour squirrel shaped grouped fish)

sweet and sour fish with pine nuts

Oh, if you still have stomach space (dessert space is separate, of course), I'd recommend the roast pork. I don't know how they did it, but the skin crackling was real good. Roast pork and yellow mustard combo ftw!

roast pork, char siew and roast duck

Another dish that's synonymous with Lunar New Year would be the lap mei rice. Or, is this a Cantonese tradition? Not so sure but my sis cooks this for us when we are in hometown for CNY.

Lap Mei Fried Rice with Seaweed (臘味炒饭)

End the meal with Lunar New Year dessert such as steamed nian gao, osmanthus jelly, yam paste and gingko nuts and many more. My favourite dessert was the carp shaped mango jelly. Refreshing after a heavy buffet meal.

steamed nian gao (蒸年糕)

mango carp jelly

pomelo sago in coconut milk in cute egg shell

yam paste with gingko nuts

Lunar New Year cookies

Thank you Gilbert for the invite and Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel for hosting the dinner. Special thanks to Chef Jackie and team for the delicious food.

Here's wishing everyone, an Auspicious and Prosperous Lunar New Year! Huat ahh!

Food Capital

Address: G/F Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, 392 Havelock Rd, 169663
Website: http://www.celebrateatgcw.com/cny2020
Contact: 6233 1100
Email: dining.gcw@millenniumhotels.com
Business Hours:
Daily: 6.30am to 10.30pm

[Media Invite] GO Noodle House (GNH) 有间面馆 @ 313 Somerset

From across the causeway, GO Noodle House has made its way into the heart of Orchard. Located at basement of 313 Somerset, GNH uses a special family recipe for its superior fish bone broth.

menu

what would you like to have?

Have you tried their signature bursting pork meatball in superior broth with mi xian? The meatballs though had a dense exterior, its inside was bouncy and moist. The broth was indeed of a superior taste. The mi xian (米线) or rice noodles (looked like thick bee hoon) was done in Jiangxi province-style. The smooth strands of noodles were slippery and slurp worthy.

 Signature bursting meatball (pork) in superior broth with mi xian @$10.90++

mi xian 米线

Interesting to note that hua tiao wine (花雕酒) would be added to the broth when served. GNH has their own bottled hua tiao wine for customers to purchase and store on-site, so that you could add as much to the broth as you like!

hua tiao wine 花雕酒

For the noodles, the 5-years hua tiao wine is typically used. Had a taste of the 10-years hua tiao and it had stronger herb flavours when sipped slowly.

10 years hua tiao

To accompany the noodles, one could order fried snacks to munch as well. We tried the five spice meat roll (ngoh hiang), crispy fu chuk (fried beancurd skin), and gold coin bak kwa. The fu chuk was a tad oily but it was full of flavours! Loved the well fried treats!

Trio Platter (five spice meat roll, crispy fu chuk, gold coin aka bak kwa) @$12.90++

look at those skin!

Order up a bowl of handmade fish paste in superior soup if you want an unadulterated taste of the broth. More umami! The fish paste texture was surprisingly softer than anticipated.

Handmade fish paste in superior broth @$11.90++

For something 'meatier', go for the latest item in the menu; Fresh frog (田鸡) in superior soup with bee hoon. This was my favourite bowl. The meat was sweet, and the flavourful soup (loved the sliced bittergourd) was well absorbed by the thin bee hoon. Perfect combo!

Fresh (whole) frog (田鸡) in superior soup with bee hoon @$12.90++

thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon) - best pairing with the soup

For the beef lovers, you could try the Trio beef combo (premium beef slice, beef tendon & beef ball) with mi xian. The beef balls tasted rustic while the beef slices was lightly poached and flavourful. Wonder if it was marinated prior. The basil leaves added a refreshing touch to the beefy bowl.

Trio beef combo (premium beef slice, beef tendon & beef ball) with mi xian @$13.90++

loaded with ingredients

If you don't fancy the noodles soup (but why?!), you could try the Hakka sauce homemade noodles with century egg. In fact, I'd recommend the Hakka sauce noodles. It was that good.

This was my first time seeing century egg on a plate of noodles. There are fried lardo bits, shallots, minced pork, black fungus, and anchovies in there. Mix it well, and you'll get a plate of super flavourful noodles that had a hint of sesame oil to it. This plate was well liked by the group.

Hakka sauce homemade noodles with century egg @$9.90++

toss it well

Thirsty? Get a cup of the sweet and cooling dates wolfberry tea. I got the iced version.

dates wolfberry tea @$2++

Next, we also sampled a spicy noodles; the double bursting fishball (fish roe) in homemade spicy soup with thin bee hoon. The fishball had a gooey centre of fish roe. One needs to be careful when biting into this as its center would still be hot. I can't pinpoint the flavours of the spicy soup and it was probably just 0.5 out of 5 in the spice level. Not to worry as their house chili dip was really good and got kick. Just pour some of this over the noodles to enjoy a level up in spice!

Double bursting fishball (fish roe) in homemade spicy soup with bee hoon @$14.90++

hidden treasure inside

house chili dip

Thank you Tiara for the invite and GO Noodle House for hosting the tasting. My favourite bowls are the fresh (whole) frog in superior soup with bee hoon, the hakka noodles and the signature bursting meatballs.

GO Noodle House

Address: 313 Orchard Rd, #B3-37/38, 313@Somerset 238895
Website: https://www.facebook.com/gonoodlehousesingapore/
Contact: 6363 5323
Business Hours:
Mon to Sun: 10am – 10pm

[Media Invite] Exquisite Japanese-Italian Omakase Dinner at Monte Risaia @ 59 Duxton Road

Monte Risaia is located at 59 Duxton Road and specializes in Japanese-Italian omakase dinner, meticulously crafted by Chef Taizo and team using premium ingredients and seasonal ingredients.

The counter seats could accommodate about 12 pax and it is where one could watch all the action that goes into each of the dishes served. There are two private rooms as well if you prefer so.

Chef Taizo Yamada in action

edible flowers

are we going to get those juicy tomatoes on vine?

first course and it involved torching~

finishing touches

 Mozzarella Al Forno

For the first course, one could choose between Signature Uni Pudding or the  Mozzarella Al Forno. I had the pudding but that wagyu looked so good! Didn't get a taste but it had aged Akagi wagyu, eggplant and avruga caviar ontop of the cheese. It already sounded delicious!

Was comforted by the solid whole pieces of sea urchin beckoning for a taste. So curious about the pudding. Was informed that the ingredients for the pudding were yellow eggs, cream and milk. Texture that was like tofu, creamy and non-funky. Lovey savoury flavours. 

Signature Uni Pudding

Then, the kitchen got really busy and there were larger plates laid out for our next dish.

assembling in progress

finishing touches on the Antipasto Misto

Antipasto Misto

The Antipasto Misto looked gorgeous. Like a picture! There were 5 components on the plate and Chef Roy would explain each components. "Have the cold seafood first, then followed by the seabream, the prawn arrabiata, the San Danielle ham with strawberry and finally, the fried gnocchi."

Sakoshi Bay oyster, yay! I lurrrve this oyster because it's so plump and fresh! Want to have this again.

Antipasto Misto - Sakoshi Bay oyster with ikura

Was pleasantly surprised by the seabream in shallot sauce. On first bite, one would have noticed the crunchy texture, which we later learnt is the shark cartilage. I think it was brilliant to use this. The sauce itself was mildly sweet, and tangy. The fish was firm and sweet. So good. This became my favourite piece.

Seabream with Shallot Sauce

The Prawn Arrabiata was also smile inducing. It was decorated with chrysanthemum petals, and what a lovely sauce it had. A tiny bit spicy and a whole lot tomato-ey. I liked this.

Prawn Arrabiata

Ice plant is an interesting plant, with stems that are dotted with tiny crystal lookalike, making it look as if it had been surviving in the Arctic for some time. It is edible and tasted crunchy, with a bit of water and tiny bit salty/acidic. The fried gnocchi was soft and nicely golden. Loved the cheese sauce underneath.

Fried Gnocchi with Ice Plant

After all eating all the gorgeousness, it was time for something more substantial. Chef would be cooking us pasta after the appetisers.

plating in progress

stirring the sauce

everything together now

 Signature “Shiso and Omaru Dashi” Pasta

The very first noticeable thing about the pasta was of its lingering fragrance. Loved the taste of shiso that's refreshing in a pasta dish.

lovely fragrance

guess what these are

The final course, was a meat item. Not just one meat but two! Grilled Iberico pork and sirloin beef duo. My goodness. The pork was awesome! This was the first time that I had preferred pork over beef. Such tender texture that was so gentle to chew on, and on-point flavours.

Grilled Iberico Pork and Sirloin Beef

The above 4-course omakase dinner set is priced at $98++ while a 3-course set is priced at $68++. Top-up $12++ to end the meal with a dolce.

Thank you Jennifer from JY Consulting for the invite and Monte Risaia for hosting the dinner. Special thanks to Chef Taizo Yamada, Chef Roy for the delicious food and Patrick for taking care of us.

Monte Risaia

Address: 59 Duxton Rd, Singapore 089523

Contact: 6970 0067

Reservation: https://www.chope.co/singapore-restaurants/restaurant/monte-risaia

Business Hours:

Mon to Sat : 6pm to 12am

Closed on Sundays.