Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 @ Suntec Convention Centre

The Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 was held on 22 November 2014 at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Halls 401-402. UHF2014 is in support of over 32,000 beneficiaries of Touch Community Services.

let's begin

Armed with stack of coupons, went around looking at the Ultimate Original Recipe, Ultimate Pursuit of Happiness and Ultimate Ingredients.

queue for chicken rice

Let's start with a plate of chicken rice, made with Anxin chicken supplied by Toh Thye San farm.

100 Days Anxin Chicken Rice by Tian Tian Chicken Rice - Ultimate Ingredients

Tender chicken flesh with a certain spring in its meat. Its been ages since I had Tian Tian. Satiated for breakfast.

Next up, King's Roast which saw long queues formed, perpetually.

Chef Kingsley, with the premium sio bak

The roast pork had good crackling that remained crispy. Two hours later, it was sold out. Wow.

Visited Lek Lim to get some kuehs. Good choice, as a rare type of kueh made its appearance for UHF2014.

kuehs

assorted kueh platter - kueh lapis, kueh salat, ang ku kueh, soon kueh and kueh gambir

Kueh gambir contained minced chicken meat but its taste is slightly sweetish and similar to ang ku kueh. The soon kueh contained a surprise, where dried shrimps were replaced with fresh shrimp instead. Yummy!

last bit

desserts

Was rather thirsty after the chicken rice, so got the Durian Mango Ice from Jin Jin. Happiness indeed.

Durian Mango (Gangster) Ice by Jin Jin Dessert - Ultimate Pursuit of Happiness

Good job to all the participating hawkers and restauranteurs. Kudos too to Maureen, Derrick and Ian.


See you at next year's Ultimate Hawker Fest!

The Clifford Pier @ Fullerton Bay Hotel

Located at Fullerton Bay Hotel (the main building). Enter through the doors and walk straight. Dinner service doesn't start till 630pm, hence you won't be seated till then.

hotel lobby

The Clifford Pier

It's a cosy place on a wet evening.

hello world

feels like high tea

There was this bowl of crackers on the table, so we started munching on those while perusing the menu.

munchies

For starters, we chose one that had everything and replaced the kong bak bao with popiah.

kueh pie tee, popiah and satay

Liked the beef satay best. What can I say? I'mma meatarian!

skinny satay

For mains, one could do local or fusion, or western. The online menu is slightly different from the printed ones, so am not sure what's the exact name for this noodle dish that my colleague chose but I'll call it 'kong bak' pasta.

kong bak pasta

flowy egg

Had only tried lobster roll once, so decided to try the version here.

salad, lobster roll, truffle fries

close up of half a lobster

It was pretty tasty. Liked the small chunks that aint too tiny. Well dressed salad, and crispy truffle fries. Likeable.

One cannot shy away from desserts when one is with a group of ladies.

bourbon profitteroles

key lime pie

pulut hitam

The pulut hitam was tasted first, and it was lacking in the sweets department. Bourbon profitteroles was refreshing as it has ice-cream sandwiched within and choco sauce poured all over. Yum.

Glad that we ordered the key lime pie. As with any merringue, it was really sweet. The lime part of it was tangy sharp and the combination of those was good.

Expect to spend about $60 per pax without drinks.

Morganfield's @ Suntec City

Located at Level 1 of Suntec City, Tower 4. Nearest MRT is Promenade.

If one is walking from City Hall MRT and landed in the vastness called Suntec (and at its current configuration), just head towards the Giant Hypermart which is at basement level. Near Giant Hypermart, go back up to Level 1 and go out of the glass door and you'll see the restaurant.

home of sticky bones

Was invited to try its Christmas Feast Platter in this latest outlet at Suntec City. Here is the write-up on the experience a year ago at its Star Vista branch.

nice lights

here for this mammoth platter

ready to start

For starters, we sampled two items; Beer Candied Bacon and Basketful of Pork.

Beer Candied Bacon @$8.90++

Basketful of Pork @$15.90++

The candied bacon was pretty interesting. Chewy, sweet and salty but required a bit of jaw work. The younger folks liked it alot but personally preferred the basketful of pork. It had popcorn pork, pork sausage and candied bacon. Popcorn pork goes really well with White Christmas Sangria.

White Christmas Sangria (white wine, peach puree, diced green apples and oranges) @$16.90++

White wine mixed with fruits? Yup that's my kind of drink.

Now, let's get down to business. Morgan's Christmas Feast that's meant for 4-5 pax. If it's for all female, then 6 pax can share the platter as well.

Morgan's Christmas Feast @$149.90++

This huge platter consists of 4 grilled sausages, half slab each of cranberry and hazelnut sticky bones, 2 smoked turkey legs, bourbon marmalade glazed ham slices, sides of potatoes, glazed carrots, caramelized onions, green beans and 2 corn bread.

The turkey legs were nicely done here. Carve or slice the meat sideways to avoid the hard bits and you'll be rewarded with moist, tender slices of meat. Liked the long beans to balance out the otherwise, meaty meal. Can imagine the guys chugging down beer while tearing through all the meats!

As usual, Morganfield's corn bread is not to be missed.

moist, sweet tasty corn bread

Or, if you prefers something else for desserts, you can opt to top up $9.90++ for every purchase of Christmas Feast platter to get a Cranberry 'n' Peach Crumble.

Cranberry 'n' Peach Crumble (UP $13.90++)

Good news is that Morgan's Christmas Feast platter is also available for take-away and delivery. On top of that, and not valid for dine-in, would be the Bourbon Marmalade Glazed Leg of Ham (@$168.90+) and Christmas Hazelnut Roast Chicken (@$28.90+).

Bourbon Marmalade Glazed Leg of Ham (~4 to 5kg) @$168.90+ for delivery/takeaway only

Christmas Hazelnut Roast Chicken (~800 to 900g) @$28.90+ for delivery/takeaway only

side by side comparison of size

The behemoth leg of ham, was seriously good. Tender, tasty fats especially the charred bits and goes well with wine, beer or any alcohol for that matter. It was so good.

bourbon marmalade glazed leg of ham (thick slices)

There is an early bird discount of 10% for confirmed orders by 30 Nov 2014. Hence, do call the respective outlets to enquire. Orders must be made 5 days in advance and there is a delivery charge of $25 per location.

Thank you Morganfield's for the invite, Joey and Mr J. Gopiraj for hosting us. Merry Christmas in advance!

Morganfield's

Address: Suntec City, 3 Temasek Boulevard, Tower 4, #01-645, S 038983 (Next to Promenade MRT)
Tel: 67361136
Opening Hours: Sun-Thu 11am - 11pm, Fr-Sat-PH-eve 11am - Midnight
Website: www.morganfields.com.sg
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MorganfieldsSingapore
Corkage fee: $25 per bottle

La Barca Ristorante & Wine Bar @ Goodman Arts Centre

Located within Goodman Arts Centre, which is off Fort Road and Mountbatten Road on the East Coast.  For location and parking, please refer to this link: http://labarca-sg.com/location/

This place is one for special occassions. Was there to celebrate a dear friend's birthday. Reservation was easy via Hungrygowhere's online reservation system. Confirmation was pretty immediate.

As with any celebration, there is a need for some wine. Birthday girl likes prosecco, hence we had that.

Prosecco @$70++

Happy Birthday!

Once orders were placed, out came the complimentary breads, alongside with butter.

breads

Such cute looking breads. The larger one seemed to have cocoa. It helped to keep the hunger at bay while we waited for the mains. Similarly, ordered a Pizza Prosciutto to share.

Prosciutto Pizza @$28++

The pastas arrived within 20 minutes. Portions was slightly dainty for a main course.

Fresh Homemade Green Angel Hair Pasta, Baked with Fresh Milk Cream, Prawns, and Baby Spinach @$32++

Venetian-style Risotto Mantecato with Cuttlefish, in Cuttlefish Ink @$32++

Fresh Homemade Pecorino-filled Tortelli with Parmesan Cream and Seasonal Truffles @$42++

All the pastas were good. The one that stood out, was the Tortelli Truffle. It was completely enveloped in cheese and one bite into these babies, first thought was "Soooo good!" But, there were only so few of it. Only managed to grab half a piece... =(

The Angel Hair Pasta was nicely creamy (but not heavy) and pleasant with the spinach. Prawns were succulent and fresh. Risotto was well-cooked and not too salty.

For meats, we had seabass fillet and pork shank.

Seabass fillet @$40++

Braised Pork Shank in Chef’s Special Sauce with Mushrooms and Potatoes @$40++

While the pastas generated quite a buzz within our group, the meat dishes were just alright. Seabass fillet was light and mild, while the pork shank was quite a rustic dish, with earthy flavours.

Added another order for a 1kg Florentina and we were duly informed that the cooking time for this dish was about half hour. Fine with us, as this meant we had more time to chit-chat and to catch up. =)

This place offers wine of the month for both red and white at about $55 per bottle, so we decided to try the red to complement the red meat.

Wine of the Month (red) @$55

ruby red, pleasantly smooth with a bit of spice and mature tannicity

The Florentina is done medium rare, using Australian beef from Rangers Valley.

Traditional Fiorentina Served with Roasted Potatoes @$13 per 100gms (min. 1kg, 2 pax)

Cannellini Beans with Sage and Fresh Chilli

I think we didn't care much for the beans. Beef was tender and has good flavours, especially for those done medium rare and with a bit of fats. The parts that were more of medium doneness, was pretty chewy.

close up on the meat

Service staff was pleasant and helpful.

La Barca is currently one of the participating merchants of the Entertainer App 2014, and we were able to redeem the 1-for-1 main course deals here. Sweet.

This place is suitable for special occassions and the occasional indulgence.