[Tasting] Winestone's Immersive Christmas Experience @ NOVOTEL Singapore on Stevens

Congratulations to Winestone on its achievement in securing the Singapore Environment Council’s (SEC) Eco F&B certification. The award is in recognition of the restaurant’s efforts on sustainability. Besides its ongoing efforts in its management of energy, water and waste practices, one noteworthy effort is its implementation of the green purchasing policy is the use of locally sourced fish and vegetable produce.

Are you ready to experience an immersive journey towards new inspirations, new rituals and new tastes for this Christmas?

Be inspired by four local makers - Dannon Har (Section D), Leon Hay (Hay Dairies), June Chen (Floral Mikelle) and Jas Rehan (A Poet’s Terroir) as Winestone presents a series of festive cocktails, sustainable floral wine hampers, freshly made cheese from locally harvested goat's milk and lastly, the art of taste, wine art from palate to palette.

Festive Cocktails

by Dannon Har, Section D Bar

A Berry Christmas – wheat beer, spice syrup @$20

Candy Rush – peppermint vodka, lemon, Cointreau, prosecco, candy cane @$23

Taste the Snow – gin, heavy cream, vanilla ice cream @$18

Santa’s Mudslide – cognac, coffee liquor, bailey’s Irish cream, heavy cream, chocolate shavings @$28

Warm Hugs – dark rum, spiced syrup, butter, cinnamon @$20

My favourite would be Taste the Snow. Ice-cream in my alcohol? Yes please!

Discover Local: Goat’s Milk

by Winestone’s culinary team

Goat’s Cheese Salad – prosciutto, fresh goat’s milk ricotta, rock melon pickle

Christmas Wine Hampers

by June Chen, Floral Mikelle

Elegant Blanc @$140

Elegant Blanc

A rosé and white wine packed in a modern chic red bag paired with winter wonderland in tones of elegance – white, silver and gold. Free delivery included.

• Hecht and Bannier Languedoc Rosé Languedoc, France
• Famille Perrin Luberon Blanc, Rhone Valley, France

The Art of Taste

by Jas Rehan, A Poet’s Terroir

• An artistic experience of tasting and painting your wine

• A visual journey of wine and art as we take you through the wine tasting experience

• Explore it on a colour filled canvas, along with a 3-course lunch

• Priced at $220 per person, seats are exclusive and limited

• Available on 26 November, 27 November, 4 December and 5 December 2021

Shop festive at Winestone. Merry Christmas!

Festive 4-Course Dine-In Menu

15 Nov 2021 - 30 Dec 2021

Pepper Tuna Salad

Seafood Bisque

Grain Fed Rosedale Ruby Pure Australian MS 2 Ribeye 

medium rare

Mille Feuille, Apple Croustillant, Molten Chocolate Log Cake

For the main course, one could choose either ribeye, free range organic chicken or sea perch. The ribeye was cooked just the way I liked it, flavourful and lovely texture.

The salad was good too and loved the micro greens with a burst of bright yellow. Visually pleasing and tasted refreshing.

For dessert, my favourite were the Mille Feuille and the Molten Chocolate Log Cake. The pastry was crisp while the chocolate was melt in your mouth.

Mille Feuille

Molten Chocolate Log Cake

Thank you to Juliana, Cheryl and Stephanie and Novotel for the invite, and Winestone for hosting the tasting. Special thanks to Christina for taking care of us.

Winestone, interior

Winestone

Address: 30 Stevens Rd, #01-09, Singapore 257840

Website: http://www.winestone.sg

Contact: 6491 6100

Business Hours:

Closed on Mondays.

Sun to Thurs: 12pm to 10pm

Fri to Sat: 12.00pm to 10.30pm

[Staycation] PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering - One Night in Collection King Room

Second visit to Parkroyal Collection Pickering and this time without the gang. Read more about the previous visit. Chose Collection King Room, so that there is no need to venture outside. Managed to check-in around 11.30am, so this is one aspect that I appreciate about Parkroyal Collection Pickering.

Was given the room at Level 13, one floor higher than previous Urban room.

First impression of Collection King? Hmmm, feels a tad smaller than Urban room actually.

Collection King Room 28sqm?

King-sized bed

view from room

Nespresso is a necessity

two Arpeggios because it tasted the best!

tea-bags

glasses

wonder if it'd be better to line the bin with trash bag?

The amenities in Colletion Room is from Appelles Apothecary & Lab. I liked the hand soap, but the body wash and shampoo smelled pretty masculine.

hand soap

shower stuffs

COLLECTION Club privileges

Level 16 - Collection Club Lounge

Afternoon Tea - 3pm to 5pm

The place was spacious with natural light flow.

Afternoon Tea for one

Marble Cheesecake, Scone, Pistachio Financier

let's start with scone

served with butter, clotted cream and strawberry jam

fully loaded

I just love scone slathered with lots of butter (salted, of course) and some jam. Pair this with a nice cup of hot tea. Had Oolong Prestige but I really wanted to try the Moonfruit Black Tea. Funniest was, the tea name eluded my memory and hand wasn't convenient to access the menu when the staff came by to take order. So, took up her recommendation of Oolong and, it paired quite well with the snacks.

lovely cup of Oolong Prestige

Pork Bak Kwa in Soft Roll with Cucumber and Chicken Floss

For the sandwiches, the pork bak kwa bread wins hands down. The tiny pizza was still warm when served and it was flavourful.

Mini Vegetable Pizza

The two things that I didn't like from this afternoon tea were the Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Bread and Berry with Cream Cheese on Muesli Bread. Texture and flavour were not the most ideal. The muesli bread had hardened somewhat and not much flavour from the cream cheese. The pumpernickel bread was nutty but a tad dry.

Smoked Salmon on Pumpernickel Bread 

Berry with Cream Cheese on Muesli Bread

Moving on, the Yam Mango Roll was good. Although mango taste was not prominent but its sweetness was there. The outer side was crisp.

Yam Mango Roll

this was good

The popcorn chicken could be great but this cooled down version was neither crispy nor soggy. Flavourful with a touch of spice and leaning towards sweet.

Popcorn Chicken

The marble cheesecake was another hit. Could do with a few more of those.

Evening Cocktail - 6pm to 8 pm

night time at Level 16

evening view

snacks and drinks

a glass of Pol Remy Brut with chicken satay, fried wanton, crab claws, fried mantou with chili crab sauce

brie and camembert with dried apricot, sesame crackers and grapes

favourite items were chicken satay and fried mantou with chili crab sauce

The food selection here while understandably limited during this period, was most disappointed with the seemingly run of the mill taste of the fried wantons and crab claws. The satay while tasted good, it wasn't served warm. The best tasting item was the fried mantou with chili crab sauce.

Tequila Sunrise (upon request)

dessert to end

Service was attentive, non-intrusive and polite.

Returned to my room for a bath, and was surprised to received a courtesy call from Nicole (from Collection Club Lounge). It was nice personal touch for staff to enquire about the dining experience so soon after. Awkward yes, but gives you a warm feeling (or maybe that's just the alcohol? *LOL*) And yes, I did inform them about the limited food selection.

Can read more from here about Pan Pacific Club Evening Cocktail. I think that would be my benchmark for food and drinks, for now.

Breakfast - 7am to 1030am

Went up to breakfast at about 9am and it was not too busy.

breakfast with sparkling wine

Started with a plate of salad, smoked salmon, ham and roast beef. The beef was slightly dry but the rest on the plate were pretty enjoyable.

Big Breakfast - chicken sausages, grilled tomato, hashbrown, chicken wing and omelette

yummy

I just love the eggs in the morning. Feels alive after eating some! One thing to note, was that the hashbrown that day was super crispy till its insides were hollow. Pretty interesting to have crunchy hashbrown!

crunchy hashbrown

Went back to get scrambled eggs and was curious about the porridge, so ordered a little bit to try.

porridge

Initially Chef served the porridge as it is. But I was like, eh... and asked if Chef can put all the condiments in. So, this fully loaded bowl has the preserved olives, pickled vegetable, green onions, dace fish and ginger slices, and a light drizzle of soy.

scrambled eggs

The problem with scrambled eggs, is there was no salt in it. So, I had an idea and added the eggs into the porridge. This is what I call, the perfect 'marriage'. Wah... it was so goood! Highly recommend this combination.

scrambled eggs and porridge

time to check out

It was nice being at the hotel again and this time round, was to experience the Collection Club privileges.

Parkroyal Collection Pickering

Address: 3 Upper Pickering St, Singapore 058289

Contact: 6809 8888

Website: https://www.panpacific.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/pr-pickering.html