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.
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| experience birthday delicacies from various continents |
When we think of TODAI, what's the first thing that came to mind?
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| cold crab legs |
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| steaming hot |
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| oysters |
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| sushi |
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| pizza |
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| tempura items |
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| desserts - chocolate fountain |
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| draft beer, order from table (alcoholic drinks not included in buffet) |
My choice starters? Crab leg and oysters. Liked the briny oysters best.
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| cold seafood |
The sashimi was pretty good too, especially the swordfish and salmon belly.
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| sashimi moriawase |
Done with the cold, in with the hot food. But before that, a swig of that beer. Yums.
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| 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.
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| 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!
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| shoutao 寿桃 - longetivity bun |
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| yi mein 伊麵 - longetivity noodles |
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| 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.
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| Japchae 잡채 |
From the exotic countries of Nigeria and Ghana, here are its birthday dishes; Jollof Rice and Oto.
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| 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.
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| Oto |
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.
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| 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.
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| Sauvignon Blanc (not included in buffet, chargeable) |
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| cheeses |
For most of us, desserts mean cakes, sweets and ice cream!
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| pretty |
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| 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 018972Contact: +65 6688 7771
Website: http://todaisingapore.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TodaiSingapore
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