Choux puff shop Ollella has been breathing new life into choux pastries with all sorts of whimsical flavours, from ondeh ondeh and pulut hitam to Thai milk tea. However, the Putri sisters have taken their choux creativity up a notch by sandwiching morsels of dim sum items into crumbly-soft choux pastries for $3.60 a piece. The radish cake with XO sauce choux is loaded with steamed moreish cubes scented with shiitake mushrooms, shallots, garlic and dried shrimps. The purple-hued choux, which is fashioned after fried taro puffs, is stuffed with sweet sauce chicken, carrots and chewy yam cake. Those with a sweet tooth can go for the mango pomelo sago choux that is inspired by the popular Hong Kong dessert.
#B208-4 Takashimaya Basement 2 Food Hall, Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard Road
Grilled Kagoshima Wagyu Tenderloin at Gordon Grill
Hard to believe but true, veteran steak restaurant Gordon Grill at Goodwood Park Hotel is using Japanese wagyu for the first time in its 55-year-old history. The meat—which topped the Wagyu Olympics in Sendai last year—is part of a Nippon-inspired set lunch running from 7 April to 4 May for $58++ a person. Instead of mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, the succulent slab of char-grilled Kagoshima beef is paired with vegetable tempura and yakiniku sauce. The A4 cut of beef boasts more meat than fat, which makes each plush bite more juicy and oily, and and the meatiness is not over-empowering. What makes it fun are the Japanese sides that seldom appear on a steak plate, such as radish slices and vegetable tempura that injects some structure and crunch to the well-marbled meat. The yakiniku dipping sauce is sweetened by apple juice-
Gordon Grill, Goodwood Park Hotel, 22 Scotts Road
Carnivores can have a field day gnawing on the well-marbled medley of beef cuts at what is possibly Singapore’s most chic yakiniku restaurant. The 35-seat space has intimate semi-circular booth seats against dapper hues of navy blue and brown. Forget overhanging suction pipes, smoky fumes disappear into the sides of the barbecue grills on tables that are fitted on an one metre-tall elevated flooring. Sink your teeth into more than 10 cuts of beef ($28 to $96), all from the premium Kumamoto Kuroge breed of Japanese black wagyu. The omakase beef platter ($178) offers eight cuts of the wagyu that varies based on what's available from the whole cows that the restaurant imports. The katashin (back of chuck roll) is laced with so much marbling that the grilled meat gives way to a meltingly soft texture after a few bites with an intense meatiness that engulfs the mouth. For more bite, opt for the top round, harami and brisket, which are more chewy and grainy. Other cuts include rosu (lean cut), sirloin and tongue. Take a break from the beef with sides such as the pickled cabbage salad and assorted namuru (spinach, beansprouts and mushrooms). Every diner gets the first glass of sake on the house, which makes for a good palate cleanser in between the meats.
30 Stevens Road, Novotel Stevens, 01-08
Farmer’s Egg ($12) at Caffe B
Japanese-Italian restaurant Caffe B moved from the touristy Marina Bay Sands locale to the hip Club Street enclave last December, and with the new move comes a menu overhaul by chef Masanao Saito. The menu inventively jazzes up Italian dishes with Japanese ingredients. Take the Farmer’s Egg ($12) for example, that is nestled in a nest-like bowl. The hallowed egg shell is pumped to the brim with an umami-tinged clam espuma that is blended with shio konbu seaweed. Crowning the egg is a heap of uni and caviar that meld seamlessly together with the thick cream. Signatures include the twirled chilled angel hair pasta ($32) that is drenched in the zesty “golden” sauce made with yuzu juice and lemon jam shoyu stirred into fragrant white truffle oil. Attempting to go vegetarian? The Melanzane Pizza ($22) is a good start with slabs of meaty eggplant slapped on a tomato cheese pizza and a sprinkling of beef bolognese.
Caffe B, 64 Club Street
Ravioli Alla Fornarina Con Tartfuo Nero ($28) at District 10
If the movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is extreme for meatball manics, this oversized ravioli is the equivalent for those who love the dumpling-like pasta. Far from being bite-sized, the gigantic dumpling takes up an a 3.5-inch skillet pan. Slice the parcel to reveal tender-soft heaps of minced black Angus beef that is made creamier with ricotta and egg yolk. The highlight is watching the egg yolk ooze out and coat the meat and poached pasta for a velvety mash up. Don’t forget to stir the egg yolk into the brown sauce with red wine reduction to thicken the sauce and black truffle shavings. The dish is one of the five mains that is part of the "From Mama, With Love" menu that features recipes from
District 10, 81 Clemenceau Ave UE Square Shopping Mall 01-15/16/17
New Dim Sum Items at Hai Tien Lo
The extensive dim sum menu at Cantonese restaurant Hai Tien Lo has been recently refreshed. New additions include deep-fried prawn balls that solve the hassle of dipping them in wasabi mayonnaise by loading the bright green sauce in the crunchy golden-brown parcel. The shards of fried dough bits around the deep-fried balls give a nosier munch. Another new item is the steamed seafood dumplings (above) that resemble curled-up edamame that are plump with crunchy pearls of honey peas and vegetable sprouts that gives a delightful crunch factor.
Beyond the bamboo baskets, new speciality dishes include the chilled marinated chicken that is soaked in just the right amount of Sichuan spices chilli oil; steamed Shanghai vegetable sprouts; poached pork belly in a gelatinous fish bone broth. Available at the weekday dim sum buffet at $58.80 a person and weekend dim sum brunch buffet at $69.80 a person.
Level 3, Pan Pacific Singapore, 7 Raffles Boulevard
Braised Beef Short Rib ($28) at PORTA Fine Food and Import Company
Executive chef Alex Phan, who helms the kitchen at this casual chic modern European joint at the lobby of the Park Hotel Clarke Quay, is an up-and-comer in the local food scene. Previously with The Unlisted Collection and most recently, the executive chef at Restaurant Ember, Phan curates a simple but satisfying dining experience at PORTA.
The new à la carte menu marries modern European dishes with Asian touches, and the chef does not shy away from using herbs and spices which lend unexpected flourishes to his classic dishes. The entree of braised beef short rib is a hearty slab of beef that has been braised for 12 hours till fork tender and accompanied with charred broccolini and curry mash. Even desserts embrace unconventional Asian flavours like the five-spice apple crumble and panna cotta tinged green with the scent of basil.
1 Unity Street
Uni And Caviar ($25) at Le Binchotan
At Le Binchotan, chef/owner Jeremmy Chiam's creative French-Japanese cuisine is centred around food cooked over the prized Japanese charcoal. The binchotan imparts a distinct smoky characteristic to his dishes like the edible 'charcoal' which features tender pulled Angus beef encased in a crisp black popiah skin, and even a dessert of smoked chocolate.
A stand-out dish is the 'uni and caviar', which comes served in a glass with an umami and creamy corn mousse, binchotan-grilled corn kernels and house-smoked sea salt flakes, layered together like an indulgent parfait topped off with sturgeon caviar and a heap of sweet bafun uni. The richness is cut through with spherified shoyu pearls and chopped chives. Creamy, smoky and full of juxtaposing textures—an all-round decadent treat.
115 Amoy Street #01-04
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