Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

This is the latest Korean restaurant to have opened along the Tanjong Pagar Road stretch offering Korean comfort food such as spam gimbap, spicy stir fried pork and especially the seafood soft tofu stew that I highly recommend. The stew had a strong seafood flavour and comes packed with ingredients. One of the comfort foods that I love is the kimchi fried rice, though simple but when done right, it absolutely hits the spot. The cheese steamed egg is best eaten when served while the seafood pancake could do a bit more time in the pan to crisp up further.

For Christmas this year, Eden Restaurant in Pullman Singapore Orchard brings diners on a sleigh ride through Asia with the 3-course Festive Dinner Set staring with the duck foie gras with a yuzu and mango crystal before a choice of peppered hoisin glazed short ribs or the Nyonya sambal turkey roulade. For dessert, you will be served a refreshing citrus lemon curd tartlet. To go alongside the meal, you can top up with the festive cocktails, especially the jolly belle femme and snowy Christmas sangria, the latter containing a mixture of red wine, port wine and grand marnier.

To welcome the Year of the Dragon, Yàn’s celebratory menu will surely excite your tastebuds starting with the signature Shun De Yusheng with Australian lobster. One of the highlights is the Crispy Roast Suckling Pig that is served three ways - first to enjoy the crispy skin, second the tenderloin pork back is oven-baked in a lemongrass marinate and lastly the shank is cut into bite sized pieces. This year also saw the introduction of the creamy Golden Pumpkin Broth with dried fish maw, a Steamed Live Marble Goby Fish and my favourite of the evening, the Roasted Duck flavoured with a selection of spices and Chinese herbs.

Other dishes include the Braised Two Head Abalone with Mushroom, Wok-fried Glutinous Rice with Preserved Meat and Chinese Sausage, and a duo dessert of Chilled Taro Paste with Coconut Ice Cream and Smiling Sesame Ball.

I boycotted Dong Bei Ren Jia after experiencing a bad attitude wait staff many months ago. Finally, I am back, and while service is still relatively subpar, I have decided to look past that and focus on the affordability, variety and flavours of the food. Hence, the next time I am back again in the future, I will come with a better managed expectation.

Starting from 19 January, Crystal Jade Group of restaurants will launch the festive dishes and menus to usher in the Year of the Dragon. All casual and fine dining outlets will feature a unique lineup of dishes and set menus, and I had the opportunity to sneak preview them. Starting with the prosperity yu sheng that is available at all fine dining concepts, the traditional yu sheng is elevated with the addition of Boston lobster tail and aburi scallop. Crystal Jade Pavillion will be showcasing the double-boiled kampong chicken soup while the Hong Kong Kitchen team is presenting the pan-fried dace fish paste in Shunde style. Listed in the Michelin Guide, Crystal Jade Golden Palace is serving up a pan-fried South Africa abalone topped with crispy leek and a lava kumquat taro doughnut while Crystal Jade Palace is going festive with the premium loin rib coated with Cointreau orange sauce and a dessert of red bean roll with tangerine peel. The noodle specialist of Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao has a dry la mian with prawn and celtuce, while diners can takeaway the eight treasures vegetable wrapped in beancurd skin that is so reminiscent of a pen cai.

PizzaMaru Singapore has launched the Pinkle Bell Pizza in celebration of the upcoming holidays. The festive treat is a Chicago-style pizza that comes with a pinkish cheese base with toppings of honey chicken ham, chicken pepperoni, star- and heart-shaped tteokbokki, and cherry tomato. For pizza crust lovers, the inside is even stuffed with a cheese filling too! To go alongside the Pinkle Bell Pizza are several mainstays such as the Truffle Parmesan Fried Chikin, Hellish Fries that has been drizzled with Maru supa hot sauce and you can cool down the heat with their gigantic mocktails such as the Grape Fruit Soda and Citrus Black Tea.

To welcome the Year of the Dragon, Chef Aaron and team has prepared a Dragon’s Wealth Yu Sheng filled with an abundance of premium seafood with a honey miso golden peach sauce. After all the tossing for wealth and health, we were treated with the Abundance Treasure Pot, a pen cai filled with umami goodness with the treasures from the sea. The Prosperity Steamed Cod Fish with crispy preserved radish was perfectly cooked while the Fortune Oven-baked Lobster comes in a golden butter sauce and cheese. The usual roasted chicken is given an upgrade with the Lunar Bliss Sichuan Style Chicken that is stir-fried with Sichuan spice to give a spicy and numbing sensation from each bite. The last savoury dish of Signature Roasted Suckling Pig was not to be missed, with the crispy outer skin paired with the five-grain glutinous rice. To finish the meal, we had the Harmony Chilled Pumpkin Puree that contains nourishing bird’s nest and a side of sweet nian gao.

This Christmas, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse is serving their Christmas specials for two, starting with an appetiser of either the Waldorf salad or cream of cauliflower before a choice of entree which we chose the USDA roasted prime rib served with beef jus and cream horseradish. The main highlight of the meal was beefy and nicely seasoned which is served bone-in and you can gnaw the meat off the bone which has the most flavours. Accompanying sides include sliced honey baked turkey ham that is juicy and tender, baked sweet potato, sautéed wild mushroom that has an umami touch and sautéed haricot verts. End the meal with a dessert of ube tiramisu.

Chances are if you have been to Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre is to eat at Fragrant Garden, an old school Teochew restaurant that serves an array of authentic dishes. I myself was a first timer to this shopping centre and the building has seen better days. However the nostalgic charm of shining the spotlight back on a heritage restaurant gives me great joy and hunger to share about this place. Everything we have ordered from the claypot sliced fish soup (soup is refillable!), to oyster omelette, braised pork steamed buns and fried kway teow oozes homely flavours that stood the test of time and hopefully many more years to come.

Popular seafood restaurant, Seafood Paradise has joined forces with Chef Gaggan Anand’s fame Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh for a one-of-a-kind Singapore-style seafood experience with the exciting fusion of Indian-Mexican flavours. For starters, there is the Fresh Canadian Oyster with Salsa Taquera, Pickled Shallot and Tobiko, paying homage to the tangy Mexican flavours, and highlights such as the Crab Curry with Creamy Butter Crab topped with Coconut Crumbs best to go with some fried mantou, and Stir-fried Live Tiger Prawn with Gaggan’s Crab Curry Base that is aromatic with a touch of wok hei. If you are still feeling hungry, the iconic Mee Goreng is infused with robust masala spices and served with papadam. These dishes will be available for a limited time only so hurry down and try them before it’s gone.

Champion’s Curry is my favourite Japanese curry that I have tasted in recent times and the brand is having a pop-up at the Ishikawa Fair at Takashimaya B2 Food Hall from now to 2 November. The beef curry roux over rice with breaded pork cutlet is just amazing. The curry packs just a tinge of spiciness and you can also get the frozen roux from Donki.

For Christmas this year, The Marmalade Pantry has got you covered with a festive spread of new meats, sides and sweets such as the Roasted Maple Bourbon Turkey and Baked Maple Ham, both essential dishes for a great feast. Want different kinds of meat? The Beef Short Ribs Bone-in, Porchetta and especially the Lemon & Dill Salmon have got you covered. Accompaying these meats are sides that you should try especially the returning Mac & Cheese. For desserts, there are sweets like the Merry Berry Cheese Log Cake and Nutty Noel Chocolate Log Cake.