Savour Christmas 2016

The last annual event for Savour happened just this year about six months back and before we knew it, Savour Chrismas 2016 is already here. So here's some thoughts on the food they were hawking for this event.

Baller Breakfast (Artichoke)

1 Pide O’ Fish, 3pc Nugget Royale, 1 Crab BLT 

Artichoke's Baller Breakfast consisted of Nugget Royale - which are nuggets of breaded and deep fried duck with their toum garlic whip, Pide O' Fish - which is pide with burnt cabbage tartar, pink peppercorn and smoked swordfish and the crab BLT - spiced bacon chop with crab & lettuce tzatziki, tomato and breakfast muffin. All pretty good. Things that I'd eat again.

Smokin’ Daddy (Three Buns)

Aged 100g UK Hereford Beef Patty, Dingley Dell Black Beer & Treacle Streaky Bacon, bbq Sauce, Ketchup, Smokey Mayo, Bread & Butter Pickles, Cheddar Cheese, Bawang Goreng, in a Toasted Wagyu Fat Brioche Bun

The description of Smokin' Daddy was pretty tempting so that's what reeled me in. On hindsight, I still couldn't fathom why that beef patty which was griddled well done and subsequently overwhelmed by what they were trying to stuff between the buns. While I could taste some of the items and liked them, the meat could have done better without the bbq sauce, ketchup and possibly mayo. That aside, it wasn't too bad; just not the burger for the purists or even me under normal circumstances.

Grilled Tiger Prawn (Stellar at 1-Altitude)

Risoni, Pancetta, Bone Marrow, Foie Gras

The grilled prawn was delicious. The parts for the risoni where the head fat from the prawn had leaked onto was amazing too. While I liked the risoni, this was definitely a case of too much of a good thing. I mean, bone marrow and foie gras. I liked it, but I couldn't taste them individually so I'm not sure if it was so smart.

Half Roasted French Quail (Saveur Art) 

Pearl Barley & Forest Mushrooms Risotto,

Pickled Shimeiji, Japanese Buckwheat, Shallots 

Saveur Art has always done well in my opinion so this quail was just the slightest let down because it was just - well, roasted quail. Here was me hoping for a little more pink and juiciness. The barley and mushroom risotto on the other hand was really flavoursome. Awesome with the pickled shimeiji and onions.

Ravioli Stuffed with Saffron Risotto and Ossobuco Ragu (Buona Terra)
Homemade Ravioli Stuffed with Saffron Risotto and Bone Marrow Topped with Ossobuco Ragu and Gremolata (Chopped Parsley, Lemon Zest and Garlic)

This was not bad though I could imagine how it tasted like before actually tasting it.

Some Asahi Kuronama to help beat the sweltering heat.

Donut Softie (Bird Bird)
Sugared Donut, Egg Nog Soft Serve, Chicken Floss

The one thing that really got us mmm-ing was Bird Bird's donut softie. The sweet light cinnamon from the egg nog soft serve was a new level of good with the salty chicken floss. While I wouldn't say that the combination was weird or exotic or unimaginable, the pairing turned out much more pleasing that we had expected. So the vote went to Bird Bird.

And look what we found in the Christmas market? The most insincere goodbye gift in the world larger than ever.

Pork rib mee sua from Old Street Bak Kut Teh

Wow, this bowl from Old Street Bak Kut Teh was pretty good. Those slurpy smooth noodles had soaked up the garlicky peppery broth and this was just the thing to have in the recent cool evenings. Yes, that and those tender fall off the bone meat from the rib.

Sawadee Thai Cuisine, Tan Quee Lan Street

Sawadee Thai Cuisine (9 Tan Quee Lan Street, tel : +65 6238 6833) is slightly upmarket restaurant, not the street food kind of place for Thai food. The food is not unfamiliar, just a little more refined and for certain dishes, are elevated by more expensive ingredients. Kinda like Gin Khao. 

I gathered that they've been around for quite a while but they're obviously one of those places that has evaded my attention all these while. Apparently, they've been listed in the top 5 Thai restaurants here for a few years.

We had panaeng roasted duck curry. Panaeng curry is a type of red, rich curry that's a little sweet and salty and nutty. Something that is an excellent accompaniment to steamed white rice. Sawadee's version has shreds of roasted duck (with skin!), lychee (amazingly good in the curry) and pineapple (not the canned variety!). Recalling back, the first time I've had these was back in Baan Khanita. That one had baby eggplants and grapes.

In recent years, I've discovered in myself a little fandom for Thai salads. Namely the variety more commonly seen like som tam (papaya), yum som o (pomelo) and som tam mamuang (green mango). That's the yum som o. This particular rendition doesn't have toasted coconut but seemed to have a flavour that tasted like honey. Oddly couldn't taste the fish sauce too. The pomelo that they used also did not have so much citrus that I would have preferred.

But I still kinda liked it.

Those crab spring rolls por pea poo were supposed to be appetizers that arrived at the post appetizer stage of the meal. They were pretty good. The fried skin was really fragrant, not simply flat and greasy like many other fried spring rolls.

Stir fried bean sprouts with fish maw and eggs. Three ingredients that I like. Amongst many. Putting them together just made sense for us to order it.

We had their grilled Kurobuta pork collar - known as khor moo Kurobuta yang on the menu. This came from the appetizer section of the menu and arrived last. While it was pretty tasty, I thought that it would have benefitted from a little more char and I couldn't help but feel that the use of Kurobuta wasn't necessary in making the dish better. We've had equally good ones that was done with regular pork.

Dessert was steamed tapioca with coconut milk. These sweetened tapioca were steamed on order and tasted good. None of those old fibrous root in there.

Hajjah Mariam Cafe, Westgate

We came across this shop at Westgate (#B2-08 Westgate Shopping Mall, 3 Gateway Drive) selling nasi ambeng. It's steamed white rice topped with Javanese/Indonesian/Malay dishes which were sauce/curry rich and came in communal dining portions for sharing.

The shop was packed pretty much to the brim and it looked like it was worth a try. The food turned out to be pretty good. Both the curries and the sambal belachan added up, sending beads of perspiration down my scalp. Their sotong hitam was rich and delicious. The only thing I thought wasn't well done was the beef rendang. The gravy hadn't much of a presence and the meat was dry and a little tough.

Super Loco, Robertson Quay

Decided to check out Super Loco (#01-13 The Quayside, 60 Robertson Quay, tel : +65 6235 8900) which is opened by The Loco Group, the folks behind Lucha Loco. The only margarita included in their happy hour are the frozen ones. I had initially thought that it was not a wise move on their part. But the easy drinking icy slush was soft and after a while, it became like one on no rocks still nicely chilled.

Lucha Loca was the first time I've had elotes. These ones here were also pretty good. Juicy corn coated with creamy saltiness of the cotija cheese and was that ancho?

Those huitlacoche quesadillas were pretty good munching with the nutty mushrooms and cheese. 

This was the pulled lamb quesadilla with onions, dill, mint and parsley. The flavour combinations from the herbs were great.

We had previously thought that El Mero Mero had expensive tacos. Super Loco had tacos that costed even more. These ones with ox tongue and cheek and ghost chilli mayo were $12 a piece. But I had to admit this was pretty damn good and I liked that ghost chilli mayo.

More Camelicious camel milk from Mustafa

So here's another two little bottles of flavoured camel milk from Mustafa. The date flavoured one strangely reminded me of oat milk. Not so much of dates. You know that brand of oat milk which is the name of a flower and it starts with the same letter as the word 'mother'. The saffron bottle tasted like how I thought it would - a little sweet, lightly perfumed with the flavour of the spice. I liked that better than the date one.