Beefbar x Ash & Elm Collaboration Jun 2018

Let's get into the 3 (chefs), 2 (nights), and 1 (Michelin Star) on the Beefbar x Ash & Elm collaboration happening this weekend! S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna has brought together the signatures of Hong Kong's one Michelin star Beefbar Chef Andrea Spagoni, and InterContinental Singapore's Chef Philippe Duc and Chef Ben Goh for a special five-course menu. 

The menu starts with an Amberjack carpaccio with wasabi dressing and coriander cress, followed by a Beef tartare “bistro style”. 

There's no doubt of the quality of the prime beef served by Beefbar Hong Kong, the only star-rated steakhouse in Hong Kong. Within the first year of opening in 2017, they earned their first Michelin star, and have kept it for the second year running. Tenderloin is used in this chunky beef tartare. 

Next, the Pan-seared Hokkaido scallops by Chef Philippe. Chef even gave us a class on how to prepare scallops (that are still in their shell). 

I loved the sweetness in the firm scallop, which had a nice browned crust to it, paired with a tangy brown butter sauce. 

For mains, 2 cuts of beef were served- American prime Black Angus tenderloin, and Australian wagyu-crossbred striploin. The tenderloin slices like butter! For those who prefer a richer flavor, you'd enjoy the striploin for sure. 

Dessert Rouge was prepared by award-winning Chef Ben Goh, and features a lovely Single origin 68% cuvee Bali chocolate crémeux and a yuzu yoghurt sherbet, decorated with strawberry compote and vanilla meringue. THAT CHOCOLATE was amazing! I finished every bit of that dessert! 

Go get a table if you haven't. The five-course dinner is $128/pax and wine pairing is available at an addition $88. Looking forward to more of the Fine Dining Lovers Guest Chef Series by fine dining waters S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.

Ash & Elm InterContinental Singapore

80 Middle Rd, Singapore 188966

Tel: +65 6825 1008

Restaurant Ibid and its Nanyang Cuisine

It's been some time since the first MasterChef Asia was crowned and we have waited with anticipation on what winner Woo Wai Leong would come up. Well, Restaurant Ibid was worth the wait as Wai Leong went back to his source, and roots to search for his identity. From these dual inspirations comes Nanyang-style, Contemporary Chinese cuisine which marries his heritage and western kitchen training. 

Dinner is a multi-course affair- 4 course $78, 6 course $88, 8 course $118.

Dinner started with 2 snacks and i must say i enjoyed the Spring onion shao bing a lot more than i did the Skewered escargot skewers. The shao bing took on a stuffed English muffin appearance with a filling of spring onions, mozzarella, black pepper and sesame oil. I couldn't stop eating it with the yeasted butter and laksa leaf oil. The dou bang jiang mayonnaise flavored escargot is not for everyone, unless you're ok with bitter betel leaf. 

If you're expecting a Tea egg, like the dark braised sort, well, there's nothing like that here even though the inspiration came from that. Here we have an organic egg yolk is sous vide at 65 degrees for 1 hour, flavored by a Mandarin pu-erh broth, a creamy sour cream onion puree, and a brown butter fried shiitake mushrooms and gingko nuts.

The Commons Bangkok- Best Brunch Spot

Woke up late for brunch in Bangkok and haven't done your research on where to go? Well well, my suggestion is to head to theCOMMONS at Thonglor, which is still the hippest district in BKK (i believe). The eco-friendly mall houses artisan cafes and eateries and also cool shops. Plus the architecture is interesting enough for you to just wander about and appreciate it. Oh and it houses Roast, which is BKK's favorite cafe.

The Commons is divided into 4 sections – Market, Village, Play Yard, Top Yard. Most of the food offerings are at the Market, while Roast is at the top level. 

Since this post is about brunch, i'm gonna focus more on the brunchy, wake-me-up kinda food. Do note that there are other heartier, meatier, savory options available at The Commons. 

Roast

Mon-Thu: 10am-11pm / Fri-Sat: 9am-11pm / Sun: 9am-10 pm

Possibly the kick-starter of Bangkok's love affair with brunch, Roast nailed it with their all-day breakfast. The chunky crab cake eggs benedict left us wanting for more. How is one crab cake even enough! Oh and the strawberry waffle is another must order. You could also have burgers, steak frites, roast chicken etc. should you dine later. Coffee here is such as lunch (burgers) and dinner (steak frites B890, roast chicken B480). Thanks to carefully-sourced beans roasted in house, the coffee here is excellent. 02-185-2865, 

Egg My God

Daily: 9.30 am - 10 pm

Egg, egg, egg, and more eggs! I don't know about you but i think egg is a superfood, plus it's so versatile! Egg My God uses eggs on their own, as an ingredient, a side, a main, and in their desserts. Oh and they also have it in its preserved form- think salted egg yolk angel hair pasta with truffle and chive oil, shiitake.

Yàn 私房菜

Yàn was one of my considered venue for our Singapore wedding reception since we decided to do something more traditional to cater to our families and i knew the food was gonna be good. Sadly we had to drop it as our guest list turned out to be larger than what the restaurant could accommodate. Well, my disappointment was greater after tasting their enhanced menu by new Executive Chinese Chef Lai Chi Sum. Yàn has been delivering fine Cantonese cuisine and Chef has now included some fine 'home-style' meals or ‘私房菜’ which features traditional recipes cooked slow and long to distil rich, soulful flavors. The hearty dishes would really work well for the communal banquet but oh wells... 

Well let's start with the oldies but goodies. All-time favorites such as the Signature Crispy Roast Suckling Pig served in 3 ways (read about the lovely lemongrass pork fillet here), Peking Roast Duck, Steamed Thousand Layer Beancurd and seafood delicacies such as abalones, lobsters, clams, crabs, and sea cucumbers remain. 

Yàn Peking Roast Duck Served in 2 Ways ($55 for half, $105 for whole). The peking duck wrappers were super yummy and the servers did a marvellous job of wrapping them up quickly for the starving bunch of us. The rest of the meat is typically diced, and stir-fried with diced vegetables and served in lettuce cups. 

We opted to have it served sliced though and the meat was flavorful and juicy on its own!

FOC by Pim Pam

Dining at FOC by Pim Pam (FOC) could be a day long affair, like how the Spaniards would advise. Start with some Tapas for some cocktails and light bites, then move on to the main affair in their Main Dining Room, and end with some desserts and night-caps on the open Bar and Terrace, located in the heart of the Orchard Road. 

Starting off with some classic tapas, the Patatas Bravas ($6 Tapas Bar/$10 Main Dining) wowed me. Unlike the regular cubed and fried potatoes, FOC has sliced and steamed the Agria potatoes before layering them millefeuille and deep-frying them for that extra crunchy texture. The house-made aioli and brava sauce was spicy and pungent and absolutely addictive. You must definitely order this!

PIM PAM Croquetas ($5 - 6 for 2 pcs Tapas Menu/ $10 - 12 for 4pcs Main Dining) are glorious fried creamy bombs of flavor! Pick from the lot of ham, mushroom, crab, and spinach & pine nuts. I really enjoyed the earthy mix of mushrooms with béchamel sauce, encased in a crispy crunchy crust.

Another Spanish classic done well was the Prawns 'Al Ajillo' ($13/22) featuring sweet and soft Argentinean prawns pan fried with sliced garlic, chilli, olive oil, salt and sweet paprika, topped on a ratte potato espuma.

Trip Report- Singapore-Narita SQ B777-300ER

It's been a while since i'm back on my favorite Singapore Airlines Business Class! I know i know.. I'm saving it up for that big one to NYC you see. Anyhow, this was a rather special trip for us- It's Jr's first time on SQ biz (i was really excited when i booked it); and i came back from Japan engaged, and with a broken tendon! Yeah.. 2018 hasn't had a dull moment yet!

A quick stop at the SilverKris lounge was all we could manage pre-flight. The lounge was so packed! Our supper was the signature prawn noodles (love the broth) and carrot cake (i ate a fair amount of this even though i claimed i wasn't hungry), plus a mean G&T made by yours truly. 

Given that we were on the B777-300ER, i assumed that it was going to be the SQ's “new” business class product but it's the old one! BOOOO... That said, it's still better than their old regional product (read my review on the old regional A330 here).

#FWP i shadn't complain. I do love the old business class anyway. Their seat width is one of the widest in its class, up to 34-inch wide and with a pitch of 55. Yes this is larger and wider than the new 777-300ER seats. The 1-2-1 forward-facing cabin layout gives you that aisle access no matter where you sit ). 

Oh, and we were one of the first to try their free Wifi onboard (like finally SQ). 

Here's the sleeper service menu. SQ now allows you to preview the menu pre-flight now, so i was able to decide if i wanna use the Book-The-Cook service or not. Well for flights to Japan, i'd always order the onboard Japanese meal. Also, you could choose to have your meal immediately (for supper), or to have it pre-landing (an early breakfast). We chose the latter and after informing the attendants, we promptly went to bed in our fully-flat bed that comes complete with linen, duvet, and pillows.

I've become quite the pro at making my own bed in Business class i must say. I thought i would be occupied with the movies but i fell into a deep sleep and Jr had to wake me up for breakfast because the attendants couldn't! Partly because i was plugged into their on-board noise cancelling headphones too. :P

Jr had the BTC Classic Lobster Thermidor, which was as good as i remembered it to be. Creamy chunky lobster that wasn't too dry.  

My Hanakoireki wasn't too bad as well, if not a bit plain. This works as a traditional Japanese breakfast though. Other than the rice and pickles, there were also omelette, herring roe, turnip salad, grilled yellowtail teriyaki, stuffed tofu with chicken, mixed vegetables, and an assortment of vegetables. 

A quick review of the ANA's services at Haneda and New Chitose Airport, since we were enroute to Furano for snowboarding. If you're flying premium class or if you're an elite frequent flyer on Star Alliance, there is a dedicated check-in. This definitely makes traveling a breeze! The ANA lounges for domestic travel aren't great though. Drinks (draft beer, whiskys, sakes, juices and soft drinks) and a snack is provided (assorted Japanese rice crackers) at the lounge.

The international lounge at Narita fared better in terms of food options. There were some sushi rolls, hot finger food, sandwiches, and salad. Go around the corner to the noodle bar, where you can order your choice of udon, soba, and curry. The kakiage wasn't that great, and it's not nice soaked in the soup as well. Will probably do the curry next time.

A quick slurp of soba and 1 Creamia soft serve later, we were on board our flight back to Singapore and welcomed by the signature Beef and Chicken Satay!

Book-The-Cook is not available on the Narita-Singapore leg. I contemplated having the Western option but caved in to more Japanese food! 

Sake seemed to be the natural pairing. :) Can't remember much about the first course other than the rather springy udon. 

The meats were a lot better and i tried really hard not to eat so much rice but Japanese flavored rice is too hard to resist! 

Refreshing Japanese fruits with jelly to end the meal... Or so i thought!

More fruits and cheese went around! And more desserts too! Jr had the rich chocolate mousse while i nibbled on cheese and nuts.

Singapore Airlines, always a great way to fly! Till the next one!

XOXO
Travelerintransit