Egg tarts. One of my favorite snacks growing up. What's not to love about snappy crust and wobbly egg pudding?! Yes pudding, not custard like the real Portuguese pastéis de nata (i'll save the review of that for my Lisbon post).

Anyway, during my last trip to Hong Kong, i did an impromptu taste test of 2 famous egg tart brands Honolulu and Tai Cheong since they were both within walking distance from my hotel! Here's the low down. 

Color

Something you wouldn't notice unless you place both tarts together. Honolulu is on the left and Tai Cheong on the right. The radioactive yellow of Tai Cheong's egg tarts could be attributed to a higher egg yolk content (so i heard) and given that it's sweeter, i suspect there's some glaze to it. 

Tart Base & Egg Custard

Honolulu's base is dense and crunchy at the bottom but the edges are more of a layered airy puff pastry. The style is more similar to the Macao-Portuguese egg tarts. The egg filling was rather wet tasted very much like a mixture of soft boiled eggs.

Tai Cheong's crust is something i'm more familiar with. Don't you love snappy shortcrust pastry? Well i do. This is what i'd call a sugar crust. If you like butter cookies, you will love this type of crust. The egg custard was denser, more curdy and can be sliced clean. 

Fragrance
Scent-wise, Honolulu's tart is more savory (lardy) while Tai Cheong's tart smells like a dessert. After the first bite of Honolulu's tart, my throat felt rather uncomfortable and there's an oily aftertaste. It was less noticeable after a few more bites.

I definitely preferred the eggy fragrance of Tai Cheong's tart.

Verdict! I preferred Tai Cheong's egg tart obviously. It's perfect for breakfast, or that afternoon snack, or pre-bed supper. Then again, if i were to take part in an egg tart eating competition, i'd probably pick Honolulu's since it's more savory and i could possibly eat more of them. FYI, Jr prefers Honolulu's.

Did i get that egg tart craving going? Well well, thankfully both Tai Cheong and Honolulu's egg tarts are available in Singapore! Go grab yours now.

XOXO
Travelerintransit

Are you familiar with New Zealand beef and lamb? I'm not. For most beef lovers, our beef come from US, Australia, or Japan. Hence it was interesting to have a taste of the New Zealand meats at Wakanui Grill Dining at the stunning Marina One Singapore.

Wakanui Grill Dining first started in Tokyo in 2011 and the Singapore outlet is the first overseas franchise. What's special here is their dry-aged Ocean Beef and succulent Wakanui Spring Lamb which are grilled on Binchotan charcoal. 

Ocean Beef is produced from the Angus breed against the backdrop of the snow-peaked Southern Alps and pure snow-fed rivers of the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand’s South Island. 

The concept behind Ocean Beef was to develop beef that achieves the perfect balance between marbling and leanness, while retaining natural juiciness and an intense beef flavour. Even though the marbling is nothing like the regular wagyu beef, i was surprised by the tenderness of the meat. The cattle are grass-fed for 18 months on the lush green, high-protein pastures, and then finished on specially formulated wheat, barley and maize-based feed for four months at the Five Star Beef Feedlot located in the coastline area of Wakanui, South Canterbury, from which the restaurant takes its name.

The beef are wet-aged at Wakanui, but for the Ocean Bone-in Ribeye (1kg $199), they are further dry-aged for another 21 days. I preferred the regular Ocean Beef Ribeye (350g $79/ 500g $109) which has a lovely crust! If you are into stronger meat flavors, the Canterbury Grass-fed Fillet (Lunch 150g $45, Dinner  250g $78/ 500g $138) is recommended. This is my favorite cut here at Wakanui!

Next, the Wakanui Spring Lamb! Sheesh these are the BEST LAMB i've had in my life really. There's none of that gaminess, and the meat is superbly tender and there's no need for any sauces at all! It all boils down to quality meat. These lambs are born in late winter/early spring and are raised for approximately six months on the lush and highly nutritious spring pastures. The meat is then wet-aged for around four weeks until reaching its peak flavour, at which point it undergoes quick freezing. This process ensures that the optimum flavour and texture of the lamb can be enjoyed year-round. 

You can have them as appetizers ($8/chop) or for mains (Lunch half rack $32, Dinner half rack $42/ full rack $82). They are seasoned with Christmas Island salt.

Have the meats with sides of Sautéed Mushrooms ($18), or that dense and fragrant Handcut Potato Wedges with Truffle Oil ($15)

Alongside the meats, you could have the Kikorangi Blue Cheese Caesar Salad (Lunch $14/ Dinner $22). The blue cheese is very light, even the non-cheese eaters in our company were ok with this version. 

Seafood eaters could have the New Zealand Ora King Salmon (Lunch main $39, Dinner starter $24) that is marinated for a full day with juniper berries and bay leaves, before being house-smoked a la minute over cherrywood chips for three mins and baked for another three. ($24). It is served with Chef's recipe sauce - tomatoes, shallots, olive oil, green chillies.

Some Japanese influence is seen in the Seasonal Hassun starter(Lunch 2pcs $24, Dinner 3 pcs $32). When we visited, we had a silky scallop beancurd wrapped in winter melon with a dashi reduction; unagi and daikon on beetroot puree; and a dryish lotus root tempura topped with bonita flakes.

For desserts, the class New Zealand Hokey Pokey Ice Cream ($14) is a must. Love the burnt honeycomb brittle in the house made vanilla ice cream. 

The Baked Rare Chocolate Cake ($14) which is a lovely bitter-sour Valrhona Guanaja Chocolate cake. The acidity comes from a blackcurrant puree that is included in the batter and the sweetness comes from the whipping cream. I don't know about you but i like a rich dessert to anchor my meal. :)

With so many meat restaurants opening in Singapore in 2017, i must say that Wakanui Grill Dining provides diners with a unique steak experience. Make sure you pay them a visit.

Wakanui

5 Straits View #04-02 Marina One The Heart Singapore, 018935 

Tel: +65 6384 2665  

Weekday: 11,30am - 3pm, 5.30 - 11pm

Sat: 5.30 - 11pm

Tis the season to feast and we headed back to one of our favorite restaurants this year, Audace at Wanderlust Hotel (read about our previous meal here). This time, we sampled Chef  Jérémy’s communal Sunday brunch, which is actually more of a fine bistronomy lunch! How else can you categorize a meal consisting of 6 appetisers, 5 main courses, 5 side dishes and 5 desserts? To call it Sunday brunch is a plain understatement. 

Instead of going through all of the food we had, i'll just highlight my favorites, since the menu changes very often and you are likely to be tasting something different. Well one thing that should be kept on the menu for sure is the Pumpkin Soup. The creamy pureé is rich and buttery and super intense and that one shot is certainly not enough. If you're expecting some brunch sort of food, the Focaccia With Cooked Ham & Mascarpone Black Pepper will hit the right spot mainly because of the herby crusty bread!

The Salmon Gravlax with Beetroot had a light acidity and sweetness to it. Texture en pointe.

The Asparagus Salad Chorizo Iberico was also a nice nuttiness to it. 

For mains, i thought the fish dishes were a lot better than the meat ones. In particular, the Pearl Grouper With Orange Paste was my favorite main dish. There's this lovely smooth fat to the fish and it's perfect with the smooth broccoli pureé. The orange accent was also very interesting. The Grilled White Tuna was a bit drier but love that crisp on the outside. 

The Braised Pork Belly was a tad too bland for me when i first bit into it, but as i chewed on, it has a nice light sweetness to it. It's great that it isn't too seasoned actually.

Both duck dishes we had- the French Breast Duck, and Duck Terrine were both too gamey for my liking. They had a strong bloody liver flavor to it, which wasn't appetizing.

The mains come with sides of creamy Polenta (love this one)/ Broccoli Mash (the best!)/ Baked Carrot/ Risotto (yums)/ Baked Rutabaga & Aubepine (most interesting veg). 

Then there were desserts and i enjoyed ALL OF THEM! On this platter (left to right), a Speculoos macaron which will explode in your mouth; a comforting crunchy chocolate cookie; and a snappy and not too tart Lemon Cream Tartlette & Candied Berce. 

The Dark chocolate mousse with salted caramel is LOVE! Super dark and smooth and not too sweet!

End on a refreshing note with the Pomelo, Black Pepper and Honey. The bitterness worked strangely! 

So glad to be able to revisit Audace before the year ends. Can't wait to be back for Chef's signatures!

Audace

2 Dickson Road Singapore 209494

Wanderlust Hotel

Tel: +65 6298 1188

Tue-Sat: 7.30am - 12am

Sun: 7.30am - 4pm

Sunday Brunch: 11.30am - 4pm

We all love a home-cooked Christmas feast but honestly who looks forward to the cleaning?! How about glamming it up at one of the best hotels in Singapore a.k.a. Capella Singapore and have the chefs be at your beck and call while you chill to the view of the South China Sea? The Chef’s Table, a private dining affair at Capella Singapore, is the answer to your perfect Christmas party!

The #alldayerrday semi-buffet Private Brunch Affair caters to a party of 10 and more, and you could do it any time of the day. What's best is the 2 hours of free-flow Taittinger champagne and other alcoholic beverages of your choice to start. Mulled wine sounds perfect to us too!

Hone in on the cold seafood section for the freshest oysters shucked to order (we had both US and Canadian varieties on the day we went), lightly poached Boston lobsters, succulent prawns and juicy scallops.

One of the greatest challenge of a chef must be running an all-day dining restaurant in a hotel. There must be a wide selection of dishes for guests of all nationality and ages, and a balance between serving Singapore cuisine and international ones. Now throw in the healthy eating trend too and get the chef to whip up a menu that incorporates all of the above! Thankfully for Courtyard by Marriott, they've found Executive Chef John Chye who managed to do all of that at Sky 22.

Sky 22 is located on the 22nd floor of the newly opened hotel and diners get to enjoy an expansive view of the city area while dining. While breakfast is quite typical (western and local), lunch is more refreshing with the option to Build Your Own (Healthy) Bowl.

You'll taste more of Chef Chye's creations at dinner. Local flavors are infused into Western cooking and some of his inspirations come from dishes like Hakka Braised Pork, Singapore Chili Crab and more. Of course, standard Western dishes as thrown in for diners who are not that adventurous. 

A safe but tasty appetizer is the Oven-baked Camembert Cheese ($18). Somehow the saltiness of the Camembert was enhanced and it's gorgeous with the herby arugula walnut pesto and the earthy and tart Rosemary-balsamic portobello. Perfect combination on the crusty sourdough. Simplicity is awesome.

I remember Five Nines (999.99) for their mad-affordable and delicious European-Japanese fare when they first opened at Keong Saik Road (read my earlier review of Five Nines here). They have since moved to Cuppage Plaza and the previous location is taken over by sister restaurant Kyuu by Shunsui (a must read review here).

The concept is still the same with a seasonal omakase that showcases ingredients that are flown in from Japan several times a week and the team is led by 37yo Head Chef Takashi Ohkawa (who already has 20 years of experience under his belt). Opened for dinner only, diners can enjoy the seasonal 6 course dinner set menu for only $49! You'll only get to enjoy this if you make a reservation! A tapas style a la carte menu is available till 2.30am. The 6-course menu changes regularly but you can expect consistently fresh ingredients. The current menu is as follows. 

Marinated Botan Shrimp and CousCous Salad with Tosazu vinegar and salmon roe. That Botan shrimp was super plump and sweet. The tomato flavored couscous also helped to prep our palate for the dishes to come. 

Next, the Foie Gras Terrine and Bruschetta with instant smoked orange jam. It was interesting how the smoked orange infused the liver so thoroughly in that short couple of seconds. However, i would love for more of the foie gras and not the airy croutons.

Favorite dish of the night goes to the Squid Ink Tagliolini in a langoustine sauce topped with snow crab. The freshly made pasta was springy and well flavored with a roasted garlic base and a rich umami seafood sauce. To top it off, refreshing shards of snow crab that is flavored with citrus. Give me a huge plate of this now. It's seldom that i polished every bit of any pasta dish so you know this is that good. 

I didn't enjoy the Steamed Cod Fish rolled with Parma Ham. When steamed without any seasoning, the fatty fish oozed oil and the parma ham did little to flavor the meat thoroughly. Also, the porcini sauce brought out a strong fishy flavor, which was strange considering that cod is quite tasteless. 

The meat dish on the other hand was delicious. The fried breaded ball of Mozzarella and Lamb tenderloin was super tender and juicy and it was not at all gamey. I was surprised that the Japanese pepper had the texture of lentils and was not at all spicy. 

To end the meal, a Cream Brûlée with Raspberry Sorbet. I’m not a crime brûlée person but i love the egginess of the custard and it's like a HK/Macau style Portuguese egg tart. I would have it on its own or maybe with some ice cream instead of an icy sorbet though. 

Come for supper and grab a couple of tapas on the a la carte menu. Signatures on the menu include the “Hiroshima” Oyster with tosazu foam ($10); Kisu Fish Escabeche ($9), Tripes ala Romana ($14), and Octopus and Mushroom Ajillo ($15). They also do have pastas, pizzas, and meats if you're hungrier! I so wanna try the Cappellini with Sea Urchin and fresh tomatoes ($24)! Wines and whiskys are also available till late. Five Nines is definitely worth a revisit given the high quality ingredients and affordable price point.

Five Nines 999.99

5 Koek Road, #04-04 Cuppage Plaza, Singapore 228796 

Tel: +65 6732 0195 

Tue- Sat: 6pm - 2.30am

Sun: 6 - 11pm 

At our last dim sum buffet at Jade Restaurant at the iconic Fullerton Hotel, we lamented their slow service and hurried dining experience despite the delicious morsels. Guess they heard our unhappiness! Jade has recently scraped the buffet and launched a new dim sum experience: Gourmet Dim Sum Treasures, featuring an ala carte as well as a range of set menus to fulfil your weekend and public holiday dim sum cravings. 

There is a wide variety of lunch set menus and here's sharing the highlights to ease that decision making. First up, a trio of dim sum with a contemporary twist. My personal favourite was the scallop dumpling topped with salmon roe. The sweet scallop filling complemented the salty ikura roe perfectly. Also delicious was the golden sea urchin siew mai, where the ubiquitous prawn dumpling was given an instant elevation in status with the sweet and fresh uni. The foie gras and truffle shrimp dumpling was a tad too rich, and we found that the foie gras masked the flavour of the har-gow which was unfortunate as the prawn filling was fresh and bouncy. 

The next dish is the Garden of Roasted Delight, which consists of an assortment of meats including honey glazed barbeque pork, roasted duck, crispy roasted pork belly, thousand-layer pig’s ear, and thinly sliced pork with garlic and vinaigrette. The crowd favourite of the night, the roast meats were tender, flavourful and well executed, the pigs’ ears were crunchy-collagen-goodness and the vinaigrette was a piquant accompaniment to the thinly sliced pork.

Of course, a good pot of Chinese Tea is a must with dimsum and we recommend the elegant 8 Treasures Tea, a calming brew with floral notes of jasmine, chrysanthemum and rosebuds, accompanied by gooseberries, red dates and dried longans. A refreshing mint and citrus ending comes from the mint root and dried calamansi. The tea was clean and light, and an excellent partner to the wonderful dim sum dishes at Jade. 

No Chinese meal is complete without a comforting soup, and the Double boiled fish maw, sea cucumber, bamboo pith and tofu dumpling in superior consommé was no exception. The consommé was sweet and nourishing, and we instantly felt energized by all that goodness. 

This unassuming plate of Wok-fried rice flour rolls with scallop in X.O. sauce was a close contender for favourite dish of the night. The chee cheong fun was fried to a crispy goodness, bathed in the wonderful umami flavour of the XO sauce and the entire dish was chockful of wokhei. This was certainly a dish worthy of repeat orders. 

Dessert was a Shaved pineapple coconut ice with champagne jelly accompanied by a bird’s nest egg tart. The pineapple coconut ice (more a sorbet than ice really) provided a refreshing end to the meal, though the champagne jelly was unfortunately rather unremarkable. The bird’s nest egg tart was memorable because of the huge dollop of bird’s nest resting on top of the egg custard. 

We were all pleasantly surprised by the presentation of the Lotus paste pastry flowers. While these pastries were tasty in the own right - with the lotus paste being the right consistency and sweetness, and the pastry skin being flaky and nicely buttery, what got us awing were the accompanying decorations. Made of gelatin, and coming in an assortment of designs (from land, air and sea) and a riot of colours, each and every single of these were hand crafted by the chef, and there are enough of these to ensure that every table gets to be awe-struck at the end of lunch.

While the loss of the popular ala carte buffet at Jade Restaurant is a pity (it was really value for money), diners need not feel mournful for too long as the new, revamped menu is definitely worth a visit or more! Prices may be a little on the high side, but the beautiful and expansive interior accompanied by the wonderful food makes for a delectable experience. 

Jade Restaurant

The Fullerton Hotel Singapore

1 Fullerton Square Singapore 049178

Tel: +65 6877 8188

We can never have enough of Japanese food and yes to SORA Japan gourmet food hall at Changi Airport Singapore Terminal 2. The 7,760 sq ft space, which seats about 300 diners, is the largest restaurant across the four terminals, and houses six Japanese restaurants. The dining options includes ramen, sashimi, okonomiyaki and Nippon-inspired desserts and beverages.

SORA is owned by ANA Trading - the trading arm of Japanese airline company, All Nippon Airways and this is the first time they are operating a food hall outside of Japan. For SORA, they have also brought in 2 restaurants that are new to Singapore, one of which is a famous Okonomiyaki chain from Osaka!

Tsuruhashi Fugetsu

The fussy me have not eaten any other okonomiyaki other than the one from Osaka, so i'm glad to be able to satisfy any craving at Tsuruhashi Fugetsu now! My choice would be the modanyaki which features fresh cabbage, an assortment of battered meat and seafood, with noodles. The mix grilled before being slathered with Worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise and topped with bonito flakes. It made me forget that i was eating carbs. And even when i did remember, i chose to ignore it. Share this one, it's HUGE. 

The Mix Yakisoba ($19) was a bit bland for me. This is pretty much like Chinese fried noodles.