Amara Hotel Lunar New Year [Media Tasting]

Chinese New Year is a week away, so it’s time to kick start on the catch-ups and gatherings. And, what’s a better way to do them than over good food and drinks? :)

Amara Hotel is ready for a prosperous Lunar New Year with its festive menu and buffets done up for the Year of the Pig.

Eight Treasures Prosperity Yu Sheng $88++ Small / $118++ Large

First thought of Amara Hotel’s Yu Sheng is that, the in-house sauce is more savoury than the usual sweet ones. There’re are generous toppings of abalone slices, salmon sashimi, jellyfish, salmon caviar, fish roe and fried fish skin (yay) that gives the whole yu sheng various levels of texture.

Not surprisingly, the yu sheng is endearingly done in the shape of a pig to celebrate the Year of the Pig.

Braised Pumpkin Soup with Superior Fish Maw

As simple as it may look, this is one of my favourite item from the dinner. The sweetness and creaminess of the pumpkin perfectly contrasted by dried scallops, fish maw and mushrooms. It is a very comforting broth that feels healthy and yet, effectively whets our appetite. 

Soy Baked Sea Perch with Spinach in Bonito Sauce

This is definitely the favourite of the crowd. It got everyone at the table finding out more about sea perch (bite-size fact, it’s from the same family as the cod fish but less oily and thus able to retain any gravy better!)

Braised Pork Ribs in Black Beer

Pork lovers get to try a new creation of Amara’s - Braised Pork Ribs in Black Beer. The pork ribs are certainly very tender and the sauce is unique, though not much of beer taste? Let me know if it’s just me!

Beijing Duck $68++ ala carte

One of the highlight of the dinner was a live station where the peking duck is skillfully carved. Each piece of crispy duck skin and meat is then wrapped with the crepe, cucumber and leek. Of cos, not forgetting a dash of sweet sauce to elevate the taste.

Fragrant Rice with Chinese Sausage and Mushroom

This looks rather unassuming but it came out great in the mouth! Best complemented by Amara Hotel’s Sichuan Style Wok-fried Chicken with Dried Red Chilli (Mala Chicken).

Dessert Buffet

Consisting of some all-time favourites such as the New York Cheesecake, Lychee Charlotte Cake, nonya kuehs, and tartlets, there are also special Chinese New Year cakes as such the Gold Ingot Fruit Cake ($78, 1kg) and Cherry Blossom Sugee Cake ($68, 900g).

The cherry blossoms on the sugee cake is one of the prettiest decor I’ve ever had on a  cake and overall, the fondant isn’t overwhelming thick or sweet, perfect!

More details of Amara Hotel's dining options here:

Thanying | Silk Road

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Amara Hotel

165 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088539

+65 68792607

Breakfast: 6.30am – 10.30am daily

Lunch: 12pm – 2.30pm (Monday to Friday)

High Tea: 12pm – 2.30pm and 3pm – 5pm (Saturday and Sunday)

Kay's Instant Macaroni review

Whipping up a macaroni meal is now as easy as in 1…2…3 mins! All thanks to Kay’s Singapore instant macaroni packets!

About Kay’s

“In 2008, we started as an import and distribution company that serve healthy and natural food products. After gaining profound knowledge of food industry for 8 years, the experience that we have gathered allowed us to identify specific requirements in the consumers lifestyle and food industry. Therefore with this foresight, we open our doors in 2015 and committed to cater consumer only the finest, high-quality and affordable food products in Singapore. We believe that anyone can prepare food quickly and easily for themselves and their loved ones by using our food products, which is made in Singapore. In line with this belief in preparing food conveniently, we introduce our first instant macaroni that can help customers to save time and money in their busy and time-tight lifestyle.”

These are the instant macaroni flavours available currently:

Anchovy

“Anchovy stock is one of the most important parts in enhancing the soup-based flavourful. Making anchovies stock is fast and convenient and usually takes 10-15 minute, unlike making chicken or vegetable stock.

However, if using our anchovy macaroni, anchovy macaroni will be ready after 3 minutes.”

Curry

“Spice it up with our curry flavour with only 3 minutes of your time. It is so simple that you do not require to prepare a variety of herbs to bring out the spiciness of the curry.”

Tom Yum

“Eat it fresh and eat it warm! Our Tom yum macaroni flavour gives you hot and sour soup that you had ever experience and achieve it with a few simple steps”

Chicken

“Preparing chicken soup is tedious as it requires a lot of chopping and cleaning of the chicken. Also, it is time-consuming. By using our chicken macaroni, you are able to achieve the full and soothing soup base in less than 10 minutes.”

Vegetable

“Broth is one of the most important components in any vegetable-related food. By making a hearty and filling vegetable macaroni, you only need the broth, which is in the macaroni packet, macaroni and the rest of the ingredients that gives you a delicious meal.”

My personal favourite is the tom yum flavour as it has just the right amount of spiciness (not spicy at all if you’re a chili kind of person) and tanginess that is extremely refreshing.

You may even want to add ingredients of your choice to make it more nutritious – I added some fresh clams to create the seafood tom yum flavour.

Garlic 1 clove

White wine 100ml

Fresh clams 12-15

Instant macaroni pack

Boiling water 250ml

1) Stir-fry the garlic till golden brown. You may add some chili flakes

2) Add 100ml white wine for 10 seconds

3) Add the clams to simmer for 3-5 mins, till all the clams are popped open.

4) While the clams are cooking, add the boiling water to the macaroni and seasoning in a separate bowl to simmer

5) Once the clams are done, transfer the clams and broth to the ready macaroni and ta-dah!

Kay’s Macaroni is available at $3.20 (pack of three) from Sheng Siong Supermarket, Fairprice stores, Prime Supermarket and more. Latest list of outlets can be found at their Facebook page.

Sunrise Bistro & Bar [Media Tasting]

Was invited to chill out at Sunrise Bistro & Bar last week, an impressive restaurant located at a quaint stretch along East Coast Park.

As the name suggests, Sunrise offers both a bistro and a bar, with indoor and alfresco seats.

Helmed by 41 year-old Executive Chef & Owner Vincent Teng with an impressive 22-year culinary experience, Sunrise Bistro & Bar specialises in serving casual fusion dishes - French fare cooked with a contemporary twist and a fine blend of creativity peppered with Asian inspired flavours (the Sous Vide way). This enables diners to experience fine dining at more affordable prices!

There is a live band - The Tripsters - that performs every night at 9pm, and allows you to send song dedications. We definitely had a good time with their performance that evening! All photos credit to molly-mia's camera cos I didn't had mine. We took turns to "work" that night, haha.

We started off our fine dining tasting with a lovely cocktail - Lady in Pink.

Made up of malibu, vodka, cranberry juice, sparkling wine, and topped with sweet, juicy strawberries, I would definitely go back to Sunrise for this anytime!

Seafood Chowder Soup $12

Creamy seafood soup with seasonal fresh seafood, topped with chopped chives and extra virgin olive oil

The seafood chowder didn't come looking like the usual creamy chowder. It was quite orangey as Chef Vincent included tomatoes in the base to give it a more zesty flavour, making it more refreshing as an appetizer. The soup was served with generous amount of seafood and a bread, definitely value-for-money. One of my favourite for the night!

Seared Foie Gras $19

Seared goose liver on brioche bread layered with mango with citrus jam and berry compote

We had half the usual serving-size for the foie gras to leave more tummy space for the rest of the dishes. Sunrise uses goose liver and it was seared to perfection - so fragrant and smooth. The tangy mango slice complements the fatty foie gras flawlessly.

Sunrise "Fish & Chips" $26

Crispy fried red snapper with lemon myrtle pepper served with mango salsa tartare sauce and french fries

Again, this fish & chips was very different from what we had expected. An absolute embodiment of fusion food - Asian dish with Western presentation. I was telling Mia that it tasted like sweet-and-sour fish without the sauce, probably due to the fact that it is fried red snapper instead of the usual battered dory fish.

Cereal Crusted Cod Fish $28

Baked cod fish with cereal crust served with seasonal vegetable braised in sesame oil and giner shoyu broth

This is my favourite main of the evening. 

The cereal crust is so fragrant and crispy, while the texture of the cod fish is tender and flavourful after being soaked in the sesame oil & ginger shoyu broth.

Asian Five Spice Duck Leg Confit $28

Sous vide 8-hour crispy duck leg infused with five spice served with citrus salad & passionfruit sauce

Definitely sous vide for 8 hours as the duck meat was so tender. The skin was totally crispy and fragrant, making me finish up every piece of it.

Marmite Canadian Pork Shoulder $26

Sous vide and grilled pork shoulder with marmite marinate served with seasonal vegetable

The pork shoulder is marinated with marmite before sous vide. This is the first time trying marmite and it was quite good. Not too overwhelming as I had thought. The pork shoulder taste very similar to char siew, without the fattiness, reminding us again of Chef Vincent's fusion culinary approach.

BBQ Beef Short Ribs $32

24-hour Sous vide to tender and roast with homemade BBQ sauce served with seasonal vegetables

This beef short ribs were sous vide for 24 hours making it so tender and juicy. The insides of the ribs remains pink and the meat so succulent.

Tiramisu Semi Freddo $12

Semi frozen mascarpone cheese layered with coffee liquer jelly psonge topped with milo crunch and tuile biscuit

Not the first time having semi-freddo dessert, but it's my first having a semi-freddo version of tiramisu. It went well, especially with the fat, juicy raisin infused with brandy.

Salted Egg Yolk Custard Molten Chocolate Cake $14

Warm chocolate cake with melting salted egg yolk custard in the center served with vanilla ice cream

Another of my favourite for the evening. Chocolate lava cake that oozes salted egg yolk is simply divine!

Sunrise Bistro & Bar

902 East Coast Parkway, Playground @ Big Splash, Block B #01-05

Singapore 6440 9090

Opening Hours

Mon - Thu: 11:30am - 1:00am

Fri: 11:30am - 2:00am

Sat & Eve of Public Holiday: 9:00am - 2:00am

Sun & Public Holiday: 9:00am - 1:00am

Website

http://sunrisebistrobar.com/

Chicken Legend SG

So in this hazy period, and where everybody is either drinking herbal tea or similar to reduce the harmful impacts on our throats or body in general, I was introduced to an yummy, cooling alternative - coconut steamboat! The steamboat base is from pure coconut water straight out of coconut itself, with no artificial sweeteners added into soup. This unique steamboat eatery can be found at a traditional coffee shop along the Upper East Coast road.

Chicken Legend

15 Upper East Coast Road

Reservation
+65 92950650


 I went for the media tasting by cab as I was in a rush to get there after work. However, after I've arrived, I realised that the stall is actually quite accessible by public transport. It's simply a minute walk away from the bus stop that has buses taking you to various popular stations like Bedok / Tampines :)

Now, let us get started on the food itself!

First, choose your steamboat set + any add-ons!



Here's a simpler illustration of their set menu.

Add-ons:

Set prices start from $20, which is the small set for two. Great for couples who wants to have steamboat by their own yet wanna avoid over-ordering!

The stall also serves its own special sauce which fuses over 10 different herbs, served with fresh condiments such as garlic, chilli and / or lime of your choice.

We had a regular set, seafood combo, as well as the meat combo.

The chicken cubes are from kampung chickens, which are said to have less fat and are healthier for consumption as they are fed with natural ingredients, rather than antibiotics-laced chicken feed. Also, they are usually reared in free-range farms, allowing the chickens to roam freely which translates to healthily ;)

The beef and pork are hand-sliced pretty evenly thin, making them great for sabu sabu ;)



As mentioned, the soup base contains only coconut, with no sugar and water added. The soup on its own is naturally sweet, and becomes more flavourful as the ingredients are added in bit by bit.



(The young, dashing boss showing us the way to enjoy Chicken Legend steamboat!)

Pot of gold!

Even mediacorp Tracy Lee was there for steamboat!

If you're going down to try out Chicken Legend coconut steamboat, do quote "HUI ZI" for 10% discount or free plate of meat worth $6 :)