HOT FOOD AT TIONG BAHRU BAKERY
In the past, I would head to Tiong Bahru Bakery's outlet at Raffles City for pastries and coffee. Now, it has finally introduced a hot food menu.
Thankfully, it is not your usual brunch fare. In the Breakfast Pancake Burger ($18), the usual burger buns are replaced with fluffy pancakes, and the dish includes housemade breakfast sausage, crispy bacon and my favourite tater tots drenched in maple syrup.
Another highlight is the Rainbow Rice Bowl ($16), a take on the rice bowl craze. It has brown and wild rice, a poached New Zealand organic egg, spicy pineapple kimchi, purple potato crisps, mixed sprouts and salsa verde. Mix everything up like a bibimbap. I love the crunch from the crisps and heat from the kimchi.
I hope this new menu makes its way to the branches in Tiong Bahru and Tangs Orchard too.
WHERE: B1-11 Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road MRT: City Hall WHEN: 8am to 10pm daily TEL: 6333-4160
PASTA MONDAYS
Pasta is my comfort food and I can eat it daily. So Italian restaurant Zafferano's Pasta Day on Mondays is right up my alley. For $28++, you get to pick three pastas for a sampler platter from a selection of eight classics and signatures ($28++ each for the full portion).
I try, among others, the linguine with spanner crab, fresh tomato sauce, sun-dried Sardinian grey mullet roe; tagliatelle Bolognese, with housemade tagliatelle in minced beef ragout; handmade agnolotti, filled with 12-hour marinated oxtail, celeriac puree and Sicilian Bronte pistachios; and housemade fettuccine with sauteed chanterelle mushrooms and truffle emulsion.
The agnolotti is my favourite as it is generously filled with tender oxtail and topped with crunchy pistachios. I like that most of the pasta options are made in-house and all are cooked to al dente perfection.
WHERE: Zafferano, Level 43 Ocean Financial Centre, 10 Collyer Quay MRT: Raffles Place WHEN: Till Feb 28, 5.30 to 11.45pm (Mondays only) TEL: 6509-1488 INFO: www.zafferano.sg
EXQUISITE AFTERNOON TEA
He may not be English, but French pastry chef Eric Lanlard of Cake Boy patisserie and cooking school in London can certainly whip up a decadent afternoon tea. Using recipes from his new cookbook, Eric Lanlard's Afternoon Tea, the spread at French restaurant Brasserie Les Saveurs at The St Regis Singapore runs till Sunday.
On the three-tiered stand (pictured), my picks are the fragrant pistachio and rose financier and lemon macarons with smoked salmon. While savoury macarons are not particularly new, his use of grapefruit with salmon is a refreshing take - the slight bitterness balances the lemon macaron shell and masks any fishy flavour from the salmon.
Save room for the scones, which are baked in-house and come in flavours such as lemon, orange blossom and bee pollen, and wholemeal, as well as savouries such as mini salmon mousse and nigella-seed Paris Brest, and herb-marinated Boston lobster rolls.
You will also want to make it to the dessert buffet. Highlights include a gluten-free chocolate cake, strawberry ombre cake and salted butter caramel brownies.
WHERE: Brasserie Les Saveurs, The St Regis Singapore, 29 Tanglin Road MRT: Orchard WHEN: Today and tomorrow, 3 to 5pm; Sunday, 4 to 6pm PRICE: $58++ (today), $68++ (tomorrow and Sunday) TEL: 6506-6860 INFO: www.brasserielessaveurs.com
CHINESE NEW YEAR AT MAN FU YUAN
Usher in the Year of the Rooster with a feast at Chinese restaurant Man Fu Yuan in InterContinental Singapore. Eight set menus are available, priced from $128++ for a minimum of two people to $2,088++ for 10 people, as well as a la carte options.
My picks include the black truffle yusheng ($138), with Hokkaido crab leg, silver bait and fresh fruit; and the Man Fu Yuan supreme treasure pot ($398, serves five people) filled with goodies such as Canadian lobster, spiky sea cucumber and 10-head whole abalone.
The yusheng and pen cai are available for takeaway too. Other takeaway highlights include a double-boiled chicken soup with Changbai Mountain ginseng and fish maw ($298, serves five people) and whole suckling pig with glutinous rice ($388). Order three days in advance.
WHERE: Man Fu Yuan, InterContinental Singapore, 80 Middle Road MRT: Bugis WHEN: Till Feb 11, 11.45am to 3pm (Mondays to Saturdays), 11am to 3pm (Sundays and public holidays), 6.30 to 10.30pm daily TEL: 6825-1007 INFO: http://singapore.intercontinental.com/cny
