Do you remember how I mentioned I was going to be on a gastronomic tour organized by FIJI Water, all in the name of charity? Well I had a wonderful time and would like to share with you each of the 6* restaurants where we enjoyed the specially curated Signature Dishes. Because of the tour I think I might go back to some of them since I know what they are about now.
1.
We first started the tour at Absinthe (at Boat Quay), where we had delightful foie gras terrine with warm brioche. It was rich, it was indulgent, but what a way to start a day. We were also given some bubbly, AND some white wine that was paired thoughtfully with the dish.
I've heard a lot of good things about Absinthe, and if the brioche foie gras is anything to go by, I think I'll be back to try out more things!
2.
Next stop, Japanese restaurant Hashi at the Outram area. This was an interesting one - prawn with dashi stock jelly and grilled eggplant and scallop. It was really refreshing because its a chilled dish, and the jelly an interesting twist to the usual soup stock. Chock full of umami, though I thought the charred eggplant was a little too charred for me (distracting!)
I like Hashi because they played with wood and fabric textures, and used light as a decoration element too.
Here's the the interior - I'm happy to say that we had a huge bunch of people on the tour with us, and this is just two mini buses!
3.
Third one was interesting because it is at The Tippling Club at Dempsey, which was recently named 45th in the top 50 bars in the world to drink in, and I probably would not have a chance to sample the food there if not for the tour because it never came to mind! The interior was really quirky with hanging bottles in the ceiling, and cosy.
There's also al fresco sitting, but its more like meal time area for mozzies :P
Various booze bottles on display. Love the skull ones!
We had a very delicious glass of red to go with the meal. Whoever paired the wines did a good job because they are all light, fruity and complementary, never overpowering.
This was our pigeon with quinoa, which was really excellent mainly because the textures played well together, in just the right portion. I was slightly apprehensive about pigeon, since they can be quite gamey, but this was not at all.
Look how beautifully pink it was on the inside!
4.
Next was the Pelican at One Fullerton. I did not even know an American-style seafood 'diner' exists there. Now I do, and I also know that it has really good "Boston-style" seafood platters.
The decor of the place was really pleasant. They had a 'maritime' theme, and it felt like Andy Warhol's version of 50 Leagues Under the Sea (see that pink seahorse on the wall?).
A big bar for you to order a drink or 5.
We had the Lobster Thermidor from the Pelican. It was probably my favorite till then, because it was RICE (!! well, sort of), and it was coated with cheese and the lobster taste was rich and strong and made me feel like I want to go diving. Or something to that effect. This, I felt was too little. I could have probably eaten another portion, despite having already eaten 4 dishes and drunk 4 glasses of wine..
5.
Now, the Fat Cow is probably one of the restaurants I've always been meaning to go, but keep forgetting. And for some reason I had the impression that it is Western-styled steaks so imagine my surprise to learn that Fat Cow is in fact very Japanese, despite the fact that the chef is Caucasian.
We had some red wine to start, and the Chef shared with us the recipe for making the yummy wagyu no kakuni that we are going to have.
This was one of those "omg where is my huge bowl of rice" kind of dish because would you look at that? Imagine the wagyu beef melting in your mouth as the sweet soy, ginger and yuzu sauce that coats everything with extra taste. I finished this in three mouthfuls. And couldn't resist sipping the sauce after. A delicate portion, it was.
6.
Lastly, and finally, we drove to Keppel Bay for the newly revamped Privé Grill to taste the Hokkaido Corn and Shrimp Fritter with Lime Aioli.
It was really good as well - I love the frittered corn bits that was crunchy and sweet and the grilled prawn that was really solid in taste and texture. I can imagine this to be an excellent party dish actually! It made me want to try more of Prive's food.
7.
OK, so we were talking about how the tour needs to end with something sweet, though we were absolutely stuffed after a 6 hour eating tour with 6 dishes and 6 wines!
So very funnily we decided to continue with an unofficial 7th stop for desserts at Nana's Green Tea at Plaza Singapura, because.. who can resist matcha in all sorts of desserty form, coated with caramel syrup?
This is my favorite - the combo that has matcha ice cream, jelly, red bean, kidney beans and some mochi ball thing (that I didn't like). You can add your own syrup on top of it.
And of course we had FIJI Water along with our dessert, because it is important to keep hydrated!
That marks the end of the tour! Hope you guys had as much fun reading about them as I had going on them (nah I don't think so). Keep your eyes peeled for more awesome events organized by the most awesome water on earth, FIJI Water!
