FRIDAY,AUGUST30,2019 THESTRAITSTIMES …[email protected] Nutmeg & Clove’s...
1
happenings A CAKE TO HANKER FOR Standing tall and proud, and sporting a fuzzy covering of shredded fresh coconut and a sprinkling of lime zest, is the best cake I have had so far this year. It is called Flan De Yuzu ($8.50 a slice, $42.88 for 1kg, right) and comes from Fredo’s in Sunset Way. The place used to be called Drips until about four months ago. Baker Alfred Chan, who was a partner at Drips, now runs the place alone, packing it with so many goodies I do not know where to look and what to get. Ordering a slice of that cake is the best decision. Three layers of yuzu sponge are filled with yuzu cream, which is also used to frost the cake, before the snowy drifts of coconut descend. Yuzu and coconut do not sound like a natural pairing, but it works very well. What I love about the cake is that the sugar is held in check and there is a pleasing tartness from the Japanese citrus. It is also well-constructed and does not collapse when I go at it with a fork. I used to love Mr Chan’s fruit tarts and the Mixed Berries ($11.80), with raspberries and figs, is still just as good – the crackling crisp crust with ground almonds and French butter, and that cool, silky custard filling. His pies have always been good too. Pumpkin Bacon Pie ($7) is studded with so much bacon that the sweet pumpkin is properly subdued. A good whack of black pepper has a taming effect too. Beef Rendang Pie ($7) has a punchy filling and a good amount of meat. If I could, I would do all my eating there and chat forever with Mr Chan, but I buy stuff to take with me. A crumbly blueberry scone ($3) is so delicious toasted and slathered with butter, no jam needed. Raspberry Vanilla Eggless Cookies ($18 a tub), essentially a thumbprint cookie, is perfect with tea. The baguette ($2.30), I like the petite size, is more than competent. Other things do not impress as much. Coffee Espresso Kahlua Pound Cake ($3.80 a slice) might as well be a plain butter cake. It is devoid of coffee flavour. The filling for the spinach quiche ($7.90) is a little watery, although the pastry is excellent. I shall stick to salmon and the Lorraine versions next time. I am filled with horror when told the yuzu-coconut cake is the bakery’s special for this month. Mr Chan will make it available longer and, of course, customers can order whole cakes any time. Rarely do I ever want to finish a whole slice of anything. My fork hovers over the plate. I am filled with longing. So I make myself a promise. When there is a cold day in hell, I will rush to Fredo’s and demolish an entire slice. WHERE: Fredo’s, Block 109 Clementi Street 11, 01-05 MRT: Clementi TEL: 6776-0400 OPEN: 8am to 8pm (Wednesdays to Mondays), 8am to 6pm (Tuesdays and public holidays) INFO: www.facebook.com/fredosbaker ST PHOTOS: TAN HSUEH YUN FOOD PROMOTIONS Black & Gold Afternoon Tea At MO Bar, Mandarin Oriental MO Bar celebrates its first anniversary with a new Black and Gold afternoon tea featuring savouries and reimagined sweets, paired with Malacca Gold BOP TWG Tea. Highlights include Wagyu Pastrami with Japanese pickle, Cured and Smoked Hamachi with seaweed cracker and four desserts. WHERE: Mandarin Oriental Singapore, 5 Raffles Boulevard MRT: Promenade WHEN: Sun - Oct 31; 3 - 5pm (weekdays); 12.30 - 2.30pm, 3 - 5pm (weekends & public holidays) PRICE: $48++ a person ($88 for two people) TEL: 6885-3500 INFO: E-mail [email protected] Oxwell & Co’s Oxwell DisCo Party Oxwell & Co celebrates its six years in business with a 1960s-themed disco atmosphere, where its dining room will be turned into a dance floor for guests. They can start with a complimentary Aperol Spritz and other drinks such as Hendricks Tonic ($10++), Black Tears Cuban Spiced Rum ($140++ a bottle) and Remy Martin Club Cognac ($180++ a bottle, $300++ for two bottles). Snacks include Pork Scratchings ($8++) and Salt & Pepper Squid ($16++), while mains include Rack of Lamb ($40++) and Westhoome Trip-Tip Steak ($120++). WHERE: 5 Ann Siang Road MRT: Telok Ayer/Chinatown WHEN: Tomorrow, from 7pm PRICE: Selected drinks $10++ a glass - $180++ a bottle; snacks $8++ - $16++, mains $18++ - $120++ TEL: 6438-7036 INFO: E-mail [email protected] Town Restaurant’s Oishii Japan dinner buffet The buffet at Fullerton’s Town Restaurant will feature items such as sashimi, sushi, tempura, yakitori, Japanese noodles, chicken tonkatsu and beef yakiniku. There are also special Japanese salads like the cabbage and seaweed with shishamo mentai salad. A weekend-only dish is the Japanese-style baked spiny lobster with spicy wasabi mayonnaise. The chefs will be slicing up a whole tuna in a special ritual known as maguro kaitai. WHERE: The Fullerton Hotel Singapore, 1 Fullerton Square MRT: Raffles Place WHEN: Thu - Sept 15, 6.30 - 10.30pm PRICE: $59++ a person, $30++ a child (Sun - Thu); $85++ a person, $43++ a child (Fri & Sat, seafood & barbecue specials) TEL: 6877-8911/8912 INFO: E-mail [email protected] MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL Rise Festival Dinner Guests at Rise can savour dishes such as whole steamed barramundi, stir-fried sea cucumber with beancurd and broccoli, and eight treasure rice, in addition to its international buffet line-up. Desserts include cold Chinese bird’s nest soup, pu’er creme brulee and an assortment of mooncakes. WHERE: Hotel Tower 1 Lobby, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue MRT: Bayfront WHEN: Sept 13, 6 - 10.30pm PRICE: $80++ a person, $38++ a child TEL: 6688-5525 INFO: E-mail [email protected] WINE/WHISKY EVENTS Italian Wine Dinner At Wine Connection Between the apertif, amuse-bouche and the dessert are two mains – Red Wine & Beetroot Juice Risotto (paired with 2016 Biscardo Neropasso – Veneto) and Slow Cooked, Pan-Seared Duck Breast (2015 Biscardo Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico – Valpolicella, Veneto). The host is Gian Paolo Stanzial from Biscardo, founded in 1878, in the Veneto region. WHERE: 01-01 Capital Square 3, 25 Church Street MRT: Telok Ayer WHEN: Sept 7, 7pm PRICE: $79++ a person TEL: 6438-0258 INFO: E-mail [email protected] Nutmeg & Clove’s Whisky Love Nutmeg & Clove has invited three award-winning bartenders from various parts of the world to pay tribute to the love of whisky, in collaboration with Glenfiddich: Kae Yin from Aha Saloon (Thu), Marian Beke from The Gibson (Sept 9) and Tsuyoshi Mayazaki from Bar ‘Pippin’ (Sept 19). WHERE: Nutmeg & Clove, 10A Ann Siang Hill MRT: Telok Ayer WHEN: Thu, Sept 9 & 19, 8pm - midnight PRICE: Call to inquire TEL: 9389-9301 INFO: E-mail [email protected] Tan Hsueh Yun Food Editor recommends SERIOUSLY COFFEE Everything about Apartment tells you that It. Is. A. Serious. Place. To. Drink. Coffee. The white space in Lavender Street is spare. There is a long counter lined with seats. Serious people do serious things on laptops and personal devices. Or stare at their coffee. No clutter. Everything is arranged just so. Everyone is focused. There’s a kind of hush all over this world. The menu is compact. A clutch of hand-brewed coffees. One espresso option. One espresso with milk option. On the next page, a list of teas. One kombucha. Two kinds of hot chocolate. There are no cookies to be had. Not a rainbow cake crumb to be found. I hear sometimes, when the moon is full, a customer might be able to order a croissant. If all this sounds unbearably pretentious, I’m sorry. I have been to Apartment twice and intend to keep on visiting. I appreciate the silence. This is a good place to get some thinking done while drinking serious drinks. On my first visit, I have the Ethiopia Testi Adorsi in an espresso ($4) and the shot is so bright, I need sunglasses. Fully awake, I move on to the Colombia La Joyeria in a white coffee ($4.50), but find no joy in it. All I taste is the milk. What are these, slacker Colombian beans? Then on my second visit, when the milk coffee option is Myanmar Pa-o Community ($4.50), I find plenty of joy. A wild sort of flavour. Of jackfruit. I’m not mad, it turns out. When paying, I remark on it and am told that anaerobic fermentation of the beans brings out tropical fruit flavours. The Myanmar beans are on the menu for a few weeks, so you know what to do. If I had room for another drink on my second visit, I would surely have ordered a hot chocolate. The Malaysia Semai Whisky Barrel Fermentation ($7.50, above) I have on my first visit knocks my socks off. It is rich, complex, nuanced and so very heady. I want to shout out with joy. But shhhh. Mustn’t startle the natives. WHERE: Apartment, 161 Lavender Street, 01-12 MRT: Lavender OPEN: 9am to 6pm daily INFO: www.facebook.com/ apartmentcoffeeco/ MORE SOUP, PLEASE Of course, the absolute moment you start jawing on and on about the hot, dry spell in Singapore, it pours. Not that I am complaining. I am all about making things work for me and the wet spell just means I can drink vats of soup. One particular soup. I become enchanted with the bone broth at Copper, a whisky bar at Lanson Place, after a friend takes me there for drinks one night. The bartenders offer us mini bowls of it and I fall in love after one sip. It is milky and thick, with a delicate sweetness that can come only from simmering bones a good, long time. In this case, pork and chicken, and for eight hours. But the energy-sapping heat has made me soup-averse. Now, perhaps for the blink of an eye, I can give in to this craving. From noon to 8pm, customers can order Somen In Collagen Bone Broth (left). The $15.90 set includes a salad and a drink and there is a choice of beef, chicken and seafood with the broth. The soup is served on the side with the bar’s beef, minced chicken or unagi rice bowls. I don’t need salad and water’s good so I get the beef somen a la carte for $11.90. Come to think of it, I don’t need the beef or somen either, although the silky noodles slide down so beautifully. All I want is a lot of soup. Will they oblige if I ask nicely for just that? And a dram, maybe two, of whisky? WHERE: Copper, 01-01 Lanson Place, 167 Penang Road MRT: Dhoby Ghaut TEL: 6677-7348 OPEN: Noon to midnight (weekdays) INFO: www.facebook.com/pg/CopperLansonPlace FoodPicks | FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES | life D5
Transcript of FRIDAY,AUGUST30,2019 THESTRAITSTIMES …[email protected] Nutmeg & Clove’s...
happenings
A CAKE TO HANKER FORStanding tall and proud, and sporting a fuzzy covering of shredded fresh coconut and a sprinkling of lime zest, is the best cake I have had so far this year.
It is called Flan De Yuzu ($8.50 a slice, $42.88 for 1kg, right) and comes from Fredo’s in Sunset Way. The place used to be called Drips until about four months ago. Baker Alfred Chan, who was a partner at Drips, now runs the place alone, packing it with so many goodies I do not know where to look and what to get.
Ordering a slice of that cake is the best decision. Three layers of yuzu sponge are filled with yuzu cream, which is also used to frost the cake, before the snowy drifts of coconut descend. Yuzu and coconut do not sound like a natural pairing, but it works very well. What I love about the cake is that the sugar is held in check and there is a pleasing tartness from the Japanese citrus. It is also well-constructed and does not collapse when I go at it with a fork.
I used to love Mr Chan’s fruit tarts and the Mixed Berries ($11.80), with raspberries and figs, is still just as good – the crackling crisp crust with ground almonds and French butter, and that cool, silky custard filling.
His pies have always been good too. Pumpkin Bacon Pie ($7) is studded with so much bacon that the sweet pumpkin is properly subdued. A good whack of black pepper has a taming effect too. Beef Rendang Pie ($7) has a punchy filling and a good amount of meat.
If I could, I would do all my eating there and chat forever with Mr Chan, but I buy stuff to take with me.
A crumbly blueberry scone ($3) is so delicious toasted and slathered with butter, no jam needed. Raspberry Vanilla Eggless Cookies ($18 a tub), essentially a thumbprint cookie, is perfect with tea. The baguette ($2.30), I like the petite size, is more than competent.
Other things do not impress as much.Coffee Espresso Kahlua Pound Cake ($3.80 a slice) might
as well be a plain butter cake. It is devoid of coffee flavour. The filling for the spinach quiche ($7.90) is a little watery, although the pastry is excellent. I shall stick to salmon and the Lorraine versions next time.
I am filled with horror when told the yuzu-coconut cake is the bakery’s special for this month. Mr Chan will make it available longer and, of course, customers can order whole cakes any time.
Rarely do I ever want to finish a whole slice of anything. My fork hovers over the plate. I am filled with longing.
So I make myself a promise. When there is a cold day in hell, I will rush to Fredo’s and demolish an entire slice.WHERE: Fredo’s, Block 109 Clementi Street 11, 01-05 MRT: Clementi TEL: 6776-0400 OPEN: 8am to 8pm (Wednesdays to Mondays), 8am to 6pm (Tuesdays and public holidays) INFO: www.facebook.com/fredosbaker
ST PHOTOS: TAN HSUEH YUN
FOODPROMOTIONS
Black & Gold Afternoon TeaAt MO Bar, Mandarin OrientalMO Bar celebrates its first anniversary with a new Black and Gold afternoon tea featuring savouries and reimagined sweets, paired with Malacca Gold BOP TWG Tea. Highlights include Wagyu Pastrami with Japanese pickle, Cured and Smoked Hamachi with seaweed cracker and four desserts.WHERE: Mandarin Oriental Singapore, 5 Raffles Boulevard MRT: Promenade WHEN: Sun - Oct 31; 3 - 5pm (weekdays); 12.30 - 2.30pm, 3 - 5pm (weekends & public holidays) PRICE: $48++ a person ($88 for two
people) TEL: 6885-3500 INFO: E-mail [email protected]
Oxwell & Co’s Oxwell DisCo PartyOxwell & Co celebrates its six years in business with a 1960s-themed disco atmosphere, where its dining room will be turned into a dance floor for guests. They can start with a complimentary Aperol Spritz and other drinks such as Hendricks Tonic ($10++), Black Tears Cuban Spiced Rum ($140++ a bottle) and Remy Martin Club Cognac ($180++ a bottle, $300++ for two bottles). Snacks include Pork Scratchings ($8++) and Salt & Pepper Squid ($16++), while mains include Rack of Lamb ($40++) and Westhoome Trip-Tip Steak ($120++).WHERE: 5 Ann Siang Road MRT: Telok Ayer/Chinatown WHEN: Tomorrow,
from 7pm PRICE: Selected drinks $10++ a glass - $180++ a bottle; snacks $8++ - $16++, mains $18++ - $120++ TEL: 6438-7036INFO: E-mail [email protected]
Town Restaurant’s OishiiJapan dinner buffet The buffet at Fullerton’s Town Restaurant will feature items such as sashimi, sushi, tempura, yakitori, Japanese noodles, chicken tonkatsu and beef yakiniku. There are also special Japanese salads like the cabbage and seaweed with shishamo mentai salad. A weekend-only dish is the Japanese-style baked spiny lobster with spicy wasabi mayonnaise. The chefs will be slicing up a whole tuna in a special ritual known as maguro kaitai.WHERE: The Fullerton Hotel
Singapore, 1 Fullerton Square MRT: Raffles Place WHEN: Thu - Sept 15, 6.30 - 10.30pm PRICE: $59++ a person, $30++ a child (Sun - Thu); $85++ a person, $43++ a child (Fri & Sat, seafood & barbecue specials) TEL: 6877-8911/8912 INFO: E-mail [email protected]
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL
Rise Festival Dinner Guests at Rise can savour dishes such as whole steamed barramundi, stir-fried sea cucumber with beancurd and broccoli, and eight treasure rice, in addition to its international buffet line-up. Desserts include cold Chinese bird’s nest soup, pu’er creme brulee and an
assortment of mooncakes. WHERE: Hotel Tower 1 Lobby, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue MRT: Bayfront WHEN: Sept 13,6 - 10.30pm PRICE: $80++ a person, $38++ a child TEL: 6688-5525 INFO: E-mail [email protected]
WINE/WHISKY EVENTS
Italian Wine DinnerAt Wine ConnectionBetween the apertif, amuse-bouche and the dessert are two mains – Red Wine & Beetroot Juice Risotto (paired with 2016 Biscardo Neropasso – Veneto) and Slow Cooked, Pan-Seared Duck Breast (2015 Biscardo Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico – Valpolicella, Veneto). The host is Gian Paolo Stanzial from Biscardo, founded in 1878, in the Veneto region.
WHERE: 01-01 Capital Square 3, 25 Church Street MRT: Telok Ayer WHEN: Sept 7, 7pm PRICE: $79++ a person TEL: 6438-0258 INFO: E-mail [email protected]
Nutmeg & Clove’s Whisky LoveNutmeg & Clove has invited three award-winning bartenders from various parts of the world to pay tribute to the love of whisky, in collaboration with Glenfiddich: Kae Yin from Aha Saloon (Thu), Marian Beke from The Gibson (Sept 9) and Tsuyoshi Mayazaki from Bar ‘Pippin’ (Sept 19).WHERE: Nutmeg & Clove, 10A Ann Siang Hill MRT: Telok Ayer WHEN: Thu, Sept 9 & 19, 8pm - midnight PRICE: Call to inquire TEL: 9389-9301 INFO: E-mail [email protected]
Tan Hsueh Yun Food Editor recommends
SERIOUSLY COFFEEEverything about Apartment tells you that It. Is. A. Serious. Place. To. Drink. Coffee.
The white space in Lavender Street is spare. There is a long counter lined with seats. Serious people do serious things on laptops and personal devices. Or stare at their coffee. No clutter. Everything is arranged just so. Everyone is focused. There’s a kind of hush all over this world.
The menu is compact. A clutch of hand-brewed coffees. One espresso option. One espresso with milk option. On the next page, a list of teas. One kombucha. Two kinds of hot chocolate.
There are no cookies to be had. Not a rainbow cake crumb to be found. I hear sometimes, when the moon is full, a customer might be able to order a croissant.
If all this sounds unbearably pretentious, I’m sorry. I have been to Apartment twice and intend to keep on visiting. I appreciate the silence. This is a good place to get some thinking done while drinking serious drinks.
On my first visit, I have the Ethiopia Testi Adorsi in an espresso ($4) and the shot is so bright, I need sunglasses. Fully awake, I move on to the Colombia La Joyeria in a white coffee ($4.50), but find no joy in it. All I taste is the milk. What are these, slacker Colombian beans?
Then on my second visit, when the milk coffee option is Myanmar Pa-o Community ($4.50), I find plenty of joy. A wild sort of flavour. Of jackfruit.
I’m not mad, it turns out.When paying, I remark on it and am
told that anaerobic fermentation of the beans brings out tropical fruit flavours.
The Myanmar beans are on the
menu for a few weeks, so you know what to do.
If I had room for another drink on my second visit, I would surely have ordered a hot chocolate.
The Malaysia Semai Whisky Barrel Fermentation ($7.50, above) I have on my first visit knocks my socks off. It is rich, complex, nuanced and so very heady.
I want to shout out with joy.But shhhh. Mustn’t startle the natives.WHERE: Apartment, 161 Lavender Street, 01-12 MRT: Lavender OPEN: 9am to 6pm daily INFO: www.facebook.com/ apartmentcoffeeco/
MORE SOUP, PLEASEOf course, the absolute moment you start jawing on and on about the hot, dry spell in Singapore, it pours.
Not that I am complaining. I am all about making things work for me and the wet spell just means I can drink vats of soup. One particular soup.
I become enchanted with the bone broth at Copper, a whisky bar at Lanson Place, after a friend takes me there for drinks one night. The bartenders offer us mini bowls of it and I fall in love after one sip. It is milky and thick, with a delicate sweetness that can come only from simmering bones a good, long time. In this case, pork and chicken, and for eight hours.
But the energy-sapping heat has made me soup-averse. Now, perhaps for the blink of an eye, I can give in to this craving.
From noon to 8pm, customers can order Somen In Collagen Bone Broth (left). The $15.90 set includes a salad and a drink and there is a choice of beef, chicken and seafood with the broth.
The soup is served on the side with the bar’s beef, minced chicken or unagi rice bowls.
I don’t need salad and water’s good so I get the beef somen a la carte for $11.90.
Come to think of it, I don’t need the beef or somen either, although the silky noodles slide down so beautifully. All I want is a lot of soup. Will they oblige if I ask nicely for just that? And a dram, maybe two, of whisky?WHERE: Copper, 01-01 Lanson Place, 167 Penang Road MRT: Dhoby GhautTEL: 6677-7348 OPEN: Noon to midnight (weekdays)INFO: www.facebook.com/pg/CopperLansonPlace
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| FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 2019 | THE STRAITS TIMES | life D5
