RWS Food Affair (14 - 22 September 2013)

If you are into trying the wonderfully prepared, plated and great tasting food by Celebrity Chefs, you should check out the RWS Food Affair that's starting from 14 - 22 September 2013.

International Celebrity Chefs like Chef Joël Robuchon to the first female Iron Chef Cat Cora of Iron Chef America will be there. Local celebrity chefs like Chef Sam Leong, Chef Douglas Tay, Chef Li Kwok Kwong and Chef Kenny Kong.

They have so many different menus and programs, you should visit their comprehensive website at http://www.rwsentosa.com/rwsfoodaffair to check out what you like.



A few of us had a mini RWS Food Safari recently to taste what's in store for diners at the RWS Restaurants. We were having a dish or two at a restaurant and hop on to the next. It was quite an experience. It's also a preview to the food that you will get when you book the RWS Food Affair.

Pitstop 1: L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon.



There are 2 restaurants at the same venue side by side.There's L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon and also Joël Robuchon Restaurant, one more casual and the other more formal.

Both are having special menu prepared by Chef Joël Robuchon. He's in town.
- Joël Robuchon Restaurant is having a Menu Dégustation, a 10-course dinner for $450++
- L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon is having a Menu Découverte, a 6-course dinner for $180++

The exact dishes you will have is available on their website.



One of the reason why we love the nicer French restaurants is the loaves, rolls and delicious carbo that goes with the butter that they serve. If you want to bring your other half out for a date, this is a nice place. I brought the wife here for her birthday last year.



At L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, you can see the whole kitchen in action. The wife and I were seated at the counter and we were just looking at everyone's food being prepared.



Another reason I love about French Restaurants are the Amuse Bouche.
I do really get amused by it!



This is the Royal foie gras custard with Red wine reduction and Parmesan foam that this place is famous for. You should just try it yourself to know how it taste! It's really good!



Back to the RWS Food Safari we had, we were to have our Cold Appetiser here.

This was "Le Crabe". It's Alaskan King Crab meat on thin layers of Japanese Daikon with sweet and sour vinaigrette. (Épicé aux fines lamelles de raves à l'aigre-doux)

You do get this in their regular menu too.



Just unveiling the daikon cover to show you what's inside. Chef said that it's the same Alaskan King Crab that they serve in all Joël Robuchon worldwide.


Pitstop 2: Osia



Just across Joël Robuchon is Osia, and we just took a few steps to come here.
Osia does Asian influence food with Western culinary techniques.

If you visit the RWS website, you can view their 4 course dinner at $130++.
The dishes served at on the website.



We had our warm appetizer here. Chef prepared a corn meal crusted Foie Gras on top of daikon and a mix of beetroot, rhubarb and riberry.

I thought the corn meal crust was a bit different from the usual, but it gave it a nice crunch. It was also not too raw, so it was nice. I guess you can always tell them how you like it.


Pitstop 3: Forest森

We celebrated a family birthday here and we loved the food here. I think it's because we all loved the food prepared by Chef Sam Leong. I remember how excited my mum and aunt were, when we got them to a Chef Sam and Forest cooking class last time at ToTT. (it was all a ploy to get them to learn and cook for us!)

If you have Cantonese speaking parents, Chef Sam Leong will get along very well as they chat about food. At Forest森 on 14 Sep 2013 (Sat) from 12 to 4pm, there's a Sam & Forest Leong Cooking Masterclass (which includes 4-course lunch) at $160 nett (max 16 pax)



At this pit stop, Chef Sam Leong and Chef Make Tan of Forest森 welcomed us. We were served this creation from Chef Mike Tan. Steamed New Zealand Cod Fish with Yuzu Mushroom Sauce. It looks like Mei Cai over cod, but it's actually very very delicious and fragrant Yuzu Mushrooms!

Somehow this combination is just superb and the cod was cooked to perfection. 


Pitstop 4: Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora.



This place is simply amazing!!! It's the place where you dine with the sea creatures that swim around you. If you follow me on Instagram (@keropokman), you would have seen two InstaVideos that I have.

This fabulous venue is also where the "RWS Celebrity Chefs Dinner" will be held.
This is the dinner that all 6 celebrity chefs will prepare a six-course dinner for you.You’ll be treated to Ayala Brut Majeur NV Champagne upon arrival, and free flow of Penfolds Bin 2 Shiraz Mourverdre and Penfolds Koonunga Hill Autumn Riesling during dinner.

The chefs will be present to talk to you and for you to take photos!

Date: 7pm, 18 Sep 13 (Wed)
Venue: Ocean Gallery, S.E.A. Aquarium
Price: $288++
The menu is online at the RWS Website.



At this pitstop, we had Chef Yew from Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora prepared this dish for us. Kurobuta Pork Belly and Fried Octopus (the 2 mini tube like thing). Served with Sauerkraut Purée, Cabbage Roll and Mustard.

The pork belly had been sous vide and then seared to make it crisp. It's something for die hard pork lovers who love the fatty bits! I never had Sauerkraut in a purée form before. The cabbage roll was kind of pretty too isn't it?



At this same pitstop, Executive Pastry Chef Kenny Kong made us Yuzu Mango Cremuex with Gula Melaka Streusal with Milky Lemongrass Sorbet. So beautiful and what a plethora of taste.

So much details went into making this. Sometimes I wonder which one to start to fully appreciate this beautiful art piece.

Chef Kenny is the President of the Singapore Pastry Alliance.



Chef Kenny decided to have an extra treat for us by making us these lollipops!

Hope you enjoy this little preview of the RWS Food Affair.
Visit http://www.rwsentosa.com/rwsfoodaffair for the full details and bookings.

For the prices you see above, if you book using a MasterCard you get 20% off.
The 20% off is also applicable for RWS Invites members.

Skirt @ W Singapore Sentosa Cove

It's our parent's anniversary, and my father in law likes steak, so the wife and I booked a dinner at Skirt to celebrate their special day. This is my 2nd time at Skirt, the first time was with the HungryGoWhere review folks to test out food which was very good, because we were invited guests.

So this second time which is about 2 months later, where we went in 'stealth mode' and we were there just to enjoy ourselves and pay from our own pockets. The service was still as good. Like the previous visit, there was a host/hostess to take care of you from start till the end of the dinner. We were served by a lady from Taiwan. She's really knowledgeable, you can ask her anything about the menu and she can tell you. In fact, she's better than the first visit there.

We did have a chat with her and found out she's being rotating amongst the different W properties around the world. She's here for a year or two and probably will go to another destination. So cool ya?

Skirt is W Hotel's first ever grill house from all their properties. If you go there, you will notice the world restaurant has the 'cow' theme. Elaborate deco like this, are inspired by the cow's udders. The hanging lights are made from cow leather. If you notice the host and hostess, they are dressed very sleek but their uniform or outfit is inspired by butchers!  Quite "W" cool!



Just like the first time, the bread roll are in the shape of a flower. When you go down the steps from the lobby to the restaurant, you can peep into the open concept kitchen. You will see they have lots of these bread. The burnt marks are there because they have been heated up on the grill.

These nice warm bread are served with seaweed dip and a bottle of chorizo lard oil.
(It's like Western version of our favourite lard in oil form and spicy!)


Terra Rossa Malbec (by glass) - $18

Dad ordered a glass of wine. It was a red that was recommended after we ordered our meal. It was recommended based on the meat he ordered.


SKIRT Made Blackmore Charcuterie for 2 - $38

I had this before and thought it was really good, so I told the parents that they should try this too.
I just love food that's being served on big wooden boards. Look at the thinly mandolinned vegetables. If you are serving food at home, you can do this too. (ideas ideas!)



This bit of pulled meat with some far and crispy onions on it was delicious.

From the previous tasting, I asked what it was so I know what this is when we had it with the parents. It's meat from the leg that has been sous vide at 65 for 1 day. It's just so tender. If you are adventurous and not so health conscious, eat it with the semi soft fats.



Two kinds of cured blackmore. I remembered that I prefer one to another, but I can't remember which ones. I think one's cured and the other just air dried cold cuts. If you dine there, you can confirm with them.



Liver pate. It's way too much for me personally. Everyone liked it except me, because I am not a liver person. ;-)



The pretty and hard crusted bread that comes with it. I preferred the softer bread that was served before your meal though. I prefer soft breads.



The details of this place. They have custom made cutlery!

Do you feel like you are dining in some big huge ancient castle maybe in King Arther's time, that people used such cutlery?



If you ordered meat, you will be served this before your meal.
On the left, apple bourbon juice. I think it's a bit strong, but it cleanses your palate before you have your meat. The right, a bottle of BBQ sauce.


Blackmore Australian Full Blood 9+ Wagyu, Skirt Steak (250g) - $48

The wife ordered this. She wanted to try this signature skirt steak. It's a nice piece of steak. It was done medium, and came out nicely as what she liked. I suppose you can't do wagyu any other way. It made the wife rather happy.


Donald Russell Irish Aberdeen Angus Grass fed 21 day Dry Aged Tenderloin - $40

Dad had a hard time deciding because there was too many choices. He end up having the Irish tenderloin. We all thought he made the best choice for the night after we all took a bit of his meat.



We thought the wife's skirt steak was nice, but after tasting dry aged meat and the tenderness that comes with it, I wished I ordered this too.  A good piece of meat, just grilled was just so so good. The price for this delicious meat was only $40!


Grilled Baby Barramundi - $47

Mum is more of a seafood person and she thought she will have the catch of the day. We were told they had a nice baby barra that day and mum thought it's a good choice too.

We thought it was quite an expensive fish, but it was really well done. Nicely grilled, it was nice, soft and juicy inside and we think mum did enjoy it.


Iberico Pork Skirt, Asparagus, Crackling - $40

When I ordered it, I imagined it to be a pice of "sio bak", with nice crackling skin on top by the description. I was wrong. It came as above. Yes, we laughed. It was piece of pork skirt with crackling separately on top.

It was OK. It was slightly over done, so it was a bit tough. Even with King Arthur's knife above, I had to use a bit more energy to cut it. So when I tasted Dad's dry aged beef, oh... I wanted to take over his whole plate.

We thought we would share some side dishes, so we ordered 4 different sides. Probably 2 or 3 should had been enough if you ordered the starter. You would be quite stuffed!


Grilled Pumpkin, Sprouts and Goat Cheese - $8

Nicely grilled pumpkin with leaves from probably 2 Brussels sprouts and goat cheese over it. Pumpkin had a nice aroma. You know how some people like harder pumpkin and some like soft mushy ones. This was the harder kind.


Sauteed Wild Mushrooms - $8

We are a family of mushroom lovers, so we ordered it when we saw mushrooms on the menu. We really liked this. It's a combi of different mushrooms with black fungus. We always forget about black fungus as mushrooms. Surprisingly, it goes so so well. We will be having this combo when we prepare this at home next time!


Baby Carrots, Beans and Radish - $6

A nice dish of carrots. Nice but not wowing. Yes, it's just carrots and beans and radish. Order it for beta carotene for your eyes.


Hand Cut Garlic Fries with Mayonnaise - $5

We saw the word garlic and fries and we kind of automatically order it. Frankly speaking, I can't remember now how it tasted because I did not take notes. Can't remember it was super crispy and super soft inside, but I remember we ate up all of it. No fries were spared!


Chocolate Forest Cake - $18

We ordered this dessert because dad loves black forest cake. It's more like a deconstructed black forest cake. Very interesting indeed!



Pop the 'cherry' on top and you have this thick mix of cherries. You should take a bit of everything you see on the plate and put it in your mouth. Taste it that way. You might just enjoy it.

Unless of course you think all these deconstructed thing is not your way to enjoy food. ;-)


Crepes - $15

A very alcoholic dessert! The two rolls are crepes and there's 2 different cocoa powder and granules over it. Their variation of crepes suzette.



The booze on fire has just melted all the chocolate. Enjoy!

We had a very good time. We arrived earlier before dinner and enjoyed walk around to admire the yachts there. Service staff was very good, but not very intrusive. 

Total cost was $336 which includes the various taxes and 4 other drinks that we ordered.

Oh yes, if you are Points and Miles collectors for hotels, you can redeem SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) points. Yes, I gave them my SPG number.

SKIRT
W Singapore - Sentosa Cove
21 Ocean Way
Singapore 098374

Tel: 6808 7278
Hours: Tues - Sun, 7 pm - 12 midnight

Sunday Champagne Brunch, The Sentosa Singapore

This was a Sunday Brunch that I had a few months ago that finally made it to the blog. (it's a late post because of the many many photos and I was trying to remember what I ate)

I know many people seems to be working very hard these few months. I am also mobbed with so much work in my day job, that his blogging hobby is quite slow moving. So when weekend comes, I totally drop all the work (even though I brought work home and told myself I need to finish things quick!) and totally do things that I like, eating, sleeping and doing nothing at all!

This brunch was at The Sentosa Singapore, a hotel located on Sentosa Island that is quite unique. Most hotels build upwards, but this hotel goes sideways and is located on 27 acres of lush tropical woodlands and landscaped water gardens. Already sounds like a nice place to idle your weekend away?

This brunch is available only on Sundays, 12.00pm to 3.00pm. It combines the best of the hotel's restaurant has to offer and even combine their restaurant into a huge buffet area. Priced at S$108++ per adult (top up S$44++ to enjoy free flow of champagne)  / S$59.00++ per child (4 to 12 years).

The Executive Chef here is Chef Ryan Sonson, who has around 18 years of experience in hotel and restaurant industry. (To name a few, Fairmont Nile City, The Mandarin Oriental San Franciso, Four Seasons Hotel, Newport Beach.)



The buffet area has the outdoors (covered of course) and indoors seating. It does not matter where you sit because different food are served both indoors and outdoors area. You would be walking about getting your food anyway!

For the outdoor area, the freshly grilled items are served just as they are being grilled. The outdoor aroma makes you instantly hungry!



The sun and smell of the outdoor area attracted me. I walked out and I saw this huge whole Salmon! The bones have all been taken out and it's being put back together so nicely. Work of art eh? I wonder if the chef has a second career as a taxidermist!

If I remember correctly, they are called salmon steak. Each serving looks like a piece of steak.



Fancy a Sunday roast? This Wagyu beef rump is for you! Did you spot the Yorkshire pudding too?
See a microplane there? It's used to grate fresh horseradish on your roast. 

Scroll to the bottom of the post later to see the things that went into my tummy, including this Wagyu Rump.



One normally don't eat chicken wings in buffets ya? I was so tempted by the smell and also the looks of it and I remember going back for seconds! Their various sausages were excellent too. If I remember correctly, they were homemade or rather made in their own kitchens.




Moving indoors, this station would be the wife's favourite. I should bring her here!
If you love oysters, they have a variety of them served.



They will be shuck right in front of you as you order it.

(The techie in me love how they have lights below the ice container! It makes the whole display so beautiful and glowy doesn't it?)



Moving along... there's the roasted meats too. Most probably the delicious roasts from their Chinese Restaurant.

(That made me smile a bit was the hanging of traffic lights colour capsicum there.)



Carbo loaders can rejoice with the Pasta station. Their gnocchi with truffle cream is very popular and you should try it! You might just pop too many gnocchi in your mouth and have no space left for other things!



The restaurant has many rooms and they have cleverly made use of it to have different rooms of delicacies. There's this what I call "Chamber of Cured Meat and Cheese."

Skip this room if you think the smell of fermented stuff is totally not for you.



I know there are some who adore the smell of cheeses and cured meats. Quite a decent selection here too. I confess I am not a huge fan of cheeses, so I skipped this section.

I love how the mirror made it easier for me to take one shot of everything here! When I walk back later to take the cured meats, oh oh, I see a tummy that's getting bigger being reflected on the mirror. It's like telling me, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the fattest of them all?"



Within this 'Chamber' there's this cheese cupboard! If memories hasn't failed me, I remember the Exec Chef saying he made this himself, like how they have it back home!

I remember my maternal grandmama has something like this too when I was young. Not for cheese and cured meats though. It was for storing food. Those were the days when the weather was cooler and fridges were not that big.



This section, for lovers of what the chemistry of wheat, butter, yeast and an oven can produce!



Part of the Chinese restaurant, Baifuting was converted into the desserts section of the Sunday Brunch. Dessert fans would be so happy to see this!



I seem to have more photos of this section than other sections. I wonder why?
The area smells so good. Everything's presented so beautifully too. It's just so heavenly and divine.



Look! There's Gretel wondering around this "House of Sugar, Cream and all things nice".
No, the chef does not look like the evil witch does he? He's laughing though. Hmm....



Oh, I spotted Hansel too! He's discussing with Gretel, can we really eat all these? I mean ALL of it?

Behind where the Chef wearing tall chef hats are the crepe station.
Very good sweet and savoury crepes!



If you spotted missing chocolate balls, it's me! I pinched them just as I stood there before taking this photo! I love how they serve the chocolates on 'chocolate bar plates'! See that tree trunk of chocolate?!

There were lots of other food and photos that I took. I think I shall not put up more photos.
The rest are some of the food that went into the 2938 calories I had for my Sunday brunch.



Know why I love the chicken wings? They really tasted very good and tender. Don't they look equally good too? The smell of it being cooked as you walk outdoors will make you salivate.

The lamb sausages and roasted capsicums were good too!




The Wagyu Beef Rump and Yorkshire pudding.
For meat lovers, I think just having this would satisfy you!



For some people, Sunday brunch equals poached eggs.
Yes, have as many poached eggs from the stations if you want!

Oh, there's a Foie Gras station that seems to be quite hidden.
If you are a fan of it, let your nose lead you to it!



The Gnocchi that many of us found very good were made in such tiny bite size. The sizes makes you want to keep popping them in your mouth. I was suppose to share it but I ate it all!

Reminder for readers: Save your stomach for desserts and other stuff!



Need I say more other than Yum!



I think I went overboard with desserts. A slice of most things I could see!
Plus macarons and chocolate overload too!



Banana in freshly made crepes and ice cream too!
Ladies, remember, ice cream will help prevent osteoporosis when you get older!



If you opt for the free flow of Champagne, you will be having Duval Leroy.
Guess what? I was dining there with Leroy from the HungryCow! What a coincidence eh?

Oh, for kids, there's a special room where there's children cutlery, Wii games in wide screen TV, DIY pizza making session! Parents who wants to hire 'babysitters' can let the hotel staff 'babysit' their kids in the kids room!


Thanks to Marlene for the invitation to have Sunday brunch at The Sentosa Singapore.


Sunday Champagne Brunch
The Terrace Restaurant
The Sentosa, A Beauford Hotel
2 Bukit Manis Road,
Sentosa Island,
Singapore 099891

Tel: +65 6371 1414
Web: http://www.thesentosa.com

Hours: Sundays only, 12 Noon to 3 PM.
Prices: S$108++ per adult (top up S$44++ to enjoy free flow of champagne) / S$59++ per child (4 to 12 years)