The Moluccas Room @ The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

Talking about fine dining establishments, most people would not think of Malay or Indonesian food as the cuisine of choice. Most would probably think of French or Italian on the top of their list.

How many times have you wished that you can bring your friends to a fine dining food that serves really good Indonesian food? Somewhere classy, and when you dress up, you would not be out of place.

The folks at The Moluccas Room have done a pretty good job!



Located at Marina Bay Sands, it's at the same complex that house many celebrity chef restaurants.
I was there during the day and found the place very cosy and yet classy chic.



The deco is modern Indonesian. Clean lines with warm tones all around.
Ladies will be glad to note that their chairs have a hook for handbags too!



This place serve alcohol so it is not halal.
If you are coming, ask them about that piece of granite table top! I heard there's a story behind it.

PR firm FoodNews hosted a few of us for the lunch.



Our lunch has been prepared by Chef Alicia Tivey. She's Australian with an Indonesian mother. Her mother is where she learn all her Indonesian food and secrets.

Chef Alicia had even trained under Chef Tetsuya Wakuda in the 90s in Sydney. There she served French-Japanese food. With over 20 years of experience, she is now at The Moluccas Room, combining her classic training with the food of her heritage. Indonesian food prepared in classic French techniques.

Here's what we delighted our tongues to:

Starters and nibbling

A Nasi Ulam Amuse-bouche.
Experience different Amuse-bouche when you dine here. This was so pretty and delicious as well.




An array of dips to go with your food.
I know not many people will try them, but if you are one that loves some heat in your food, try them all!



(Click on the photo to see a bigger photo of it)




These are sampling portions of the sate. The real set comes in sticks of 5 and is about 30g each.
I like how they arranged each satay and their individual sauces for us.

(From left to right)
Sate Padang Lidah Sapi ($27)
Buttery rich Angus beef tongue sate done Padang style served with warm and thickened beef broth sauce

Sate Ayam Madura ($22)
An Eastern Java delicacy-grilled chicken tenders served with creamy roasted peanut sauce

Sate Angus ($25)
Sweet and savoury Angus beef sate with a touch of citrusy lightness served with a peanut and sweet soy sauce.



(Click on photos to view them in full glory.)

If you ask me which one I like most, I like them all! The one that I particularly like is something really different. The Sate Padang Lidah sapi. Beef Tongue can be so good. You won't know that it's tongue if no one told you. The texture is delicious and perfect for sate!

Soup

Next for us to savour was Soto Ayam Lamongan. ($15)
This is the smaller tasting portion.



I like how they pour out the chicken soup right in front of you.



The humble Soto Ayam with the aromatic herbs and spices.
When it's served fine dining style, I can't slurp it the usual way I eat this. I had to slowly enjoy it. ;-)



On the first sip of the soup, some might find it a little light. Well if you like it more sour or spicy, they have condiments for you to add. The taste of the soup really changes with these different condiments!

Entrees

Again, tasting portions of the entrees.




Udang Blado Padang ($35)
Fried king prawn topped an aromatic Western Sumatra sauteed chilli sambal.

I liked this prawn! My dining companion, found it a bit under salted. But I think it's fine for my taste.




Ayam Sakura Tangkap Aceh Selada Mangga ($19)
Tangy green mango salad and aceh styled deep fried shrimp paste marinated chicken chunks garnished with a mix of aromatic fresh herbs and crispy shallot flakes




This is an Indonesian rendition of shrimp paste chicken!

Mains

We were served three tasting portions of the main courses.



Ikan Bakar Jimbaran ($35)
Sweet and spicy grilled fresh fish fillet.

The sea bass was so soft and delicate. I wonder how they do it in the kitchen, ikan bakar never tasted so nice! Most ikan bakar we try are always dry. The sweet and spicy sauce over it goes so well with fish. It reminds me of nyonya style fish. 

I have not been to Jimbaran, Bali. Maybe I should to try out dishes like this!




Angus Steak Rendang ($35)
Tender beef steak tenderloin topped with an extremely flavourful Javanese style rendang curry sauce

I also liked this dish! If you try this dish you would be wondering how did it turn out this way? The meat just taste 'different'. Well, the beef steak was cooked using vacuum. It was done using the sous vide cooking method. Definitely not the usual beef rendang we are used to.

The rendang sauce was also different. It has been strained to give it a smooth texture. I was secretly hoping this was not the tasting portion but the full portion!

Most of us won't be able to prepare this at home. We don't have the equipment and also the time to prepare this dish! Worth every penny paid for it!





Confit Sakura Ayam Tuturaga ($33)
A light citrusy confit chicken curry from the Northern Sulawesi region

If you have bought Sakura chicken and prepare them at home, you know they already taste different. I have bought them and find that they have very little fat.  Chef Alicia says this dish was prepared using the chicken fat. I asked how on earth could you get the fat to cook it? The chicken itself has so little fat!

The chicken was firm yet tender and the curry was light citrusy. It's somehow the kind of curry that you can drink it all up! Try this for classic french technique chicken with Indonesian flavour.

Desserts

I was a bit too full for desserts after eating a little of everything. It can be quite filling!
When the dessert appeared, my heart melted and I relented. 

Sri Kaya Creme Brulee ($17)
Creamy coconut custard fragrantly flavoured with pandanus and topped with the perfect caramelised crust accompanied with a scoop of our home made Indonesian flavoured sorbet.



Creme brulee with Indonesian flavour.
It's quite good you know!



This sorbet was really really sweet! Reminds me of Indonesian desserts in Indonesia.
I like it though. Probably because it was only a bit of it. Palm Sugar sorbet.

I am sure you will get a mad sugar rush.
Probably a good idea to order tea or coffee and have it without sugar.
I think that makes a delightful ending to it.


If you can't decide what to eat, you can try their set lunches. A degustation dinner menu is also available. Call the restaurant to check out what they have. I noticed the table beside us having the set lunch and it looked quite good.

For their full menu, visit their website at: http://www.themoluccasroom.com/

The Moluccas Room 2 Bayfront Avenue #01-81 Marina Bay Sands Singapore 018956 Tel: +65 6688-7367 Hours: Daily - Lunch 11.30am to 3pm, Dinner 6.30pm to 10pm

Scan QR Code for Address Details.

Nasi Padang River Valley @ Zion Road

Wow, how fast time passes! We had this meal with our friend, Momo's childhood friend Julia before she delivered her baby and now the baby's over 1 month old! We know she likes to eat (like us) and when the baby comes out, she will not be able eat it for some time!

We picked her up and off we went to Zion Road. It has been some time since we came here, we did come a few times, but I did not bother to take photos because it seems that we always order the same old food! Anyway, this will be like an update.




4 of us ate 6 dishes. A bit of a glutton? Probably not, since the portions are not that big.




The Ayam Gulai. The non spicy version of curry. The sauce is every so tempting and you can 'sapu'/ wallop up a whole plate of rice with the sauce.

I have had Ayam Gulai since young, but I just realised that Wikipedia says this dish originated from Padang! 





The Beef Rendang. Another dish that has very tempting sauce to go with the rice. Not every piece of the beef was tender this time. The tender ones were pleasant to eat!




We ordered a Begedil for each person. Always reminding me of having croquette.
Momo who is more of a Japanese food lover says she prefer the Japanese version. haha.




The sambal sotong. Nice! Very nice, not rubbery, but tender.
The sauce has lots of onions which I love!




The Ayam Goreng. Just thought of having some fried chicken, so we ordered it.
This one we had was crispy on the outside and still not that dry inside.




The sweetish ala Thai chili sauce that goes with the chicken.
(I mixed my piece of chicken with all the different sauces!)




A bowl of Sayur Lodeh. Our only vegetable dish!
Not very special, but it's quite OK.




The makcik seems to know even before we asked.
The spicy, super spicy sambal belachan!




Also a bowl of curry sauce to pour over our rice.
A very satisfying lunch!

We were sitting beside a Malay family. As we were taking photos, they were smiling, probably thinking we must be tourists. How could we not talk to them? They looked so friendly people and spoke in halting Malay saying we are not tourists and about other stuff.

We asked them about food after all the funny chatter we had. We asked where else in Singapore can we taste similar food and where is their favourite. The couple with their little girl told us this shop's food is more Indonesian Padang style. If we want to try more Singapore Malay food, try Hj Maimunah, their other favourite.

It's amazing even if were speaking in halting Malay (and half of us did not understand it), when people talk about food, you can feel the deliciousness of what they are talking by looking at the way the face expression and smile!



Nasi Padang River Valley
55 Zion Road
Singapore 247780

Roszy's Tiffin House @ GoldHill Centre

 A few weeks ago, Camemberu, Momo and I went to try out the Malay Food at this place called Roszy's Tiffin House. You would have read about it. It's all over the newspapers, food magazines, blogs.

Why is it call Roszy's Tiffin House? Roszy's the lady owner and it's because it has been Roszy's dream to have her own restaurant. She wants everyone to savour good wholesome home-cooked food from Java, Indonesia that her grandfather originated long ago.Their recipe is from her grandfather that has been passed to her mum (who is a chef) and now to her and her husband Ian.

Her dreams and hard work came into fruition in Jan 2010.

In short, we liked her food!

***

Wondered what we ate?
This was the Nasi Lemak Set. $8. It was one of the daily sets that we noticed on the offers of the day.



The sambal, acar and ikan bilis with kacang was good. You know when things are done with patience and sincerity, you can kinda feel it in the food you eat although it is common food.



We were three hungry people, so we ordered a few things and not sure what comes with what!
I think probably this Ayam Masak Merah (Malay Style Chicken in Red Sauce) came as part of the Nasi Lemak Set? The ayam was really pleasant. I must confess I have this love for Ayam Masak Merah, so I might be a bit bias. :-)



For the rice, they use basmati rice. A luxury for nasi lemak right?
It was topped with a crispy sides fried egg. The rice with the eggs, cucumbers, sambal, acar in your mouth, I am sure you will love it!

***

This was the Ikan Asam Pedas. (Spicy Tamarind Fish) $5.50.

We usually expect it to be very sour and spicy, but their is the milder version.
If you do not take very spicy food and want to try it out for the first time, you can order this.
(You better ask first, just in case they have 'spici-fied' this dish.)

***

Now, this is the dish that's very popular here. It's a communal dish that in the old kampung days, people will 'bungkus' (pack) back some of it after a 'kenduri' (feast).

Authentic Nasi Ambeng (shown here is a single person serving for $18)

On top of the rice is a banana leaf that separates the dishes and the rice. Right above the banana leave is 'sambal goreng' (tempe, tofu, long beans spicy mix), then above it, 'terung sambal' (spicy brinjal/aubergine). It's then topped with Begedel (potato patties), Tauhu Goreng (fried tofu), Tempe (fried fermented bean cakes) and Ikan Tenggiri Goreng (Fried Spanish Mackeral)

To eat it, you split the banana leaf from the middle so that the ingredients will now rest directly on the rice. The banana leaf is the barrier that prevents the rice from being soggy.

I found a video by Roszy's Tiffin House on how to assemble their Nasi Ambeng here.
You should order the 3 to 4 person when you come here as a group!

*** 

We also wanted to try their Beef Rendang ($6.50).
Another of my favourite malay dishes!

***

The Terung Sambal. (Spicy aubergine/brinjal and long beans) $3.50
It was mouth watering!

***

This was the Sup Buntut (Oxtail Soup). A comfort soup indeed.






This is a good place to go if you want to enjoy some home style Javanese food.

Oh yes, when it was time for us to pay for our meals and leave, we went to the counter to pay and the owners said the meal's on them.

Ian shared to us about Roszy's dream and how they finally opened this place. Guess who is the QC for the food? Ian's mother-in-law. She's a picky person and insist things must be done the traditional and time consuming way. It was only recently that Ian and Roszy convinced her to use the blender instead of the lesung (mortar) for pounding their spices and aromatics!


ROSZY'S TIFFIN HOUSE
51 Thomson Road
#01-203 Goldhill Centre
Singapore 307638
Tel: +65 6255 4788
Open Mon–Sat
11am – 3pm; 6.30pm – 10.30pm

Resto Surabaya @ Far East Plaza

I accompanied sis for some urgent shopping at Far East Plaza. When we reached there, we were so hungry and had to eat before we could shop. We walked around and saw Resto Surabaya. What prompted us to go in was the Sunday Times cutting on the glass wall. It was Posh Nosh recommendation of cheap eats.

We ordered the Ayam Bakar. $6
Portions initially looked small, but it was actually enough for the two of us to share. It was really fragrant and the sauce is really Indonesian style sweet. (if you want to put it nicely, very well caramelized sauce LOL) We really like it!




We also had the Ayam Penyet. $6.
I think the marinate is gingery which is something we like. For once, we had Ayam Penyet that is really 'bashed' till the meat separates from the bones. Yums! The chilli that came with it was had freshly pounded tomatoes. 




The rice is 60 cents a serving.




We wanted a 'vegetable dish'. The recommendation was deep fried brinjals, but sis said, 'something non fried please'. So the service staff said, try gado gado, 'not deep fried'.

This is the Gado Gado $5. Keropokman do not like the keropok on it! "Lao Hong liao!"
But overall it's edible. The sauce is not as thick but it has an unique taste though.  A bit sweet as well.




For the drinks, I decided to try the 'Juice Sehat'. $3
If you translate it, it means 'healthy juice'. I wanted to find out what it is, so I ordered it! It's apple juice!




This shop is a branch of the main one at Far East Shopping Centre.
Now I know why people keep saying I should try the one at Far East Shopping Centre for Ayam Penyet. (Sis and I think the Ayam Bakar is nicer though)


Resto Surabaya
14 Scotts Road
Far East Plaza #05-26/26A
Singapore 228213

Tel: 6738 4369