Truffles Celebrations @ Prego, Fairmont Singapore

Black and White Truffles. The last few months they are in season! Are you a truffle fan? (Am not talking about truffle oil, that's another debate by itself, nor am I talking about chocolate truffles, we are talking about real truffles here).

This post is a little late, but better late than never. It's only available till the end of January and you still have time to go for it. The best if you also happen to have the FAR card. (we no longer have it, but we dine at the restaurants that has discounts with our friend that has it haha..) FAR Carders get 20% off.

Each month since Nov 2013, Prego has around 10 truffle inspired dishes on the menu. This was a preview lunch courtesy of wonderful ladies at Swissotel/Fairmont Singapore and Chef Antonio Facchinetti and his team.



Chef Antonio Facchinetti brought out a glass and left it on the table for us and everyone's camera zoomed in to take a photo of it! White truffles that gives the wonderful aroma and can hypnotize someone to do whatever you want.


Truffle Ricotta Cheese with Shaved White Truffle

A ricotta cheese fan? How about mixing it with some truffles? Then top it up with a shave of white truffle? This was a wonderful starter.



I love these little glass bottles, they look so pretty and food served in them seemed extra special. Sorry I went off topic, back to truffles.

Is there difference between black and white truffles? Yes. The flavours are the earthly and chocolately aroma of black truffles (Tuber melanosporum) vs the garlicky earthly aroma of white truffles (Tuber magnatum). There are also the Summer and Winter harvests which has differences in aroma too. There's also the French vs Italian thing. You can find a whole afternoon reading about it if you want to find out more.



I was just happy to indulge in some ricotta with truffles with these freshly baked breads and sticks from the Prego kitchen!


Grilled Tomino Cheese, Endive Salad, White Truffle ($38)

I have not tried Tomino Cheese and it was the first time I had it and the cheese being grilled was  delicious. It was not ripened so there was no pungent smell and it was soft and creamy inside.

It went well with the endive salad. Crunchy fresh salads with oh the yummy white truffle shavings.



Tartare di Manzo, Acciughe, Uova Quaglia, Tartufo Bianco – Angus Beef Tartare, Anchovy, Quail Eggs, White Truffle ($40)

If you like beef tartare like me, you will love this. This is a more luxurious version of it with white truffle shavings. The aroma of it just makes the difference. I can eat two portions of it and feel extremely satisfied.



If you feel like having some wine, there are some fine selection to pick from.


Polenta Bianca, Roasted Foie Gras, Wild Mushrooms, White Truffle ($36)

For foie gras frans, you can order this and enjoy it with a very nice creamy polenta.


Risotto al Tartufo Bianco – White Truffle Risotto ($75 for entrée portion, $40 for appetiser portion)

This white truffle risotto will charm you with the seductive aroma. Nice warm risotto will bring out the aroma of the truffles. It goes together and you will be warm both in the tummy and heart.


Uova da Raviolo – Spinach, Parmesan, Ricotta Ravioli, Poached Egg, White Truffle ($38)

Don't be deceived by this simple looking dish. Inside this huge ravioli is a poached egg!
Poached egg fans would be quite amazed by how it's done! The poached egg rest on top a bed of spinach. Intriguing indeed!


Cotechino and Black Truffle Stuffed Whole Quail, Nebbiolo Sauce, Shaved White Truffle ($46)

We were all awaiting for this dish. A quail that's been stuffed with cotechino. You won't notice it until it's being cut open.



It was delicious. The cotechino and black truffle with the quail. To put it simply, we need to get back here to have our own portion and not a shared portion. ;-)


Poached Rhubarb with Wine Jelly, Vanilla Crema, Black Truffle Ice Cream and Cocoa Nibs ($30)

I am not a fan of rhubarb, that's my brother's kind of food. However, I am a fan of vanilla crema with the oh so delicious black truffle ice cream on top of it. That black truffle ice cream is just so good. The aroma as you smell it and taste it on your tongue. Only those who love truffles will know.


Black Truffle Meringue with Hazelnut Truffle Soil, Citrus Mint Cremeux and Passion Fruit Foam ($30)

This is the other pretty dessert that also taste quite nice. A lighter version compared to the dessert before this. Take your pick!

The menu changes each month from November, December and January.

Prego @ Fairmont Singapore
Level 1
80 Bras Basah Road,
Singapore 189560

Tel: (65) +65 6431 6156
Email: dining.singapore@fairmont.com

Prego @ Fairmont Hotel

Recently, KopiKosongGirl and I have been revisiting places we have not gone for a long time. We both used to have the Feed at Raffles card, but now since we are one, we only need one! (sounds cheesy eh?)

We used to come here often before we got married. We suddenly thought of this place, so we are back!

The deco seems to have changed, this place has become more "wooden contemporary", if there's such a term. No more white table cloth, it's now unvarnished table. Near the entrance there's also an antipasti bar. We remember when the restaurant used to be packed, we sat there at the counter.

Oh the menu seems to have shrunk too! Just a single sheet now. Simple.



The previous big round bread they had with the tomato-ish dip is gone too!
They now served this bagel like herb bread that's a nice replacement too. The bread's no longer warm like it was previously, but it was addictive though. It's probably the salty crust that makes you want to eat all of it up.



I think the bread's good on its own, but if you like, you can spread this aubergine like pesto with cream cheese on it.


It reminded us of the breakfast youghurt jars at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong!




We ordered 2 antipasti from the antipasti bar near the entrance. They are $4 each.

We saw these mushroom and could not resist them. If you like mushroom, try this. Cold, garlic taste, almost like pickled mushrooms.

KopiKosongGirl can eat a whole lot of this, I think because it's cold, I stopped at 3. Though I like it, the brain tells me to stop. Do you have that kind of feeling sometimes?



We also had the seafood salad. This was even nicer than the mushrooms. It's oily, but does not give you a 'jelak' feel to it. It's probably because of the citrus juice in it. It's cold too. The prawns were crunchy too.




I had the pizza. This is the Prego. ($35)
The toppings are Prosciutto di Parma, Buffalo Mozzarella, Arugula and Tomato Sauce.

Creature of habit, I am still ordering the same thing. Still loving it.




KopiKosongGirl had the Beef Lasagna. $35.
She said it's one of the best lasagna she had for a long time. I kind of agree with her.

Doesn't lasagna remind you of an Italian 'gao teng kuay'. Layer after layer of pasta sheets, meat and tomato paste. No, we did not peel each layer to eat. I want to try out the best way to make the tomato paste. Should start researching about them ;-)

It was a nice dinner. Still glad we kept a Feed for Raffles privileges, there's 50% off the bill.

There was a nice surprise too. Halfway through dinner, the next table next to us was a friend that we have not met for a long time. He left Singapore to study at the Royal College of Music and is now back! He is a composer, and if you probably have heard his compositions on film without knowing it! If you want to listen to his sample music, visit http://www.johncgh.com/

Prego Fairmont Singapore Level 1 80 Bras Basah Road Singapore 189560 Tel: +65 6431 6156 http://www.prego.com.sg

Scan QR code for Address Details

Mooncakes - Fairmont Hotel : Szechuan Court Restaurant

This box of mooncakes also from Fairmont Hotel / Swissotel was given by one of our colleague's brother to him. He shared it with us because he and his wife doesn't take alcohol.

These are the "Ping Pi" / Snowskin versions of mooncake made by Fairmont Hotel's Szechuan Court Restaurant.




Snowskin mooncakes always smells so good, doesn't it?
It's also served cold, so it's such a delight eating it.

This was how the box looks after you flip to the side the cover.




The selection of flavours.




Yellow - Champagne Truffle & Chocolate Ganache.
Just from the description we were already salivating!

Oh... we loved it!





Orange - Bailey's Chocolate.
Need I describe it for you? How many Bailey's fans out there?





Pink - Organic Muesli Chocolate.
This was the only flavour that our colleague ate. It's the only non alcoholic moonies.

The muesli mixed with the chocolate was a bit hard, so it was difficult to cut.
Taste wise, it was rather unusual, however it tasted good too.





White - Rum and Raisin Chocolate Truffle.
It was not as rum and raisin as you would expect compared to eating ice cream, it was nevertheless quite nice.





We were trying to taste all the flavours, so our tastebuds gets wonky nearing the end. So we seem to like the first two flavours more. We probably should eat it at different time to enjoy it more eh?

Many thanks to our colleague (or rather his brother) for our mooncake tasting session during tea break. ;-)

Mooncakes - Fairmont Hotel / Swissotel

This box of mooncakes was given by one of our vendors, Oracle.

We have never got mooncakes from Oracle (Database), but we have always been getting mooncakes from Sun. Since Sun has become Oracle, we now get them Oracle (Sun). Confused?

Anyway, Oracle gave us mooncakes from Fairmont Hotel / Swissotel.
Here you see my colleague tearing off the Oracle sticker stuck on it. (He is the mysql person!)




The is how it looks from a bird's eye view.

When I saw this box of mooncakes, I was happy. It's the same one that my mum and sis have spent time tasting at Takashimaya's basement few weeks ago that I had to pay to be given to Momo's mum. Mum and Sis said this was one of the better tasting one and it has a nice box too! I finally got to taste it!




It's very orange!




This is how it looks after I took out the plastic wrapper.
That says "Shuang huang" which means double yolks.




The texture of the lotus paste was smooth and not very oily.
It was also quite fragrant.
The skin was nice to nibble too.

Prego @ Fairmont Singapore

Last Saturday, Momo, sis and I, we went for brunch at Prego. Sis wanted to eat at Prego and we remember our Feed at Raffles card, so off we went.

Here's what we had.

For starters, we had Caprese. $23 (yes, again!) We had watch the History Channel on Friday night, and there was this documentary about making cheese. We saw the menu and it had Buffalo Cheese, we just had to order it. You should try this too. The rockets, tomatoes and cheese goes so well. :-)



We shared our mains. Spaghetti Vongole $25.
Sis and Momo love to eat this, they actually ordered one each. Right after we ordered, they changed their mind and thought we should have something else.



They decided to changed one vongole into pizza. This is the Prego Pizza $26.
Yes, the pharma ham with rockets on crispy thin crust. Lovely too...



You want some too?



I ordered the Risotto of the Day. Guess what it is? It's Rabbit Risotto! $33 When I heard it, I just had to order it! haha...

Looks plain and boring right? But it's actually quite tasty.



Everything's all in small pieces, so here's a scoop of it. Now at least you can see the rabbit and the asparagus. Ok Ok, I hear some of you say Italian porridge. haha...



It was a nice brunch. We realise we will come here every Easter!
With the Feed at Raffles card, the bill had a 33% off the food itams. So plus taxes etc, it was $84.38

Prego @ Raffles The Plaza

Tonight, I went with Momo, my co-blogger, to have dinner. We settled to have dinner at Prego. It has been quite some time since we came here.

One thing about Prego, is the nice warm bread they serve you when you arrive. You can have it with the tomato-ish dip they have (hidden behind the bread in the picture, haha) or have it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.



For appetizer, we shared this. I ordered this because I read about someone preparing this for her guest. 20 month old Proscuitto with Rock Melon and aragula. $26. Absolutely delicious! There's fig paste hidden behind the aragula. (must warn that the parma ham's salty! haha)



Momo had squid ink pasta with lobster. $38



OK, I had to take the pix of the lobster again. haha...



I had pumpkin ravioli. $25
Doesn't look very delicious visually, but it taste good in the mouth!
If you like creamy stuff ;-P



Used the "Feed at Raffles" card and we got 50% food, when 2 person dines. So, whatever the price you see, divide by half. Isn't it better to eat here then elsewhere?

Inagiku @ Raffles The Plaza Hotel

It's a makan weekend really. Guess this might be the most expensive Jap food I have eaten. A friend and I, we went to Inagiku coz we read it from Only Slightly Pretentious Food that its good.

Also, Chocolate Reindeer's husband whom we met at a Flogger meet, whom we also met says we got to try it. Leslie of IeatIshootIpost, whom we also met said that it was good too, but it was on someone's expense account. haha...

We arrived got seated and Err, not sure what to order, we just took the Set Dinner, it has everything to try right? We took the Edomae Tempura Set. Hmmm come to think about it, we were sitting at the Sushi bar, we should be ordering stuff from there right? But too late, next time maybe. How would we know? We were given the menu and so we ordered lah.

The appetizer arrived. Don't ask me the names of these, I was too distracted by the chef preparing such artful pieces for a couple a few seats away. It was just so entertaining just watching the chef prepare food.

This appetizer was some cold fish and its top with seaweed and onions etc that was very good!



Then came the sashimi set. I like the prawns best! Hard to describe, but it was just delicious, all of it! Hey it even comes with a small chrysanthemum! We had this question, why was this not served to us from the sushi bar counter where we were sitting, but it was carried in by the waitress. Hmm..... because we ordered the set so it is prepared in another kitchen? haha...



Then the tempura set is next. Prawns were good!





Now, this is interesting right? A teapot. Is tea the next dish? No.
It's actually soup! The top part of the teapot is a cup overturned.



The soup had prawns and mushroom. Here's a peek for you.



2nd dish of tempura was next. I think I can never fry tempura this well.
Those are fish behind. Good..



Next a bowl was placed in front of us. What is it?



It comes with this little bowl of very fine pickled seaweed.



Take the top off the bowl. More tempura stuff. Prawns and etc again. I like this!



The last dish was dessert and it is Musk melon. It was really very sweet.



I was playing around with this magnifying glass function of my camera, now you want to try this melon? Juicy eh?



OK. That was it. Nice meal.

If, we were to go there again, we will know what to order. haha.. We saw what others ordered while sitting at the sushi bar, and not set meals like us. Theirs was absolutely delicious looking! They all seem to know the chef and they could just order off their heads. Hmm...

The set was $160. If you used the Feed at Raffles card like we did, you can get 50% off for food. So, we had $160 off, and it was $193 after tea and the various taxes.

Tempted? Go try lah.