MAD (Modern Asian Diner) @ The Grandstand

What a name! MAD which stands for Modern Asian Diner is a collaboration between TungLok Group, Bar Stories and Dick Lee. I am guessing the name must have been suggested by Dick Lee, the flamboyant Singapore performer, composer and playwright.



This was an invited review to see what MAD has to offer and it was it is quite an interesting concept. I would not have worded it any nicer sounding than this press release by them:

"The split-levelled MAD features a bar, manned by famed mixologist Kino from Bar Stories; a charcoal-powered Josper Oven to enhance the flavour profile of meats and seafood; a specially fitted and designed Omakase-style tapas counter; and a wine cellar and tasting room by Top Wines, which boasts one of the most extensive wine lists in Singapore; and a bakery and bread boutique by Bakerzin which will serve freshly baked artisan breads."



During the day, this place is a bakery, cafe and dim sum place.
During the night, it transform into a restaurant and cocktail bar.

I heard that during the day, Dim Sum Trolleys will be going around serving Dim Sums here. For those who are nostalgic. Bring your parents or grandparents! 



MAD occupies two levels. On the first level has a bakery and a cafe seating area.

(Residents of Bukit Timah on the way home at night, drop by for some bread near their closing time. I think it was 50% off. I bought some after dinner.)



As you have probably experience it, with the recent labour restrictions, more and more restaurants are deploying tablets to take over what humans can do. Everything you want to order can be done through this iPad.



Oh yes, you can preview your bill at anytime too!

(Now, they should have an app to rearrange the bill according to the diners ya? As an IT guy, I know it can be done!)

>> The Bar

During the night, you have the Bar that's manned by famed mixologist Kino from Bar Stories. They specialise in tea and coffee based cocktails. Talk to them, let the mixologist come up with something, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic that suits your 'mood' at the moment.

Here's some photo of the beautiful creations. These were what we had:









I did not note down the name of the drinks. It was just so beautiful. This last one was the cutest with a little rubber duckie on it!


>> The Restaurant



Artisanal Bread from bakery.

 
MAD Baby Ribs with Homemade Barbeque Sauce



You can mark this place as one of the places for delicious ribs. Well marinated and done really well. Tender meat, wonder their charcoal oven had an special powers.

I like how it was served in a wooden board. So rustic and the presentation already makes you hungry by looking at it.



Foie Gras Terrine



The terrine goes well with the bread that they serve. If you order this, don't finish up the bread when they are served. Save them for the terrine. It had a nice texture and less oily too. I know some of you only prefer your Foie Gras pan seared.


Teriyaki Glazed Mushrooms with Cuttlefish Tagliatelle

Other than the ribs, this was also my favourites for the night. That's not green pasta but cuttlefish! It's not tough cuttlefish either. It's something you will probably order seconds.

I read from Bibik Gourmand's blog that portobello mushroom has been sous-vide. No wonder they taste just nice. (now to find out the ideal temp to sous vide portobello!)


Mushroom Risotto with Poached Egg.

Beautifully done. It's tedious cooking this. It reminds me of the 'cooking' competition that I was preparing risotto everyday to perfect it and on time too.

The mushroom flavour was not too overpowering and they added a poached egg. It seems they know that many people are obsessed with poached eggs!



For the tasting portion, they poached mini quail eggs for us too! So cute eh!


Rum and Banana Tatin with Vanilla Ice Cream.

They have a dessert menu and you can satisfy your sweet tooth by ordering through the iPad. ;-)
I liked the caramelized banana with the ice cream.



For those with kids and your kids can't get enough of macarons. Order them!




The kitchen is helmed by Chef Roberto Hernandez Sevillano.
He's previously from the Esmirada Group's Tapas Bar. 



If you prefer, you can dine at the Omasake-style Tapas Bar too.

>> The Retail Gallery



Other than eating, people in Singapore love to shop.
They have added a retail gallery to make some of our better halves happy.



It sells lots of quirky things that even I was tempted to buy.
I heard all of it has been selected by Dick Lee himself.

While dining, I thought the music sounds familiar and some of it seems to be from Dick Lee's musicals. I asked them who selects the songs and was told Dick Lee has selected the songs for all 365 days to be played here!



Oh snowy from Tin Tin Comics is available for sale here too!

>> The Wine Cellar



There's also the cellar and wine tasting room here by Top Wines.

It's quite an interesting concept here. First in Singapore to combine a 5-in-1.
Thanks to the PR folks of MAD for the invite.


MAD (Modern Asian Diner)
200 Turf Club Road
#01-20/21, The Grandstand
Singapore 287994

Tel: +65 64663303
Hours:  Sun to Thu – 10.00am to 10.30pm / Fri to Sat – 9.00am to 12 midnight

Website: http://www.modernasiandiner.com

Nogawa Japanese Restaurant @ Concorde Hotel Orchard

It was one of those very rare days that the wife and I took leave and decided to watch a movie. It was  my first and last movie on the last few days of 2012! (OK, we were clearing 2012 leave) We caught Les Miserables at GV Plaza and yes, people around us were all crying and sobbing. It was the greatest movie I watched for the year because it was the only one! (yes laugh at me). After the movie, we were playing and humming all the songs for the next 1 month!

After the 9.30 am movie, it was just about lunch time. We walked around the new wing of Plaza Singapura and saw so many new eateries. Surprisingly none caught our fancy (read too long queues). We thought maybe Chef Wan's buffet, but we were not in the mood for a big meal. We decided to walk out of Plaza and search for other food.

We walked past Concorde Hotel and suddenly we remembered Nogawa upstairs at the Lobby floor. It has been a while since we both ate at Nogawa. We were so glad it was still early and it was quiet. What a pleasant change from the previous mall.



Should we omakase? During lunch time, the lunch sets are always so tempting at half the price. We gave in to the sets.

I ordered the Special Sushi Set (around $30).
Assorted fresh fish that each mouthful promises satisfaction.



The wife ordered the Chirashi with Chawanmushi.
A happy and satisfied wife gives the man a long stress free life!



No description is needed ya? You can look at the photos and you want to have it now don't you?



The marinated octopus that both of us had in our sets.
Tasting it, you would want to click 'like' on Facebook or 'double tap' on Instagram. LOL



We all had to wait a while for the chawanmushi so we assumed it must have been made to order. It was smooth and tasty as expected.



While the world rushes on around Orchard Road, we had a slow moving quiet lunch in this small Japanese restaurant. We were thinking, we should watch Jiro Dream of Sushi and maybe go have a meal in Tokyo one day too. (The thought of radiation still prevents us from going though.)



Nogawa Japanese Restaurant
Concorder Hotel Lobby 
100 Orchard Road
#03-25
Singapore 238840

Tel: +65 6732 2911 
Hours: 12 noon - 3 pm, 6 pm - 10.30 pm

Chinese New Year Feasting @ Summer Pavilion, The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore

Where will you be having your Lunar New Year meals this year? Many of us will be having many reunion dinners or catch-up dinners. If you are married or attached, you will have at least 2 family reunion dinners. There will also be company Lunar New Year meals, catch-up meals with other friends too. Your bosses might be also be treating a meal too.

For one of the many lunches or dinners for the Lunar New Year, if you want to pamper yourself, you can head to Summer Pavilion at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore.



I was recently invited to have Chinese New Year Luncheon tasting at the Summer Pavilion at The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore.

Summer Pavilion is currently having the Auspicious Lunch and Dinner Set Menus. Their Platinum Seven-Course Menu ($2288 for 8 guests) is quite impressive.

The Platinum Seven Course menu is as follows:

• Golden Crab Roe and Sea Urchin Yu Sheng | 黄金蟹子海胆捞起
• Double-boiled Lobster Soup with Chicken, Bamboo Pith and Chinese Cabbage | 菜胆竹笙浓鸡汤炖龙虾汤
• Sautéed Scallop with Fresh Wild Mushrooms & Seasonal Vegetables | 美极胡椒碧绿鲜菌炒带子
• Steamed Sliced Garoupa with Dried Beancurd Skin & Minced Garlic | 蒜香豆根蒸星班
• Braised Whole Abalone with Chinese Mushrooms and Seasonal Vegetables | 蚝皇原只三头鲍鱼花菇时蔬
• Braised Hong Kong Noodles with Crabmeat, Ginger & Spring Onions | 姜葱生拆蟹肉焖银丝面
• Double-boiled Bird’s Nest with Rock Sugar served warm | 冰花炖金丝燕

There are always people asking if there are big tables, many of us have big families or a big group of friends or colleagues are meeting. They do have a table that can fit 14 people comfortably here.

We tasted something similar, a slight variation to the menu above, and here are the photos to tempt you to have a meal there too!


The Double Boiled Cartilage Soup with Fish Maw

A good Cantonese never fails to serve you the best soups around. This soup has been around here for some time and it's probably where some folks with good skin come for their delicious treatment. Collagen rich milky white goodness.

I love the taste of the heart warming soup and particularly the fish maw. You should taste this fish maw and you probably would not like those dried ones.


Yu Sheng - Golden Crab Roe with Sea Urchin

After serving us a warm soup that really whets our appetite, the service staff brought out the Yu Sheng. The dish that everyone loves in Singapore for the Lunar New Year. We Chinese simply love dishes that has ingredients that sounds auspicious, don't we?


The two bowls that most people will know what it means. Smooth and Sweetness in all things you do. The vegetables used for the Yu Sheng is quite natural, something that many of us will like.


The chefs here have created something specially for the Lunar New Year. The Golden Crab Roe with Sea Urchin. Look at how fresh it is, and quite a good portion of it too!

If you are having a-la-carte lunches here, there are a variety of Yu Sheng options available:
Golden Crab Roe with Sea Urchin | 黄金蟹子海胆捞起 (大家齐捞起) – From $110
Abalone Yu Sheng | 鲍鱼捞起 (包生意捞起) – From $75.00   
Lobster Yu Sheng | 龙虾捞起 (龙马精神爽) - 市价 Subject to the market price



It was a huge table of 14 of us, comprising of food writers/journalists from different publications, food bloggers and the Ritz-Carlton staff. It's so big a group, we had 2 servings of Yu Sheng.


The only time when playing with food is allowed in any Chinese meal.
Minimal spillage on our side! I love those long chopsticks!



The Sea Urchin and Golden Crab Roe was not tossed together so as not to crush and stabbed with our long chopsticks. The service staff will portion it for us and add the prized topping on top for us.

The 'uni' here was good. Very fresh and surprisingly, it does go well with the yu sheng salad.



Braised Sliced Abalone with Dried Oyster and Black Moss in Beancurd Sheet.

This dish was excellent. Not only does it look so good on 'instagram' (haha), it's also taste so good. I love how everything goes so well together, the superior sauce that binds them together was  a little magical. 


Steamed Sea Perch with Fungus and Vegetables.

The sea perch was nicely done and it's firm and yet still so tender. I love all the garlic and spring onion bits that goes on top of the fish. (I usually get those bits from my wife, because she does not like it)

What was also very interesting was the 'gong cai' that the fish rested on. It has an interesting texture, a little crunchy like 'bottle chai sim', but it's longish and not salty. There's always the good service staff and PR folks that you can ask. Our dear 'aunty' service staff came back from the kitchen and told us the Chef says it's 'gong cai'. We googled and found the English name as "Mountain Jelly Vegetable".

Sorry for the deviation, the dish was very lovely indeed. Simple yet gives you a very satisfied and happy feel to it.


Braised Special Fish Noodles with Shredded Chicken, Ginger and Onions.

When we saw the menu and it says Fish Noodles, I was wondering if fish made into noodles strips. I can't remember where I had something like that before, but the above are delicious noodles that very fragrant and filled with lots of ingredients. Surprisingly, it is quite light and does not give you that bloaty feeling.

Carbo lovers delight. These braised noodles will have you wanting more after each mouth. Carbo will suddenly increases your blood sugar levels and that triggers endorphins in the brain to be released which gives you a natural high. Sounds good doesn't it?



Chilled Black Glutinous Rice Topped with Coconut Ice Cream.

A nice sweet ending to our meal. Chilled Black Glutinous Rice that's not too sweet with the Coconut Ice Cream, as usual a nice combination.

(I like how the little touches like having orchids and rose petals as part of their plating. It subliminally gives it a nice feeling while you eat. Yes, after entering a cooking competition recently, I begin noticing such things)


Other notes:

Traditional pen cai will also be available from $360 (serves four) – (three days advanced notice needed) – the 12 ingredients include fish maw, sea cucumber, Chinese mushroom, conpoy, black moss, seasonal vegetables, abalone, sea perch, roast pork and duck, goose web and scallops.

For those who wants an extra touch, Gu Zheng entertainment on CNY eve dinner at the
Chihuly Room
Lo Hei Reunion Dinner with Gu Zheng entertainment: 9 February, Saturday (6.30pm to 10.30pm)
$1264.00  per table of eight adults with two bottles of wines, unlimited juices, soft drinks and Chinese tea.

If you prefer buffets, head to the
Greenhouse
•    Lo Hei Reunion Dinner: 9 February, Saturday (6.30pm to 10.30pm)
$168.00 per adult with unlimited vintage sparkling wine, housepour red/white wine, beer, chilled juices and soft drinks
$69.00 per child (6-12 yrs)
•    Lo Hei Buffet Lunch: 11,12, 16 February, Monday, Tuesday, Saturday (12 noon to 2.30pm)
$68.00 per adult
$34.00 per child (6-12yrs)
•    Lo Hei Buffet Champagne Brunch: 10 February, Sunday (12 noon to 3.30pm)
$168.00 per adult with unlimited Möet and Chandon vintage champagne, selected cocktails/mocktails, house pour red/white wine, soft drinks and fruit flavoured sparkling mineral water
$84.00 per child (6-12 yrs)
•    Loi Hei Buffet Dinner:10 to 12 and 16 February, Sunday to Tuesday and Saturday (6.30pm to 10.30pm)
$98.00 per adult
$49.00 per child (6-12yrs)

All prices are subject to 10 percent service charge and prevailing government taxes unless otherwise stated. 


Summer Pavilion
The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue
Singapore  039799

Tel:  6434 5288
Email: rc.sinrz.restaurantreservations@ritzcarlton.com.

Hours: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 6.30pm – 10.30pm daily