Great German/European Food at CURATE, Resorts World Sentosa (a 4 Hands Kitchen dinner)

👍 Very good German-focused European food. Gorgeous dining area.
👎 Inconsistent meal pacing; Portions a little on the small side.

Another month, another 4 Hands Kitchen dinner: This time heading to Resorts World Sentosa's CURATE! This week, CURATE's Chef Benjamin Halat hosts one-starred Chef Nicolai Wiedmer from STUCKI in Basel (the Swiss-German speaking side of Switzerland). Both Chefs have cooked extensively in Germany / Switzerland, so we're expecting a very heavy German influenced dinner.


A small note on the dining area, which is cozy but oh-so-gorgeous. Several tables are within full view of the kitchen (and the pass) - which we like - but if you're not interested in observing the chefs, do request to be seated in the corner off to the side.


Up first, an amuse bouche of Eierstich, an egg custard not unlike Japan's chawanmushi. In this rendition it's topped with small cubes of white asparagus, ham, and tomato, which provides an interesting tangy, refreshing complement to the deliciously-seasoned egg.


Next up: Cured Trout (by Chef Wiedmer), with Pickled Cucumber and a starchy, sticky Jasmine Rice Cream. The trout was good, and the cucumbers pickled just right (without being overly sour like gherkins sometimes are). We weren't really that enamoured by the starchiness of the rice cream, though. Acquired taste / texture perhaps.


My mobile phone camera doesn't do justice to the beauty of Chef Halat's first dish: The Grilled Scallop served with Sauerkraut, sauerkraut consomme, and parsley cream. The scallop was cooked just right, but the amount of sauerkraut might be a little excessive if you're not a fan of pickled flavours. I am, though, so I found the starter delicious and appetite-whetting.


Next up: Chef Wiedmer's Ossetra Caviar, served alongside a delicious earthy piece of eel in yuzu dashi and celery. We were annoyed enough by the 45-minute gap between this plate and the previous one that we struggled to really enjoy it, though.


Chef Halat is up again with a perfectly-cooked piece of Pike Perch. Or at least, the flesh was perfectly cooked; we didn't much care for the limp skin. The lentils and beurre blanc accompaniment was divine, though: Who knew fish and lentils went so well together? Standout dish of the night for us.


Last savoury plate of the night was Chef Wiedmer's Lamb Loin (and lamb belly) served with Hazelnut Dukkah, Carrot, and Dill. With the lean loin and fatty belly - you get the best of both lamb worlds, really. The accompanying sauces and carrot mash was also delicious, with Dill standing in as a surprisingly competent replacement for the more typical mint jelly / sauce.


Finally, Chef Halat presents his rendition of Snickers, with Dulcey (a chocolate from Varlhona), peanuts, and caramel. It's like eating a deconstructed snickers bar, only with much more chocolate than peanuts. Oh, and much, much more delicious.


We end the dinner with some petit fours and coffee ... and with stomachs perhaps not quite satisfied. The darling and I aren't large eaters by any means, but even we were tempted to adjourn somewhere else for supper.


CURATE normally prices their dinners from s$148 (5-courses) up to s$228 (8-courses), and so - like pretty much every other fine dining restaurant in the city - isn't cheap. The food overall was really good, though, and perhaps worth a visit just for the fish dish alone. CURATE is in Resorts World Sentosa, and is walkable from the 'free entry' area of Sentosa. Reservations recommended; Non-Halal.

Look See Eat

Alma by Juan Amador: A Citi Four Hands Kitchen Review.

👍 Imaginative, Asian-fusion'ed European Cuisine. Service is warm and inviting.
👎 Tonight's dinner a tad inconsistent: A few dishes were a little on the weak side.

For April 2019 Citi's 4 Hands Kitchen moves back to Goodwood Park Hotel's Alma by Juan Amador, where resident Chef Haikal Johari hosts Le Normandie (Bangkok)'s Chef Arnaud Dunand Sauthier! The two chefs hold 3 Michelin Stars between them, so the darling and I were pretty excited to be back to try out their 6 course dinner menu!

The dinner starts off with some Snacks, which include a one-bite Strawberry chips with salmon roe and sour plum sauce, Foie gras mousse with apple jelly, Fish tartare cracker, and chili-spiced Prawn tartare cracker topped with frozen yuzu powder. We especially liked how the richness of the foie gras mousse was cut by the tart apple jelly, and the contrast of flavours, textures and temperatures in the Prawn tartare.



To cleanse the palatte before the start of the dinner proper: Alma's Potato Bread with Smoked Butter. It might be a bit strange to fawn over bread, but this is one of the better presentations we've come across. The bread's served in a box on a bed of warm coffee beans, which keeps it warm and provides an amazing coffee aroma at the same time. The smoked butter is pretty damn good, too.


Onwards to the first course, then: the Monkfish Liver, served with beetroot, beef tartare with gochujang paste, and mustard ice cream. Truth be told I'm not entirely on board with ice cream as an appetizer - it's difficult to undo almost two decades of "no ice cream until you finish your food" brainwashing - but otherwise this appetizer was delicious and decadent.


We then move on to one of Chef Arnaud's signature dishes: Caviar Et Oursin (Caviar and sea urchin with potato foam and champagne sauce). This was probably the standout of the night for me: The Potato foam having substantial body to carry and hold together the briny umami and textures of the caviar and uni (buried at the bottom, strangely enough).


Next up was Asperges Vertes Pertuis: Roasted Green Asparagus with Anis and Olive Oil 'fruiteee noire.' According to the server the asparagus was cured for 6 hours prior to a slight roasting on the grill. It was a well cooked stalk, but overall we didn't think the asparagus brought enough to the table, even with the accompanying sauces.


Moving on then to the Maquereau de Ligne: Wild Caught French Mackerel with Fennel, Anis, and a Liquorice-based sauce. Yes, liquorice. If you are one of the few people who like the taste and aroma of liquorice*, more power to you. I am not one of those people, however, and so I ate the fish and greens without it.

* The darling disagrees vehemently. She argues that my prejudice against liquorice tainted my judgement, and that the mild pungence actually complemented the flavours of the mackerel and fennel perfectly, so this was the standout dish of the night for her.


The last savoury course is instantly recognizable as Chef Haikal's handiwork: Ohmi Beef with Ramson (wild garlic), Gobo (burdock root), Yuzu Kosho, and a crispy potato stack. The Ohmi naturally was delicious - it is one of the big three Japanese Wagyus alongside Matsusaka and Kobe after all. The accompanying potatoes, gobo, and vegetable were also nice, but I didn't think the dish needed the watercress sauce so I left it untouched.


Wild Strawberry headlines the 6th - dessert - course, atop umeshu jelly, chantilly, and smoked koshihikari rice puffs. We quite liked this fruity, not overly sweet dessert.


Before we say good night, though, we have a cup of (included in the dinner price) coffee & tea alongside Alma's Petit Fours:

- Chocolate cake with Pear jelly
- Green tea tart
- Raspberry with Gochujang square
- Jackfruit and passion fruit macaron


The 'sticker price' of s$218++ (per pax) is a little high considering that Alma usually only charges s$158++ for its 6-course degustation dinner menu. However with Citi's discounts we ended up paying s$109++, which is pretty good value, and we left the restaurant well fed and more or less extremely satisfied.

Alma by Juan Amador is at Goodwood Park Hotel. Reservations recommended; Non-Halal.

Look See Eat

Dinner at Monti (at Fullerton Pavilion): A Citi Four Hands Kitchen review.

👍 Food was generally pretty good, and the view of Marina Bay is gorgeous.
👎 Service was a little hit-and-miss. Pacing of the dishes a little inconsistent.

The Mar 2019 edition of Citi's 4 Hands Kitchen features Monti at the Fullerton Pavilion: A gorgeous Italian restaurant perched on the edge of Marina Bay! Monti's head Chef Felix Chong - with 15 years of experience in Italian fine dining - hosts Chef Guy Grossi, who visits from (among others), restaurant Grossi Florentino in Melbourne.

Did we mention that Monti is gorgeous? Well ... it is!


Inside, the restaurant seating is designed to maximize Marina Bay views. Thanks to the high ceiling & tall windows, you get a very nice view of the Marina Bay Sands side of the bay even if you're not seated right by the windows. It's a nice place to bring a date.


After we're seated we whet our appetites with some Onion, Thyme and Sea Salt bread. The bread is flaky and buttery (sort of like a croissant), and the added aromatics worked really well.


The Amuse Bouche comes from Chef Felix's world: Marron with Lardo, Mortadella Mousse in Peroni Beer Bread, and 'Lasagna' Bolognese Espuma with Crispy Pasta. These 3 snacks were pretty delicious! We especially liked the Marron with Lardo: The fat from the ... well, fat (Lardo is cured pork fat), gave the bite a terrific oily (but not exceedingly so) mouthfeel.


We then move on to the first of Chef Guy's dishes: The succinctly-named King Prawn, sourced from the Indian Ocean and served with tropea onion and pantelleria capers. The prawn stole the show, being perfectly cooked & seasoned.


Next up: Roasted Bone Marrow by Chef Felix, served with 18 hours sous vide Wagyu Beef Short Rib, Saffron Risotto Cracker, and Gremolata Sponge. We didn't really feel that the gremolata (chopped herbs) sponge added much to the dish other than perhaps to soak up a little of the oiliness of the bone marrow. If you're comfortable with animal fats though, you'll love the combination of oily bone marrow and the beefy, super tender short rib on its own.


Next up, also from Chef Felix: Squid Ink Lobster Tortelli, served in a spinach & tarragon broth, and accompanied by artichoke chips, fennel & lemon, and smoked vinaigrette. First the tortelli: It was very good. Well executed al-dente pasta hiding well seasoned lobster inside. The spinach & tarragon broth was also delicious, but we weren't so convinced by the grapefruit and citrus adding - in our opinions - a somewhat excessive sour note.


The final dish from Chef Felix was the Crispy Skin Tile Fish 'Amadai,' served with perfumed fruit, celeriac & chive, and basil seeds. This was very interesting to us: The Amadai was deep fried (presumably only on the skin side) without any descaling, thus curling and crisping up the scales into a light, airy, crispy crust. The texture of this scales crust was a perfect contrast with the moist flesh beneath.


For the final main course: Chef Guy's Mayura Full Blood Wagyu Tri Tip (MBS 9+), with onion, creamy mashed potato, and a watercress gravy. The steak (essentially) was sublime: It had a terrific crust, with a distinct nutty, earthy flavour. And being a from a full blooded Wagyu cow, the meat was naturally fatty, oily, beefy, and delicious. So delicious, actually, that we felt the watercress sauce actually hampered enjoyment, so we left most of it untouched.


Finally, for dessert, Chef Guy bids us farewell with his Buttermilk Panna Cotta with latte, malt, and white chocolate. It was a pleasant, light dessert and a nice end to the meal.


To conclude: The dinner was quite satisfying. We were also quite appreciative of the generous portion sizes. Food was also good: Good enough that we would consider at least two return visits: Once to sample more of Chef Felix's Italian dishes, and once to try the 1.1kg Mayura T-Bone Steak!

Monti is in the Fullerton Pavilion building across the bay from Marina Bay Sands. Non-Halal.

Look See Eat

Review of Esquina Spanish Tapas Bar (a Citi Four Hands Kitchen dinner)

👍 Food was great. Good synergy between both chefs' dishes.
👎 Bar seating isn't the typical 'fine dining' setup.

The darling and I paid a visit to Esquina Spanish Tapas Bar for the Feb 2019 edition of Citi's 4 Hands Kitchen! In a nutshell, 4 Hands pairs up a (visiting) foreign chef and a local one to create a limited-run lunch and dinner menu, and is a pretty sweet way to sample and compare two cuisines in a single meal.

For this edition, Chef Carlos Montobbio (R) of Esquina hosts Chef Gustav Knutsson (L) of Denmark's 1-Michelin-starred Bhoga Restaurang. We're seated at the counter right in front of the kitchen, which makes for an amazing view of the chefs and cooks as they whip up the 8 courses for dinner.


First up, we get some snacks: Marinated "Gordal Olive" stuffed with anchovies and basil, Dried Sour Cream with trout roe and chives, Celeriac Tarte with Thyme and Puffed Rye, and Uni and Chips. Our favorites were the Dried Sour Cream (dehydrated until it was almost like a large chip), and the Uni.


The first starter was the Lightly Seared Scallop (by Chef Gustav), served in a Scallop and Mussel Consomme, brown butter, and pickled seeds and herbs (pickled at their restaurant in Denmark over the summer). The pickled seeds and herbs added a surprising and yet refreshing sour and tangy taste to the scallop.


Next up: Baked Sweet Potato (by Chef Carlos). The potato - slow-baked for two hours, resulting in smooth and sweet decadence - was topped with a smoked quail egg and served with Aji Amarillo (a type of chili from Peru) sauce and Crispy Quinoa.


The next dish (by Chef Gustav) was served up in two parts. The first was a small breaded & deep-fried 'fish finger' with a cut of turbot that was more fats than meat, resulting in an interesting gelatinous texture.


The second (and main) part was the Grilled Atlantic Turbot, with turbot fat emulsion and topped with smoked brussels sprouts and fermented garlic. Turbot's a pretty mild-tasting, somewhat firm-fleshed fish, so it was perhaps with this in mind that the accompanying greens (and the entire dish) was lightly seasoned as to not overpower the fish.


We move on then to the Tsarskaya Oyster (Chef Carlos), lightly broiled and then served with warm Pigeon Jus, Winter Black Truffle, and Beetroot foam. Unfortunately the darling and I are yet to learn to appreciate oysters, so this dish was sadly a little wasted on our unrefined palates.


Chef Gustav's Raw Westholme Wagyu Beef was brushed lightly with a reduced mushroom soy sauce, and served on a bed of spruce tips and shimeji and shiitake mushrooms. All in all it was pretty delicious, but our kiasi subconscious still can't let go of the fact that raw beef does add a bit of risk to the dining experience.


Chef Carlos then finished off the savoury dishes with charcoal-grilled Iberico Pork Presa and Espelette Confit Potato. The pork itself was tender and delicious, but the collision of flavours from the (very) tangy Nam Jim Jaew Sauce, and (very) salty Ras-el-hanout Hollandaise gravy was a little overwhelming for us.


No such problems with the Beer Stout Ice Cream (Chef Carlos) though. The stout ice cream, banana cake, banana foam and warm caramel sauce complemented each other perfectly, and was a very satisfying dessert.


Chef Gustav's Raspberry and Red Current Sorbet - served with picked powdered roses, cream, and salted meringue - was also a very good dessert. We were especially enamoured by the crisp-thin salted meringue sheet, which was wonderfully light, airy, and delicate.


To conclude: The dinner was overall a very satisfying one, and we found the portions sized perfectly for the average middle-aged adult appetite. This Four Hands Dinner was priced at s$93 - s$186 nett (depending on what type of credit card you hold) per person. At s$93 nett it's an amazing value for the quality of food served up, but we're not so sure if we'd willingly pay the full s$186 nett sticker price.

Esquina Spanish Tapas Bar is on 16 Jiak Chuan Rd, near the Outram Park MRT Station. Non-Halal.

Look See Eat

Singapore Airlines 'New' Regional Business Class Review (SQ638, SIN-NRT)!

👍 The large, straight-on footwell makes for a superior sleeping position.
👎 Seat is relatively narrow (for SQ), no 'double bed.'

The wife and I got the chance to try out Singapore Airlines 'new' Regional Business Class on their B787-10 Dreamliner from Singapore to Tokyo/Narita!


SQ 638 is a 6hr 35min scheduled flight, leaving Singapore at 11:55pm and arriving in Tokyo (Narita) at 7:30am. It's a perfect, albeit a little short, time-saving flight as you can work a full day, sleep in the plane, and then have an entire day of vacationing in Tokyo (or wherever else you're planning to go to in Japan).

Check in at Changi Airport as a premium passenger is, as always, an extremely efficient affair: Just a couple of minutes and you're all checked-in and past immigration. The SilverKris Lounge (for Business Class passengers) was surprisingly packed, so it might not be the best place to get some rest. The food available was far better than most of the other lounges in the airport, however!


The New Regional Business Class seat is a departure from Singapore Airlines' typical Business Class seats, in that it places the footwell right in front of you (instead of skewed to one side). This is, in our opinions, a HUGE improvement in sleeping position, and therefore is probably a superior seat for (relatively) short red-eye / overnight flights like this one. There are a couple of drawbacks though, namely:

• The seat is noticeably narrower than Singapore Airlines' International Business Class (but still perfectly fine for my 86kg frame.
• There is no "double bed" available, and even in the middle "couple-type" seats you need to lean forward quite a bit to speak to your travel companion.

Dinner was served very promptly after take off. We tried the Hanakoireki and the Seared Black Cod ala Nicoise, which were both filling and delicious. Having said that, it's a little odd to have dinner/supper on a flight scheduled to take off at midnight. Wouldn't a heavy breakfast be a better idea instead?

There was also a light continental breakfast served just prior to landing, which we chose to skip in order to get a little more shut-eye.


As is usual for Singapore Airlines, you get water, socks and slippers and an eye shade, but you don't get pajamas in Business Class. You don't get an amenity kit, either: You're expected to head to the toilets to pick up shavers, combs, toothbrushes, etc if you want them.

Overall, the flight was extremely comfortable, although it being so short (actual flight time of around 6 hours) meant that it was really just board, eat, then recline the seat to get as much (very comfortable) sleep as possible.

Look See Eat

Equinox at Swissôtel The Stamford: A romantic restaurant with an amazing view!

Let's get this out of the way first: Equinox is probably the restaurant with the best view in all of Singapore (If you know of a food joint with a better view we'd love to hear it in the comments). The magnificent view makes it a pretty romantic place to dine at, although the dining room can be a little loud and boisterous.

The darling and I are more interested in how good the food is, though, so we place our orders and hope it lives up to the view!


First up, a complimentary canapé. I think it's testament to just how crappy a food writer I am that I don't remember what ingredient was used to make the chip. Oops! I do recall that it had a miso paste and a block of yuzu jelly, and that it was pretty good though!

Bread-wise we get a so-so slice of (cold) sourdough toast and some unsalted butter.


The first of our starters is out next: Burrata ($22) - Iberico Ham sitting on fresh cheese, with green peas, lemon, and rosemary bread crumbs. Burrata's got an amazing creamy texture, but can be a little bland, so we're pretty happy with the accompanying salt and fat from the ham.


The Seared Foie Gras ($34) is a hefty portion of fattened goose liver, accompanied by roasted apricots, ginger marmalade, and toasted seed granola. As always, it's hard to get foie gras really wrong, so we're quite satisfied (although the liver could have perhaps benefited from a stronger sear).


On to the main courses, then, starting with a 300gm Ranger's Valley, Black Onyx, Grain Fed New York Strip Steak ($90, marble score 3), served with roasted bone marrow. The steak was fine: cooked to our requested medium-rare temperature, but without that crust that you get from dedicated steakhouses like Morton's. It was also a tad bit under-seasoned on its own, but that's probably because it's served with your choice of sauce (we went with the black truffle butter).

You also get a choice of side dish: We chose the mac & cheese, which was nice, cheesy and creamy.


Our second choice of main course was the Lamb Saddle ($70) with provencal terrine, green olives, spinach and tomato fondue, also requested medium rare. The lamb was juicy and tender and terrifically delicious with the gravy; sadly we weren't as mesmerized by the (in our opinion) too-strong tomato flavour in the vegetables.

Oh and one common minor criticism: The knives that we had were really due for some sharpening.


Being quite stuffed we decided to share something tart after all that meat: The Blackberry Trifle ($22) which comes with mascarpone jelly, meringue, and elderflower ice cream. It was quite delicious and also rather pretty looking.


To finish - petit fours (caramel chocolates) which were really a tad bit too sweet.


As Equinox doesn't serve free water (boo), we paid $5 each for warm, filtered water - bringing the total to $248++ for two. In our opinions the food and the view don't justify the price tag if you pay full price. However, you can get a pretty nice discount via via various promos (e.g. OCBC 25% off, Amex Platinum 50% off with 2 diners) which increases the value proposition by quite a bit.

Equinox Restaurant is on the 70th Floor of Swissôtel The Stamford. Reservations recommended; Non-halal. Oh, do note that the restaurant levies a s$20++ surcharge for securing a table by the window.