Binge – Awesome Value Christmas Feasts

Christmas and the festivities often mean inflated prices all around town. But you don’t have to bust your budget with these simplyfab deals we sniffed out. Thank goodness for restaurants and hotels who are firm on doling out good value. And trust us to pick out only the swanky spots…

Heart Bistro

This ultimate tai tai hang out is serving up a classy, classic Christmas in its spacious spot in Palais Renaissance. Start with a glass of warm Christmas spiced wine, followed by an appetiser of cured carpaccio of salmon with a dijon dill dressing or Slow roasted pumpkin soup with aromatics + honey. Mains is a choice of roasted turkey roll stuffed with porcini mushrooms + chestnuts with a giblet sauce or roasted shoulder of lamb with a caper mint sauce. End off with Christmas pudding with brandy caramel. See, you don’t need to stuff yourself like a turkey to have a great Christmas – here’s all the good things rolled in a nice, healthy, bikini-friendly menu. (May we suggest a girls’ afternoon out? First a shopping spree or a facial at Sothys next door, then an elegant slither over to the restaurant for yums. How’s that for picking up the Christmas spirit?) The menu is priced at $43++ for lunch, $53++ for dinner. $68++ on Christmas eve and New Year’s eve.

By the way, if you want to get a turkey for Christmas lunch, here’s one of the best takeaway deals in town - $100 per bird (4kg) in Szechuan peppercorn with Chinese wine & giblet sauce.

atrium @ palais renaissance

390, Orchard Road, B1-08/09/10C

Tel : 6737-2148

Wangz Hotel
Away from the crush of the Orchard Road crowds, this relatively new family run boutique hotel is a quaint spot to find some tranquility. It’s great for a Christmas date as there’s lots of old streets nearby to walk around, and a cute rooftop bar for sundowners with a view before heading downstairs to Nectar for dinner. At $140++ for two, their 6 course Christmas eve menu starts with pan seared duck foie gras with caramelised pineapples, a roasted tomato soup with sweet peppers and spinach dumplings, then a green apple sorbet. Main dishes is a choice of beef wellington with mushrooms and asparagus with sherry wine sauce, or red snapper and scallops with carrots and orange confit. End with a raspberry logcake with gingerbread panna cotta.

231 Outram Road

Tel: 6595 1388

Email inquiry@wangzhotel.com

Klapsons, the Boutique Hotel

Until Christmas Eve, this boutique hotel in Tanjong Pagar is serving up a nice little ‘semi buffet’ in its avant garde restaurant, Lucas. A cosy spot, it’s a favourite for corporate do’s, so make sure you call ahead for reservations before turning up with your colleagues! For $48++ at lunch and $68++ for dinner, pick on a spread of appetisers, soups, salads and desserts on the buffet table. You then choose a main course – Duet of Maine Lobster Tail in Vermouth and Normandy Butter and Pan Seared Supreme of Chicken with Glazed Blueberries on Parsnip Puree and Organic Baby Spinach or ‘55’ Degree Veal Tenderloin with Pan Seared Foie Gras and Glazed Raspberries with Baby Vegetables and a Morel Port Wine Sauce to be served. Lunch includes a little gift for each guest, while dinner includes an additional glass of wine.

Lunch is priced at $48++ per person with every paying diner entitled to a Christmas gift, and is available from 12noon to 2.30pm. The semi-buffet spread is also available during dinner, priced at $68++ per person with every paying diner entitled to a glass of house pouring wine and a Christmas gift.

15 Hoe Chiang RoadTel: 6521 9001 

Email fnb@klapsons.com

Jade Restaurant

Bet you didn’t expect Jade, the incredibly polished fine dining Chinese restaurant at The Fullerton Hotel, to be listed among places to go for great value. But it is and it does. I just keep wondering why more people don’t rave over it like I do. The food is great, the presentation splendid, and the service is perfect and the setting just blows you away – and none of it pretentious, and just the way I like it. Plus, all this is immersed in one of the most historical settings in Singapore. This Christmas, do it Chinese style under the able hands of Master Chef Leong Chee Yeng, a young, super creative force in my books, thank you. Ask for the festive six-course dinner (from $88 per person) which I am assuming is served in single portions, gorgeously plated western style as is their usual practice. Here’s what’s on the menu – Sliced Roasted Suckling Pig, Braised Shark’s Fin with Baby Abalone and Scallop in Golden Broth, Sautéed Sliced Turkey with Foie Gras, Shimeiji Mushroom and Capsicum and Pan-fried Wagyu Sirloin Steak with Barbeque Sauce Served with Fragrant Fried Rice with Bacon, Pumpkin and Ginger. You know, you always get absolutely great value from Chinese food. Available only on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

1 Fullerton Square
Tel 68778188

Szechuan Court

Speaking of Chinese, Szechuan Court at Fairmont Hotel is hiding another wonderful talent in the form of Chef Sebastian Goh. He’s got some Yuletide meals going on with Christmas set menus from S$78++ per person. Expect Salmon Tartar with Smoked Duck Roll; Braised Shredded Fish Lips, Dried Scallop and Turkey in Superior Thick Broth; Slow-Boiled Tonic Soup with Fish Belly, Fish Cartilage and Thorny Sea Cucumber;; Grilled Wagyu Beef Roll with Golden Mushroom and Avocado Mocha Ice-Cream with Bird’s Nest. On Christmas day and eve, guests get treated to complimentary servings of Christmas turkey and ham and live carving station too. If grandma is coming along, how about Christmas Day dim sum buffet at $33.80 per person (kids at $16.80)?

80 Bras Basah Rd 

Tel: 6837 3322

Introbar

Of course, Christmas is when we all get as stuffed as the turkey, so it’s forgiveable if we just want to meet up for a drink. Head to Swissotel The Stamford's street-level drinking hole, Introbar in the Equinox Complex, and fuel up on Moët & Chandon Brut at a pretty happy price of $84++ per bottle, or for a bit of pink indulgence, Moët & Chandon Rosé at $105++ per bottle. Chin Chin!

80 Bras Basah Rd
Tel: 6837 3322
- Ee Waun

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Breakaway – In the Mood For Christmas?

Whether you happen to be there or not, or just living vicariously like me, here's a fun and random peek at what Christmas is like in other parts of the world....just to get into the mood....!

Frankfurt, Germany 
Fancy a fairytale Christmas? Head to Frankfurt’s Christmas Market, one of Germany’s most traditional, and set against the old town hall and the historical half-timbered homes of the Römerberg. Bundle up and wander through stalls selling traditional foods, Christmas ornaments, arts and crafts like local pottery and stoneware. Pop into the honey shop for all things honey, drink hot apple wine – a local speciality – or head to the hated outdoor taverns for Christmassy mulled wine, smoked sausages and bratwursts. Look out for Germany’s tallest Christmas tree there, standing over 30 metres tall. If you’re in town on the Saturday before the 1st Advent, listen out for the churchbells in the afternoon. At precisely 4:30 pm, 50 bells of 10 downtown churches ring in the festive season with a performance that’s heard across the entire city. What else to do there? Take a guided tour of the market (entitled “Stories, Sweets and Savouries. Enjoy the Frankfurt Christmas Market with all of your senses” available every day) or a historic steam train ride along the banks of the River Main. The Christmas Market happens now til 22 December. Stretching from Liebfrauenberg and the Römerberg old town centre to thebanks of the River Main, it’s got a history that dates back to 1393.

Perth, Australia

From now til Christmas eve, explore the city’s Christmas lights along the new Festival of Christmas Trail. Look out for roving characters, carollers and unexpected entertainment, and end the journey with some retail therapy at Myer SantaLand, on level 2 at Myer Perth City. Pick up the Trail brochure from the trail marquee outside Myer in Murray St Mall between 5.00pm and 8.00pm weekdays, or the i-City Information Kiosk in Murray St Mall. Then catch the Nativity story performed live in Forrest Place with hundreds of performers, animals and Christmas carols from 21-23 Dec 7.30pm. Bring the family and get there early as seats are limited.

Greenwich, UK

All eyes on the heavens at Greenwich, at longitude 0° and the official starting point for each new day and year. The Royal Observatory at Greenwich, on the Thames east of London, is offering Yuletide Star Gazing events 19-23 December at 4.30 and 5pm. Look at the winter skies and a double star through the Observatory’s historic 71-cm (28-inch) refracting telescope – the largest of its kind in the UK and the seventh largest in the world. Or join in the Christmas Star Party (17 and 18 December, 5.30 and 6.10pm) which features a Christmas Stars planetarium show, a chance to look at the moon through the large telescope and an opportunity to use smaller telescopes in the Meridian Courtyard while keeping warm over hot chocolate, mulled wine, mince pies and other festive treats.

Royal Observatory,

Blackheath Avenue, London SE10 8XJ

bookings@nmm.ac.uk

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/

Madeira, Spain

Madeira in Spain transforms into a fairytale setting throughout December, with Funchal’s streets twinkling with over 250,000 fairylights. Check into cliff-top hotel, Reid’s Place for the Christmas and go on jeep tours along secret mountain trails, guided tours of Funchal by night, and lectures on traditional Madeiran wine. Santa Claus will spread Christmas cheer by surprising younger guests with presents and a black tie Christmas gala menu will also be served in The Dining Room for all the family. If you’re hanging around until New Year, Funchal’s fireworks on 31 December is one of the most spectacular in the world, even making it into the 2008 Guiness Book of World Records for being the largest of its kind. The Holiday Celebration 2010 Package at Reid’s Palace starts from £348 per room per night in a classic double room, and includes daily buffet breakfast, round-trip airport transfer, one gala dinner per person and one bottle of champagne in guests’ room upon arrival based on a four-night stay for arrivals on 21 – 24 December.

http://www.reidspalace.com/

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Binge - Take Home Christmas

Let’s cut to the chase, girls. Here are more suggestions on what to bring home for your Christmas party so you don’t have to get your hands dirty with the cooking. The only thing we’d add is, buy items you can’t make at home easily so you stretch your money’s worth!

Grand Hyatt Singapore

Here’s one place you can always really trust to fork out quality food and great presentation, no matter what you pick from the menu, whether it is a main or dessert - that’s been my experience with this hotel for the last 20 years of my food writing and personal eating. I bought a fig tart for a Christmas party from here almost 10 years ago and people are still talking about it. So what’s available here this year? Whole Christmas Tom Turkey with Giblet Gravy and Cranberry Chutney ($145/ 5kg), whole spit-roasted duckling ($68), roasted goose ($212), salmon fillet baked in brioche with dill and sour cream sauce ($126/1.5 kg). For sweets, take the macaroon log cake with crispy lindt chocolate mousse ($64), and panettone with rum-marinated fruit ($32). Or how about a super indulgent box of 99 chocolate pralines ($198)?

Tel: 6734 6731

Mandarin Orchard

Did you know the original Christmas bird was actually the goose? So don’t let the turkeys get you down if you’re no fan of the gobbler. How about Roasted Kurobuta Pork Rack ($158/1.5 kg) for your festive meat instead? Or Rosemary Roasted Sakura Chicken (1.5kg, $88 nett) with chestnut and green apple stuffing, Lamb Leg with Dried Fruits and Nuts ($168/2.5 kg), or a light Salmon and Scallop Mille-feuille (1.5kg, $150 nett), an impressive dish of salmon layered with scallop mousse and topped with a puff pastry crust? And for dessert, try the Green Tea and Hokkaido Azuki Yule Log or Chocolate Hazelnut Raspberry Yule Log ($65/1 kg).

From now til 1 January 2011

Tel: 6831 6272

Royal Plaza on Scotts

Go a little French with Galette des Rois, or Twelfth Night Cake, which follows a popular French tradition. Served only on the day of Epiphany (or 12 days after Christmas), it’s a confection of almond frangipane paste, sandwiched between layers of puff pastry. Hidden inside is a little token, and whoever gets the slice with this little prize gets to be the King or Queen. He or she wears the gold paper crown that comes with the cake and will host the Galette des Rois the following year. How cool is that? It’s not often seen here in Singapore, but you can get it at Gourmet Carousel from 1 to 6 January 2011 at $52. Meanwhile, check out Carousel’s Christmas sweets like their macaroons, and fantastical cakes in the form of mushrooms and caterpillars. They’re bound to please the kids.

Tel: 6589 7788 or gourmet@royalplaza.com.sg

Coriander Leaf

Get a different spin on Christmas with Coriander Leaf’s goodies. We especially like their desserts –high on uniqueness and value too: Valrhona Chocolate Tartlets (3 dozen @ $84+), Mini Fig Tartlets (3 dozen @ $84+), Fruit Cake with liquor (450gms @ $28+) and Cranberry and Ginger Pudding 450gms @ $32+. While we’re at it, their customized hampers are also perfect for gifting. Give them a budget starting from $35 and Samia will sort it out for you with goodies like homemade chutneys & condiments, cookies, confection and spice mixes. Of these, make sure you get her fabulous Coriander Pesto. There’s also kebsa spice and sumac spice mixes, cumin crisps, almond pralines and flavoured helvas.

3A River Valley Road

#02-03 Clarke Quay

Tel: 6732-3354

De Ste

Here’s the shop the go to when you are superbly artistic confections. Their chocolate Christmas tree (left) is just to die for, so gorgeous you don’t need a real Christmas tree. See the pretty picture? Enough said.

Saint Pierre

So stylish it hurts hostesses must be different, so pick up your party pack from Saint Pierre – foie gras terrine, lobster bisque, 200-day aged angus beef, 72-hour braised beef short rib and Scottish salmon. For sweets, how about a date and raisin pudding or their signature flourless chocolate cake? Available until 20 Dec only.

#01-01 Central Mall

3 Magazine Road

Tel: 64380887

Truffs

For chocolate lovers, check out Truffs’ Christmas Log Cake. A glossy, shiny presentation of moist chocolate sponge cake rolled with chocolate ganache, finished with a shiny dark chocolate glaze and bedecked with fresh fruits and chocolate thins. ($85 / 1.4 kg).

179A Telok Ayer Street

Singapore 068627

Tel: 90882736

- Ee Waun

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Simply Fabulicious People - Pastry Chef Christophe's Baubles, Trees and Other Delights

We’ve known about Hilton Singapore’s best kept secret for some time now, and we figured Christmas and the year-end holidays is the best time to throw the limelight on the hotel’s super creative Executive Pastry Chef, Christophe Grilo. So we caught up him just earlier this week with a candid, never-before-seen exclusive interview right here with SimplyFab. 

A master of whimsical confections who clearly spins sweet treats with a lively sense of humour, Chef Grilo’s Christmas confections are quirky and cute. They have a childish fun about them which makes them such winners. We recently had a preview of his lemon tart disguised as a Christmas tree – tangy, smooth and comforting yet not too sweet – and a golden chocolate Christmas bauble filled with tiramisu, all gloriously 3D in form, and as delicious as they are gorgeous. If you want to throw a peerlessly tasteful party for the yuletide season, SimplyFab ladies just have serve up these lighthearted confections, one for each guest. And because SimplyFab had a chance to, we squeezed in some probing, sugar-coated questions for Chef Christophe, just for you ladies….

SimplyFab: Your pastries are very creative and distinctive. How do you get these wonderful ideas and what do you want your customers to get out of it?

Chef Christophe: I feel inspired after two beers…! :) I am always curious and I like to try new things. It is not easy to create a new pastry, so I like to reflect on what has been done before and experiment with new ingredients and sometimes prepare a pastry in a different manner and get wonderful surprises. The pastries that evolved should be elegant and easy to eat. I hope you will feel good seeing it and enjoy it.

Lemon Tart disguised as a Christmas tree

SimplyFab: SimplyFab readers are sophisticated ladies who have been there, done that and bought the diamonds. What sort of confection would you recommend we serve as a suitable dinner party dessert that reflects our luscious spirit and lifestyle?

Chef Christophe: Fresh berries and raspberry sorbet in a shallow crispy meringue spherical eggshell, served with a light vanilla cream will be perfect for the ladies.

Christmas Panettone

(Not the Supremo though, but also yummy)

SimplyFab: What should we buy back from Hilton's Checkers Deli and serve for a Christmas party that will knock the socks off our guests?

Chef Christophe: The Supremo Panettone with High Quality Fruits made with one-year-old yeast and imported fruits from the south of France. To enjoy this bread, you should first lightly toast the slices and have it with a good vanilla ice cream.

Golden bauble tiramisu

SimplyFab: How should we eat the 3D lemon tart and golden bauble in a way befitting our elegance? Break it up from top down? Pull it apart piece by piece?

Chef Christophe: To eat the golden bauble: First, gently remove the top half of the golden sphere with your fingers, thereafter you can scoop up the tiramisu with a dessert spoon. To enjoy the 3D lemon tart, work your way up the Christmas Tree with a fork from its base.

Chef Christophe makes 3D cakes too, like this luxe handbag orange choc cake

SimplyFab: Oooo! We love to work our way from the bottom up all sorts of our just desserts! So what confection do you suggest we seduce someone with? How can you help us?

Chef Christophe: I will prepare an elegant crispy dark chocolate cake shaped in a perfect cube. Ensconced in a thin dark chocolate (66%) is soft hazelnut sponge with layers of chocolate and coffee cream and V.S.O.P. caramel.

SimplyFab: Lovely! And can you share with us a simple recipe we can whip up in our kitchens for post-dinner playtime?

Chef Christophe: Here’s the recipe for the One-Minute Espresso Tiramisu with a Vodka Shot. You should be able to prepare this in 1 minute.

One-Minute Espresso Tiramisu with a Vodka Shot

By Executive Pastry Chef, Christophe Grilo

Hilton Singapore

(Serves 6)

100g Digestive biscuit crumbs

250g Mascarpone cheese

25g Sugar

1/2 tsp Brown sugar

6 pcs Ladies fingers (biscotti)

20g Liquid Cream

2 shots Espresso

Vodka shots, as many as you like

Method:

1. Hand-whisk mascarpone cheese, liquid cream and sugar for half-minute.
2. Lay out 6 espresso cups and apportion some biscuit crumbs (don’t use all) into the cups.

3. Fill the cups ¾ full with the cream mix (from Step #1).

4. Add more biscuit crumbs into the cup

5. Add ½ tsp brown sugar into the double-shot espresso.

6. Break the ladies fingers into two and soak the lady fingers into the double-shot espresso.

7. Stick the soaked ladies fingers into the cup of tiramisu and serve with vodka shots.

8. To enjoy, down a shot of vodka and have your tiramisu. Repeat the process with vodka shots as many times as you like!

PS. You can get hold of his baubles and tree at Checkers Deli at the Hilton Singapore from now until 24 Dec.
- Ee Waun

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Binge - The Turkey Has Landed!

Gosh! The feasting is starting…and thoughts of Christmas cakes and turkeys and stollens and candy are enough to pile on the pounds. But ‘tis the season to be jolly and giving, so Santa should be generous…but if he’s not, let’s all hold hands, and promise to be kind to ourselves.

On the verge of December, SimplyFab has already received some questions from you, our lovely readers, about where to get birds and logs and such – clearly you are planning early and thinking party ideas already – so here’s the start of our Christmas postings. The first of our Christmas series – turkey and all the party trimmings. (Most of these featured are available from this weekend or 1 December but call the individual restaurants for details.)

Goose of the Orient

Fairmont Singapore

SimplyFab puts our stamp of lip-smacking approval on their classic Honey Baked Ham ($38 for 1 kg, good value and no fat!) which was superbly juicy and deliciously tender without that rough feel on your tongue that less than quality ham renders. Their Ginger Mango Twist ($15), a sweetish bread confection with a restrained frosty crust, is also really good even though presentation wise, it looks rather messy. It is light and delicious, definitely a good change from the heavy dishes of the season. I would pick this for a Christmas tea spread. For a show stopper, there's a new creation Sparkling Christmas, a chocolate Christmas tree with almond rocher, sugar diamonds and dragees. Pretty pretty!

What else? The Fairmont bird is largely Asian this time, with Turkey La Peranakan ($280) for something different – boneless, and stuffed with pork buah keluak, chestnuts and turkey jus with kaffir lime. If you want a splurge, and Ah Kong is around, take the $450 Goose of the Orient – don’t you love the campy name? – boneless yet again, and stuffed with sticky rice, conpoy, truffle, dried dates and figs – all Christmas and CNY rolled under one skin! Then end the dinner with Snow Flake Song log cake (above, $25 for 500g/ $48 for 1 kg), Chef Kenny Kong’s charming centerpiece of Champagne vanilla, strawberry swiss roll, melba jelly and biscuit. Just cute, old fashioned goodness.

2 Stamford Road

Tel: 6338 8785 or cafenoel@fairmont.com

Mandarin Oriental

Need more fowl? How about an indulgent bird by The Mandarin Oriental, Singapore – whose executive chef, Eric Teo, is also the President of the Singapore Chefs Association. Treat yourself to the Mandarin Oriental Truffle Christmas Turkey ($380), laced with black Perigord truffle, braised cabbage, roasted potatoes, festive vegetables and truffle sauce; or an elegant Duck Ala Orange (S$120) or its roasted Beef Strip Loin ($250)? A must buy would be Chef Teo’s Christmas Fruit Cake ($65) baked using his secret recipe, and any of their luscious logs: Dark Chocolate Truffle Buche Noel, rolled with Guanaja 70% dark chocolate, Griottine cherry macerated in brandy, biscuit chocolate and nougatine bits; Framboises Buche Noel (above), a sexy combination of raspberry, jivara milk chocolate supreme, raspberry crameux, biscuit joconde chocolat, cocoa nibs, macadamia and dried raspberry powder; and Provence Buche Noel – fromage blanc and Tahitian mousse, crème brulee centre and pain de genes atop a crumble-crust (All $36/500 g and $68/1 kg).

5 Raffles Avenue
Tel: 6338 0066

1-Caramel
The cakes at 1-Caramel are really, simplyfab, all light in texture but big on elegant, sophisticated flavour. Plus everything there looks picture pretty perfect too. What to pick up here to impress the guests with your unquestionably good taste? How about a myriad marvelous macaroons (above)? Head Pastry Chef Mimi Wahadi has 12 exotic flavours of macaroons for each of the 12 days of Christmas, like green tea with azuki bean, peanut butter chunks and gula melaka with sea coconut (that’s a unique one!). Beyond that, any of her cakes are lovely too – anything with green tea, strawberry and lychee are just the thing.


#01-01A The Luxe

6 Handy Road
Tel: 6338 3282

Rochester Group
If you're a fan of the food at 1-Rochester or 1-Twenty Six, the Group has prepared take-home savouries. Order your birds and bounty between 1-24 December from any restaurant in the Group (including Stellar). There's Roast Turkey with Cranberry and Pear Relish (top picture), Honey Grain Mustard Glazed Ham on the Bone, and Roast Prime Rib with Herb and Horseradish Crust.


klapsons, the Boutique Hotel
Cupcakes may be 'done to death' as we journalists often say, but SimplyFab just couldn’t resist these superbly whimsical ones by klapsons, the Boutique Hotel (their name just throws my sense of correct punctuation to the wind!) in Tanjong Pagar. Just look at the turkey cupcake (left) complete with drumsticks. Don’t you just adore it? The little Christmas tree is so cute too – imagine having one for each guest at their seats at the table. So perfect! These are new offerings by the hotel, and are made in Chocolate Chip, Vanilla and 70% Dark Chocolate, at a most affordable $22.80+ for a box of six. Their signature klapsons’ Or Noir 70% chocolates is also a great value find – just $28+ per box of 45 pieces, and great for a hostess gift. To ensure you get your goodies, order three days in advance (until 17 Dec) or walk in until 24 Dec and take a chance.

15 Hoe Chiang Road

Tel: 6521 9001 or email fnb@klapsons.com

Goodwood Park Hotel

Aren’t the mini designer Christmas cakes (above) just precious? Available at the deli, they come in a choice of two miniature cakes – an elf-sized Christmas tree colourfully decked out in mini macaron ‘baubles’; and an orange pound cake encased in white chocolate ($13.80 each). What we also like are their value-for-money combo specials, and the antidote to hostesses who don’t want to spend all day slaving in the kitchen. If it’s a traditional Christmas you want, get The Traditional Christmas Combo ($280) of classic Christmas turkey, honey-glazed boneless ham with vanilla-pineapple sauce, traditional chocolate log cake and create-your-own gingerbread Christmas tree. And if the old folks are in attendance, they’ll appreciate the Local Christmas Combo (S$260) to serve up Hainanese turkey with chicken rice balls (yums!), Sichuan BBQ pork skewers, D24 durian Christmas log cake and also a create-your-own gingerbread Christmas tree. Orders fully paid for by 10 December will get a further 5% discount.

22 Scotts Road,

Tel: (65) 6730 1867 / 1868

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