LUNCH AT IGGY'S, SINGAPORE

As you all know, I do a lot of research before I embark on any trip, especially one that revolves around eating. One of the names that kept popping up while I was researching about restaurants in Singapore was the Iggy's at Hilton Hotel, Orchard Road, Singapore. Iggy's serves European cuisine with a Japanese influence. I was beyond tired when I landed in Singapore since I barely got 2 hours of sleep over the previous night at the airport and airplane. I realised I was staying very close to Iggy's and decided to give it a try for my very first meal in Singapore. Most websites recommend making a reservation at the Iggy's to ensure a table. I also realised if you don't want to splurge on your meals, lunch in restaurants like Iggy's makes a lot of sense. They offer very reasonably priced 4 and 6 course meals for lunch. Meals like these are a steal compared to the dinner prices.

I made a reservation for 1 person and reported on time for my lunch. Its a very formal setting and black is the predominant colour. I was led to a seating area at the back and seated in a corner. I was the first diner at the restaurant. The service is the very attentive and the staff are very knowledgeable and helped me pick the right dishes for different courses. I decided to go for the 4 course meal and made my selections for the various courses.

Before my actual lunch arrived, I was served a Amuse Bouche of Eel mousse with yuzu sauce and caviar, all enveloped in Hickory smoke in a glass dome. The acidity of the yuzu sauce and the creaminess of the mousee along with the smoky flavour made for a very well-rounded dish.

For the first course, I picked a Salad of marinated Salmon with Savoy cabbage and Blood Orange. All the elements of the dish were plated very delicately along with some micro herbs and finally the quick-frozen Blood Orange was sprinkled on top of the salad at the table. It was a very refreshing salad to start the meal with.

For the second course, I had picked Cappellini with tiny shrimps, seaweed and shellfish oil. It was one of the most flavourful pastas I have ever tasted. The tiny shrimps lent crunch to the dish while the seaweed and shellfish brought in subtle and delicate flavours. I liked the idea and flavour of the shell fish oil, I am going to try and make some at home with oil and prawn shells.

For the Main course, I picked Duck Confit with beetroot. I was a tough choice between Venison and Duck and I finally succumbed to the Duck. The Duck Confit was cooked to perfection and it went really well with the beetroot puree that was served along with it. Finally, for dessert, I picked the Spicy Mango. I was so engrossed in my meal that I forgot to click a picture of my dessert. It was a beautiful combination of Kiwi puree, sesame tuille, Meringue, coffee and Mango, all plated up in a very artistic manner. The service at Iggy's was impeccable and the food was even better. Iggy's is definitely on the top of my list of favourite restaurants in Singapore.

TASTE PARADISE, SINGAPORE

I am a huge fan of Dim Sum. From the first time I visited a Dim Sum restaurant in Chicago (Three Happiness) in 2001, I have been a devotee of Dim Sum. I'll not miss a single opportunity to dine at a Dim Sum restaurant while traveling. In India, the best Dim Sum I have had so far is at The Zen restaurant in Leela Palace, Bengaluru.

Before my trip to Singapore in December I did extensive research online to locate some good Dim Sum restaurants. I came across an interesting blog (www.ladyironchef.com) and it had an impressive list of Dim Sum restaurants in Singapore along with reviews. Among the top 3 Dim Sum restaurants was Taste Paradise at the Ion on Orchard road. Since I was staying very close to Orchard road, I made a mental note to check out this restaurant while in Singapore.

During my visit to Singapore I was at the Ion one day without any concrete plans for lunch. I decided to give the Taste Paradise a try. When I arrived at the restaurant I was told that I had to wait for about an hour for a table. In spite of having two hungry children along with me, we managed to wait an hour for the table. After an hour's wait we were led into a labyrinth of rooms that were all elegantly filled with dining tables.

Once seated, the service was very quick and an array of Dim Sums arrived at our table in less than 10 minutes. There were 2 small menus with a variety of Dim Sums. One thing I noticed in most of the chinese restaurants in Singapore is that Pork belly and BBQ pork runs out very quickly. It'll be wise to reserve these items on the phone while making a reservation if you are very particular about trying them out. We were one of the last tables to be seated and hence some of the pork delicacies were not available.



Hand rolled Spring rolls with Bacon and spring onion. It was recommended to us by the waitress and she said it was very popular among the kids visiting the restaurants. My children truly enjoyed the spring rolls which were served along with some mayonnaise.



Steamed prawn dumpling. This is one of my favorite Dim Sums. All you taste in this Dim Sum is the prawn. It is a very simple dumpling of just prawns encased in a thin wrapper and steamed. With a bit of soy sauce, it truly is a delectable dish.



BBQ pork with a Portuguese sauce. When we asked for Pork belly we were told that they had sold out and there was no more available. Instead of the Pork belly this was recommended to us and it did not disappoint us.



Steamed Scallop and chive dumplings. This is another one of my favorites. I love the subtle flavor of chives along with fresh seafood.



According to the ladyironchef, the BBQ pork buns at the Taste Paradise were one of the best in Singapore. These were definitely the largest and the juiciest I have ever had.



Steamed pork ribs with black beans and chillies. I never fail to order this particular Dim Sum since pork, black beans and chillies are a great combination and they never let me down.



Sui Mai. It is a lovely and simple dumpling of pork and prawn topped with flying fish roe on top. No Dim Sum menu is complete without Sui Mai in it. It really is difficult to get this dumpling wrong, so it is a must-order in any Dim Sum restaurant.



And finally, Shanghai-style pork dumpling. This is was my least favorite of all the Dim Sums I had at Taste Paradise.

Our lunch was delicious and the service was very efficient. We were left with no room for dessert so we never ordered any of the sweet Dim Sums. It was well worth the wait to get a table at the Taste Paradise. We tried to go back the following day for another go at Dim Sum at the Taste Paradise but they were fully booked and couldn't accommodate us. So do remember to make a reservation for a Dim Sum Lunch at Taste Paradise since they seem to be a popular place and are fully reserved, most of the time.

Taste Paradise Ion Orchard
2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6509 9660

VOM FASS - A JEWEL OF A FIND

I am truly happy to share my jewel of a find - Vom Fass in Singapore. I was walking around aimlessly trying to while away some time while waiting for my table at a chinese restaurant in Ion mall, Singapore. And that is precisely the moment, I walked by Vom Fass, a specialty store that sells liqueurs, gourmet oils, fruit vinegars and special single malt whiskeys.

Since my trip to France in May 2010, I have been on a serious look out to buy Creme de Cassis to make Kir Royale. Kir Royale is a great aperitif and I remember starting my evenings with a Kir Royale every single day. I was very excited to find Creme de Cassis in this beautiful little store. They were also selling Creme de Framboise, which is also used with champagne or white wine for a Raspberry flavoured aperitif.



This store has a fantastic concept where you get to pick a beautiful glass bottle first then get it filled with a liqueur or other specialty product from the store and then they personalise it for you. And when you run out of the liqueur you can always take the bottle back to the store for a refill.

It is apparently a Germany-based company with outlets in the U S, U K and Singapore. For product information and recipes to use their products, take a look at www.vomfassusa.com and www.vomfassuk.com.




The shop carries a wide range of liqueurs - chocolate and coffee based cream liqueurs, citrus based liqueurs (limoncello, orange liqueur, etc), Kirsch, Nut based liqueurs (nussino - hazelnut, walnut, etc) and fruit based liqueurs (passion fruit, mango, apple, blueberry, etc). Some of the gourmet oils they sell are avocado, pumpkin seed, basil, truffle, grape seed, hazelnut and almond oil. The shop also sells a variety of aged balsemic vinegars from Modena.






And the miniature barrels contain a variety of single malt whiskeys, cognac, sherries, rum and armanac.



It is a very interesting store for people who want to pick special ingredients to make cocktails and gourmet creations. And for those us that have encountered unusual liqueurs in baking recipes will be thrilled to find all those and many more other options in this store. I felt like a kid in a candy store in Vom Fass. So those of you that travel to Singapore in the future should try and stop by at this place for unusual finds.

And here is a picture of my loot from Vom Fass, I can't wait to use them in my cocktails and baked goodies.



VOM FASS
ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn #04-25
Singapore 238801
Phone: 6509-8409/8284-4343