Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Ku De Ta @ Marina Bay Sands

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Weekend Brunch at Ku De Ta Restaurant used to be ala carte buffet style. To make it more environmentally friendly, it is now semi buffet, with a free flow of desserts to sweeten your day. To put his Asian culinary skills into good use, Executive Chef Frederic Faucheux has revitalised the menu featuring an assortment of brunch favorites inspired by the Japanese Palate.

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Edamame 4/5

Edamame. Yes, of course. Peppered with maldon salt, it's amazing how this little fellow can stand on its own just like that.

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Oyster 4.2/5, Salmon Sashimi 4.8/5, Tuna Tataki 4.2/5

The first sharing plate of cold starters definitely set the scene. From presentation to the combination of ingredients, it is certainly a treat for the eyes and taste buds. I would say the Chef has successfully made the taste very kind for those who are not used to having cold or raw dish at the early part of the day.

Oysters (ikura, konbu jelly, Apple). The mutiple toppings did not take away the experience of having an oyster. Both the texture of ikura and konbu jelly sit in nicely with the oyster, giving it a much fuller body when tasting it in your mouth. Their savory elevates the sweetness of the apple bits, which adds layer to the taste. I wish there were more apple bits though. For those who still craves for the additional oysters, they are available at 6 bucks each.

Salmon sashimi (shishito dressing, mizuna, uni powder). Yes, no wasabi or soya sauce. I always eat my sashimi with the oba leaf underneath that many thought they are just meant for decoration purposes. It could be, but I always feel it cuts the taste of the sashimi really well. Instead of the usual oba leaf, Mizuna took that role instead. The shishito dressing spiced it up a little, with the uni powder as the savoury component. And again, playing on texture, the fried yam bits on top did its job pretty well. Slightly more would be better.

Tuna tataki (onion ponzu, spring onion). This has always been one of my favorite. Nothing surprising about the combination of ingredients, but nonetheless, still very delectable.

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Prawn Salad with Glass Noodles 3.5/5

Our next round of starters start to warm up a little. Personally I feel this round seems to pale in comparison after the first.

Prawn salad with glass noodles. Not the Thai style of glass noodles salad that you may be thinking. I like the way the carrot being sliced as thinly as the grass noodles. I can fit both in between my chopsticks as one body, unlike the usual trouble that I have with crunchy vegetables in my salad. The carrot sweetened this soury dish, but I feel it needs some herbs to freshen up the taste.

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Cucumber Salad 3/5

Cucumber salad. I was expecting something more refreshing. But the taste seemed to skew more towards the salty side.

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Prawn and Vegetable Tempura 3.5/5

Prawn and vegetable tempura. I love how the prawns remained as succulent in the batter, and the big fat mushroom. The batter was quite fluffy but not as thin as I would like it to be. It is also comes with a bowl of Miso soup. A good miso soup just warms me up really well. I like how light it tasted, and the little aroma that it carried as I held onto the bowl and drank the soup. I guess there is a reason why miso soup should be drink straight from the bowl and not using a spoon!

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Donburi 4.5/5

Moving on to the mains of the new revamped weekend brunch menu, diner gets to choose one out of the ten choices.

Donburi. Pork belly! Nice proportion of fats and meat. A very appetising dish, one of my favourites. I can do without the chilli garlic on my vegetables, as I feel just plain vegetables would have balanced the teriyaki sauce better, for a cleaner taste.

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Char Siew ith Hong Kong Style Egg Noodles 4/5

Char Siew. A hearty portion of chicken char siew with Hong Kong style egg noodles. I must say this dish reflects the Asian culinary training that the chef had. I was surprised by the wok taste of the noodles. Good proportion of mee, mushroom, egg, vegetables. The char siew was very tender, but i like it to be a lot more charred.

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Chicken Katsudon 3.8/5

Chicken Katsudon. With poached egg. Don't you love the way the egg yolk ooze out of its white? The egg certainly added some moisture to this dish. The chicken was slightly dry as the cutlet was rather thin. But the batter was thin and crispy, so it really depends on personal preference.

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Ramen 4.5/5

Ramen. This is not a dish that you will find in the traditional ramen stall, with thick broth, spring egg and char siew. Rather, it is udon, with shoyu soup, bacon and pan fried egg. The bacon is really a clever touch to the soup. This dish will leaves you with a clean palette at the end of it.

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Laksa 4/5

Laksa. With linguine as the noodles, it resembles a pasta dish with laksa sauce. The succulent tiger prawn tastes really well with the sauce. I find this dish quite aromatic and flavorful, with spiciness lingering in my mouth at the end. As the sauce was rather coconuty and creamy, Slight more bean sprouts would have given this dish a better texture. It would be a good option if you are looking for a taste that is much more flavorful from your starters. I think it would have gone very well with your champagne .

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Asian Omelette 4/5

Asian Omelette. Okonomiyaki with tuna. Omelette never goes wrong. Light and fluffy, very delectable indeed. Unless you are already full from your starters, you may want to go for something more substantial.

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Dessert 4/5

Desserts. Rather mediocre. A range of petite cakes and fruits. Their dessert of the day was a cucumber mousse cheesecake. Quite a unique choice of ingredient but the taste disappoints. Lacks the cheesiness and texture. I'm not a fan of local macaroons, but their strawberry yoghurt macaroon is really quite delightful. Pairing your desserts with their teas I say is a must. Extensive range of unique blend of teas, that I feel you must give it a try. Recommended are Ku De Ta Blend, Sakura Flower Tea, Peach Nectar. Coffee is forgettable, unless you can't do without it.

I can feel the motivations behind this new revamped menu is to help customers to learn to appreciate the value behind the culinary experience as a whole, not just the main courses. I would say this menu is a good start.

Weekend Brunch - $98 Adult $58 Child
(include juices, coffees, teas and soft drinks)

Cocktail& Champagne Brunch - $178
(include Louis Roederer Brut Premier, selection of white, red & rose wines, cocktails and draught beers)

Written By Si An. A girl who is allured by travelling, loves the feel of freedom, smell of the rain and the aroma of fine coffee and food. 


Ku De Ta
Marina Bay Sands
SkyPark, North Tower
1 Bayfront Avenue
Singapore 018971
Tel: +65 66887688
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kudetasingapore
Website: http://kudeta.com/singapore
Nearest MRT: Bayfront (CC Line, DT Line)

Opening Hours: 
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 3pm (Lunch)
Daily: 6pm - 11pm (Dinner)
Sat-Sun: 11am - 330pm (Brunch)

Direction:
1) Alight at Bayfront MRT station. Take Exit C or B. Walk to Marina Bay Sands Hotel. Walk to North Tower and take lift to SkyPark. Journey time about 5 minutes. [Map]

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Wooloomooloo Steakhouse @ Swissotel the Stamford

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It has been almost one and half year since I last visited Wooloomooloo Steakhouse at Swissotel the Stamford. This time I am back for their newly launched Weekend Brunch. The weekend brunch comes in a 5 course meal with choices for each course. The 5 course meals at $68++ comes with Breakfast Item, Soup/Salad, Appertiser, Wooloomooloo Classic and Dessert.

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Egg Benedict 4/5

The Breakfast Item comes with 3 choices Egg BenedictFried Hen's Egg and Cobb Sandwich. Even though Wooloomooloo is a steakhouse, I am glad that it included egg items in the brunch menu. Inevitably my partner and I had the 2 egg dishes on the menu. I had the Egg Benedict which comes with poached egg, and smoked salmon on a English muffin drizzled with hollandaise sauce. A classic breakfast dish that brightens up one's morning.

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 Fried Hen's Egg 3.8/5

My partner has the Fried Hen's Egg which comes with a sunny side up, hash brown, avocado and tomato. Individually each ingredients took its place and shine on the plate. As a dish, it just felt like its too simple and it is missing a component to bring it all together.

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Wooloomooloo Tuna Nicoise 4/5

The next Soup/Salad course has 4 choices in French Onion SoupLobster BisqueClassic Caesar Salad and Wooloomooloo Tuna Nicoise. I decided to go for the healthy greens of Wooloomooloo Tuna Nicoise. A clean, light and refreshing salad.

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Lobster Bisque 4/5

My partner has gone for the Lobster Bisque soup which is totally the opposite. The it rich and robust with a dash of cognac and lobster meat.

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Trio of Oysters 4.2/5

For the next course which is the Appertiser, we decided to go for the seas among the 6 choices of Tasmanian Smoked SalmonTrio of OystersJumbo Lump Crab CakeWild Mushroom RisottoBurreta Mozzarella and Pasta of the Day. The Trio of Oysters was plump and fresh with a choice of having it natural or kilpatrick.

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Jumbo Lump Crab Cake 4.2/5

The Jumbo Lump Crab Cake unfortunately was not as jumbo as the description. Served with mustard mayonnaise, tartar sauce and Tahitian lime, I can hear the internal voice screaming for more of the delish crab cake.

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Beef Wellington 4.2/5

There are 5 choices of the mains which are all Wooloomooloo's classic. The 5 choices are Tasmanian Salmon FilletBeef WellingtonAustralian Black Angus vs USDA Prime SirloinAustralian Grass Fed Filet Mignon and From the Sea. We are at a steakhouse so quite naturally both of us went for the Beef Wellington and Australian Grass Fed Filet Mignon. Encased in a crusty pastry with parma ham and foie gras, the Beef Wellington was given a luxurious boost to the already flavourful beef.

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Australian Grass Fed Filet Mignon 4.2/5

For those that prefer to enjoy the natural flavour of the beautiful piece of steak, the Australian Grass Fed Filet Mignon with watercress and roasted cheery tomatoes on the vine will satisfy your palate. Each main also comes with a side and one can choose from the choice of creamy spinach, sauteed mushrooms, creamy corn, steamed broccoli, french fries, mashed potato. We went for the creamy spinach and sauteed mushroom.

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Wooloomooloo Cheesecake 4/5

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Lemon and Lime Pie 4/5

The 5 course brunch menu comes to happy closure with 3 choices of dessert in the CheesecakeLemon & Lime Pie and Bread & Butter Pudding. The lightness of the Cheesecake was excellently paired with a yummy scoop of yoghurt sorbet. The Lemon & Lime Pie is topped with Italian meringue, orange chips and vanilla tuile.

Wooloomooloo Steakhouse's 5 course weekend brunch menu is very reasonable priced with a good selection of choices in each course. Family with kids need not worry as there is a kid menu catering for them with a choice of Fish & Chips, Spaghetti Bolognaise or Mini Cheese Burgers at $18++ per item.


Wooloomooloo Steakhouse
Swissotel the Stamford
2 Stamford Road
Level 3
Singapore 178882
Tel: +65 63380261
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WooloomoolooGroup 
Website: http://www.wooloo-mooloo.com
Nearest MRT: City Hall (EW Line, NS Line), Esplanade (CC Line)

Opening Hours: 
Restaurant
Daily: 12pm - 230pm, 630pm - 11pm
Set Lunch
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 230pm
Bar
Mon-Thu: 12pm - 1am
Fri-Sat: 12pm - 2am
Sun: 12pm - 12am
Bar Bites
Mon-Sat: 12pm - 12am
Sun: 12pm - 11pm

Direction:
1) Alight at City Hall MRT station. Take Exit A. Walk to Swissotel the Stamford lift lobby. Take lift to level 3. Turn right to Wooloomooloo Steakhouse. Journey time about 5 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Esplanade MRT station. Take Exit G. Follow the underground walkway to Raffles City Shopping Centre. Proceed to level 3 and walk to Wooloomooloo Steakhouse. Journey time about 8 minutes. [Map]