Alma by Juan Amador @ Goodwood Park Hotel - An New Era With A New Culinary Team, New Menu And Refreshed Interior

After closing the restaurant temporarily for about a month to undergo renovation, Alma by Juan Amador reopened with a refreshed interior, a new culinary team and a new menu. Chef Juan trains the new team first-hand with the highly anticipated new menu featuring his signature dishes and innovative take on Asian ingredients.

Egg Benedict 2.0, Sa-Bo-Fun, Purple Tikka Masala

We had their 5-course Menu ($228), starting with a trio of snacks. We had the Egg Benedict 2.0, Sa-Bo-Fun and Purple Tikka Masala on the plate. My favourite of the trio is the Egg Benedict 2.0. It is not your usual egg benedict which comes in a crispy Vol-Au-Vent, topped with bafun uni and black truffle.

I realized the snacks are a representation of global flavours. For example, the Sa-Bo-Fun comprising red wine duck sausage and salted fish on top of a charred rice cracker, is a rendition of the Chinese claypot rice. Lastly, our taste buds are tickled by the Indian spices from the Purple Tikka Malsa layered in coconut yoghurt chicken tikka, compressed cucumber coconut masala cream and oyster cracker.

Beurre Blanc Ice Cream 4.5/5

After the complimentary Potato Bread with smoked butter, we had one of Chef Juan's dishes, the Beurre Blanc Ice Cream. The classic French sauce is presented in an ice cream form, paired with Fine de Claire oysters, Kaluga hybrid caviar and finished with hazelnut foam. The refreshing execution is entirely unexpected, bursting with lovely flavours.

Parfum de Siam 3.8/5

Next is another signature dish from Chef Juan, Parfum de Siam. The butter-poached Australian rock lobster, yellow zucchini noodle and tempura zucchini flower are paired with a Thai-inspired thick and creamy sauce. It showcases how the chef marries Asian spices and ingredients into Western cooking techniques.

Crackling Iberico Pork Belly 3/5

Moving on is the Crackling Iberico Pork Belly. While I understand premium pork is used and the pork belly was cooked perfectly, as good as you can find in any Hong Kong roasted meat restaurant, it didn't have that element of excitement or surprise I get from the earlier dishes, maybe because the cooking style of the roasted pork belly is too commonly available and eaten in Singapore.

A4 Satsuma Wagyu 4.2/5

I prefer the A4 Satsuma Wagyu over the pork belly for protein. The melt-in-the-mouth beef is richly flavoured, and it is the grade I enjoyed as it has a slightly more textural bite than A5.

Moutai "Flying Fairy" Ice Cream 4/5

Though distilled Chinese liquor is used in the desert, the Moutai "Flying Fairy" Ice Cream is light and refreshing, comprising of tree gum snow nest, strawberry air and a crisp hawthorn flake.

Petit Four

Lastly, the Petite Four of Pistachio Praline Bonbon, Passionfruit Pate and Financier completed our meal at Alma by Juan Amador, perfectly with a cup of coffee.

Note: This is an invited tasting.


Alma by Juan Amador
Goodwood Park Hotel
22 Scotts Road
Singapore 228221
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Nearest MRT: Orchard (NS Line)

Opening Hours:
Lunch
Tue-Sat: 12pm - 230pm
Dinner
Mon-Sat: 6pm - 10pm
(Closed on Sun)

Direction:
1) Alight at Orchard MRT station. Take Exit 1. Walk down Scotts Road to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes. [Map]

Charr'd @ Changi Road - Singapore's First Halal Restaurant Serving A5 Kuroge Wagyu From Mie Prefecture

Charr'd is a new halal steakhouse by the same team behind Tomahawk King. It is the first halal restaurant in Singapore to buy and import whole A5 Wagyu Kuroge cows from Japan.

Salmon Cube Tare

We started our meal with the Salmon Cube Tare ($14) with snow pea shoots, caramelized onion, and a house bearnaise sauce. The charred salmon belly nuggets are glazed with yakiniku no tare giving it a nice sweet and fruity finish on top of the smoky char.

Great for sharing and gets to enjoy the different A5 Wagyu Kuroge's cuts is the Heavenly Meat Board ($198) that comes with 100gm A5 Mie Sirloin, 100gm A5 Mie Ribeye, 100gm A5 Mie Tenderloin and 400gm Australian Hangar Steak. The meat board is suitable for 3-4 pax. It also comes with two complimentary sauces of choice. (house bearnaise, chimichurri, wasabi mayo, yakiniku no tare, ghost peppercorn mayo). Between the cuts, my preferred is the ribeye for its meat and fats ratio.

Cream'd Moonlight Spinach

We had the Cream'd Moonlight Spinach ($13), and Charr'd Broccoli ($12) for sides to go along with the beef. I am a fan of creamy spinach, and at Charr'd, it elevated the creaminess by adding an onsen egg on top of the rich Parmigiano-Reggiano cream.

Charr'd Broccoli

A more textural option is the Charr'd Broccoli, whereby the crunchy broccoli is charred over an open fire and tossed with roasted pine nuts, chilli shavings, bonito flakes and an appetite-whetting miso vinegar.

You can also wash everything down with a selection of Mocktails from the bar. Unwind and chill in an unpretentious space serving up only good-cut meats, quality dishes and no-frill sides for an alternative way of enjoying meats and more. Grab a mocktail, a few friends and have dessert after dinner. Charr'd is here so you can chill out.

Note: This is an invited tasting.


Charr'd
324F Changi Road
Singapore 419799
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Nearest MRT: Eunos (EW Line), Kembangan (EW Line)

Opening Hours
Tue-Sun: 11am - 10pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Eunos MRT station. Take Exit C. Walk to traffic junction of Jalan Eunos and Sims Ave. Cross the road and walk towards Changi Road. Turn left onto Changi Road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes. [Map]

2) Alight at Kembangan MRT station. Take Exit A. Cross the road. Walk down the canal to Changi Road. Cross the road, turn right and walk down Changi Road. Walk to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes. [Map]