Element Restaurant Tasting Session 2019 - Chinese New Year
165 Tanjong Pagar Road
Level 1, Amara Singapore
Promotion Reunion Set Dinner:
4th February 2019 Only: 6pm - 10pm
Promotion Festive Buffet:
21st January till 19th February 2019 Only: Mon - Fri: 12pm - 2:30pm (Lunch), 6pm - 10pm (Dinner)
Sat - Sun: 12pm - 4pm (High Tea), 6pm - 10pm (Dinner)
https://singapore.amarahotels.com/element.html
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from Purple Taste, msginginly, MsJaniceEats, and Food Gem.
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| Gold Ingot Fruit Cake (SGD $78 for 1kg) |
A Beautiful Feast To Usher In The Year Of The Boar
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 9
Budget about SGD $78++ per person.
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I've enjoyed my previous visits to Element Restaurant at Amara Singapore hotel. This Chinese New Year 2019, they're holding a Festive Buffet from 21st January till 19th February 2019, with a specially curated Reunion Set Dinner only on 4th February 2019. We were fortunate to sample a range of dishes that would be available.
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| Lion Dance Costumes |
Ambience at Element Restaurant remains modern casual, with a touch of splendor. The spacious, open place is warmly lit with eclectic decorative lights overhead, and the polished marble floor gives it a classy feel. The comfortable brown cushioned booths, with sturdy wooden tables, is set against chairs of black and white. A wine chiller occupies the middle of the dining floor. Love the buffet display layout, the linear structure is neat and clean, well presented.
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| Table Setting |
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| Table Setting |
Service at Element Restaurant remains similiar to standards befitting a good restaurant. Staff are friendly and proactive, greeting guests upon entry, and getting them quickly seated. They're able to accomodate and fufill simple requests efficiently. I like that staff come around regularly throughout the meal to clear away empty / dirty plates. The staff at the live stations will interact with you, as will the bartender, who can also make recommendations on drinks.
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| Tea & Chocolate Coins |
Food at Element Restaurant will appeal to most. The varied buffet spread ranges from Asian to Western, and the line-up of dishes changes daily. Generally, the Modern Asian selections are good; but I prefer the tasty Modern European dishes and casseroles here. The seafood is fresh, and includes luxurious items such as lobster or king crab, making this good value for money. Portions are naturally unlimited. Prices are comparable to other festive hotel buffets, budget about SGD $78 ++ / $108++ per person for a meal.
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| Tasting Menu |
The theme for 2019, at least for the food, is back-to-basics. Solid, well-executed dishes with hearty flavours, nothing modern or fancy. Chef Charles Goh, who recently has been mentoring student chefs, has recruited the newest member of the team - award-winning pastry Chef Alex Chong. With a culinary olympic gold medal under his belt, the plan is to showcase his exquisite, eye-catching, and beautiful dessert creations in 2019.
The Silk Road restaurant chefs showcased how to make Jiaozi / Dumplings, allowing us to get hands-on in making our own. These were later boiled, and served to us. The translucent dumpling skin has the correct ratio of bouncy thickness, holding in the warm, fragrant, savoury sweet vegetal filling of crunchy chives and tender minced pork well. Delicious.
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| Making Jiaozi / Dumplings |
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| Making Jiaozi / Dumplings |
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| Jiaozi / Dumplings |
Chef has created the Eight Treasures Prosperity Yu Sheng to resemble a pig / boar, to welcome in the Year of the Boar. They also have their own house sauce, and additional spiced crackers, giving their version a bolder, tastier flavour than elsewhere. I also think the presentation looks slightly nicer as compared to other versions I've had.
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| Eight Treasures Prosperity Yu Sheng |
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| Eight Treasures Prosperity Yu Sheng |
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| Garnish & Condiments |
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| Garnish & Condiments |
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| Styled Like A Pig / Boar |
The Braised Pumpkin Soup With Superior Fish Maw is delicious. The warm, thick, velvety smooth soup / broth is rich with earthy vegetal sweet herbal flavours from the pumpkin and wolfberries / goji berries. Garnished with chewy dried scallops, tender straw mushrooms, and spongy fish maw, which combine to lend earthy savoury briny salty flavour to the dish. Nicely balanced, this could have been too intense in any one flavour on the palate, but it's testament to Chef's skill. Good!
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| Braised Pumpkin Soup With Superior Fish Maw |
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| Braised Pumpkin Soup With Superior Fish Maw |
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| Braised Pumpkin Soup With Superior Fish Maw |
Our collective favourite dish of the evening was the Soy Baked Sea Perch Fish With Spinach In Bonito Sauce. Garnished with juicy cherry tomatoes, crunchy spinach leaves, firm edamame / immature soy beans, in a savoury salty fishy katsuobushi / bonito fish flakes sauce. But the star is the luxurious sea perch fish fillet, with a tender, flaky, oily texture similar to cod, and a clean-tasting sweet savoury flavour. A hint of smoky aroma makes this so appetizing. Super tasty, love it. Highly recommended!
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| Soy Baked Sea Perch Fish With Spinach In Bonito Sauce |
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| Soy Baked Sea Perch Fish With Spinach In Bonito Sauce |
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| Soy Baked Sea Perch Fish With Spinach In Bonito Sauce |
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| Soy Baked Sea Perch Fish With Spinach In Bonito Sauce |
The Braised Pork Ribs In Black Beer were underwhelming for me. While the pork ribs are decently tender, and pull off the bone easily, the black beer sauce seems to lend little flavour to the meat. And because it's beer, there a faint hint of grainy bitter sweet taste on the finish. This didn't appeal to me.
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| Braised Pork Ribs In Black Beer |
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| Braised Pork Ribs In Black Beer |
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| Braised Pork Ribs In Black Beer |
Loved the Silk Road restaurant rendition of Laziji / Spicy Chicken Cubes. These are medium spicy, with a sharp numbing burn, that lingers a short while. The chicken cubes are crisp, with good savoury salty spicy flavour. Nice, would order again, and pair with beer. Good!
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| Laziji / Spicy Chicken Cubes |
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| Laziji / Spicy Chicken Cubes |
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| Laziji / Spicy Chicken Cubes |
The Beijing Peking Duck was carved in front of us, with quick, expert skill. Served wrapped in a thin flour crepe, with garnishes of crunchy spring onions and cucumber, dressed in black bean sauce. The duck skin is super crisp, the fat nicely succulent, and the duck meat is tender and moist. Get eveything in 1 bite; the earthy grainy savoury sweet flavours coating the palate gently. Yum.
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| Carving Duck |
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| Beijing Peking Duck |
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| Beijing Peking Duck |
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| Beijing Peking Duck |
The Fragrant Lotus Leaf Rice With Chinese Sausage & Mushrooms was alright as a dish. The lotus leaf rice has been infused with an earthy aroma, but I wished there was more of the chewy savoury salty Chinese dried pork sausages, and tender earthy straw mushrooms. Great with a little chili. A decent finish to a meal.
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| Fragrant Lotus Leaf Rice With Chinese Sausage & Mushrooms |
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| Fragrant Lotus Leaf Rice With Chinese Sausage & Mushrooms |
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| Fragrant Lotus Leaf Rice With Chinese Sausage & Mushrooms |
The buffet features a selection of Assorted Nonya Kueh and Assorted Cakes & Tarts.
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| Assorted Nonya Kueh |
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| Assorted Nonya Kueh |
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| Assorted Cakes & Tarts |
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| Assorted Cakes & Tarts |
The unique Red Wine Poached Pear With Hashima dessert is lovely. The slippery gelatinous hasima is infused with orange juice, and complements the red wine infused poached pear, with has a crunchy juicy texture. Nice fruity sweet earthy flavours here. Would go back for more!
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| Red Wine Poached Pear With Hashima |
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| Red Wine Poached Pear With Hashima |
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| Red Wine Poached Pear With Hashima |
Their version of American Cheese Cake is among the better renditions around. The smooth, creamy cheesecake is light in texture, not too filling, yet has bold cheesy sweet flavour. Highly recommended!
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| American Cheese Cake |
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| American Cheese Cake |
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| American Cheese Cake |
The Lychee Cake is so pretty. With fluffy airy sponge fingers surrounding a light, creamy lychee mousse and chantilly cream sponge cake, topped with juicy lychees, a cinnamon stick, and candied orange peel. Has delicate floral fruity sweet spice flavour, delicious.
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| Lychee Cake |
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| Lychee Cake |
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| Lychee Cake |
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| Lychee Cake |
The Gold Ingot Fruit Cake (SGD $78 for 1kg) invoked a sense of wonder. This lovely fruit cake is shaped like a gold ingot, covered with gold fondant and finished with a red fondant ribbon. Within, the warm, crumbly, moist fruit cake is delicious, among the better versions I've tasted, with its bold fruity sweet earthy flavours. I wish for some ice cream to pair with this. Highly recommended!
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| Gold Ingot Fruit Cake (SGD $78 for 1kg) |
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| Gold Ingot Fruit Cake |
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| Gold Ingot Fruit Cake |
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| Gold Ingot Fruit Cake |
The Cherry Blossom Sugee Cake (SGD $68 for 900g) is so lovely and delicate in presentation, with hand crafted cherry blossom sugar flowers. The moist semolina butter cake has to be eaten quickly, else it starts to dry out when exposed to air. Has a very light nutty grainy sweet flavour, and a slight crunch from the almond sugee fondant. The taste is decent, but it's the presentation that wows.
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| Cherry Blossom Sugee Cake (SGD $68 for 900g) |
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| Cherry Blossom Sugee Cake |
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| Cherry Blossom Sugee Cake |
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| Cherry Blossom Sugee Cake |
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| Cherry Blossom Sugee Cake |
If you're planning to welcome the Year of the Boar with a Chinese New Year 2019 celebratory feast, do check out Element Restaurant and their festive spread! Really good value for money, so advance reservations are highly recommended!
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CONVERSATION