Festive Specials

Tanamera Coffee might be an Indonesian brand that branched out to the Singapore market, but they probably scored in catering to our local crowds this time round with their introduction of YuSheng during the Lunar New Year period.

Other than the Traditional YuSheng that we were mostly familiar with, the Pecel YuSheng (S$45.80) was interestingly their take on the festive dish, comprising other interesting ingredients like fried beancurd (Tahu) and their Indonesian-style peanut sauce.

This Yu Sheng reminded me a bit of Rojak actually, and I must say that the flavours was quite balanced with fresh greens and sufficient spicy, sweet and savoury notes.

But I guessed, perhaps to make sure that the ingredients were served fresh, this item was only available for pre-order 3 days in advance from selected outlets and from their online store. So, if you’d like to try a different kind of Yu Sheng this year, remember to pre-order yours early!

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Dim Sum Haus also offered their take on the Prosperity Abalone Yu Sheng as a dine-in item at S$68.80 for 6 to 10 pax, or a downsized version at S$48.80 only.

The whole set was quite nicely arranged on a glass plate. Though it might be a little awkward to toss the Yu Sheng at a rectangular table set-up, the overall flavour of this festive dish was not too heavy, which would probably not make one feel too overwhelmed for the Dim Sum experience afterwards.

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At first glance, I was quite relieved that the festive cakes here were not overly generous on cream, but I thought that the Strawberry Hokkaido Cheese Roll (S$40.00) was a good call for those who loved Swiss rolls that came with Hokkaido cream cheese and sliced fresh strawberry as its filling.

To give the simple “log cake” a touch of Christmas looks, the restaurant would also throw in some cute decorative edibles upon request and subjected to availability. However, whole cakes would need to be pre-ordered at least 3 days in advance by 20 December 2022.

If a whole cake might be too much for your liking, one could actually get their sliced cakes, which would go at S$8.90 per slice. To me, it was still worth the deal. Who would not like a taste of natural and an experience of simple joy?

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My first experience with this cake was when I did a recorded tasting called Tastemakers Try with Burpple. Since then, I fell in love with the Chocolate Pear Bavaroise Log Cake (S$62.00) for its rich chocolate flavours, with chunks of pear and pear bavaroise from within.

I liked it when the dark chocolate ganache and milk chocolate mousse met halfway for both richness and sweetness. On top of that, there were pieces of “golden coins” made of white chocolate and airbrushed for a hint of luxury. Who would say “no” to more chocolate in their dessert anyway?

Most would have expected that Christmas log cakes should usually be creamy or chocolatey. However, the Yuzu Meringue Log (S$60.00) was surprisingly a wonderful add to a party or gathering, especially after a hearty dinner.

Made with layers of lemon curd, lemon buttercream, yuzu marmalade, joconde sponge and coated with meringue, the citric flavours was perfect to cleanse the palate and create the refreshing feel on the taste buds. The different textures also created a good balance between richness and airiness.

With a slightly caramelised exterior, the log cake also had sugar ornaments and white chocolate crisps and candied orange peel decorations to make it pleasing to look as well.

Seemingly like the yam paste version of the popular pineapple tarts that we’ll eat during the Lunar New Year season, Whisking Bakes basically wrapped a pretty generous portion of yam paste wrapped with a thin layer of buttery pastry dough.

It might not have been love at first bite, as the snack sported a butter flavour that overpowered the delicate taste of yam paste. However, the taro came as a mild lingering aftertaste, so it might be best eaten with a cup of white tea by the side.

With freshness also meant that the tarts would have to be consumed almost immediately (or as what the label would say “3 - 5 days”). But I really felt that the tarts tasted best on the day I self-collected it from the shop.

With 11 pieces of these babies in a container for S$14.00, I would love to share them with the like-minded folks on the same day.

Yam Mooncakes were not uncommon to be found nowadays, but finding a good one would take some trial and error given all the pandemic restrictions.

With a stroke of luck, I ordered the Thousand Layer Yam Mooncakes from Yàn recently to satisfy my mooncake cravings, and I was glad that I clicked the button for it. Coming as a box of two mooncakes, which is called their Double Moon package, this S$34.00 box contained two mooncakes that were freshly made (no sealed plastic packaging) that were best consumed within three days. The skin of the mooncake was not as distinctly flaky as I would have imagined, but the yam paste filling was at a pleasant level of sweetness, less the preservatives for the most natural taste. The yam paste was also very smooth as it had a slight melt-in-the-mouth texture, which made it really delectable when paired with a light-bodied hot tea.

And because of this, most probably I would keep a lookout for this mooncake in the next few years to come.

Most people would love a sumptuous meal at a hotel buffet during the festive season, for the spread would include things like roast turkey, roasted beef and other festive delicacies like fruit cake and stuff.

But these were just one part of what M Hotel’s Café 2000 had to offer in their Festive Seafood Extravaganza Buffet, available from 24 November to 30 December 2019. Having the table reservation through Eatigo, two persons could get up to 50% discount to the usual price of S$78.00 per pax. Much of the items there would include seafood, but I also saw many people swarming the buffet line for satays and other meat items. And then, I realised that it was actually very gratifying to scoop lots of Durian Pengat into a coffee mug, and eat it like a boss.

While it might be quite a value-for-money thing to book a table via Eatigo, I was a bit turned off by the way the diners wiped out the more popular items by forming mountains of food on their own plate. As much as food was replenished quite promptly, it could only mean that one would either need to stay vigilant to watch what was being topped up from afar, or that he would just have to approach the buffet line like a typical “kiasu” Singaporean. And because the restaurant appeared to be fully booked, the crowd could have taken away any peace and quiet ambience if that was to be expected.

Mid-autumn Festival is round the corner, and having some mooncakes is part of the festive custom for this special occasion.

This year, my money goes to Crowne Plaza Hotel’s snowskin mooncakes (S$59.50). Personally, I think that snowskin mooncakes have more room for creativity than the traditional baked mooncakes, and Crowne Plaza Hotel has actually managed to incorporate tea recipes into them.

Among the four flavours in the assortment, the Matcha Adzuki is perhaps the most common around, with the perfect Matcha and red bean duo in action. The Chrysanthemum Wintermelon flavour is a little too heavy on the wintermelon candy taste. Their Red Date Wolfberry mooncake is my favourite in this box, with distinct notes of red date tea and a touch of wolfberries. Last but not the least, the Earl Grey with Pearl flavour is like a tribute to bubble tea lovers, but it is somehow too off to be considered as an authentic flavour.

Each purchase also comes along with a S$20.00 voucher, redeemable at Lobby Lounge or Bar ‘75. It just added more happiness to make this box of mooncakes worth having.

The small version of the Prosperity Smoked Salmon Yu Sheng (S$32.80) might have lost its appeal because of the price tag, but I really liked having this one every year because of the super-finely shredded vegetables and the crunchy yam strips. The latter added a nice fragrance touch to the festive treat, nice enough for me to willingly ditch the golden crackers for this.

The small plate could serve 2 to 3 persons.

Yusheng or “Lo Hei” is a big affair for Singaporeans and Malaysians alike during Lunar New Year periods, and Ichiban Boshi (and Ichiban Sushi) will throw into the celebration mood their Yusheng series.

“Celebration” (S$33.80) was just good enough for 2 to 3 persons, and I liked their Yuzu sauce, which substitutes the conventional sour plum sauce, because it tasted lighter with a bit of a Japanese influence to the local dish. What more could you ask for when thick slices of Norwegian Salmon Sashimi tops the box as though it was the star on top of a Christmas tree?

For those who love freebies, a set of red packets would await you with every order of their prosperity Yusheng.

Yolkalicious is a home business that specialises in small-quantity made-to-order salted egg yolk potato chips. Owned by a Muslim, the chips and ingredients are Halal-certified and availability is advised on their website and social media platforms.

I liked the chips for they did not taste salty, and there was a good balance of salted yolk, butter, milk, curry leaves and sugar. A special mention towards their use of chilli padi, because the chips carried a mild lingering spiciness, but it turned out to be a little addictive for me. Anyway, since they do not use preservatives to prolong the shelf life, I think that is a pretty good excuse to finish the bag of chips at one go.

A bag of 180g chips costs S$13.00.