If you’ve decided to outsource this year’s Lunar(tic) New Year stress of churning out complicated dishes, you’ve clicked on the right place. Here are some of this festive season’s best offerings of Chinese New Year meals and treats.
By Yong Yung Shin
8 Treasure Yu Sheng. PHOTO COURTESY OF RED HOUSE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT.
Nothing spells decadent like Red House Seafood Restaurant’s (60 Robertson Quay, #01-13/ 14, The Quayside, tel: 6735 7666) 8 Treasure Yu Sheng (S$288) comprising a whole cornucopia of oceanic treats—abalone, lobster, geoduck, tuna, salmon, ebi, Artic clam and ikan parang. The Red House Special Treasure Pot pen cai (S$238) comes with supreme whole abalone, sea cucumber, dried oysters, live prawns, dried Japanese scallops, roast chicken, mushrooms, cuttlefish balls, black moss, yam and Chinese cabbage. The concoction is richly indulgent, with every piece of meat flavored through and through. Newly introduced onto the menu, the Yin Yang Fried Rice (S$18 onwards) is so named for the Rice Krispies in it, rendering interesting textures with each bite, with a good dose of the requisite charred wok flavor.
Prosperity Buffet Feast. PHOTO COURTESY OF PLAZA BRASSERIE.
If it’s to be an eat-all-you-want family gathering, head for the Prosperity Buffet Feast (S$42.80) at Plaza Brasserie (PARKROYAL on Beach Road, 7500 Beach Road, tel: 6505 5710), which features one of the kitchen’s latest creations, the XO Yu Sheng Lobster. The Chef’s Secret Sweet Sauce and XO Sauce add a kick to the ingredients, namely salmon, silver fish, chicken floss, Chinese sausages, daikon sprout, crispy fish skin, shredded red and white carrots and enoki mushrooms. As usual, there is the live station, serving up poached live drunken prawns with Chinese wine, braised pork with steamed buns, lobster congee with fish maw soup, fried oyster omelet with XO sauce and stuffed roasted whole pork shoulder, among others.
Prosperity “Fa Cai” 8 Treasures Duck. PHOTO COURTESY OF GOODWOOD PARK HOTEL.
Keeping in tradition with its spirit of creativity and inventiveness, Goodwood Park Hotel (22 Scotts Road, tel: 6737 7411) has some unique offerings—try the Prosperity “Fa Cai” 8 Treasures Duck (S$168) from Goodwood Park Hotel, a 2-kg boneless duck stuffed with lingzhi mushrooms, flower mushrooms, sea cucumber, dried scallops, Euryale seeds, black moss, fresh chesnuts and water chesnuts. The sweet treat Macadamia and Kumquat Tart (S$48 for 1kg), while not imparting the same sense of occasion as say, nian gao (New Year cake) will delight those looking for a change at the snack table.
If you like your pineapple tarts rich and buttery, Din Tai Fung’s (Raffles City Shopping Centre, 252 North Bridge Road #B2-01, tel: 6509 6696) Taiwan Pineapple Cakes (S$23.80 for a box of 10) will please your palate. Addictive-free, the tarts are made with Taiwan’s popular Songshan pineapples, which are sweet and aromatic with just the right tinge of tartness.
