Taste: Where to Eat Now, May 2024

TIPPLING CLUB

Cromesquis with caviar and black truffle mayonnaise; Mont Blanc with cherry, yoghurt and pistachio; bitter chocolate parfait, port gastrique and black truffle cremeux; parfait dipped in foie gras butter atop sauternes jelly and brioche… all with Forged Parfait.

Introducing Forged by Vow, Singapore’s only readily available cultured meat at scale, crafted from the cells of a Japanese quail. Award-winning Chef Ryan Clift, Forged by Vow’s first global Chef Ambassador, is the first chef in Singapore (and the world) to use Forged Parfait on his menus, in an exclusive world-first restaurant partnership restaurant collaboration with Tippling Club (till 14 May).

Vow, a cellular agricultural pioneer and the first Australian company to launch a cultured meat product, has created the ‘Deliberately Different’ Forged, a revolutionary layered and complex flavored ingredient, rather than just another cell culture-recreated meat scientific product.

With a unique flavor and texture combination, Forged Parfait brings a unique umami flavor and a weightless, melt-in-your-mouth texture and quality that is at once rich yet delicate.

While the exclusive Tippling Club menu featuring seven different iterations of the Forged Parfait concludes on 14 May, diners can still experience the must-try Forged Parfait through Chef Ryan’s mind blowing creative dishes in his ever-evolving menus. Also available is Tippling Club’s Bar Menu with seven different interpretations of Forged Parfait, ranging from Pain Perdu (parfait, brioche, muscat grapes, kyoho ketchup) to a Forged Caviar Service (parfait, caviar, milk brioche, traditional garnish) for guests to enjoy alongside a cocktail or two.

Visit Tippling Club at 38 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088461. Tel: 6475 2217

REVOLVER

With three Michelin-starred chef Tristin Farmer (formerly of Zén) helming Revolver as Group Culinary Director and Chef Partner, the modern Indian restaurant's latest menu, Bullet 13, showcases a progressive South Asian-spiced menu and punchier, bolder flavors, making even more use of its open-fire grill. 

Choose from the Lunch menu ($99++); four dinner tasting menus - six-course Discovery or Vegetarian Discovery ($169++ each), eight-course Experience ($229++), and Vegetarian Experience ($199++). Also available is The Spread, a Private Experience Room exclusive menu for a shared, private fine dining experience.

The Experience menu kicks off with a trio of Snacks comprising Masala Potato with Malabar crab and curry leaves; Bao stuffed with corn curd and crowned with caviar; and Taquito with pork belly and piquant green chilli chutney. Other menu highlights include the chargrilled Courgette Blossom encasing a ball of spiced potato and served with a smoked tomato chutney; Black Cod with Alphonso mango pureed together with habanero; and yellow peach poached in fennel tea complements Smoked Milk Gelato.

Popular favourites of Paneer and Kulchette are also given a refreshed identity. Now, the Paneer is stuffed with milk fudge, chargrilled in the tandoor and plated with onion mash and a flavoursome coriander and mushroom XO; while the Comte-stuffed Kulchette (also on the Experience menu) is served with assam hamachi collar, or with a generous shaving of Black Perigord truffles (on the Vegetarian Experience menu). The Kulchette is also available as a dinner add-on paired with Malabar Crab ($28), Caviar and Raita ($75), Butter Chicken ($18), or “Parade”, a combination of four to five types of Kulchette for sharing ($88).

For communal style dining, head upstairs to the Private Experience Room for specialities such as a Tomahawk with Kashmiri chilli or a Guinea Fowl with vindaloo and wild garlic Kulchette in The Spread; as well as a biryani-spiced Donabe of Koshihikari rice with crispy lamb fat and coriander stems.

Visit Revolver at 56 Tras Street, Singapore 078995. Tel: 6223 2812

(Related: Top tables for May 2024)

ARAYA

Araya, unveils its latest degustation menu Costa ($368++), this time paying homage to the Chilean coast with this marine-based eight-course culinary experience.

Derived from Cordillera de la Costa or the Chilean Coastal Range, Costa shows off the abundant marine bounty found along the rugged forested coasts of Chile’s 6,437km uniquely long coastline along the South Pacific Ocean. The experience showcases Chef-Partners Francisco Araya and Fernanda Guerrero take on an innovative approach to reimagining the finest sea creatures, plants and cooking techniques native to their homeland.

The dining experience opens with Cochayuyo, a protein-rich large Southern bull kelp from the Chilean coast, rendered to a briney spread to accompany Pastry Chef Fernanda’s famed Panera bread basket at the start of the meal. Next up is Taigairai, featuring choro zapato (meaning ‘shoe’ in Spanish), the Chilean giant mussel served raw, ceviche style.

Curanto is the third addition in the Costa menu, named after a pre-Hispanic cooking technique. Used by indigenous Chilotes from Chiloé Island in South Chile, an assortment of meat and seafood are wrapped in leaves then cooked in an earth oven with hot stones. In Chef Francisco’s rendition, a whole abalone is wrapped in corn husk, sealed in a dough parcel made from charcoal and corn husk ashes, and cooked over the fire.

Other menu highlights include the Chancho en Piedra, a cantaloupe gazpacho palate cleanser with cubes of compressed cucumber, and the Aged Ecuadorian Cacao with Pigeon Supreme, the only non-seafood course on the Costa menu.

Finish on the new dessert of Lucuma, inspired by the quintessential fruit native to the Andean Valley. With a starchy texture and a flavour profile of  butterscotch, sweet potato and maple syrup combined, Lucuma takes the form of an ice cream alongside vanilla jelly, coffee espuma, and caramelized rice puffs.

In keeping with his Chilean South Pacific heritage and affinity for South American and Japanese ingredients, Chef Francisco’s 8-course Vegetarian Menu ($298++) is no lightweight either. Don’t miss the gorgeous and unique creations therein such as Mashua (an Andean tuber) Potage with Andean Quinoa; Beetroot Sorbet with compressed beetroot, and Roasted Cauliflower on Aged Equatorial Cacao Sauce.

Visit Araya at 83 Neil Road, Duxton Hill, #01-08 Mondrian Singapore, 089813. Tel: 8870 0871

MARGUERITE

New this month at Michelin-starred Marguerite is its recently launched 4-course lunch experience ($128++ per person) for a more wallet-friendly fine dining alternative for business lunches or indulgent day dining. Available Thursdays-Sundays, diners also have the option of wine or non-alcoholic temperance beverage pairing of housemade clarified juices.

The experience includes a welcome snack, spelt sourdough, a choice of main, dessert, still and sparkling water, a selection of mignardises with coffee and tea, as well as a limousine buggy service through Gardens by the Bay and complimentary Flower Dome access. 

Main course highlights from the Omnivore Lunch Menu include the likes of Smoked Eel from the Catalonian Ebro Delta, paired with an oyster mousse pearl, sea succulents and smoked eel consommé; gently poached Patagonian Toothfish dressed with passion fruit sabayon, broad beans, basil oil and pāua abalone; or Black Angus Beef with celeriac puree, red cabbage sauerkraut and braised oxtail chou farci, accompanied by pommes dauphine.

Likewise, highlights from the Vegetarian Herbivore Tasting menu include a chilled Lettuce Gazpacho made from 10 different herbs and vegetables, served with a cucumber mousse yoghurt sphere, cucumber flowers and ‘vegetarian caviar’ tonburi; a Wild Mushroom custard enriched with morel mushroom broth adorned with wood-grilled Loire Valley asparagus, snap peas and lovage leaf oil; as well as the Beluga Lentil Pithivier comprising a blend of cracked wheat, Puy lentils, smoked paprika and shallots wrapped in a savoy cabbage leaf, served with a puree of savoy cabbage and kale, and finished with a caramelised vegetable jus.

End the indulgence with a decadent, ten tier Chocolate and Peanut tower, featuring layers of chocolate tuille, frozen peanut parfait, whipped salted caramel, chocolate cremeux, cacao nib nougatine, and a crown of banana sorbet.

A 7-course menu ($288++ per person) inclusive of an optional wine, full temperance or mixed beverage pairing, is also available for a more elevated lunch experience.

Visit Marguerite at 18 Marina Gardens Dr, #01-09 Flower Dome, Singapore 018953. Tel: 6702 0158

RANG MAHAL

Rang Mahal recently hosted a The Great Indian Celebration Feast in April, showcasing an extravagant Indian wedding gourmet experience, in collaboration with award-winning international Indian Wedding food curator Sarita Bazaz.

The 9-course degustation Feast showcased the rich tapestry of India’s North West Frontier’s gastronomic diversity with modern twists, inspired by Navaratna (nine gemstones representing heavenly planets, and a metaphor for a collection of the best nine). 

Continued by popular demand, this specially curated degustation menu is a new addition to Rang Mahal’s degustation menus, as well as offering select dishes on its famous Sunday Lunch Buffet. Highlights to expect include Nasheela Jhinga, for prawns seasoned in the dark rum sauce served with cilantro mint chimichurri; Himalayan Morels, showcasing premium Kashmiri morel mushrooms stuffed with aged parmesan and goat cheese before being finished with truffle salt and house-made truffle oil; and Khaaja Sevpuri, a Mumbai street-style chaat snack signature; among other more exotic curations.

Rang Mahal’s Sunday Lunch Buffet ($88++ per adult / $44++ per child only) also features a refreshed menu, brimming with over 20 timeless dishes for the best Indian fine dining in Singapore for the entire family and out-of-town visitors. Chicken Dumbiryani, Tandoori Prawns, Lamb Seekh Kebab, Paneer Makhni and more await on the buffet line.

Visit Rang Mahal at 7 Raffles Blvd, Level 3 Pan Pacific, Singapore 039595. Tel: 6333 1788

MAISON BOULUD SINGAPORE

Take a gastronomic journey to the heart of Southern France at Maison Boulud Singapore, with Chef Daniel Boulud’s signature style of soulful French cuisine grounded in seasons and inspired by his travels around the world. 

Executed by Executive Chef Rémy Carmignani, the 146-seater French Riviera decor-inspired restaurant brings a dining experience akin to its award-winning sister concept in Montreal, through a showcase of Chef Boulud’s creative interpretations of classic French dishes, paired with the freshest seasonal ingredients.

New this season are the value-for-money weekday lunch sets at the restaurant ($62 for 2-courses and $72 for 3-courses), featuring à la carte items from the main menu, as well as favorites from the former db Bistro, back by popular demand.

Start with appetiZers such as Blue Crab Salad with apple-ginger dressing; Pâté en Croûte with pork Ibérico and foie gras; as well as a sublime Seafood Salad. For mains, choose from signatures such as Ora King Salmon on Asparagus with watercress, buckwheat beurre blanc and salmon roe; and Coq au Vin, for red wine-braised free-range chicken with spätzle; as well as The Yankee Burger, a Black Angus Cheeseburger with pickles and French fries.

Round off the meal with a fine selection of mature French cheeses; Molten Chocolate Cake with warm raspberry sauce; or a Citrus Sponge with pineapple compote and coconut sorbet, among others.

Visit Maison Boulud at 2 Bayfront Avenue B1-15, L1-83 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (South Promenade), Singapore 018972. Tel: 6688 6088