Buyan @ Duxton Hill

Russian food has never crossed our radar before until this particular restaurant Buyan kept appearing in the news for winning the bid for the world's oldest shipwrecked champagne found in the Baltic Sea - a Veuve Clicquot (1841). The price? S$53,000



So we just have to come here to see what kind of restarant is Buyan. And we were quite surprised to see that Buyan is a dual concept restaurant: On the 1st floor is the bar and small bistro, while on the 2nd floor...



... is the fine dining area with one of Singapore's most beautiful ceiling mural painted by a local artist.



Veen Velvet (S$8 per bottle) water. Well, this is not a Russian mineral water, but from Finland.



The most unique thing here is that there is no menu, but just and iPad. The menu is actually downloaded on the iPad, and when you click on the item, you get a photograph of how the dishes look like.



We were served some bread and butter balls.



Our amuse bouche.



The first appetizer was the Traditionally served Karat Caviar (S$60) - Caviar with Blinis, Onions, Quail Egg, Sour Cream and Lime. The caviar is of top quality, and we loved the presentation of the caviar.



I think I added too much of the eggs and chives!



The Borscht soup (S$16) wasn't up to our standards. It was not served as pipping hot as we had hoped for. And the soup doesn't has



I also didn't like the Ukha soup (S$16), which is a fish soup. Tasted too bland, and was not as warm as we had hoped for.



Fortunately, the other dishes were better. The Half Moon Trio (S$50) - Smoked Halibut, Sturgeon, Salmon filled with Dill Spinach, was a refreshing appetizer where we were able to taste the freshness of the fish.



We had 2 mains. The first was the Slow cooked beef stroganoff (S$50) - Cooked in its Isigny Cream Sauce with Sauteed Chanterelle Mushroom. It was a bit too rich for us, but the texture and taste was good.



The other mains we had was the Sturgeon Romanov (S$40) - Pan Seared with Creme Fraiche and Karat Caviar. I like this better as the fish and cream went well and complimented one another. Plus a touch of luxury in the form of some caviar.



After our mains, we requested to be seated downstairs at the bar where the environment is more relaxed. They had many beers, and we ordered the Newton Apple Beer (S$10 per bottle) and Buyan Beer (S$15 for half pint). The Apple Beer was crisp and light with a tinge of apple taste, while the Buyan Beer is a house specialty.



We love the desserts at Buyan! First up was the Honey Cake (S$10 per slice). I like anything with honey, and this rich and soft cake had a deep honey taste to it.



The Baked Apple (S$8) was even better. It's an entire breaded apple baked in an oven.



Open up the baked apple and the inside is filled with Lingonberry Compote. One of my favourite apple dessert in Singapore.



We had a wonderful time here and the service was top notch. For those on a tight budget, I would recommend having your dinner at the bar area, where the prices are more comfortable for your wallet. Plus the food is great too.


Buyan
9/10 Duxton Hill

Gordon Grill @ Goodwood Park Hotel

The thought of eating roasted reindeer may not go down well with some, especially those who believed that Rudolf is somewhere up there in the north pole.

Recently, Gordon Grill at Goodwood Park Hotel held a New Finnish Cuisine Promotion by Guest Chef Kim Palhus.



Started off with a special amuse bouche from the chef.



Plus freshly baked Finnish breads.



1 glass of Chateau De Malleret 2004 (S$17.50 per glass)



As recommended, I got the special 4 courses Set Lunch (S$58) which features some of the their signature dishes at a special price.



The appetizert was this healthy Beetroot and vegetable salad "rosolli" with mustard seeds, red onion jam and foam of pickled cucumber broth.



Another appetizer in the set was this Cold smoked pike tartar with salmon trout roe, Grandma's cucumber salad and "shore sand" .



The main course was Reindeer roast with barley-wild mushroom "porridge" parsnip puree and beer sauce. The Lapland reindeer is from the northern Scandinavian Peninsula. This is what everyone came here for. Reindeer tastes a bit like venison, but with a more gamey taste.



I also ordered the Karelian Stew separately - Medallions of beef, lamb and pork served with parsnip puree and deep-fried shredded carrot. I thought this would be an interesting dish as it was featured in some media reports, but turned out that that I didn't enjoy this as much as the dishes in the set lunch.



What a name for a dessert. This dessert is called Poor Knights, which is a traditional Finnish dessert made of fried cardamom coffee bread. Cardamom is used quite extensively during baking in Nordic countries.



Ended my lunch with a decaf coffee with brown sugar.



And some Petit Fours from Finland.


Gordon Grill
22 Scotts Road
Ground Floor
Goodwood Park Hotel

Hua Ting @ Orchard Hotel

Hua Ting is one of the most talked about Chinese restaurant in Singapore due to its history and quality of Chinese food. In particularly, Cantonese food.



Located at the slightly aging Orchard Hotel, after all these years Hua Ting still stayed put at this quiet corner of Orchard Road when many already moved to newer and better locations.



We were there on a weekday night, just days before the Dumpling Festival. As there was a promotional UOB Chef's Creation Dinner Menu (S$128 for 2 persons), we decided to stick to that to save us from the trouble of choosing from the menu.



The ice water is served in a glass which is "locked" in a metal handle. Mine was kind of wobbly.



This appetizers (S$3.80) reminded me of a vegetarian dish. A bit salty for me.



I am not a fan of these small deep fried fish. However, Hua Ting's Deep Fried Hong Kong yellow flower fish glazed with salt and pepper changed my view. Although it is still difficult to eat such a small fish with small bones (I still don't like to swallow these small bones), however the fish meat was smooth and sweet. Seasoning was kept to a minimum so that diners can enjoy the fresh taste of the fish.



It was Dumpling Festival. We tried Hua Ting's version of the Hong Kong Rice Dumpling (S$14.80). It was HUGE.



The texture of the rice and pork was good, and there were some conpoy, mushrooms, chestnuts and duck egg yolk. However, I don't enjoy the yellow beans. There is just too much of it. Prefer the ordinary Hokkien Pork Dumplings.



A bowl of Braised Shark's Fins with Crab Meat added some extra value to our set dinner. But there is nothing unique about the shark's fins soup here. Taste almost identical to those served at Chinese weddings.



I enjoyed this unique Stewed Lamb Shank with Chinese Parsley. It's quite refreshing to see this in a Chinese restaurant. The meat was really tender and really flavourful. But for those who detest the gamey taste, you may have some discomfort with their lamb shank. However, it is no problem for me. I wolfed down the entire lamb shank in record time.



A well sauteed fresh lily buds with wild mushrooms and seasonal greens dish.




We are quite full now due to finishing the rice dumpling earlier. However, I still managed to finish my Egg fried rice with fresh shrimps as it was delicious.



Ended our UOB set meal with Chilled Hawthorn berries jelly with aloe vera and fresh fruits. Not too sweet and was a refreshing end to our heavy dinner.




Hua Ting
442 Orchard Road,
Orchard Hotel