Raffles City Epicurean Society + Giveaway

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// The first giveaway of 2 X $50 Old Hong Kong Legend vouchers has ended. Thank you for participating. The winners are #31 and #44.

The winners of the second giveaway are: #325, #153, #237, #359, #376, #402, #21, #15, and #425.

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I do not frequent restaurants in malls because most of the time, you can only find restaurant chains. However, Raffles City is an exception that I would gladly welcome. It is nice to see that they are actively approaching good F&B tenants to provide new options for the consumers.

Salt Tapas & Bar, Tiong Bahru Bakery, Wooloomooloo Steakhouse are just some of the big names at Raffles City. And from what I have heard, there are more interesting concepts (one of which is a casual Vietnamese noodle bar by the Les Amis group) opening soon. Check out Raffles City food guide if you are looking for dining options this weekend.

Here’s part two of my Raffles City food trail – where we visited Old Hong Kong Legend, Bibigo, and Canele Patisserie Patisserie. We are also giving away $100 worth of dining vouchers, read more to find out how you join the giveaway.

We began our adventure at Old Hong Kong Legend at Level two of Raffles City.

Everything on the menu sounded delicious. There were so many dishes I wanted to try, and luckily, we did not have to choose as the restaurant had pre-arranged four of their signature dishes.

The double-boiled shark’s bone cartilage soup ($18/pax) came first. Served in a whole “shark’s fin” melon, the soup – prepared with yellow fungus and wolfberry – was rich and soulful. I could drink this everyday!

Next up, we had the ‘typhoon shelter’ crab. For the uninitiated, it is a dish served in many Hong Kong Chinese restaurants, and believes to have originated from the typhoon shelter – hence the name. Fried with garlic, chili, onion, and black bean sauce, the ‘typhoon shelter’ crab ($68/kg) is quite a sight to behold.

The crab, while good, was not something that I appreciate. I kept staring at the salted egg yolk crabs on the menu; I must come back again for them.

We also had a seared codfish on egg white with truffle sauce ($14.88/pax), and a pot of braised seafood and meat ($28) which I felt was a steal for the price, as it was filled with yummy ingredients like baby abalone, mushroom, pork belly, bean curd skin, and fish (as seen on the first picture of the post).

All in all, Old Hong Kong Legend is a place where you can get well-executed Chinese food at reasonable prices. I also learnt that they offer dim sum till 5pm on weekdays – definitely the place to go if I am meeting my friends for a late lunch.

Old Hong Kong Legend
252 North Bridge Road
#02-18/19 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6336 3038

For the second stop of the Raffles City food trail, we went to Bibigo.

The Korean restaurant currently has 16 branches worldwide, which includes China, United States, London, and Singapore. The concept is pretty simple. They want to introduce good and healthy Korean food to the world, and while prices are not exactly cheap (average spending is around $21/pax), it is not too exorbitant either.

We had quite a spread: seafood pancake ($13), hot stone bibimbap ($16), ginseng orange salad ($12), sweet & spicy rice cake ($14), char-grilled bulgogi ($22), and spicy soft tofu stew ($14).

I thought that the sweet & spicy rice cake was not too bad, but I probably would not pay so much – given that it is a cheap Korean street food.

And if you look at the menu, you would notice that their bibimbap is quite different from the usual ones as you get to customise it. First, you choose the rice: white, black, brown & white, and barley & white. Then, you select the topping from options like bulgogi, grilled spicy pork, chicken teriyaki, tofu, and shrimp. And finally, the sauce: kohot, ssam, sesame, and citron soy. The result? You get tasty bibimbap in a sizzling hot stone pot.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the seafood pancake. As for the spicy tofu stew, it was nothing crazy in terms of flavour combination but just done well enough to hit the comfort note for me.

If I am in the Raffles City area, I can see myself coming back to Bibigo for a quick meal. For two people, I would suggest getting a stew, bibimbap, and seafood pancake to share.

Bibigo
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-74 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6336 4745
Daily: 11am – 10pm

For desserts, we went to everyone’s favourite Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie. Chef Christophe Grilo has definitely stamped his mark with a new menu comprising popular desserts like tarte au citron, triple chocolate cheesecake, forêt noire, and strawberry shortcake.

I felt like a kid in Disneyland when I saw all the cakes on the table. Everything looked so delicious. Where do we start? How does anyone choose between cheesecake or the very popular le royale? Or favourites like strawberry shortcake and mille-feuille?

Out of all the cakes that we tried, my favourites were the la noisette, le royale, mango passion chocolat blanc, and gateau au fromage.

At Canele, they name this as la noisette ($7.50). But I prefer to call the hazelnut cream puff ‘a dream come true’. That’s right folks: praline, lemon, and choux pastry. Three things I adore all put together.

The mango passion chocolat blanc ($7.50) tastes as good as it looks. The combination of white chocolate mousse, zesty mango passion fruit cream, mango marmalade, and coconut crumble base was perfect. My heart beats faster as I recalled how effortless the flavours and textures blended in every taste.

Also not to be missed is the le royale ($8). The heavenly pairing of dark chocolate and hazelnut makes this one of the most popular desserts at Canele Patisserie. The gateau au fromage ($6.50) is also worth a mention. Light, smooth, and creamy – it is perhaps, one of the best cheesecakes I have had in recent times.

Here is one thing that not many people know: Canele has very good bread. Since Chef Christophe Grilo took over the kitchen, he has been constantly testing new recipes to create better bread. I think his croissant and pain au chocolate are good, so the next time you are there for tea, remember to have the bread too.

They have also just launched their summer macarons collection for 2012. You can find interesting flavours like vanilla banana, mint chocolate, lemon lime, violet berries, and rice krispie chocolate.

Canele Patisserie Chocolaterie
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-46/47 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6334 7377

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To find out more about Raffles City’s food festival, please visit Raffles City Epicurean Society where you can read about the restaurants, promotions and food reviews.

How to enter Raffles City’s Dining Vouchers Giveaway

1. Giving away 6 X $50 The Handburger and 3 X $50 Watami dining vouchers.

2. Leave a comment and tell us: ‘Which restaurant do you want to try in Raffles City?’ OR ‘your favourite restaurant in Raffles City?’

3. A random generator will be used, everyone has an equal chance of winning.

4. Giveaway ends on 16th Aug 2012 Thursday 2359. Winners will be notified by email.

5. If you have submitted previously, you automatically qualify for the second giveaway.