Save Yourself from MIL’s Cooking This CNY!

The particularly auspicious Year of the Dragon descends on 23 January. Time to celebrate! But if you are facing the less-than-luscious prospect of mom-in-law’s (‘The MIL’) blah cooking and same-old-same-old menu for the Reunion Dinner on 22 Jan, SimplyFab says blast them with your brilliant brainwave and offer to bring dins to “save her the hassle of cooking”. It’s a win-win situation…you get good food, and she’ll think you’re the most dutiful daughter-in-law ever! We’ve sussed out where to go to get this plan in motion. (Of course you’re not cooking!)

 

Man Fu Yuan @ Intercontinental Singapore
This restaurant’s salubrious CNY goodies are already available even as we speak. Must have the restaurant’s  Deluxe Treasure Pot brimming with 26 layers of gourmet goodies like whole baby abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw, shark’s fin and scallops, sea whelk and cuttlefish, all enriched in a savoury broth. There’s also Whole Suckling Pig Stuffed with Glutinous Rice($488) and Double-boiled Buddha Jumps Over the Wall served with Wok-fried Glutinous Rice and Yu Sheng ($688 off hubby’s credit card). If you are anticipating friends  for tea or even brunch, we highly recommend Man Fu Yuan’s cute radish cake and yam cake with duck meat ($18.80), all soft and smooth, available from the Tea Hut until 20 Jan. Comes in a nice gift box too if you are heaving it to MIL’s.

Tel: 6825 1062 /6825 1059
Email sinhb-festive@interconti.com

 

Swissotel Merchant Court
Known for its local food and Peranakan flavours, Swissotel Merchant Court’s New Year treats feature local lovelies like Mini Peanut Puffs (Kok Chai), Shrimp Rolls and Peranakan-styled Kueh Lapis Original and Prunes Kueh Lapis. They also have a darn good, light and lovely Mandarin Mousse Cake (right) which we totally enjoyed last year and which you mustn’t miss. (It’s really good!) And for good luck, they’ve put a unique Japanese twist to their yu sheng this year: it’s Prosperity Six Treasures Salmon Yu Sheng, comprises Raw Salmon, Scallops and Jellyfish Wakame with Tobiko and Wasabi Rice.

Tel: 6239 1848/ 1847
Email emc.reservations@swissotel.com

 

 

Majestic Restaurant
You can’t go wrong with food by Chef Yong Bing Ngen, and he’s making life really easy for us this CNY. His mod Chinese restaurant Majestic is offering an easy five-course Dragon King Takeaway Dinner (from $360 for six; $568 for 10) with salmon yu sheng, dragon king treasure claypot filled with 18 ingredients including whole abalone, Alaskan crab, fish maw, prawns, dried oyster, scallops, etc; a roasted chicken, rice with Chinese sausage and preserved meat and deep fried nian gao layered with yam and sweet potato. If you just want the poon choy, there’s a dragon king treasure claypot at $300 for 6 people, and for some local ambrosia, a durian nian gao packed with mao shan wang durian ($23.80 for 8 pieces)!  From 9 Jan to 6 Feb.

Tel: 65114718
restaurant@newmajestichotel.com 

Carousel, Royal Plaza on Scotts
I always say the cakes and bakes at Carousel are often overlooked and underestimated. They do some of the best macaroons in town and in so many flavours, too. I buy a box every time I am in the vicinity. This CNY, pick up their festive macaroons in mandarin, coconut and pineapple flavours ($26 for 12) and a cute lychee tiramisu with raspberry rose marmalade ($52). (Yes, the culinary team there is pretty creative.) Their Eight Treasures Yu Sheng (from $150 for 4-6 people) is also an impressive serving of trad Chinese premium ingredients like ginseng, longans, red dates, salsify, silver fungus, wolfberries and angular solomon’s seal. There’s even a bit of molecular tossed in with the red dates taking the form of gelified strips, topped off with a mango and passion fruit sauce.  Fruity and festive, girls!
Tel: 6589 7788 or gourmet@royalplaza.com.sg

 

Grand Park City Hall
Good value picks here at Coleman Street. Pick up the Park Palace Imperial Suckling Pig ( $228+), Salmon Yu Sheng ($48-medium, S$68-large), and its Chinese New Year Pen Cai (right, $238++ for 6 persons;$388++ for 10 persons) laden with Baby Abalone, Sea Cucumber, Whole Conpoys, Fish Maw, Live Prawns, Roasted Duck, Roasted Pork Belly, Duck Web, Soy Chicken, Fatt Choy, Black Mushrooms, Lotus Root, Broccoli, Radish, Beancurd Skin, Gingko Nuts, Black Fungus and Homemade Fish Balls with quality stock in a casserole pot, and for dessert, their super cute Lunar New Year Fish Nian Gao ($32, top). Available from 9 Jan – 6 Feb.

Tel:  6432 5543 / 5546.
10 Coleman Street

 

Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore
Hai Tien Lo at Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore has one of the widest ranges of yu sheng’s to choose from. We like the graphic dragon-inspired yu sheng platters – See the pretty picture? Available from 9 Jan, the gorgeous Lucky Dragon Yu Sheng ($388) is a spread of lobster, salmon, tuna and Japanese surf clam while the Golden Harvest Yu Sheng (from $88) combines lobster and tuna, drizzled with a truffle sauce. It’s Japanese restaurant Keyaki is offering a Jumbo Dragon Wafu Sashimi Yu Sheng with pumpkin, carrot, Japanese ginger, radish, seaweed, mandarin peel, jellyfish and rice crackers topped with lobster, tuna, salmon, yellowtail and tobiko sashimi! Now that’s pretty different without spinning off into orbit! 9 Jan – 6 Feb

Tel: 6826 8240