Restaurant News & New Menus in Singapore: Hot Off The Hob

From 11am to 5pm on 1 to 9 August, relive the good ole days and enjoy traditional childhood games from days of old – flipping country erasers, kicking chapteh, play hopscotch or throwing five stones at both Bee’s Knees and Botanico. Chow down on exclusive a-la-carte dishes from Botanico such as chef Su’s interpretation of ‘Laksa,’ ($18++) with chilled capellini pasta, laksa dressing, inari, poached prawns, oyster aioli, and laksa leaf crumbs; and Beef Rendang Pizza at Bee’s Knees with braised beef cheeks, Spanish onions and mozzarella followed by Pandan Waffles plated with coconut gratings, fresh banana, gula Melaka syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Read about other quirky National Day Eats here.

Bee’s Knees and Botanico, 50 Cluny Park Road, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore 257488, www.thegarage.sg

Merci Marcel — New Club Street Location and  Net Set Lunch Menu

Oh-so-pretty Tiong Bahru French cafe Merci Marcel has just opened up a new location at the corner of Club Street and Gemmill Lane. With an eye toward hungry crowds from the nearby CBD, this location offers more individualized portions (though we still found them to be huge!), along with a fab set lunch menu ($30 for 2 courses, $34 for 3…and with delectable desserts like gooey Chocolate Cake and Venchi Ice Cream with Honey Tuile, you will want to go for that extra course, mama!). Starters range from light offerings like Grilled Asparagus (pictured above) to a sinful Stracciatella di Bufala with artichoke chips. Set menu mains include French Dumpling Pasta and Ceviche of Red Snapper, while other new menu highlights include a hearty Duck Parmentier Façon Marcel and a Whole Catalonia Octopus Leg. As with the Tiong Bahru location, you can look forward to lots of interesting, well-priced wines, and the cute little shop has expanded to 100 bottles on offer! Just take note, mamas: the restaurant is closed on Mondays.

Merci Marcel Club Street, 7-9 Club Street, Singapore 069403, www.mercimarcel.com

PS. Cafe’s ‘greenhouse in the sky’ at Raffles City is introducing a brand new breakfast menu, expanding on its previous offerings and bringing in new dishes to add to the old favourites. Available on weekdays from 9.30am – 11.30am, the new and expanded breakfast offerings are perfect for early business meetings. Signature breakfast staples remain such as Breakfast Grand Slam Bunwich ($15) with fried egg, crispy bacon, pork and thyme sausage and caramelised onions, as well as the Almond and Chia Seed Granola ($12) with herb-scented tropical fruits, honey yoghurt and young coconut, while new items include local favourite PS. Kaya Toast ($5.5) with house made organic ash white sourdough, or there’s Rustic Mushrooms on Toast ($11), Two Eggs on Toast with kale pesto ($14) and chef’s unique take on Smashed Avocado Toast ($14).

PS. Cafe Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road, Raffles City #03-37, Singapore 179103, Tel: (+65) 6708 9288, www.pscafe.com/pscafe-raffles-city

Neon Pigeon — New Menu

Neon Pigeon’s Head Chef Justin Hammond and Chef de Cuisine Dennis Smit have launched a seasonal menu with 12 new Japanese-inspired dishes. Drawing on his passion for Japanese fermentation techniques, Chef Smit has created a unique starter in the form of Pigeon’s Pickles with a combination of cured carrots, eggplant, ginger shoots, lotus root, nori and a side of creamy avocado. Hamachi Tartare is lightly salted for six hours then torched, and finished with creamy miso-tofu dressing and topped with a quail egg, pickled daikon, and chill flakes. The Duck Tonkatsu is an acclaimed highlight from the Meat ‘N’ Poultry section where duck breast is served with a delicately balanced ponzu sauce which skilfully cuts through the richness,  accompanied with crispy puffed soybeans and shiso pickled cucumber, showcasing a unique combination of textures with a kick of acidity.

Neon Pigeon, 1 Keong Saik Rd, Singapore 089109, Tel: (+65) 6222 3623, www.neonpigeonsg.com

Summerlong — New Milkshakes     

Summerlong – one of our fave places to chill along Robertson Quay while the kids scoot nearby – has just launched five indulgent Milkshakes: Passion of the fruit, Mint Condition, Peanut Butter Jelly Time, Raspberry Rhapsody and Mango Unchained, all priced at $16++. These milkshakes are almost meals in themselves; take the Peanut Butter Jelly Time, which consists of a thick peanut butter shake with banana puree and topped with a baby banana skewer, a chocolate bar and a peanut butter jelly sandwich!

Halia at Singapore Botanic Gardens — Halal Catering

Halal Halia at Singapore Botanic Gardens has launched a dine-at home catering service. If you are in a group of 5 – 10 look out for the Communal Feast, at $280+ and $535+ respectively. Packaged in specially designed Halia catering boxes, the communal dishes comprise 14 dishes; from pumpkin, tomato basil or celeriac and apple soup, to Pulled Duck with Soba Noodle Salad, and Halia’s signature Lemongrass and Ginger Prawn Salad and Paperbag Oven-baked Seabass Fillet. The communal menu also includes two desserts: Sticky Toffee Pudding and Triple Chocolate Mousse. Halia also caters for smaller catering options and there’s the a la carte to choose from as well as buffet menus (from $28/pp).

The Halia, 1 Cluny Road, Ginger Garden Singapore Botanic Garden, Singapore 259569, Tel: (+65) 8444 1148, www.thehalia.com

Ding Dong — New Menu

Ding Dong introduces 18 new exciting dishes to its a la carte menu, a creative reimagination of Asia’s quintessential flavours by newly appointed Head Chef, Miller Mai. Start with Ding Dong’s rendition of Kueh Pie Tee, Singapore Chilli Crab, or the refreshing Tuna Tataki, with Cucumber Carpaccio, and Calamansi Sorbet, served with avocado sauce and topped with fresh Ikura. Mains of Lamb Shank, Sauce Merah, and Chickpeas sees the lamb braised for 12 hours to achieve a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness or there’s Beef Short Rib, Buah Keluak, Wingbean Salad which comprises tender Wagyu beef served in a generous buah keluak sauce. The new cocktail menu, Not So Lonely Planet, has also been reinvented by Group Bar Manager, Joe Schofield and features 12 Asian-inspired cocktails like the Butterfly, a blue Whiskey Ball made of frozen blue pea flower
juice or the Thai-inspired cocktail, Sabai Sabai, a vodka-based cocktail infused with a dash of Thai herbs, blue ginger and citrus.

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