Epicurean Market 2016
The 4th edition of Marina Bay Sands' Epicurean Market was held at the Convention Centre from 12-14 August 2016. Looking back at my post on last year's event, I noticed that there was actually an increase in the admission ticket price by $7, costing $35 this year. But I think this was completely justified with the significant increase in the number of dining options as well as dishes available at each stall. The wine section, which I didn't really pay attention to last year, also seemed to be expanded for this year's event. I tried many more dishes compared to last year, and had a really great time. I also spent more time at the other sections of the fair, attending a couple of masterclasses and tasting some of the wines and other drinks. Totally looking forward to yet another exciting food-filled weekend next year.
CUT - Wolfgang Puck
Cut is certainly on my to-go list of restaurants in Singapore. All the food that I've tried here in 2015 and 2016 were really enjoyable. Since I recently visited Spago (also owned by Wolfgang Puck), I decided not to have any of their dishes this time. The Maryland Crab Cake (A-) was really packed full of flavour and I enjoyed every bit of it. Their Baked Alaska Pie (A-) was also really enjoyable, with a rich coconut, pandan and kaya filling, and came in a really generous serving size.
Sky on 57 - Justin Quek
Slow-cooked egg (A) just had the perfect combination of flavours. Everything in it - potato espuma, Iberico pork belly, sautéed mushroom and chicken jus just worked perfectly together. Their pan-roasted wagyu tri-tip (B+) was slightly less impressive even with an interesting sauce of sea urchin butter. Meanwhile, the salmon tartare on toast (B) was quite ordinary.
Adrift - David Myers
Well, I guess having this dish of crispy river crabs (B-) was an experience for me in itself. I am generally not too adventurous when it comes to food, and this dish was interesting but I wasn't really a big fan of the flavours. The grilled hokkaido scallop (B+) was a tad overcooked, but had a really perfect lemongrass and celeriac sauce, and was really pretty on the plate. The lobster roll (A+) was easily one of my favourite dishes at the event - the lobster was so fresh and tasty! While not necessarily the most visually appealing dessert, I enjoyed their jackfruit turon with ginger ice cream (A) a lot. The flavour combination and the salted caramel sauce really worked well for me, while the ginger ice cream was really refreshing. The other dessert was a spiced chocolate fritter with persimmon (B+), but the chocolate was a little too bitter for my liking.
North
This was one of two restaurants from the Venetian Macau making a guest appearance at this year's event, serving Chinese food. I tried one dish from here - Poached farm chicken and shrimp in Chinese yellow wine (B+). Loved the soup, which was really tasty and wasn't overpowered by the wine flavour.
Golden Peacock
This Indian restaurant can also be found at the Venetian Macao. The Jhinga Avocado Raj Chaat (B+) looked really pretty and tasted really good as well. I loved the prawn and avocado combination. The other citrus elements also complemented these flavours really well.
Bread Street Kitchen - Gordon Ramsay
Initially I thought that I wouldn't try any of the dishes here since I had already visited the restaurant once before, and wasn't too impressed with the signature fish and chips. I'm glad I did go for it in the end because the slider pork crackling slider with BBQ sauce (A) was heavenly. The crackling was absolutely phenomenal, and the BBQ sauce was so rich and tasty. Probably the crispiest pork I've ever tasted in my life! On the other hand, the avocado wedges (B-) was the only other major disappointment for me aside from the river crabs. The whole dish just tasted quite bland.
Waku Ghin - Tetsuya Wakuda
Perpetually the most popular stall at the entire event. Besides, the service here also seemed to be a bit slower compared to the other stalls. The strange thing about service was that they actually provided us with queue numbers which were not in order, so I think that caused some confusion, and those who decided to leave for a moment thinking that it wouldn't be their turn so fast ended up causing more frustration for the servers as they had to repeatedly call for their numbers to no avail. The portions here were also really small compared to the others and prices were much higher. In fact, this should not be surprising, given that dining at the actual restaurant would cost a whopping $400 for a 10-course omakase menu. That said, the food here was consistently good. The marinated botan shrimp with sea urchin and oscietra caviar (A-) tasted just like the ocean. I guess I'm just not so used to these flavours, so it wasn't that impressive in my opinion. The grilled ohmi beef (A), however, was perfectly cooked, and tasted amazing with fresh wasabi from Shizuoka. I also tried the Sautéed CEAS Queensland spanner crab meat with chili basil (A-) since it was also one of the recommended dishes according to the event guide, and I really liked it. However, didn't manage to get a good picture thanks to the poor lighting in the main dining area.
Yardbird
CUT - Wolfgang Puck
Cut is certainly on my to-go list of restaurants in Singapore. All the food that I've tried here in 2015 and 2016 were really enjoyable. Since I recently visited Spago (also owned by Wolfgang Puck), I decided not to have any of their dishes this time. The Maryland Crab Cake (A-) was really packed full of flavour and I enjoyed every bit of it. Their Baked Alaska Pie (A-) was also really enjoyable, with a rich coconut, pandan and kaya filling, and came in a really generous serving size.
Sky on 57 - Justin Quek
Slow-cooked egg (A) just had the perfect combination of flavours. Everything in it - potato espuma, Iberico pork belly, sautéed mushroom and chicken jus just worked perfectly together. Their pan-roasted wagyu tri-tip (B+) was slightly less impressive even with an interesting sauce of sea urchin butter. Meanwhile, the salmon tartare on toast (B) was quite ordinary.
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| Slow-cooked egg, potato espuma, Iberico pork belly, sautéed mushroom, chicken jus |
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| Pan roasted soyu marinated Australian wagyu beef tri-tip with sea urchin butter and asparagus |
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| Hijiki marinated Loch Fyne Scottish salmon tartare on toast |
Adrift - David Myers
Well, I guess having this dish of crispy river crabs (B-) was an experience for me in itself. I am generally not too adventurous when it comes to food, and this dish was interesting but I wasn't really a big fan of the flavours. The grilled hokkaido scallop (B+) was a tad overcooked, but had a really perfect lemongrass and celeriac sauce, and was really pretty on the plate. The lobster roll (A+) was easily one of my favourite dishes at the event - the lobster was so fresh and tasty! While not necessarily the most visually appealing dessert, I enjoyed their jackfruit turon with ginger ice cream (A) a lot. The flavour combination and the salted caramel sauce really worked well for me, while the ginger ice cream was really refreshing. The other dessert was a spiced chocolate fritter with persimmon (B+), but the chocolate was a little too bitter for my liking.
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| River crabs |
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| Grilled Hokkaido Scallop |
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| Lobster roll, Wasabi Mayo, Shisho Flower, Seaweed Bun |
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| Jackfruit Turon, Salted Caramel, Ginger Ice Cream |
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| Spiced Chocolate Fritter with Persimmon |
North
This was one of two restaurants from the Venetian Macau making a guest appearance at this year's event, serving Chinese food. I tried one dish from here - Poached farm chicken and shrimp in Chinese yellow wine (B+). Loved the soup, which was really tasty and wasn't overpowered by the wine flavour.
Golden Peacock
This Indian restaurant can also be found at the Venetian Macao. The Jhinga Avocado Raj Chaat (B+) looked really pretty and tasted really good as well. I loved the prawn and avocado combination. The other citrus elements also complemented these flavours really well.
Bread Street Kitchen - Gordon Ramsay
Initially I thought that I wouldn't try any of the dishes here since I had already visited the restaurant once before, and wasn't too impressed with the signature fish and chips. I'm glad I did go for it in the end because the slider pork crackling slider with BBQ sauce (A) was heavenly. The crackling was absolutely phenomenal, and the BBQ sauce was so rich and tasty. Probably the crispiest pork I've ever tasted in my life! On the other hand, the avocado wedges (B-) was the only other major disappointment for me aside from the river crabs. The whole dish just tasted quite bland.
 |
| Avocado wedges on pumpernickel toast, poached egg, mustard mayo |
Waku Ghin - Tetsuya Wakuda
Perpetually the most popular stall at the entire event. Besides, the service here also seemed to be a bit slower compared to the other stalls. The strange thing about service was that they actually provided us with queue numbers which were not in order, so I think that caused some confusion, and those who decided to leave for a moment thinking that it wouldn't be their turn so fast ended up causing more frustration for the servers as they had to repeatedly call for their numbers to no avail. The portions here were also really small compared to the others and prices were much higher. In fact, this should not be surprising, given that dining at the actual restaurant would cost a whopping $400 for a 10-course omakase menu. That said, the food here was consistently good. The marinated botan shrimp with sea urchin and oscietra caviar (A-) tasted just like the ocean. I guess I'm just not so used to these flavours, so it wasn't that impressive in my opinion. The grilled ohmi beef (A), however, was perfectly cooked, and tasted amazing with fresh wasabi from Shizuoka. I also tried the Sautéed CEAS Queensland spanner crab meat with chili basil (A-) since it was also one of the recommended dishes according to the event guide, and I really liked it. However, didn't manage to get a good picture thanks to the poor lighting in the main dining area.
Yardbird
Like Spago last year, this year's Epicurean Market featured a soon-to-be-opened restaurant in Marina Bay Sands. Yardbird specializes in Southern American cuisine, so fried chicken was no doubt the star here. Their signature Lewellyn's fried chicken, watermelon and waffles (A) didn't disappoint. The chicken was tender, and the maple bourbon syrup was to die for. Waffles were good too! YUM! Another stellar dish was the fried green tomato BLT (A). Looks can certainly be deceiving. I wasn't too impressed with the Mini Mama's chicken biscuits (B), which just didn't really pack as much punch, and it didn't look that appealing either, hence the lack of a picture.
Long Chim
While I didn't try any of the dishes at their stall, they offered Thai Milk Tea and Lime Tea for a very reasonable price of $4. So after the Citibank discount, the nett price of $3.60 is actually comparable to most Thai restaurants or drink stalls around Singapore like Tuk Tuk Cha or Soi 55. The drinks were ordinary, but aside from the free Nespresso this was probably the cheapest drink available at the entire fair. Good call for them to serve this.
My friends and I also attended a free masterclass conducted by chef David Thompson, on street food. He prepared a green curry dish, and everyone in the audience was served a curry noodle dish to conclude the session. I thought the dish was quite nice, but not really wowed by it. The demo itself was quite entertaining because the chefs were cracking jokes the whole way through instead of really doing any teaching, and I certainly had a good laugh.
db Bistro
The prawn cocktail (B+) had a really yummy sauce, and the prawns were fresh, but not a spectacular dish overall. Their short rib and foie gras slider (B+) was also quite tasty but not as nice as the other sliders around, and I couldn't really taste any foie gras.
Cé La Vi
Lamb ribs, pork belly with fried mantou (B+) - I love the fried mantou, and the pork belly was also cooked really well. The lamb ribs were not bad too. I also tried the cocktail here, and wasn't that impressed. At least it was quite cheap, at only $10.20 after discount.
Final thoughts
A really worthwhile experience, with a fair number of freebies to enjoy too - champagne flutes (supposedly worth $46), lots of coke, sampling of wines and cheeses, and masterclasses (some of which even have free food after). As a first time Uber user I also got to enjoy several perks like $20 off my first ride, which I used on the first night, as well as an offer on UberEATS. Can't wait for my next gastronomical adventure!
A really worthwhile experience, with a fair number of freebies to enjoy too - champagne flutes (supposedly worth $46), lots of coke, sampling of wines and cheeses, and masterclasses (some of which even have free food after). As a first time Uber user I also got to enjoy several perks like $20 off my first ride, which I used on the first night, as well as an offer on UberEATS. Can't wait for my next gastronomical adventure!
