Savour Wines

Savour Wines was held at the open area next to Marina Bay Sands from 9-11 September. Having visited Savour Gourmet in May, I was quite excited for this event as I was really impressed with the food at the previous edition. However, I skipped the Wine Market, which offered wine tastings for an affordable $10-$15, as I am not a big fan of any kind of alcohol. The crowds were much smaller compared to Savour Gourmet, perhaps because the Wine Market attracted a good number of people away from the food area, and the event space was expanded (physically, making the area more spacious), along with the addition of a few more restaurant offerings compared to the May event. 

BIRD BIRD (Chefs Fiona Ting, Bjorn Shen)

I loved the candied pecans and the kataifi pastry from this Rhuppleberry Softie Pie (B+). The rest of the elements were alright. The brown butter flavour was not that strong; I don't think I would have known if it wasn't specified.

Rhubarb-apple-strawberry cobbler, kataifi pastry, candied pecans, brown butter soft serve

MITZO (Chefs Nicky Ng, Ben Yapp)

An interesting combination - crispy pork belly and chocolate liqueur sesame dumpling (B+). The dumpling was pretty good, as I do enjoy chocolate liqueur and sesame dumplings on their own. The pork belly (which came as part of the combo dish) was so-so and the cookies and cream ice-cream was mediocre.

Crispy pork belly and deep-fried chocolate liqueur sesame dumpling served with Haagen Dazs ice-cream

STELLAR at 1-ALTITUDE (Chefs Wendy Kuek, Christopher Millar)

​I absolutely loved the Smokehouse Platter (A) this. The braised angus short rib was perfectly cooked, the wagyu foie gras sausage was tasty but not overpowered by the foie gras flavour, while the smoked rib eye was not too bad either. The smoked dashi oyster and hay smoked Scottish salmon (B) actually came in a ziplock bag. The smoke flavour was extremely strong, but that flavour wasn't really infused into the seafood at all, so it just tasted like normal salmon (I didn't have the oyster).

Smokehouse Platter: Braised Angus short rib, smoked wagyu rib eye, wagyu foie gras sausage

THE RABBIT STASH (Chefs Matthew Mok, Soon Teck (Skydy))

The slow-cooked wagyu beef (A) was cooked really nicely, and I thought it actually worked well with the pastry. The addition of the crispy rice as a crunchy element was a nice touch too. I also loved their shrimp paste chicken (A-), a hearty dish that evoked some familiar, homely flavours. I thought that the portion size were really generous. The third dish available at this stall was the nonya laksa penne with tiger prawns (B+). It was not the most unique of flavours but points again for good portion, and I think they went down the laksa route because it is one of the most popular local dishes after all. Indeed, this stall actually had the longest queue aside from Three Buns.

48hrs Slow Cook Wagyu Beef with Trompette Stew, 58 Degrees 1st Born Egg and Crispy Brown Rice

Shrimp Paste Chicken with Village Rice

Nonya Laksa Penne with Tiger Prawns

The Song of India (Chef Manjunath Mural, Chef Jitendra Dutt)

My favourite dish here would have to be the deconstructed goat cheese samosa (A), which was accompanied by a tasty pomegranate tamarind chutney. The flavours were unique and packed quite a punch. The lamb rack (B+) was fairly good but didn't really wow me, while the chargrilled chicken with tomato sauce (B) tasted quite ordinary; I was expecting more from a 1-star Michelin restaurant.

Deconstructed Goat Cheese Samosa, Pomegranate Tamarind Chutney

Siya Mirch Lamb Rack, Masala Cumin Potato Mash

Chargrilled Chicken, Tomato Honey Makhani Sauce, Saffron Quineo Edemame Pinenut Pulao

THE STUDY (Chefs Darren Chua, Danial Syed)

Iberico Pork Scotch egg (B) was a first for me. I don't know if it's just this dish but I didn't really enjoy the flavours of the pickled beetroot and red cabbage gel that much. The "PBD" (A) on the other hand, was really yummy. It comprised a soft banana cake, peanut butter ice cream and candied walnut topped with salted caramel. It was my favourite dessert of the event but I didn't take a picture thanks to the poor lighting.

THREE BUNS (Chefs Adam Penney, Gabriel Cher)

Truffle Hound (A) was really good, and it was pretty huge - 100g prime beef frankfurter, roasted Portobello mushroom, garlic miso butter, ketchup, truffle aioli, melted truffle cheese, in a toasted brioche bun. I suppose you can't go wrong with truffle oil these days. The Baby Huey burger (B+), which consisted of a 100g aged beef patty, cheese, ketchup, pickles and spiced mayo in a toasted brioche bun, was also enjoyable but not as good as the one from Gattopardo during Savour Gourmet as the patty was a tad too dry.

XPERIENCE Restaurant, SO Sofitel (Chef Trevor Paulo)

Poached prawns with ponzu dressing (A) were delicious. All the flavours, especially the granny smith apple and baby radish, worked well together with the prawns. The beef short rib with shallot jus and onion puree (B-), however, was disappointing. It was overcooked and the meat was tough. The carrot cake (B) was also a little uninspired in my opinion.

Final Thoughts

I think that overall, the standard of food was slightly lower compared to Savour Gourmet, with only a few stand-out dishes that I really enjoyed. I visited both on Friday night (1st session) and Sunday night (last session) and the dishes that I tried on the last session were actually much better on the whole than the first.