Savour 2015

So Savour 2015 is happening this weekend. Approximately a gain of 1.5kg in tummy fats later, I have decided what was “Nay”, “Hmmm” and “Hell Yeah!”.

NAY

Chicken Skin Sundae – coconut ice cream, salted palm sugar butterscotch, corn, peanuts, and coq scratchings (Bird Bird, Singapore). The naughtily-named coq scratchings were acceptable in small amounts but felt really tough and guilt-ridden to plow through after just a few bites. While the unique mix of local-flavoured components did help reduce the oil factor (and probably tastes good as a standalone and coqless dessert), that is not much of a consolation. Didn’t finish this.

Bo Shrimp Toast with Salted Egg Puree & Truffles (Bo Innovation, Hong Kong). It tastes exactly like how it looks and sounds.

Sea Lettuce Cream, Frozen Sable, Jackfruit & Sencha Tea (Garagistes, Australia). The sea lettuce cream felt like a slightly shy and quiet vanilla, whilst the frozen sable was sharply salty. The jackfruit seemed hired solely to fit the exotic, diversity quota and not do much else.

Garam Masala Cake with Rouge Sorbet and Dulcey Panna Cotta (KU DÉ TA, Singapore). The slightly spiced cake was a non-event, hidden beneath the big foamy red breasts you see. Apart from being pretty and rather tarty, this temptress failed embarassingly in her seduction efforts.

Veloute of Pea, Sauteed Tiger Prawns and Lemon Jelly (Midsummer House, UK). Creamy, sour, with the lingering and distinct taste of alfalfa sprouts – this was confusing.

Grand Cru Chocolate – cremeux, pepper shortbread, coconut lemongrass sorbet (OSIA, Singapore). As memorable as the top 4D numbers for March 28, 1998.

HMMM

Linguine topped with fresh, creamy Hokkaido Sea Urchin and traditional Sardinian Bottarga (Forlino, Singapore) was a Hell Yeah!. Essentially a baby-steps introductory course to uni. Every inch of linguine was coated with the gonad juices, and man, it was awesome. Newcomers should taste the uni pieces with caution, as the reproductive organ taste can be a shock. The Crunchy Fried Spanish doughnut with Home Chocolate Sauce (Sabio Tapas Bar, Singapore) was a Nay – it felt like the doughnuts were channelling a turgid tree branch. The Prawn Ceviche with Chilli Paste, Coconut Milk and Deep Fried Plantain Banana (Bumbo Rum Club, Singapore) was a Hmmm, feeling like a quirky laksa who studies at La Salle.

Trio of Molecular Buns (Bo Innovation, Hong Kong) – char siew, xiao long bao and lotus paste. They explode marvellously and spurt their Hong Kong soup juices rudely in your mouth, and that was all.

Kurobuta Pork Belly Confit, Sweet Potato & Black Truffle Dressing (Il Cielo, Singapore). I was puzzled by the apricot paste, which hung outside the party like an uninvited guest who just wanted to fit in with the cool kids. The pork belly confit was soft and fatty, but it lacked a crucial X Factor and thus just tasted both flatly fat and fatly flat.

Lemon Posset (Midsummer House, UK). The meringue grape-esque cubes melted like sugar in your mouth, and I loved how cold the freeze-dried berries were and how there were varying degrees of coldness within the same dish. Lemon cream hid at the bottom discreetly like a 1980s burglar, but I welcomed its sweet and sour presence.

HELL YEAH!

Truffle Toro Miso (Stellar@1-Altitude, Singapore). The tuna was substantial and chunky like chicken, and wore its creamy miso and truffle taste well.

Lightly Steamed Sea Bass, Furikake, Fragrant Fish Head Sauce (Garagistes, Australia). A very pleasant, comforting and Chinese-tasting dish. The fish flaked voluntarily with zero resistance in manner of suicidal self-destruction. Marvellous.

Flowers of Thailand (Kiin Kiin, Denmark). Like swimming in a glacier pool made from a blend of different Pokka floral teas. Irresistibly fragrant, and quite possibly the most memorable item of the night.

Pork Belly Lollipop with Apple Jelly (KU DÉ TA, Singapore). The pork belly lollipop has two distinct parts – the warm fatty bits that melt the moment they make contact with your tongue, and the chewy charsiew-esque part. I absolutely can’t decide which I prefer, but make no mistake, the pig here is glorious. The apple jelly tasted like apple tea with a slightly herbal tinge.

Sous Vide Duck Breast with Spicy Yuzu Miso and Cauliflower Puree (KU DÉ TA, Singapore). The duck was the right balance of fatty and chewy, and the cookie lent a salty crunch to the proceedings. However, the miso and purée had as much personality as a common pigeon from the void deck, and just like said bird they could fly off and nobody would notice or bother, really.

Tuna – unstained, compressed watermelon, yuzu emulsion, frozen basil (OSIA, Singapore). Not crazy about the basil – I tasted much better elsewhere – but I loved the combination of fresh tuna and succulent watermelon chunks, and how I wouldn’t completely know what I was forking into my mouth as they looked indistinguishable.

Hokkaido Scallop – roasted Israeli cous cous, curried coconut cream (OSIA, Singapore). The Hokkaido scallop was bouncy like a castle. I loved the cous cous, which channelled Maggi curry noodles in its gentle, powdery curry flavour.

It was fun. Here’s to Savour 2016.

Savour 2015
1 Republic Boulevard
F1 Pit Building
Singapore 038975

26 – 29 March 2015