“Rolling to Feng Shui Inn, Forest”
Welcome the auspicious Year of the Goat this Chinese New Year 2015 with a wide array of delicious Yu Sheng options, prosperity offerings, celebratory menus and yummy takeaway goodies at Resorts World Sentosa.
Spend time with your loved ones by kick-starting a year of peace and harmony with enjoying scrumptious offerings at Resort World Sentosa’s premium celebrity restaurants.
We were invited to Resorts World Sentosa in January to sample the wide array of Chinese New Year signature dishes at two of their restaurants – Feng Shui Inn & Forest 森, which we will introduce below.
Feng Shui Inn
Feng Shui Inn is most definitely an appropriate name for an establishment in the Casino Integrated Resort. The restaurant is located at Crockford’s Tower at Resorts World Sentosa, which is actually open to all members (and is not an exclusive high rollers only area like I initially thought). For the uninitiated, it can be quite confusing to get here, especially with all the imposing “invite guests/vips only” signs and the very secretive location.
For this lunar new year, Chinese Head Chef Li Kwok Kwong of Resorts World Sentosa has elevated Feng Shui Inn’s festive offerings by putting a twist on the traditional Yu Sheng and classic Cantonese fare.
Feng Shui Inn feels grand and imposing, with fortuitous gold and silver hues in abundance. We suspect this may have something to do with its namesake feng shui and superstition, so if you know anything about Feng Shui, do share with us the significance of this in the comments box below.
Wild Morel & Japanese Flying Fish Roe “Lo Hei” ($108/3-6 pax or $168/7-10pax). Feng Shui Inn’s Yu Sheng comes in the form of a beautifully designed goat. The dish incorporates earthy flavoured wild Morel Mushrooms (which had interesting chewy texture) and crunchy Japanese flying fish roe. In addition to the normal Chinese crackers found in Yu Sheng, Chef Li has added crispy fish skin and cornflakes for more crunch.
Fun fact. Did you know that you are supposed to leave some on the Yu Sheng on your individual plates after finishing most of it? It’s supposed to ensure you are prosperous for the new year. Remember, clean yu sheng plates means you cleaned out your luck!
Double-boiled Pacific Pearl Clams with Black Fungus. Chef Li tells us that the individual bowls of soup have been in the steamer since 7am which was a good five hours before we were served. One will usually remember the usual rubbery texture of clams but these were anything but.
The clam was exceedingly soft with a texture similar to dried conpoy after double boiling, just much softer. A light and refreshing soup, and a welcome change from the usual double boiled abalone ones.
Braised 6 Head Fresh Abalone with Dried Oyster. The well braised abalone was really succulent,tender and required almost no effort cutting it like a hot knife thru butter. The accompanying dried oyster was one of the best I have tried so far; fairly large and meaty.
Layer Cake with Custard & Golden Flakes. At the first glance, the dessert resembled “3 layered pork”. It’s made up of two layers of nian gao – a traditional and a RWS’s festive version, layers of custard and dried coconut shreds. To be frank, I am not much of a fan of nian gao but this was really unique and delicious. So much so that I hope all restaurants will serve it this way going forward.
Feng Shui Inn’s CNY menu 2015 starts from 4 Feb 2015 to 5 Mar 2015 2014.
Expected Damage: from $108/pax
Feng Shui Inn: 10 Sentosa Gateway, Level G2, Crockfords Tower Singapore 098270 | Tel: 6577 6688 | Website
Forest 森
After a satisfying first lunch, we were bussed over to Forest located in the Equarius Hotel for round 2 of this Chinese New Year tasting. Forest is the brain child of famous local celebrity Chef Sam Leong. Along with Chef Mike Tan, they have both taken bold steps, breaking away from the orthodox Chinese dining experience and creating an exquisite innovative one.
Forest restaurant looks nothing like a traditional Chinese restaurant – there’s an open kitchen as well where you can see the chefs in action. Feels more like an European coffee house, but isn’t this a Chinese restaurant? Another testament to their innovative spin.
Four Treasures Soup. Served in a young coconut nested on a bed of coarse sea salt. Fun fact: they used fine sea salt initially but it kept getting stuck to cutlery and made the dishes uber salty. The rich chicken broth based soup has generous chunks of fish maw, sea cucumber, crabmeat and conpoy. Rich in flavour with a very smooth texture – 3 thumbs up! Best dish I’ve had for the day.
Boston Lobster. There’s actually half a lobster in this dish just in case you were wondering; only the claw comes with the shell. Wok-fried with green chive juice, giving it a slight ‘oniony’ taste, and fresh lily bulb (added crunch), it was light and refreshing. A welcome change to the usual ginger sauce lobster.
Sakura Chicken Roll. Braised chicken roll served with dried oysters, fa cai and yam puree. The chicken was a little salty for my liking and the oyster wasn’t as plump as the one at Feng Shui Inn but it was nonetheless unique and fairly nice. It does look more like stuffed bangers and mash though.
Chilled Coconut Jello. Home made jellied coconut but served with aloe vera and sea coconut cubes, sprinkled with popping candy! Every mouthful of the smooth jelly comes with little explosions. Highly recommended dessert with that hint of nostalgia from the pop rocks.
Forest CNY menu 2015 starts from 2 Feb 2015 to 5 Mar 2015 2014.
Expected Damage: from $108/pax
Forest 森: 8 Sentosa Gateway, Level 1, Equarius Hotel Singapore098269 | Tel: 6577 6688 | Website
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Overall a classy, sophisticated affair for 2015 Chinese New Year Dining at Resorts World Sentosa. Price is definitely on the more refined side as well, but neither is quality compromised as demonstrated by the superb skill of the chefs.
