Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant At Gardens By The Bay

Located below the Flower Dome (gardens by the bay), Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant is a newest venture for Chef Yong Bing Ngen. The 110 seater restaurant offers a spacious layout for both family and group dining as well as a private room that can occupy up to 14 guests. With its must try Signature Bays Kopi Crab and Baked Rice and Assorted Seafood in Chef’s Recipe Sauce, below are some of the dishes that we have tried two weeks ago.

For starter, we get to try 3 selections of Dim Sum items from their menu which are Seared Chilli Crab Meat Bun, Steamed Shanghai Dumpling Pork and Steamed Siew Mai Dumpling. The Chilli Crab Meat Bun was good with a crispy outer skin and nutty flavour from the sesame seeds. When bite, it burst with a spicy sweet chilli crab sauce which makes you having no intention to share the rest of the bun with those sitting at your table.

On the other hand, the Steamed Shanghai Dumpling Pork is surprisingly good with a thin layer of outer skin wrapping the meat filling and tasty soup broth.

Seared Chilli Crab Meat Bun - 辣椒蟹生煎包 (S$4.50 for 3 pcs)

Steamed Shanghai Dumpling Pork - 上海小笼包 (S$4.20 for 3 pcs)

Steamed Siew Mai Dumpling - 香菇蒸烧卖 (S$4.50 for 4 pcs)

Being a Cantonese styled restaurant, Majestic Bay offers quite a range of soup menu from Soup Of The Day - 瓦煲老火汤 (S$18.00 for 2-4 pax, S$27.00 for 5-8 pax) to Chicken soup with cordyceps flower, conpoy and chinese ham or Bird nest with abalone and assorted seafood treasure soup and etc. And as as soup lover, I definitely love their double-boiled soup which was boiled over low heat till thick and flavorsome. 

Steamed, Live Prawns, Minced Garlic - 金银蒜蒸开边生虾 (Market price) uses fresh live prawns that are being shelled and butterfly in order to reduce the cooking time as well as making it easier for guests to enjoy the dish without dirtying the fingers to shell the prawns. Overall the prawns were sweet and fresh but the minced garlic taste was a bit strong towards my liking.

The Bay’s Signature “Kopi” Sauce Live Crab - 冠华咖啡焗肉蟹 (market price) used Sri Lankan Mud Crab which was prepared using 3 different types of coffee beans such as Arabica, Brazilian and White Coffee together with Apple Jam, Butter and Shaoxing wine to achieve a caramelized taste. When the crab was presented on the table,  the serving staff will pour Shaoxing wine and coffee liquor over it and light up the crab to creating a "Fire Crab" effect sending coffee aroma into the air.

But although I am a coffee lover I still prefer salted egg crab as compared to this.

{MUST TRY} Baked Rice, Assorted Seafood, Chef’s Recipe Sauce - 海鲜大烩焗饭 (S$68.00 for 4-6 pax, S$88.00 for 7-12 pax) is definitely the HIT for that night with the 7 of us all agreed and raising our hands crowing it the best dish fellow by their signature Bays Kopi Sauce Crab.

According to Janice, this dish was inspired by one of the popular Portuguese dish Chef Yong sampled in Macau and he adapted the recipe for local palate. The plate of seafood baked rice was indeed filled with treasures such as baby abalone, scallops, mussels, prawns and etc that topped with spiced cream sauce and generous amount of mozzarella cheese. Overall the dish reminded us of Paella but with a hint of spicy Japanese Curry taste that blend well with the sauce and make the whole dish very addicting.

{MUST TRY} Pan-fried Radish Cake With Prawns and XO Chilli Sauce - 极品酱鲜虾萝卜糕 (S$20.00; S$30.00) was one of the highlight for that night. Although this dish might be pricey as compared to those served in foodcourts or dim sum restaurants but with generous amount of shelled prawns and chunks of homemade radish cake that pair with their in-house XO chilli sauce. I am sure you wont want to give this a miss.

Sweet’s temptation (S$20.00) which suitable for 4 person includes Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Fresh Cream Stuffing; Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Yam Paste Stuffing (coated with shredded coconut); Steamed Custard Bun with Salted Egg Yolk and Bay’s Chinese Pancake with Red Bean Paste.

Although their Salted Egg Custard Bun taste great with soft outer skin and savory filling but my personal preference goes to their Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Yam Paste Stuffing and Bay’s Chinese Pancake with Red Bean Paste. Love the crispy outer skin of the Chinese Pancake which is not too oily and it goes well with the fragrance and smooth red bean paste.

Live Seafood (at market price) available for customers to view and select before cooking.

MAJESTIC BAY SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
18 Marina Gardens Drive
Gardens By The Bay
Flower Dome, #01-10
Singapore 018953
Reservation: (65) 6604 6604
Website: http://majesticbay.sg/

OPERATING HOURS:
Lunch
Monday - Friday: 11:45am - 2:30pm
Saturday, Sunday And PH: 11.30am - 2:30pm

Dinner
5:45pm - 9:30pm


Lastly I would like to thank Majestic Bay and Janice and Sherman from foodnews for the invite tasting.

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Chiso Zanmai Japanese Buffet Restaurant

During June School Holidays we have quiet a number of activities such as the Angry Birds Cable Car Ride (HERE), 6 Days Cruise Trip (HERE), exploring the new Ice Skating Rink at JCube (HERE) and etc. And just a week before the school holidays ends, my brother organized a buffet lunch meetup over at "Chiso Zanmai" since he knows our family loves Japanese cuisine.

Above shows my plating of "Kaiseki" which is a traditional multi-course Japanese cuisine where we just grab a big tray at the counter and pick-up our favourite Kaiseki dishes and enjoy our meal like what the Japanese Emperor did in the olden days. (All photos in this post are taken using iPhone since it is just our causal family gathering)

Chiso Zanmai is a Japanese Buffet Restaurant located at The Central, Clarke Quay which overtakes its previous owner where Fisherman’s Market used to be. For the price of S$14.90++ to enjoy a Japanese style lunch buffet which serves up more than 80 varieties of food and desserts is definitely worth trying. And moreover Chiso Zanmai is originated from Osaka and this is their first branch outside of Japan.

Appetizers Counter

As usual to start off the buffet, I will pick up some cold dishes from the Appetizer Counter and enjoy it before heading for the hot dishes. For the appetizers, other than the above they also have cha soba, potato salad, mixed salad, deep-fried eggplant with bonito broth and etc. But my favourite choices are those shown above. 

These are my little boys favourite and indeed they have quiet a good spread of Sushi upon selection too.

Hakkaido Ishikari Nabe is a common seafood and vegetables soup served in Hakkaido and most of us on our table loves this seafood pot with its sweet and flavousome clear soup broth. As you can see from the photo above, there are prawn, flower crab, tofu, leek and etc in it which makes it prefer to go with steamed rice.

Ramen lover, you can choose between either Tonkotsu or Shoya soup base to go with your Ramen. For me, I will prefer the Tonkotsu which is pork base with a thicker and stronger taste compared to Shoya. Surprisingly the noodles are still quiet springy when bite so overall it still blends well with the broth.

Traditional Japanese Counter

There are basically two sections on the Hot Food Counter where you can grab some Traditional Japanese Cuisine or Teppan. Above shown a selection from Braised Squid with White Radish, Corn Cream Croquette, Stewed Pork And Potato, Crab Shao-mai and etc.

Hot Food

I did not snap much on the Teppan Counter as there are quiet a number of people around queuing for the food. But you can find yummy Takoyaki(octopus balls), Stir Fried Noodles, Tempura, Fried Pumpkin and etc. Above are some of the items from the Hot Food Counter that I love.

Mum loves these Deep Fried Yam which she mentioned is quiet similar taste to our Chinese Abacus Seeds.

Love this crispy and delicious Chicken Karaage that dipped in some Ponzu Sauce (citrus-based sauce) which gives it a similar taste like our Asian Lemon Chicken.

Dessert Counter

After a hearty meal, its time to pamper yourself with some "sweet" dessert such as cake, tart, pastry or ice-cream. At their Dessert Counter, items are routine frequently through out the buffet and you can find some fresh fruits, cheesecake, mochi, eclair, jelly, ice cream or etc.

Since for the month of June they are having this "Matcha Fair", you could find most of their desserts are made with matcha theme. Out of those shown above, I love their matcha mochi, matcha tofu as well as the matcha tiramisu. Too bad I didnt get a chance to try their Matcha Panna Cotta which might be rotating in their dinner menu instead.

CHISO ZANMAI

6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-17
The Central @ Clarke Quay
Reservation: +65 6221 3177

PRICE:
Lunch (12.00pm - 3.00pm)
Monday - Friday
Adult: S$14.90++   Child(below 1m): S$9.90++   Senior (above 60): S$12.90++

Saturday, Sunday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$19.90++   Child(below 1m): S$9.90++   Senior (above 60): S$17.90++


Dinner (6.00 - 10.00pm) SASHIMI (DINNER ONLY)
Sunday - Thursday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$24.90++   Child(below 1m): S$14.90++   Senior (above 60): S$22.90++

Friday, Saturday, Sunday And Public Holidays
Adult: S$29.90++   Child(below 1m): S$14.90++   Senior (above 60): S$27.90++


Top-Up $1.99++ For Free Flow Of Drinks
Cold beverages such as green tea, iced lemon tea, root beer and etc
Hot beverage such as coffee (black, cappuccino, latte) and tea


So if you are looking for some Japanese Style Buffet at an affordable price, perhaps you would want to consider Chiso Zanmai which I personally think it worth what we pay for. Will check whats on their July / August dinner menu soon as I eying on their SASHIMI!!!

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Maison Pic Valance France Restaurant review

Sorry about the hiatus. Weve just spent 10 days travelling (and eating!) in Normandie and Bretagne with our little family. While we unpack our bags and upload the photos, Ill share some photos from our last trip to France in August 2009. Back then we were still three - our daughter just 7,5 months old - and we had a chance to eat in two 3-star restaurants. Excellent meals both, and Ill start with Anne-Sophie Pics restaurant, where we had a lunch, a full tasting menu and breakfast.

Anne-Sophie Pic (born in 1969) is the head chef at La Maison Pic in Valance, France. Shes a third-generation la chef cuisinier of the family restaurant, which was previously run by her dad and grand-dad. She earned the third Michelin star already at the age of 37, and is one of the only two female chefs in France and of female chefs in the world to win the accolade. Earlier this year she was also named the Worlds Best Female Chef (you can read an excellent synopsis of her culinary credentials and history here). Even before that last award, I was extremely excited about the chance to have lunch and dinner at her restaurant. Valance isnt on most tourist routes, but as we were driving down from Lyon to our friends wedding in Sauzet further South, it was conveniently on the way. Lucky me :)

Anne-Sophie with her dad and grandfather:


Upon arrival we had some nibbles in the courtyard, while our room was being prepared. From left to right: tomato and lemon macaroon, basil and ricotta sphere, peanut marshmallow, foie gras and apple:




That was a great alternative to the more usual nut selection:


After settling into our spacious room, we headed for lunch at Bistrot Le 7. The name Le 7 is an homage to Route Nationale 7, a famous motorway connecting Paris and Côte d’Azur (The French Wench has written more about it).


Le tarte fine croustillante de saumon salma, légumes croquants aux aromates (for me):


K. was very pleased with his tomato starter - Les tomates de variétés anciennes, crémeux de mozzarella di bufala - one of the reasons why hes so supportive of my grow-as-many-tomato-varieties-as-you-can hobby:


For the main course, I went for the veal dish - Le poitrine de veau, confite aux aromates, etuvée fondante de fenouils et poivrons rouges:


K. chose the cod - Le cabillaud, cuit sur la peau a lahuile dolive,fondant de carottes des sables a la fleur de thym:


For dessert, I opted for the classic strawberry-basil combination - Le fraisier version 2009; biscuit pistache, sorbet basilic (for me):


K. opted for the cheese plate:


We were very pleased with our lunch - it was flavoursome and very pleasing to the eye.

We had a pretty late dinner. I apologise for the quality of the photos - there wasnt any natural light, of course, and we didnt want to use the flash. We opted for the News Menu (or Menu Actualités), which was the one of the tasting menues on offer.


I loved the personal touches on the cutlery and dishes (see also the amuse bouche plate above):




Summer truffle:


Veal sweetbread:


Foie gras:


Lobster tail in a spicy broth:


I loved the cucumber crocant that accompanied this subtly flavoured fish:


Rinse-bouche: coffee granita with Limoncello foam:


A beautiful cheese board:


Mignardises:


A very pretty dessert with raspberry sorbet:


Overall the food was very tasty. We appreciated that Anne-Sophie Pic came to personally greet us at the end of the meal and speak about the difficulties of travelling and dining out with a baby :) She had seen our little daughter, sleeping at the Reception (we had asked about being allowed into the restaurant with the baby and they assured us its fine and that theyre happy to babysit the baby during our meal - which the kind receptionists ended up doing. Very thoughtful).

However, when looking at the visual side of the meal, it was all quite pared down and beige-brown (NB! Im talking about dinner here!). We had another 3-star meal during our trip (@ Régis Marcons restaurant), which was visually much more entertaining and impressive (our only other comparison is with lunch @ El Bulli in 2008). The only real eye candy was the dessert.

Breakfast - croissants and other pastries, yoghurt verrines, some fresh fruit:








Oh, the hotel gave our daughter a little present - a green soft frog with Maison Pics shawl. She loved (eating) it :)


Heres me, my daughter and the Chef, just before we checked out:


Would I go again? Yes, definitely - both for the food, for the hotel, and for the beautiful chef :)

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