Chapters by Drinks&Co – A Star in Clarke Quay Rejuvenation [MEDIA INVITE]

Chapters by Drinks&Co (“Chapters”) is the latest concept by Drinks&Co as part of rejuvenation in CQ @ Clarke Quay. Chapters provide a unique and sophisticated dining experience for both indoor and outdoor. For the Outdoor Refreshment Area (ORA) diners can enjoy great food and experience while absorbing the beautiful view of the Singapore River day and night.

Chapters by Drinks&Co

Outdoor Refreshment Area

The indoor dining area showcases different chapters (area) of the restaurant, starting from The Great Hall with papers floating above, The Rainbow Bar, and also The Secret Chamber, hidden behind the ordinary bookcase.

Part of The Great Hall

The Bar

Once we were seated, we started our gastronomic journey with Chapters Singapore Sling Premium (Hendrick’s Base) [$26 HH / $29 REG]. Beautifully decorated, artistically made and pleasing on the palate. The best part, they also make it in mocktail version for me.

Chapters Singapore Sling Premium (Hendrick’s Base)

Our tasting commences with Chapter One – Starters and Bites. Authentic Singapore Satay, Chicken or Beef (per Dozen) [$38 / $34 Members Price]. Well-marinated chunky chicken and beef, juicy and grilled just right. It is bursting with flavours in each bite accompanied by solid satay sauce. Not forgetting the traditional sides, a medley of cucumber, pineapple, onions and ketupat.

Authentic Singapore Satay

Drinks & CO., Salt & Pepper Squid [$30 / $27MP]. The strips of deep-fried squid are crispy and crunchy. It is tossed with their special mix of chilli padi, spring onions, garlic, black pepper, sugar and salt. A squeeze of lemon bind adds a lovely twang to the dish. Watch out for the explosion of spiciness, especially if you bit into the chilli padi. This dish is also served with a healthy portion of salad, which can easily become a full meal on its own.

Drinks & CO., Salt & Pepper Squid 

Prawns & Chorizo [$28 / $25MP]. Taking inspiration from a popular Italian pasta recipe. This surf and turf dish is robust and packed with flavour. The prawns are crunchy, while the chorizo just solid. It is then topped with the mixed garnish of fried garlic, chilli padi and spring onion that spice up the dish. There are a few toasted sliced baguettes to carry the prawns and chorizo mix.

Prawns & Chorizo

Boxing Chicken in Teriyaki Sauce (5pcs) [$34/$30MP]. A dish that I have not seen in a long time. The meat of the chicken drumette is pushed to one side to create a lollipop. It is then deep-fried and coated with thick teriyaki sauce. It has a crispy exterior followed by juicy meat and yummy teriyaki sauce. It is a dish that is best eaten with your fingers. Yum Yum.

Boxing Chicken in Teriyaki Sauce 

Moving on to Chapter Two – Salad, Greens. Classic Tomato Bruschetta (5pcs) [$14/$14MP] Crisp sliced baguette topped with homemade tomato salsa and sweet basil leaves. The bright red colour of the tomatoes is just so inviting, together with the sweet and tangy flavour, it is just irresistible.

Classic Tomato Bruschetta 

Chilled Waldorf Salad with Aussie Wagyu Beef (125gram) [$48 / $44 MP]. A classic salad, that is hard to find nowadays. The combination of fruits, vegetables and nuts with a twist of sesame dressing instead of the traditional mayonnaise delivers a party in your mouth. It is paired with 125 grams of Aussie Wagyu Beef, making it a complete dish.

Chilled Waldorf Salad with Aussie Wagyu Beef 

Mixed Vegetables Curry Risotto (V) [$38 / $35MP]. A homage to Asian cuisine. The vegetable curry is rich, spicy and delicious; while the Arborio rice soaks up the essence of the curry. Do watch out for the spicy kick from the curry.

Mixed Vegetables Curry Risotto 

Accompanying my meal for this round is Virgin Mojito [$16]

Virgin Mojito

Chapter Three – Pasta. Tiger Prawns Aglio Olio (spicy, no spice, middle spicy) [$48 / $44MP]. Pan-seared giant tiger prawns, al-dente spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, olives, garlic, curry leaves, white wine and chilli padi is a recipe for an enticing pasta dish. It is spicy and packed with the essence of the prawns, you will be slurping all the pasta in no time.

Pasta. Tiger Prawns Aglio Olio

Japanese Wagyu Beef (75gm) Stirred Fried Udon [$58 / $52 MP]. A Japanese pasta dish. The udon is thick and has a nice crunchiness, while the black pepper sauce and bonito flakes power up this dish. Unfortunately, the Japanese Wagyu Beef seems lost among this strong and bold flavour.

Japanese Wagyu Beef Stirred Fried Udon 

Chapter Four – Pizza. Mentaiko Tiger Prawns Pizza [$38 / $35 MP]. Not your traditional Italian pizza but it is a crowd-pleaser. Thin-based crust, topped with big and crunchy prawn, mozzarella cheese, mentaiko sauce, shaved bonito and roasted kazimi nori. It is tasty and delicious.

Pizza. Mentaiko Tiger Prawns Pizza

Chapter Five – Mains. Beef Wellington [$65 / $60 MP]. A technically challenging dish, yet executed perfectly by the team at Chapters. The pastry is crisp and fluffy, while the tenderloin is cooked to the point of medium-rare. The bacon and mushroom spread infused the umami flavour to the tenderloin. Accompanying the beef wellington are tri-colour carrots, mashed potatoes, mesclun salad and cherry tomatoes with balsamic vinegar dressing plus the gravy. This beef wellington will get a nod from Gordon Ramsay.

Beef Wellington

Pan-Seared Lemongrass Halibut Fish (200gram) [$45 / $42 MP]. The halibut fish fillets have a crisp exterior followed by a moist and flaky interior. They sat on top of the mixed baby carrots and mashed potatoes, basked in the unique taste of lemongrass capers cream sauce. It is served with Australian mesclun salad and sour plum cherry tomatoes. There is a lot of flavour going on the plate, but the sour plum cherry tomatoes are not to be missed.

Pan-Seared Lemongrass Halibut Fish

Chapter Six – Kids & Dessert. Home Made Baked Red Dates Sticky Pudding [$22] & Home-Made Burnt Cheese Cake [$22]. Two lovely plated desserts. The home-made red dates stick pudding is soft and bouncy. It goes well with the berries and vanilla ice cream,

Home Made Baked Red Dates Sticky Pudding 

Meanwhile, the burnt cheesecake has a nice smoky flavour but missing the signature gooey and melting texture in the middle. The blueberries, strawberries and red grapes paired nicely with the cheesecake but the ice-cream seems to be the odd one out.

Home-Made Burnt Cheese Cake

Overall, it was a pleasure visiting Chapters by Drinks&Co, part of the rejuvenation of Clarke Quay. The food is delicious and the traditional cocktails and mocktails are nicely done. LD and I recommend their Beef Wellington, Chilled Waldorf Salad with Aussie Wagyu Beef, Tiger Prawns Aglio Olio and Mentaiko Tiger Prawns Pizza. Plus don’t miss out on Chapters Singapore Sling Premium. Cheers!!

Cocktail - Pina Colada

Thank you very much Kristine and Team Chapters by Drinks&Co for the invitation.

Food & Drink: 8.5/10

Value: 6.5/10

Service: N/A (Media Invite)

Ambiance: 8.75/10

Budget per Person: $51 – 80; $81 and above.

Chapters by Drinks&Co.

3D River Valley Road

#01-08 Clarke Quay

Singapore 179022

T: +65 9619 4568

W: https://drinksandco.asia/

F: https://www.facebook.com/chaptersdnc

IG: @Drinksandcosg

OH:

Sun – Thu: 12.00 – 23.00

Fri – Sat: 12.00 – 02.00

Food and Drink Menu is available online (click here)

Ginger – Heritage Flavours Buffets [MEDIA INVITE]

Roasted Wagyu Beef with Rendang Sauce

From this month onwards, Ginger will showcase Asian-inspired dishes to the buffet line for weekday and weekend buffet, curated by Executive Chef Vincent Aw.

Executive Chef Vincent Aw
Image Credit: PARKROYAL on Beach Road, Singapore

For Weekday lunch, you can look forward to sumptuous local dishes such as Chicken Rice, Kueh Pie Tee, Assorted Satays, Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly with Flower Bun, Curry Chicken Noodles, Penang-style Prawn Noodles and Salted Egg Prawns.

Weekday Lunch Buffet
Image Credit: PARKROYAL on Beach Road, Singapore

For Weekday dinner, highlights include Baby Lobster Laksa, Babi Ponteng, Braised Pork Trotter Mee Sua Soup, Claypot Pork Ribs Herbal Soup with Chicken Crullers, Deep-fried Soft-shell Crab with Chicken Floss, Wok-fried Prawn Noodles, and Salted Egg Crab / Singapore Chilli Crab.

Weekday Dinner Buffet
Image Credit: PARKROYAL on Beach Road, Singapore

During the tasting session, I tried their Hainanese Chicken Rice. The rice is plump, fragrant and filled with chicken stock, while the chicken is succulent with a good springiness in the skin. They also served the beansprout with the chicken rice, which tasted like Ipoh beansprout dish, earthy and crunchy.

Hainanese Chicken Rice (rice not in the picture)

The mutton and chicken satays are not to be missed, it is well marinated, slightly charred externally and juicy internally.

Mutton Satays

The BBQ river prawns will make unscheduled appearances during weekday dinner or weekend dinner. It is grilled slightly undercooked, so you can still enjoy the delicious brain juice from the prawns, though the flavour is stronger compared to those you eat in Thailand. It is served with Thai style chilli or BBQ style chilli.

BBQ River Prawn

BBQ River Prawn - Plain, Chilli and Thai Sauce

The salted egg crab that I had definitely entice the “finger licking good” episode during lunch. The Indonesian mud crab is fresh and meaty. The external part is evenly coated with salted egg, and frankly, some of the flavours did trickle down into the flesh in the crab body.

Salted Egg Crab

For something comforting, Ginger’s porridge will definitely hit the sweet spot. With traditional condiments such as peanuts, olive, pickled turnip, dace fish, chicken floss, fermented beancurd and braised beancurd skin, it just feels like home.

Porridge and Condiments

Traditional desserts such as red bean soup, Peranakan desserts, cakes and ice creams surely give you a sweet ending to the meal.

Desserts

Heritage Flavours Weekday Buffet

Lunch: Mon – Fri, S$35++ (per Adult), S$17.50++ (per Child)

Dinner: Mon – Thu, S$58++ (per Adult), S$29++ (per Child)

* Food items on the buffet line are served on a periodic and rotational basis, to provide an all-new dining experience upon every visit.

Weekend buffet at Ginger will impress you further with its luxurious selections during the weekend buffet. Indulge in premium dishes such as Soft-shell Crab with Wasabi Mayo, Claypot Rock Lobster with Fish Maw Soup, Grilled Half-shell Scallop with Oriental Butter Emulsion, White Pepper Crab, Salted Egg Yolk Crab, Wagyu Beef Cheek Rendang.

Baked Salmon with Salmon Skin

In the carving stations, you can look forward to Whole Baked Nyonya Salmon and Whole Roast Wagyu Beef.

Whole Roast Wagyu Beef
Image Credit: PARKROYAL on Beach Road, Singapore

The rock lobster has always been a permanent luxury staple at Ginger. This time around, it will be cooked with fish maw soup. Although during the tasting, I did not feel the OMPH in the broth, I am pretty sure it will be better during the dinner, like the previous few times that I dine there.

Claypot Rock Lobster with Fish Maw Soup

The rendang style roasted wagyu beef is one of the styles in cooking beef in Ginger. Cooked to medium rare, it proves to be the right texture for the beef. The sauce works well with the beef, although it can do with a bit of twang so you won’t get overwhelmed with the richness of the sauce.

 

Roasted Wagyu Beef with Rendang Sauce

Premium Madness Weekend Buffet

Lunch: Sat - Sun, S$58++ (per Adult), S$29++ (per Child)

Dinner: Fri – Sun, S$68++ (per Adult), S$34++ (per Child)

* Food items on the buffet line are served on a periodic and rotational basis, to provide an all-new dining experience upon every visit.

Thank you very much for to the team at PARKROYAL on Beach Road for the tasting invitation. Cheers!!

Food & Drinks: 7.25/10

Value: 7.25/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Event)

Ambiance: 7.5/10

Budget per Person:$26 - $50, $51 - $80

Ginger

7500 Beach Road

PARKROYAL on Beach Road, Singapore

Ground Floor

Singapore 199591

T: +65 6505 5710

W: Ginger at PARKROYAL on Beach Road, Singapore

F: https://www.facebook.com/PARKROYAL.BeachRoad

IG: @Parkroyalbeachroad

OH:

Breakfast: 06.00 – 10.30

Lunch: 12.00 – 14.30

Dinner: 18.00 – 22.00

  

[CLOSED] Provisions – Skewers & Claypot Rice Cocktail Bar [MEDIA INVITE]

Provisions

Drawing inspirations from the founders' childhood, Singapore's first skewers & claypot rice cocktail bar called itself Provisions. Executive Chef / Co-Owner Justin Foo is in charge of the cuisine which revolves around the comfort food that he enjoyed; while Head Bartender / Co-Owner KC Rahmat curated the bespoke cocktails and mocktails.

The Outdoor Seating

Provisions is set in a charming industrial-chic space of metal and wooden fixtures that brought back the nostalgic feel of the yesteryears. The experience is enhanced further with the availability of the old school snacks and toys for the patrons to enjoy while waiting for the food to come.

Part of Indoor Seating

The Snacks from the past

It is best to describe the food here as small bites/tapas. While you can definitely savour it individually, it just seems to taste better when you share it with someone else.

The Bar

Pig Ear Fritters ($12). Deep fried sliced pig ears marinated with five spice, chilli and pepper. Can easily be mistaken for fried calamari, but the difference will be obvious when you bite into it. It has a crispy exterior followed with crunchy and gelatinous texture internally. The flavouring almost similar to the Taiwan jumbo fried chicken and it is a good nibble to go with any drinks.

Pig Ear Fritters

KFC ($10), Korean Fried Cauliflower. Something for the herbivore. The deep fried Cauliflower almost like the stack of Korean Fried Chicken. It is then tossed with sweet sauce together with dried chilli and spring onion. A pleasant combination of sweet and spice in this dish.

KFC - Korean Fried Cauliflower

The Peranakan – High Tea set & Yee Sang Istimewa [MEDIA INVITE]

We are back at The Peranakan to experience The Peranakan High Tea Set ($28 / pax). This set combines the savoury and sweet dishes from the regular menu. In total there will be up to to 14 dishes in the high tea set with a choice of drink that include a pot of Malacca Tea, Coffee, Lemongrass Tea or Pandan Tea.

The Peranakan High Tea Set

The highlights of our high tea session are:

The signature Mee Siam is definitely a must try. Although I am not a mee siam fan, I can recognise the version here is very solid. It is filled with spices and has the right balance of spiciness and tanginess that will open up your appetite to go about the rest of the dishes. Best to consume it when it's hot.

High Tea Mee Siam

Nasi Ulam Istimewa was one of my favourite dish during our last visit and it remain the same. (Check out the full review from our last visit here). The Satay Babi Sum Chan got an upgrade here, where it is wrapped in buns. The portion of the meat and bun is perfect fit. The satay gravy is well-absorbed by the soft pillowy white bun, plus the pork belly just melts in your mouth.

Nasi Ulam Istimewa (Left), Satay Babi Sum Chan (Top)

Kueh Pie Ti was served earlier as snacks, but it is normally part of high tea. Crispy cup filled with well braised turnip and condiments. You have the option to add the chilli, but I give it a miss.

Kueh Pie Ti

For the sweet stuff, Pulot Inti Durian & Pulot Inti Kelapa remain my favourites. The combination of glutinous rice with the richness of coconut milk and fillings never fails to entice my appetite. The durian paste here is velvety and smooth, without being ridiculously pungent.

Pulot Inti Durian (Left), Satay Babi Sum Chan (Right)

The Toast and Durian paste also will give you another shot to fulfill your durian cravings.

Completing the offerings for high tea are Toast Hay Bee Hiam, Ngoh Hiang Pork, Pisang Goreng, Kuih Kosui (Kueh Ko Swee), Pineapple Tart and Love Letter. Please note that the menu on the high tea will be rotated daily.

In case you are wondering if the portion is definitely sufficient as we all struggle to finish all the food. Portion for 6 pax and there are six of us.

The Peranakan High Tea Set

Availability: Daily from 11.00 – 17.30

Price : $24++ Weekday; $28++ Weekend per pax (min of 2 pax required)