Holiday Meals

We started off our Christmas Eve with cream puffs. The week before Christmas Kuah and I passed a place that was making special Valrhona chocolate cream puffs for the holidays. You could only buy them by the 1/2 dozen and had to order them ahead of time. So we decided to order a half dozen cream puffs to be picked up on the afternoon of the 24th. But then Kuah got sick and we ended up staying mostly at home over the next week.

On the 24th we almost forgot about the cream puffs. Luckily we remembered and got to the shop in time to get our cream puffs. Unfortunately, the cream puffs were not a delicious treat. The chocolate snowflakes on top were delicious. The cream inside was good too. But the puffs themselves were dry and tasteless. The best thing about them was they were not a temptation.

On Christmas day we had reservations for lunch at Maison Boulud which is in the Marina Bay Sands mall. It was great to walk around the mall and see all of the decorations. Normally we walk down Orchard at night to see the Christmas lights but between my foot and Kuah’s cold we decided to forgo that this year.

I was surprised to see how busy the mall was when we got there. Almost all of the stores were open and there were quite a few people shopping or enjoying the decorations. One thing about Singapore being welcoming to many religions and nationalities is that it helps the retail places stay open on religious or country specific holidays. They have the people who don’t celebrate that day work. As Christmas day is an official holiday in Singapore office workers get the day off. The one holiday where you will find a lot of restaurants and retail shops closed is Chinese New Year. Some of them close for the week.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere at Maison Boulud. There were lots of curves in their walls and decor. Although the tables were close together it was set up in such a way to leave you feeling like you had some space. They were offering a special set brunch menu for Christmas day. Looking at it online I wasn’t sure if I was going to get it as it was unclear if you picked one thing per section or got everything in each section. After talking to our waiter Kuah and I both decided to go with the set menu. One thing Kuah noticed about the waiters there was they tended to address me rather than him.

Kuah’s Meal

• Maine Lobster Soup, Armangac, Potato & Leek, Creme Fraiche Chive Oil
• Poireaux Vinaigrete
• Pithivier
• Chocolat & Cafe

Karen’s Meal

• Maine Lobster Soup, Armangac, Potato & Leek, Creme Fraiche Chive Oil
• Saumon Fume
• Black Tie Scallop
• Mont-Blanc

So what is all that? I’ve included a copy of the full menu with descriptions with the images. As far as the taste went it was enjoyable but not amazing. The lobster soup had some nice chunks of lobster and good flavor. Neither Kuah or I particularly liked our second course. For him the issue was the leeks being a bit tough to both cut and eat. For me, I’m just not a huge fan of smoked salmon. The Main course was the best. My Black Tie Scallop was fun to eat and different that the usual scallop presentations I have. Kuah also enjoyed his main course, especially the sauce. We rarely eat savory dishes in a pastry crust. Kuah ate half my desert and his as well, which he really enjoyed. I had a bit of mine but decided that for me it wasn’t worth the calories.

December 31 in the afternoon Kuah and I walked over to Great World City to do a few errands. As a shopping mall Great World City is much better than Tiong Bahru Plaza. It takes an extra 10 minutes to walk there but it’s worth it. They have a SaladStop!, which is my favorite salad place here. Overall they have a much wider selection of restaurants and stores. Their grocery store is also bigger and stocks more western brands. Now we can even take the MRT there. I don’t really think it’s faster than walking but there is a covered pathway from our apartment to the MRT and then into Great World. So, if its raining or super duper hot it’s very useful.

While I was picking up some groceries Kuah did a little walk around the shops and found a Teppanyaki restaurant with a Christmas set menu that looked good. We stopped to talk to them and the Christmas menu would not be available on New Year’s day but their new year’s menu looked even better. So we made a reservation at Kou Teppan for the next day.

They had both small tables and counter seats where you can watch them cook. We sat at the counter which worried me as I thought we’d end up smushed between loud groups. It turned out that we were the only ones at the counter and the other tables got really crowded. When the chef noticed I was trying to take a picture of the fire he crated a really big one for me.

This set menu didn’t have choices but I was OK with that as most of the items looked interesting to me. In fact I ended up eating every course. Although I did give Kuah my clams from the soup course.

Here’s what we ate:

• Cold Appetizer
  • Cream Cheese Salmon with Sweet Potato
  • Tamago Tofu with Seaweed Ankake
  • Garlic Pickled Edamame
• Smoked Dish
  • Smoked Awabi with Kimo Cream Sauce
• Steam Dish
  • Chawanmushi with Charcoal Grilled Chicken
• Salad
  • Green Salad with Yuzu Salmon
• Soup
  • Asari Ozouni Soup with Charcoal Grilled Mochi
• Main
  • A5 Satsumagyu Ichibo
• Rice
  • Garlic Crab Yakimesi
• Dessert
  • Flat Fruit Parfait with Matcha Sauce

The meal had several surprises for me. First both courses that contained salmon had fully cooked salmon. I had been a bit worried it would be raw but as it was cooked I was able to enjoy those dishes. I didn’t know what awabi was but it turned out to be abalone. Abalone itself doesn’t have much flavor but the sauce they served with it was really delicious. They cooked the soup in plastic on top of the hot cook top. I hadn’t seen plastic that could stand up to that before.

I don’t normally enjoy chawanmushi as it usually has a strong bonito flavor. But this one was in a wonderful chicken broth that made it really luscious. Kuah got them to substitute the satsumagyu beef for tenterloin for an upcharge for me. I’m glad he did as Kuah didn’t really enjoy his main course but mine was good. Next time he’ll have to substitute his as well. The garlic crab fried rice was delicious and reminded me of late night snacks with friends in Ota. Overall this was my favorite holiday meal and I hope to visit again.

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