A peaceful respite away from the busy city life
It has already been 10 years since Halia first opened its kitchen; and to celebrate this feat, they have upgraded their look, updated their menu, and revamped their culinary team. All of these will be unveiled to the public via Halia’s “Celebratory Sparkling Wine Dinner” on the 27th of October 2011.
To give you a preview on what you can expect, get ready to toast on some fine wines. The culinary team headed by Chef Reynaldo Arriola, has come up with a menu where each dish is paired with different wines imported from New Zealand, Australia, and Italy.
Dinner starts with a selection of canapés to work up your appetite for the main courses. First up were the oysters served in three ways: freshly shucked, tempura and ponzu, baby spinach and with pernod nutmeg and parmesan gratin. A stand out for me would have to be the tempura as its coating balances its fishy taste. The latter, I felt, was too salty and that was the only thing which I could really remember.
[L-R]Tian of Vine Ripened Tomato and B&W Sesame seed crusted tuna tataki
After that came the appetiser, the Tian of vine ripened tomato with pine nuts, guacamole, mango salsa, shiso, and braised courgette. It’s a bit hard to start eating dish because of its cute and colourful presentation. The taste is also a surprise as it is very refreshing yet very filling at the same time.
Next course was the black and white sesame seed crusted blue fin tuna tataki marinated in soy, sautéed baby spinach and saffron cream sauce. The fish was seared perfectly, and the pan-roasted sesame only added character as well as crunch to this otherwise usual dish.
300 days grain-fed Rangers Valley Black Angus Tenderloin
The main event for me is the 300 days grain-fed Rangers Valley Black Angus Tenderloin served together with the truffle celeriac mash, panache of baby vegetables, and red wine jus. The meat is just so tender and soft and goes really well with the celeriac mash. The sidings are also worth mentioning for the asparagus and carrots are so fresh and crunchy.
Have you ever heard of the saying, bacon goes well with everything? Well, it does… even with ice cream! For the finale, I was served with fresh baked fig tart, bacon pear ice cream, almond date, brie cheese, sour cream sabayon, and wild mountain honey.
The bacon ice cream was something new as the ice cream was peppered with bits of cured meat. At first, it sounded weird but after a few bites I quite enjoyed the strong meaty taste on ice cream.
All of the dishes were paired with wines set to enhance each of its flavours. And that’s the big come on of this whole Celebratory Sparkling Wine Dinner by Halia. If you love your wine and your food, you might want to check out this event.
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Price per pax is $100++, subject to 10% service charge and 7% GST.
Address: 1 Cluny Road, Ginger Gardeb (enter via Tyersall Avenue), Singapore Botanic Garden
Tel. No. 8444 1148
Website: www.halia.com
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