High Tea @ The Moluccas Room
Set in the waterfront at The Shoppes of Marina Bay Sands, The Moluccas Room is named after the Maluku Islands, or the Spiced Islands, that is part of Indonesia, and is a contemporary and modern Indonesian restaurant featuring a unique marriage of authentic Indonesian flavours and Western cooking techniques. Helmed by Indonesian-born Executive Chef Alicia Tivey, whom HFB had an opportunity once to learn from her at Palate Sensation, The Moluccas Room has recently launched their High Tea service, which is available daily from 3pm to 6pm.
The tasting session commenced with a fine selection of tea leaves that was specially crafted by Gryphon’s master tea blender. And HFB picked up a white tea termed as White Gingerlily, an organic White Peony Tea with Thai galangal and lemongrass that creates an aromatic and delicately balanced brew of floral and earthly tone. HFB appreciated the subtle hint of citrus finishing amidst the very mild and smoothing white tea.
The chocolate lovers could indulge in The Moluccas Chocolate Society ($28++ for 2 persons) which presented an array of dried fruits, gourmet nuts and Gula Melaka macaroons served with a spicy Belgian chocolate dip. While HFB wasn’t a keen fan of dried fruits and gourmet nuts, he was really impressed with the very rich chocolate dip that came with a tint of spiciness from the chilli.
As for the gula melaka macaroons, what more could HFB say – truly a perfect marriage between the Asian ingredient and the French pastry. This was one of HFB’s favourite food offerings that afternoon. HFB looked forward to more adventurous and exciting Asian spices to pair with the macaroons in future!
The other offering during the high tea, was the The Moluccas Posh Tea Society ($32++ for 2 persons). Besides gula melaka macaroons, it also came with 5 other canapé-sized offerings on the multi-tier stands, along with tea and coffee, which HFB thought was more value-for-money.
The Lapis Legit, a traditional “thousand-layer” spiced cake delicacy, was really rich in flavours. Except it was a tad pity that it could make do with somewhat more butter as HFB found it modestly dry.
HFB was a little discontented with the Battered Bitter Ballen. Not that it tasted terrible or anything, but in his own words, it was uninspiring and non-intriguing. It was literally a Western dish of mini croquette balls stuffed with creamy chicken ragout and béchamel sauce. HFB was secretly hoping that there was a twist to it, but it didn’t take place, or at least it wasn’t evident enough; there was nothing Indonesian about it.
Thankfully, there was the Lemper Ayam to save the day. Traditional sticky rice with spiced chicken filling, it was nothing short of excellent! Nicely seasoned with a good balanced of flavours, the spiciness of the chicken paired brilliantly well with the sticky rice. HFB could definitely afford to pop a few more of these in his mouth.
The Udang Serabi was another beloved with HFB. Prawn blinis served with homemade mayonnaise sauce. HFB loved the nicely spiced prawns! It was really addictive.
This is the Martabak Telur Istimewa, a home-made pan-fried savoury egg pancakes served with special tangy & refreshing sauce. To be honest, HFB can’t really make out what was inside the filling of this dish. But HFB did vaguely remember it went well with the sauce.
Also available during their high tea was the Sri Kaya Crème Brulee ($12++), coconut custard infused with pandan leaves and topped with Indonesian flavoured ice cream. HFB loved his crème brulee, and certainly Moluccas’ version suited his taste buds. Its texture was smooth and silky and the coconut cream went really well with the gula melaka. This was a pairing that wouldn’t go wrong.
There were also ala carte desserts made available during tea time, and one of them was the Serabi ($12++), an Indonesian pancake served with creamy jackfruit pulps and drizzle of molten palm sugar syrup. HFB is not a huge enthusiast of jackfruit, and he also felt the pairing was a little odd, but nevertheless the pandan-flavoured pancake along with the sugar syrup was really yummy!
But HFB’s ultimate favourite was Moluccas’ version of Pisang Saleh Coconut Milk Ice Cream ($12++). The grilled banana slices accompanied with the home-made rich coconut ice cream was a clear winner! Well-caramelised banana that was really sweet and flavourful, it went intensely well with the coconut ice cream.
Overall, if you have some time and cash to burn for a slow afternoon high tea, why not give The Moluccas Room a try. HFB really loved the ambience and everyone enjoyed chit-chatting the afternoon away with their old and new-found friends during the session.
Disclaimer: No ratings would be given, as this is an invited taste test. HFB would also like to take this opportunity to thank Karen, FoodNews and The Moluccas Room for their hospitality.
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The tasting session commenced with a fine selection of tea leaves that was specially crafted by Gryphon’s master tea blender. And HFB picked up a white tea termed as White Gingerlily, an organic White Peony Tea with Thai galangal and lemongrass that creates an aromatic and delicately balanced brew of floral and earthly tone. HFB appreciated the subtle hint of citrus finishing amidst the very mild and smoothing white tea.
The chocolate lovers could indulge in The Moluccas Chocolate Society ($28++ for 2 persons) which presented an array of dried fruits, gourmet nuts and Gula Melaka macaroons served with a spicy Belgian chocolate dip. While HFB wasn’t a keen fan of dried fruits and gourmet nuts, he was really impressed with the very rich chocolate dip that came with a tint of spiciness from the chilli.
As for the gula melaka macaroons, what more could HFB say – truly a perfect marriage between the Asian ingredient and the French pastry. This was one of HFB’s favourite food offerings that afternoon. HFB looked forward to more adventurous and exciting Asian spices to pair with the macaroons in future!
The other offering during the high tea, was the The Moluccas Posh Tea Society ($32++ for 2 persons). Besides gula melaka macaroons, it also came with 5 other canapé-sized offerings on the multi-tier stands, along with tea and coffee, which HFB thought was more value-for-money.
The Lapis Legit, a traditional “thousand-layer” spiced cake delicacy, was really rich in flavours. Except it was a tad pity that it could make do with somewhat more butter as HFB found it modestly dry.
HFB was a little discontented with the Battered Bitter Ballen. Not that it tasted terrible or anything, but in his own words, it was uninspiring and non-intriguing. It was literally a Western dish of mini croquette balls stuffed with creamy chicken ragout and béchamel sauce. HFB was secretly hoping that there was a twist to it, but it didn’t take place, or at least it wasn’t evident enough; there was nothing Indonesian about it.
Thankfully, there was the Lemper Ayam to save the day. Traditional sticky rice with spiced chicken filling, it was nothing short of excellent! Nicely seasoned with a good balanced of flavours, the spiciness of the chicken paired brilliantly well with the sticky rice. HFB could definitely afford to pop a few more of these in his mouth.
The Udang Serabi was another beloved with HFB. Prawn blinis served with homemade mayonnaise sauce. HFB loved the nicely spiced prawns! It was really addictive.
This is the Martabak Telur Istimewa, a home-made pan-fried savoury egg pancakes served with special tangy & refreshing sauce. To be honest, HFB can’t really make out what was inside the filling of this dish. But HFB did vaguely remember it went well with the sauce.
Also available during their high tea was the Sri Kaya Crème Brulee ($12++), coconut custard infused with pandan leaves and topped with Indonesian flavoured ice cream. HFB loved his crème brulee, and certainly Moluccas’ version suited his taste buds. Its texture was smooth and silky and the coconut cream went really well with the gula melaka. This was a pairing that wouldn’t go wrong.
There were also ala carte desserts made available during tea time, and one of them was the Serabi ($12++), an Indonesian pancake served with creamy jackfruit pulps and drizzle of molten palm sugar syrup. HFB is not a huge enthusiast of jackfruit, and he also felt the pairing was a little odd, but nevertheless the pandan-flavoured pancake along with the sugar syrup was really yummy!
But HFB’s ultimate favourite was Moluccas’ version of Pisang Saleh Coconut Milk Ice Cream ($12++). The grilled banana slices accompanied with the home-made rich coconut ice cream was a clear winner! Well-caramelised banana that was really sweet and flavourful, it went intensely well with the coconut ice cream.
Overall, if you have some time and cash to burn for a slow afternoon high tea, why not give The Moluccas Room a try. HFB really loved the ambience and everyone enjoyed chit-chatting the afternoon away with their old and new-found friends during the session.
Disclaimer: No ratings would be given, as this is an invited taste test. HFB would also like to take this opportunity to thank Karen, FoodNews and The Moluccas Room for their hospitality.
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1 comment:
Where has HFB been... I've missing your blogs, mate!
The Serabi is one of the most disgusting looking in terms of presentation that I have even seen in a dessert.
But the Lemper Ayam sounded amazing. Can't wait to visit here for that alone.
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