Excellent Food at Saveurs @ Purvis on 1Mar2015

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

capellini, minced pork sauce, sakura ebi

wife was away skiing in hokkaido. SKI=Spending Kid’s Inheritance.^^

eldest daughter organised a 3pax family dinner at saver @ purvis on 1.3.2015. 🙂

we had very good family dinner recently at concetto (another saver restaurant) on 18.1.2015.

& this place was just as fun.

the next day i came with my godsis & a good friend’s daughter for the set lunch at S$22.90, & it was just as good. the set lunch menu here is more attractive than that at concetto, which really had very limited choice (they really should review that!).

saveur @ purvis

saveur @ purvis

saveur @ purvis2

saveur @ purvis

the restuarant had 2 adjacent dining area. this one was absolutely packed. we were not able to get sitting at the other side where the sitting was more spacious even though we booked beforehand. i booked the next day lunch, making sure i could get the other, but that turned out to be unnecessary as we were the only table. what a difference lunch & dinner!

 chef preparing cold capellini

chef preparing cold capellini

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

this saveur pasta was different from concetto pasta. that had crab bisque & ikura, this one minced pork sauce & sakura ebi & priced cheaper at $4.90 (vs S$6.90). i liked both (& was quite happy to take it again the next day).

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

one reviewer said it tasted like bakchormee? it didn’t to me, but it was nice, very al dente & flavourful.^^

belly pork, lentils, poached egg

belly pork, lentils, poached egg

belly pork, lentils, poached egg

belly pork, lentils, poached egg

the belly pork was excellent, very tender, moist & still having the texture, excellent low temperature cooking. the crackling skin was not crackling like the chinese roast pork, but totally edible. love the lentils.

pan-seared seabass, potato, crabmeat

pan-seared seabass, potato, crabmeat

the seabass was excellent too! this was really a very good pan seared seabass! liked the potatoes too. 🙂

duck confit, mased potato, shitake

duck confit, mashed potato, shitake

the duck confit was very good, just like that at concetto.

cookie dough ice cream, cherry kirsch, peanut butter

cookie dough ice cream, cherry kirsch, peanut butter

the cookies & milk ice cream was good, but no wow factor for me, & it was more expensive.

pistachio panna cotta

pistachio panna cotta

pistachio panna cotta

pistachio panna cottaEx

the pistachio panna cotta was lovely. my doughtier liked it very much. maybe i will try this at home.

c.h.e.f andy

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Below Par (for the Price) 4pax Dinner @ Restaurant Home on 25Jun2014

mini buddha jump over the wall

mini buddha jump over the wall

was truly disappointed with the S$59.80+ ala carte buffet at restaurant home on 25.6.2014. 😦

probably had to do with wrong expectations, as the award winning chef tan yong hua has so many accolades, not least the first singaporean chef to win against iron Chef Thailand. also the price of S$59.80+pax would be quite ok if the dishes were good & not just mediocre.

mini buddha jump over the wall

mini buddha jump over the wall

#1 the mini buddha-jump-over-the-wall(bjotw) had a light decent soup base (not intense & maybe that was intended), a good flower mushroom, a quite small abalone which was ok & lots of chicken plus a cheap fish maw (not 花胶). i supposed average ingredients were quite ok if the soup was really tasty. it was not a bad soup. 1 of us commented any lie tong (例汤) soup of the day by tunglok or imperial treasure would beat this, so there was nothing much to say.

8-head abalone, mushroom & spinach

8-head abalone, mushroom & spinach

8-head abalone, mushroom & spinach

8-head abalone, mushroom & spinach

#2 the bite/texture & flavour of the 8-head abalone & also the flower mushroom were quite good. the spinach was just average, and perhaps it was more the method of preparation, but any brown sauce braised chinese abalones (ah yat, tunglok, xin restaurant etc) would be a better overall taste experience than this (not a better abalone). i guess this dish would be above average to good whereas the mini bjotw was just average.

salmon & maguro sashimi & mayo prawns

salmon & maguro sashimi & mayo prawns

#3 the salmon & maguro (tuna) sashimi were ok, the lobster was buried in mayo. a wasabi or salted egg prawn would be better. the dish was ok but nondescript.

herbal drunken prawns

herbal prawns

#4 the prawns were big & fresh & quite tasty. i guess it was about as good as a herbal prawn could be. it was not a dish i would much fancy though, unlike the wow factor with the golden prawns at mikuni.

deep-fried soon hock

deep-fried red garoupa

#5 the deep-fried red garoupa was competent, good even. but as 1 diner commented, it was no better than ah yat though the garoupa tasted better than soon hock. i also thought it was not much better than peach garden miramar, not counting ban heng’s deep-fried soon hock which was very average.

roast duck

roast duck

#6 the roast duck was to me about the best dish for the evening (& it was not among the chef selected dishes above limited to 1 serving). skin was crispy, meat was tender, moist not overcooked & very flavourful.

cabmeat brocoli

crabmeat brocoli

#7 the crabmeat broccoli was another better dish, looked good, tasted great, more like the standards of tunglok or imperial treasure.

sichuan beef with rice crackers

sichuan beef with rice crackers

rice crackers (for sichuan beef)

rice crackers (for sichuan beef)

#8 the sichuan spicy fish fillet (i forgot to take a photo) was ok edible not good but as 水煮鱼 it was a disaster! even the NUS canteen foodgle hub just above average S$6 水煮鱼 was better than this.

#9 the sichuan spicy beef with rice crackers was worse than the fish! beef was bad by any standard, the sinewy quite tasteless like rubber type. even the artificial tenderised beef at coffeeshop zi char stalls were better! not sure the thai type rice crackers qualified as 锅巴. if it were any zi char stall, i guess one could argue that’s just a choice of words.

osmanthus jelly

osmanthus jelly

#10 the osmanthus jelly was pretty good, i guess not so far off timhowan which was better, but it’s just jelly.

fruit jelly

rosella jelly with diced mango

#11 the rosella jelly was ok for a jelly but really a poor dessert c/w any of tunglok, xin, imperial treasure, i guess better than having red beans & green beans at ah yat.

#12 3 of us ordered the almond jelly (no photos). this was good restaurant standard.

i had earlier booked en japanese dining @ alocasia to try their S$56++pax queen crab wagyu ala carte buffet, but had canceled that to try this new restaurant. it was a manifestly wrong decision to take this ala carte buffet. it was not near as good as peach garden miramar’s (S$30.80++pax 3 paying 1 free) which was 1/2 the price. this 4pax dinner cost S$264nett. my recent fabulous 4pax dinner at mikuni cost only S$195nett. there was totally no comparison at all regards the food! 😦

1 Facebook friend who dined there recently commented that the ala carte orders –  lychee wood smoked peking duck, claypot steamed fish, tofu egg, braised pork knuckles vermicelli in oba leaf – were pretty good. i guess a sound opinion & i am not totally ruling out trying ala carte here if there are takers among my friends(but i think not likely), but the ala carte buffet is totally out for me! & i think really the organisation is still not in groove to put up this below par level of cuisine for a S$59.80 ala carte buffet. 😦

c.h.e.f andy

Crab Linguine in Pink Sauce (Creamy Tomatoes)

crab linguine in pink sauce with medium prawns & pan-seared scallops

crab linguine in pink sauce with medium prawns & pan-seared scallops

bought some frozen crab claws from giant, thought to try out the excellent mud crab cold pasta i had at au jardin on new year eve but had yet to do. 🙂

had sudden inspiration (心血来潮) to cook a crabmeat linguine in pink sauce, & since i had the other ingredients like hokkaido scallops, medium prawns, canned tomatoes etc, it was easy to do.

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i used the same crabmeat pasta in pink sauce recipe i did almost a year ago in mar2013. the pink sauce looked & tasted yummy.

i had earlier sauteed an entire clove of garlic bulbs in olive oil (full of aroma) & set aside. i then fried in butter medium prawns that were shelled, butterflied & deveined. after i cooked the linguine to just below al dente (just below the 11mins instructions on the packet) & drained, I pan-seared the hokkaido scallops over a very hot pan greased with vegetable oil.

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crab linguine in pink sauce with medium prawns & pan-seared scallops

crab linguine in pink sauce with medium prawns & pan-seared scallops

the last step was just to toss the pasta with the sauce & ingredients & add some sugar (or agave nectar) & sea salt to taste.

the result was brilliant, the best pink sauce pasta i have made so far, not that i made so many, maybe just 4 or 5 times. 🙂

c.h.e.f. andy

Crabmeat Spaghetti in Pink Sauce (Creamy Tomatoes)

crabmeat spaghetti with prawns & scallops in pink sauce (creamy tomatoes)

crabmeat spaghetti with prawns & scallops in pink sauce (creamy tomatoes)

N.B. = did an excellent crab linguine in pink sauce with medium prawns & pan-seared scallops using this recipe on 11.1.2014. 🙂

One of my favourite pasta is the crab meat linguine in pink sauce. Many moons ago, when Chef Valentino was still working (I guess he was a partner) in Cantina which was a short stone-throw from my place, we dined there a few times and also “da bao” (take-out) his crab meat linguine in pink sauce.

The good Chef left & set up his own Ristorante da Valentino at Jalan Binga and later shifted to the much larger premises it is currently located at Turf City. Some months back, a friend & his wife invited me for a lunch there, and I enjoyed immensely the burrata cheese and also relished my old-time favourite – but this time a squid-ink seafood linguine in pink sauce.

I thought I would give it a go myself, so I googled and assembled this recipe, tried it and was ok the first time, and I was able to repeat the dish w/o difficulty.  The result is in the picture above, which I made for my friends at one of my homecooked dinners. It is nothing even close to what Valentino serves, but still it is a pretty nice pasta. 🙂

To make the sauce, I saute minced garlic and 1 small onion (diced) in olive oil on medium heat. I then add chopped basil (I have fresh basil from the garden), 1 can of diced tomatoes with sauce, sugar, dried oregano, sea salt & coarse black pepper, boil for about 5 minutes. I then turn off the fire and mix in the heavy cream & butter.

pink sauce (creamy tomatoes)

pink sauce (creamy tomatoes)

The spaghetti is cooked in the usual way following the timing instructions. For the scallops (optional), I pan sear them first (see recipe); and likewise for the prawns I stir-fry them in olive oil first to almost cooked. All these can be set aside first and toss together when ready to serve the dish. I heat up the pink sauce, add the prawns & drained crabmeat, cook for few minutes, then turn off the fire, add the spaghetti & toss, and then add the seared scallop, and serve.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

  • 250g crabmeat drained (I use frozen crab claws from NTUC Fairprice)
  • 12 Hokkaido scallops (I use frozen scallops from Sheng Shiong)
  • 15 pieces of medium prawns (shelled)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1 small yellow onion diced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • sea salt & coarse black pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Prepare the pink sauce – saute minced garlic and diced onion in olive oil on medium heat.  add chopped fresh basil, 1 can of diced tomatoes with sauce, sugar, dried oregano, sea salt & coarse black pepper, boil for about 5 minutes. turn off the fire and mix in the heavy cream & butter.
  2. Prepare the scallops (optional) – see pan-seared scallop recipe.
  3. Cook the dish – stir-fry the prawns (shelled) in olive oil first to almost cooked. cook the spaghetti in the usual way following the timing instructions. heat up the pink sauce, add the prawns & drained crabmeat, cook for few minutes, then turn off the fire, add the spaghetti & toss, and then add the seared scallop, and serve.