Singapore - Indonesian Fine-Dining at Marina Bay Sands

[klyeoh]

Really enjoyed today's Indonesian lunch at the Moluccas Room in Marina Bay Sands.

Dishes we had:

Appetisers
- Sate Anak Sapi Rica-rica - tender beef satay skewers, served with sweet dark-soysauce (kicap manis);
- Otak-otak Jakarta - cylindrical steam-baked fishcakes, served with a nutty sweet-sour sauce;

Mains
- Angus Beef Rendang - this was the piece de resistance: a meltingly tender piece of steak smothered with spicy, rich "rendang" curry sauce. Absolutely delicious;
- Confit Sakura Ayam Tuturaga - a delightful stuffed chicken leg, covered with a spicy, citrusy sauce from the North Sulawesi region of the Moluccas Islands. Must-not-miss!
- Grilled eggplanrt with sambal sauce - a good foil to the otherwise meat-rich spread we had.
- Steamed coconut-flavored yellow rice.

Dessert
- Serabi - sweet pancakes with jackfruit topping and a rich coconut creme-molasses sauce;
- Seri Kaya Creme Brulee.
Both desserts were very well-made & presented, and provided a perfect ending to a most satisfying meal.

Probably the best fine-dining Indonesian restaurant in Singapore today. We got a table with a great view of Marina Bay. Service was flawless.

Address details
=============
The Moluccas Room
2 Bayfront Avenue, #01-81
The Shoppes At Marina Bay Sands
Singapore
Tel: [phone]

[huiray]

What, back to Indonesian food already? I thought you were tired of it from your long stay over there in November. :-)

What's that pointy cap on the nasi kuning?

You've mentioned before in the past that you had doubts about whether it was worthwhile to try to raise Malay or Indonesian cuisine up to "fine-dining levels". Has your opinion been modified, I wonder...

[klyeoh]

Happy New Year, huiray.

This was a New Year's Eve lunch given by a close friend back here in Singapore. The restaurant's setting was fabulous: waterfront views of Marina Bay & the city's downtown, and the food was light but flavorsome, much better than all other fine-dining Malay-Indonesian restaurants I'd tried in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

The pointy "cap" on the nasi kuning was merely a decorative cone made from banana leaf.

This restaurant's one of the new eating spots in Singapore, but the latest hotspot is actually Esquina Tapas Bar, by Jason Atherton of London's 1-Michelin-star Pollen Street Social - I'll write about that in a separate thread. Esquina took over, ironically, the spot vacated by Tiffin Club, that fusion-Malay fine dining spot I wrote about previously:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/744401

[theskyflyer]

We passed by Moluccas a few weeks ago. Didn't think to try it, but decided to go to db (Boulud) and had their burger (absolutely disaster and disappointment compared to NYC few years ago) and a Japanese restaurant on the same level as Moluccas.

But next time, will give Moluccas a try. The rendang looks divine! So, instead of cubes of meat, this is just one piece of steak?

[klyeoh]

Interestingly, the waiter asked us how we'd like the rendang steak to be done - and we asked for rare. So the beef wasn't slow-cooked in rendang stew the traditional Indonesian way.

[akated]

you're lucky. when i was there with some friends, the waitress did not ask for our preference of the doneness of the meat, and we did not think to specify, since, well, it's "beef rendang" right?

in the end we got a steak that was medium to medium-well. although it was still very tender (probably because of the cooking method?).

[klyeoh]

You know how service standards in Singapore are like, akated - most probably, your waitress that night was not properly trained yet. Singapore has a long way to go before it reaches the standards of service we get in neighboring places like Hong Kong and Australia.

[akated]

prob. that said, she was very courteous, so at least there's that.

will be interesting to see if this will prompt more high-end malay-indonesian restaurants in singapore and malaysia!

[huiray]

Happy New Year to you too, klyeoh.

Aha, so high-end malay/Indonesian food lives. The stuff you had looks very good, in any case. Tiffin Club is now Esquina, thanks for the info.

Have a safe journey to London.

[klyeoh]

Thanks, huiray. I've got to try Pollen Street Social (Jason Atherton's original claim-to-fame spot) when I'm in London. It was terribly popular & I couldn't get a table the last time I was there.