The slow braised Angus beef cheek with truffled risotto is without a doubt, the most gut gratifying entrée on Ah Bong's recent Christmas menu. Loaded with capacious chunks of Angus beef cheeks that have been braised low and slow, roasted pumpkin, and ubiquitous shiitake mushrooms wading in a thick, tasty broth.

The risotto itself is the only element in this dish that I could find any fault with. It has a strong bite to it, being just the right side of cooked. I would've preferred it to be slightly more al dente. As for the beautiful beef cheeks, they were fantastically flawless. Rich and utterly umami, these plump beauties fell apart with picture perfect poise under the stresses of a spoon, and damn near melted away upon my palette.

The pumpkin slices added some chunkiness into the dish alongside a measure of sweetness to bring a twist to the saucy flavor fest. Meanwhile, the shiitake mushrooms brought an element of earthiness and mildly chewy resistance into the risotto. I have to commend Chris for making the taste of truffle slightly muted in this dish. Many would probably complain that the truffle wasn't strong enough, but it's a good thing as it allows each individual element of the risotto to bask in the limelight instead of hogging it all.

This is, without a doubt, the perfect dish to warm your weak, weary soul on a wintery, cold Christmas night and put some fire into your belly.

Oh who am I kidding, Singapore doesn't have winter. We have flash floods though.