The only reason I care about seasons here in Singapore is because of food. With the change of the seasons, a number of restaurants introduce menus centred on showcasing the best produce of those few months. One restaurant that I make it a point to visit regularly for this very reason is Spago at Marina Bay Sands.
Last Friday, I indulged in the Tasting Menu for Summer by Chef Greg Bess and his team, and found it sublime. In fact, I consider it the best seasonal menu I’ve had thus far there because the courses were very considered, with execution that’s done with flair and finesse. @abbey_thebolobao who’s dined at Spago with me a few times, concurred.
Dinner was flagged off by two snacks: a tiny nugget of a corn muffin with “buah keluak” corn paste and the “one-bite kaya toast”. Both inspired gems that shone with the brilliance of a local ingredients presented in a new light.
Next came a sumptuous tomato soup with a mini ball of burrata to cream it up. It was accompanied by three snacks that tried their best to outdo each other in tasty complexity.
The course that arrived after that was an exquisite sea-sweet terrine spun together from Hokkaido scallop and king crab, then bathed in a clear tomato water vinaigrette.
This was followed by a series of stronger-flavoured dishes: the bincho-grilled baby corn with potato espuma and tendrils of black truffle, handmade agnolotti stuffed with sweet corn (my all-time weakness at Spago), and a huge butter poached California spot prawn with fregula, clams and bacon emulsion. The main meat course was dry-aged pigeon in two styles (I loved the crispy thigh especially) plated with caramelised pears, pistachio gremolata and fennel pollen.
Our meal closed with Pastry Chef Ong Ai Li’s scrumptious take on “strawberry rhubarb shortcake” that saw nitro-frozen pebbles of salted vanilla ice-cream showered over.