Palate event: Food and wine at The Moluccas Room

Remember Palate? The dining programme that offers its members up to 50% discounts at a wide range of restaurants and bars in Singapore. Besides offering fabulous discounts, it also holds Palate-themed events for its members. The first of such events was held at The Moluccas Room, which I have visited on Valentine’s Day this year and really loved the food there! I was invited to this session where a food and wine tasting dinner took place.

The only picture I've got where you can see me in.

The five-course spring-themed menu of Indonesian cuisine was created by Chef Alicia Tivey, Executive Chef of The Moluccas Room, who also chose a different wine to be paired with each course.

The first course was the Kerang Rendang Jeruk Bali (Grilled Hokkaido Scallop rending accompanied with refreshing spiced pomelo salad).

I am a huge fan of scallop. Preparing it with redang is an interesting take compared to the French-styled cooking that I’m more used to tasting. This was paired with the 2007 Henschke Julius Riesling, an Australian wine that is sweet and fresh, which complements well with the freshness and juiciness of the scallop.

What came next was the Cocktail Salada Udang (Prawn cocktail in rich Indonesian Dutch egg dressing, topped with refreshing cucumber and coconut shreds). Now, I usually pass on prawns because I’m not a huge fan, but I gobbled it up that day. 

This is yet another light and refreshing course that is a great continuation from the scallop that was served before this. I’m not too sure about the pairing with the 2011 Shaw Smith and Sauvignon Blanc, though. Most of my other media friends at the table also felt that the pairing doesn’t seem conventional.

The third course was the Daging Kambing Lumpia Goreng Belado (Balinese-spiced braised lamb spring roll, with traditional Indonesian pickle and Belado mayonnaise), which is also my favourite course that day.

This is rather interesting, because I really dislike mutton. But the spices and the dip manage to make the mutton taste bearable, in fact, palatable. The crisp and elegant 2010 Hugel et Fils classic Gewurztraminer “Hugel”, a French wine, also goes very well with the slightly-spicy mayonnaise.

The fourth course, Salmon Garing Colo Colo (Crispy pan-seared Salmon colo-colo with sweetened fermented soya bean rocket salad) was paired with the 2009 Nautilus Estate Pinot Noir, a red wine from New Zealand. The pairing doesn’t really work for me, but the salmon was a pleasant treat.

Finally, we were served the Moloccas Luwak Istimewa, a pretty dessert that was served with the 2010 Michele Chiarlo Nivole Moscato d’Asti DOCG, a flavourful dessert wine from Italy. I love my moscatos and this was definitely a good wine to end any meal.

The Moloccas Room is one of the participating restaurants of the Palate membership, and you can get more info about Palate at palate.sg