Conrad Singapore – Honey Bee Happy Afternoon Tea [MEDIA INVITE]

There is nothing sweeter than Honey Bee Happy Afternoon Tea to brighten up your day. Available at Lobby Lounge, Conrad Centennial Singapore, until 15th September 2022.

The Honey Bee Afternoon Tea starts with a signature mocktail, a blend of honey, ginger, thyme and calamansi. A sweet and refreshing start to the afternoon tea.

Mocktail to Start

Soon after, the service staff brought out two tier stand, one level for sweet and another for savoury. The savoury starts with Bourbon Manuka Honey Barbecue Chicken Slider. The chicken is marinated with manuka honey, barbecue and mixed with apple cider pickle and mustard. Tasty and tender with a hint of honey in the chicken.

The Savoury & Sweet

Bourbon Manuka Honey Barbecue Chicken Slider

Elderflower Honey Figs, Pear and Raisin Chutney Pincho is a nice blend between sweet and savoury. We like the fruity burst from the figs, which pair nicely with matcha cream cheese that can easily be mistaken for avocado cream cheese. Eucalyptus Honey Cucumber Ricotta Ikura, Buckwheat Blini look yummy, however, most of the flavour is covered by the ricotta.

Left: Eucalyptus Honey Cucumber Ricotta Ikura, Buckwheat Blini
Right: Elderflower Honey Figs, Pear and Raisin Chutney Pincho

The Savoury

Wild Honey, Cream Cheese Smoked Salmon and Dill Sandwich is not to be missed. A classic combo of smoked salmon and dill, bind by cream cheese and wild honey.

Wild Honey, Cream Cheese Smoked Salmon
and Dill Sandwich

For the sweets, we start with Chia Seed Coconut Jelly and Coconut Ganache. The exterior is made from chocolate ganache and filled with chia seeds coconut jelly. It looks like mini coconut and the taste is a combination of chocolate and light coconut cream.

The Sweets

Chia Seed Coconut Jelly and Coconut Ganache

Avocado Cheesecake shaped in form of mini avocado, filled with mango and spirulina jelly. Tasted like mango flavour easter egg. Meanwhile, Acacia Thyme Honey Mango, can easily be mistaken for a mini lemon. Filled with hazelnut sponge, lemon curd and white chocolate mousse. The white chocolate mousse is a bit too sweet for my liking and I find the lemon is not strong enough to balance the white chocolate.

Avocado Cheesecake

Avocado Cheesecake - The Fillings

Acacia Thyme Honey Mango 

Lychee Collagen Mousse, filled with lychee compote and wild honey whip. This mini lychee is soft, smooth and creamy. The blend of the lychee compote and wild honey is spot on. Absolutely delicious.

Lychee Collagen Mousse

Once we have cleared the sweet and savoury, the service staff will bring out the scones. Raisin scone and classic scone served with Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cream. This crispy and crumbly pastry provided a nice ending to the afternoon tea.

Raisin scone and classic scone served with Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cream

To accompany Honey Bee afternoon tea, I ordered the Jasmine Pearl tea. A delicate, flowery light tea.

Ronnefeldt Jasmine Pearl Tea

Overall, it was a nice afternoon tea inspired by selections of honey. The presentation of the sweets pastries this round is just awesome, like you are getting mini coconut, avocado, lemon and lychee on your plate. A must-try afternoon tea. Cheers!!

Honey Bee Happy Afternoon Tea

Venue: Lobby Lounge, Conrad Centennial Singapore

Date: Until 15th September 2022

Monday to Sunday (2 seating)

First Seating: 13.00 – 15.00; Second Seating: 15.30 – 17.30

Price:

Weekday: S$45++ per person - Inclusive of unlimited Ronnefeldt Tea or Brazilian Coffee

Weekend: S$49++ per person - Inclusive of unlimited Ronnefeldt Tea or Brazilian Coffee

*Add on S$20++ per person for unlimited Prosecco - 2 hours only

Also available in Takeaway.

For our takeaway option, the Honey Bee Happy Afternoon Tea Takeaway Box is specially designed in partnership with Aloysius Low, an attendee of the Day Activity Centre at St. Andrew’s Autism Centre.

Honey Bee Happy Afternoon Tea Takeaway Box - Front

Aloysius derives satisfaction from his drawings and paintings, which allows him to stay focus whilst building his self-confidence. This hidden talent of Aloysius’s has led him to be selected as the Illustrator for the Chinese version of “The Little Prince” by the Estate of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Honey Bee Happy Afternoon Tea Takeaway Box - Back
With Conrad Bear Tumbler

The Honey Bee Happy Afternoon Tea takeaway is available from now till 15th September 2022 on https://bit.ly/3z7CBTY

Takeaway or Delivery: From S$96.30 nett per set (for 2 persons)

For more information, kindly visit www.connoisseur.sg/afternoon-tea/, call 6432 7483 / 6432 7357, or email sinci.lobbylounge@conradhotels.com

Thank you very much Team Lobby Lounge for hosting us.

Food: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Ambiance: 8.5/10

Budget per Person: $51 - $80

Lobby Lounge @Conrad

2 Temasek Boulevard

Lobby Level, Conrad Centennial Singapore

Singapore 038982

T: +65 6432 7483

W: https://eatdrinkhilton.com/lobby-lounge-conrad-sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/conradcentennialsingapore

IG: @Conradsingapore

OH:

Sun - Thu: 07:00 - 00:00

Fri - Sat: 07:00 - 01:00

Daily Afternoon Tea: 13.00 – 17.30

Menu Available Online

Conrad Singapore – Mid-Autumn Festival 2022 [MEDIA DROP]

Mid-Autumn Festival 2022 is fast approaching and it is time to show our appreciation to our loved ones through the gifting of mooncakes.

This year, Royal Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch and Green Tea snowskin mooncakes returned as Conrad Centennial Singapore’s signature snowskin mooncakes. Accompanying them are Ondeh Ondeh and Cranberry Cheesecake snowskin mooncakes.

The Royal Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch is one of my favourites, not only the rich chocolate hazelnut flavour, but the truffle-like crunchiness inside makes it an unique mooncake. The Ondeh Ondeh flavour is something that you should look forward to, especially the burst of flavour from the Gula Melaka.

Conrad Centennial Singapore Snowskin Mooncakes

This year mooncake boxes are fashioned from satin fabric to resemble the reflection of a glimmering full moon. It is also embellished with motifs of fabled birds and flowers to symbolise optimism, serenity, and health.

Conrad Centennial Singapore Mooncake Box 2022

Conrad Centennial Singapore – Mooncake

From: Now – 10 September 2022

Discount Offer: 11 August to 10 September – 20% Discount for Citi, UOB, Maybank, HSBC, DBS/POSB, AMEX, OCBC and Standard Chartered card members

Mooncake Varieties	Quantity Per Box	Selling Price in SGD (Inclusive of GST)
CLASSIC BAKED FAVOURITES
白莲蓉葵花籽月饼 Traditional White Lotus with Melon Seeds	4	88
伍仁月饼 Traditional Baked with Mixed Nuts	4	94
单黃白莲蓉月饼 Traditional Baked with Single Yolk in White Lotus Paste	4	90
双黃白莲蓉月饼 Traditional Baked Double Yolk in White Lotus Paste	4	92
金牡丹精选四喜月饼 Golden Peony Traditional Baked Treasures (1 piece per flavour)	4	92
金牡丹精选双宝月饼 Golden Peony Traditional Baked Delights (2 pieces of Single and Double Yolk each)	4	92
MODERN MINI SNOWSKINS
巧克力榛子冰皮月饼 Royal Hazelnut Crunch Snowskin	8	92
绿茶冰皮月饼 Green Tea Snowskin	8	92
椰糖椰丝球冰皮月饼 Ondeh Ondeh Snowskin	8	92
蔓越莓奶酪冰皮月饼 Cranberry Cheese Snowskin	8	92
金牡丹精选八福冰皮月饼 Golden Peony Snowskin Treasures (2 pieces per flavour)	8	92
GOLDEN PEONY SIGNATURE CRISPY FILO
招牌迷你酥皮金薯月饼 Sweet Potato in Crispy Filo Pastry	8	90

Conrad Centennial Singapore Traditional Baked Mooncakes
and Golden Peony Signature Crispy Filo
Image Credit: Conrad Centennial Singapore

For more information, kindly visit https://www.connoisseur.sg/mooncake/ or contact our Festive team at +65 6432 7486 / 6432 7489 or email sinci.festive@conradhotels.com

The Three Peacocks – Meat & Live Station Buffet [MEDIA INVITE]

The Three Peacocks (‘TTP’) are known to be a place to go for a great outdoor BBQ experience. They offer an extensive range of meat and seafood for BBQ and they are packed every day.

The Three Peacocks

Recently, TTP has launched Meat & Live Station Buffet, priced at $45++ for Monday to Friday. We last visited TTP a few years back, before Covid landed. When we visited them again this time around, we can see that TTP has expanded their offerings to include a few live stations and cooked food as well. They are becoming a full fledge buffet restaurant plus outdoor charcoal BBQ as well.

Meat & Live Stations Buffet

Back to the Meat BBQ, we started with the beef first. We have Bone In Short Rib Korean Cut, Angus Beef Boneless Short Rib, Wagyu Oyster Blade and Angus Beef Shortplate. We find the quality of the meat is good, almost Korean BBQ standard. The bone-in short rib is juicy with a good chewiness in it, but I like the boneless short ribs better as I do not have to get my hands dirty.

Part of The Beef Selections

Part of The Beef Selections

For the pork, we tried the Thick Cut Pork Belly, Black Pork Belly, Black Pork Collar, Pork Jowl and Pork Loin. We like both versions of the pork belly, as we grill them to the point of crispiness. The pork jowl has a nice fat-to-meat ratio; however, we find it too gamy for our liking.

Part of The Pork Selections

Part of The Pork Selections

Since the meat is not marinated, it is best to dip the cooked meat in different sauces provided to create the taste that you like.

Chilli Padi & Garlic, Chinchalok and Peacock Special Sauce

Salt, Korean BBQ and Yuzu & Ponzu

The skewers were highly recommended, so we grilled the Beef Skewers, Chicken Skewers, Marinated Mid Wing, Chicken Gizzard and Mutton Skewers. They are also known as Chuan Chuan in China. The beef, chicken and mutton skewers are good and you can add cumin powder seasoning to the skewers as well. I really like the gizzard as it was crisp and crunchy as well.

The Chuan Chuan

In between the meals I went to check out the live stations. The first live station that you will see when walking into TTP is the deep-fried and teppanyaki station. Here you can get a range of deep-fried food such as chicken karaage, fries, wedges, gyoza, calamari rings, nuggets and a lot more. The items will be rotated regularly.

Live Station Teppanyaki & Deep Fried

On that day, the teppanyaki station is busy with salmon, calamari rings and or-luak. On other occasions, they even do beef cubes, almost like the beef cubes popular in Taiwan street food. I get to try TTD version of or-luak which was very tasty, although it is lacking some crisp.

Or-luak

The next live station served pizza, pasta and burger. You won’t miss it as the big red pizza oven is so eye-catching, it should be a centrepiece. The pizza is baked on the spot, though I won’t say it is fantastic, it is decent. The slider (mini beef burger) is very good actually. Filled with juicy mini patty and pack with delicious sauce as well. On that day, they also serve carbonara, rojak and tacos.

Live Station Pizza, Pasta & Burger

Pizzas

Sliders / Mini Beef Burger

Since TTD is evolving to a full buffet lineup, they have beefed up the cooked ready food section as well. The cold food section includes a salad bar, cold cuts, sushi and soba. You can get the lettuce wrap from the salad bar and if you want something healthy, we find the apple salad is good to help balance the heavy meat BBQ.

The cooked food sections contain Soup, Garlic Bread, Fried Rice, Stir-fry Vegetables, Mac & Cheese, Baked Ratatouille, Potato Wedges, Corn with Cheese and Mala Xiang Guo. The Mala Xiang Guo seems to be popular with the guests, as the queue always peaked at the Mala Xiang Guo.

Fried Rice & Stir-Fry Vegetables

Mac & Cheese and Potato Wedges

Spicy Chicken and Baked Ratatouille

Mala Xiang Guo

To complete the meal, drinks and ice cream are free flow. Drinks provided are more of a healthier choice, such as fruit punch, blackcurrant juice, orange juice and sky juice (water). There is no coke, coke zero or sprite. The chocolate and tropicana (corn and coconut) ice cream are great.

Drinks

Ice Cream

Overall, we find the offering at The Three Peacocks to be extensive. We find it impossible to try all the dishes and even go for a second round. For $45++ you will surely get your fill. If you still like your seafood, you can also continue with your all Seafood and Meat Buffet. Cheers!!

Meat & Live Station Buffet

When: Monday to Friday

Where: The Three Peacocks

Price: $45++

Food & Drink: 6.75/10

Value: 7.25/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 6.5/10

Budget per Person: $51 - $80

The Three Peacocks @Labrador Park

8 Port Road

Labrador Park

Singapore 117540

T: +65 8333 2781

F: https://www.facebook.com/thethreepeacocks/

IG: @Thethreepeacocks

OH:

Mon – Thu: 17.45 – 23.00

Fri – Sun: 17.00 – 23.00

Tora Hachi – Comforting Donburi and Grill Food [MEDIA INVITE]

Tora Hachi Japanese Grill & Restaurant (“Tora Hachi”) is a Japanese-style grilled food restaurant, that offers a wide choice of skewers and donburi. In short, it is also known as Izakaya. Tora Hachi is the expansion of Kushiya at Westgate, elevating their brand from a shoebox kiosk to a full fledge restaurant in Holland Village and completing their offering with sakes and beers to complement their food.

Tora Hachi

We started our tasting with Gyu Don ($11.90) and Kimchi Slice Pork Don ($10.90). My first impression is that their servings are very generous. Both the beef and pork topping filled the bowl to the brim and can easily fill your stomach. I like the marinate in the gyudon as it gives a nice balance between sweet and savoury complete with umami finishing. For the kimchi don, the pork is tender and juicy, while the kimchi provided the acidity in balancing the meal.

Gyu Don

Both the dons are supposed to be served with Ajitsuke Tamago (ramen eggs). Usually, the Ajitsuke tamago is seasoned with soy sauce, till the egg white turns brown to show the soy sauce has been absorbed into the eggs. The version at Toro Hachi is lighter as the egg white is still bright in colour and the taste of soy sauce is minimum.

Kimchi Slice Pork Don

Hiyashi Udon ($6.80). Sanuki style udon served cold with onsen tamago. The thick, chewy and bouncy udon perfectly complements the housemade sauce, onsen tamago and seaweed. You need to mix all the ingredients before you slurp. It is cold, refreshing and tasted heavenly. Simplicity at its best. Yummy!!

Hiyashi Udon

Hiyashi Udon

Oyago Don ($11.90). Grilled thick juicy and succulent chicken thigh, covered with generous servings of seaweed. I like the texture and flavour of the chicken, but I just feel there is a disconnection between the ingredients. Maybe Tora Hachi can consider adding Oyakodon style of egg or onsen egg style to bind all the ingredients together.

Oyago Don

For the appetizer, we try Chicken Karaage ($9.80), Hane Gyoza ($12.80) and Edamame ($5.60). The fried chicken has a crispy exterior followed by a juicy and succulent interior. It is served with mayonnaise for dipping sauce. The edamame was done just right. Soft, moist and enjoyable.

Chicken Karaage

Edamame

The Hane Gyoza (also known as Gyoza with Wings). Each of the gyoza is interconnected through the thin piece of crispy sheet. The shape of this gyoza is rounder and more plum compared to the traditional gyoza. The skin of the hane gyoza is thicker and the fillings do not have the strong smell of chives, that usually come with regular gyoza.

Hane Gyoza

Hane Gyoza

For the grill section, we started with grilled vegetables. Onion ($3.20), Garlic ($3.20), Pepper ($3.20), Lady Finger ($3.20), Sweet Corn ($3.20), Oyster Mushroom ($3.20) and Shiitake Mushroom ($3.20). I must say, we are very surprised with the quality of the grilled vegetables. They are probably one of the best that we ever tried in izakaya around Singapore.

The Grilled Vegetables, Meat & Hane Gyoza

Sweet Corn - 2nd Round

We peel the onion layer by layer and each one of them is sweet and juicy. The oyster mushroom is tasty and plump. LD and RM enjoy the pepper and lady fingers, the vegetables that I don’t like. Not forgetting, the sweet corn, which has a nice balance of charred and sweetness. We ordered a second round because it was awesome.

Grilled Oysters Mushroom, Lady Finger, Shiitake Mushroom & Beef Ribeye

Grilled Onion

Grilled Paprika

For the grilled appetizer. Grilled Chicken Mid Wings ($8.90) are well marinated, succulent and full of flavours. We would prefer it to be crispier externally, however, the wet marinate does not allowed for super crisp skin.

Grilled Chicken Mid Wings

Grilled Chicken Mid Wing

Grilled Pork Belly ($9.80) is juicy and tender, while Yaki Ika (Squid, $10.90) is soft with a nice chewiness in each bite. While Grilled Shishamo ($6.80) get our seal of approval as well.

Grilled Pork Belly

Yaki Ika

Grilled Shisamo

For the protein on skewers, we tried Beef Ribeye Skewer ($4.20) and Chicken Thigh with Scallion ($4.20). The beef ribeye skewer is a must-order. Small cuts of beef are held together by the skewer, delivering juicy and well-marinated MOO MOO. I suggest you eat this while it is hot, if not the beef will be chewy.

Beef Ribeye Skewer

The chicken thigh with scallion has a crispy exterior with juicy and succulent interior. I did not try the scallion, but I enjoy the chicken very much.

Chicken Thigh with Scallion & Grilled Garlic

To accompany your meal at Tora Hachi, the group ordered Asahi Draft ($7.90, 300ml), Asahi Black ($8.90, 300ml). Since I can’t drink, I stick with Ice Genmai Tea ($2.80) and Coke Zero ($2.80).

Asahi Draft & Asahi Black 300ml

The décor of this place will make you feel like you enter an Izakaya somewhere in Japan. The front of the shop is decorated with big sake barrels, and once you enter the shop you will see the red lantern hanging from the wall all the walls are covered with Japanese illustration with red as the predominant colour. The dining tables and chairs are made from wood, complete with the QR code sticker to see the menu and place your order.

Part of the Dining Area

Part of the Dining Area

Overall, we find the food at Tora Hachi to be very comforting. The Hiyashi Udon, Gyudon, grilled vegetables (especially the grilled sweet corn), beef ribeye skewers and pork belly are a must order here. Tora Hachi delivers comforting and reasonably priced food and drink. However, I think there is room for improvements in the menu at Tora Hachi to cater for the more sophisticated clientele in the Holland Village area and stamp their presence there. Kanpai!! Cheers!!

Thank you very much Tora Hachi Team for the invitation and for hosting us.

Food & Drink: 7/10

Value: 8/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 7.5/10

Budget per Person: $26 - $50

Tora Hachi Japanese Grill & Restaurant

29 Lor Mambong

Singapore 277687

T: +65 9067 3489

W: https://tora-hachi-jp-grill-restaurant.business.site/

F: https://www.facebook.com/ToraHachi8/

IG: @Tora.hachi8

OH:

Sun – Thu: 11.00 – 23.00

Fri & Sat: 11.00 – Midnight

Menu Available Online