Located on the first floor of corporate-chic Bay Hotel, STREET 50 is furnished elegantly with a modern touch – telling of its philosophy towards food. STREET 50 serves up mostly Asian flavours with a mod western twist. Think chilli crab pasta and poached chicken with breaded rice balls. It’s known for its affordable lunch and weekend buffets.
In tribute to our nation’s 49th birthday, the fusion cuisine diner has cooked up an exclusive buffet menu – available for one day only. Here’s a quick look at some of the highlights you’ll get to try on 9 August.
Our first course was the Steamed Hainanese Chicken with Breaded Rice Balls, a modern interpretation of Singapore’s favourite chicken rice. The poached chicken was pleasantly succulent and smooth, with no traces of powdery meat.
We mopped up the fragrant light soy sauce eagerly with our shiny chicken chunks. I’m not a fan of breast meat because I find the texture chalky but Chef Ricky’s poached chicken was silky from the skin to the meat.
The deep fried rice balls, while an innovative concept, tasted less convincing. The deep frying stripped the rice of its usual garlicky kick. I always believe that an indicator of good chicken rice is punchy, flavourful chilli. The dish came with a unique blend of garlic chilli and tomato chutney.
While unusually smooth in appearance for a chicken rice chilli, I appreciated the spicy and flavourful kick it lent to the dish.
Our next surprise came in the form of Paper-Wrapped Chicken Risotto. Smallish chicken mid-wings are stuffed with arborio rice and marinated for six hours with a blend of Chinese spices. The whole morsel is then deep fried and served in little paper packages. I won’t deny the creativity of the whole idea.
The taste of familiar spices on the surface of the meat and the soft texture of the rice it held was an interesting combination. The meat, however, was a little tough to chew on and the package as a whole too oily for my liking.
The Chilli Crab Penne was one of our favourite items. Punchy, spicy with the sweetness of crab meat, the sauce coats the al-dente penne pasta thoroughly. The large spaces in penne allowed us to mop up more of that fiery gravy. I enjoyed biting into the chunks of crab meat, mixed well into the sauce.
Beware, those who can’t take spicy food should steer clear of this. The pasta will be prepared a-la-minute on the day of the buffet.
Dessert was a traditional dish of Yam Paste served with Gingko Nuts. I like my orh nee velvety, sweet and just a little bit salty. This version hit all the right notes. Cooked with a little bit of lard and drizzled with salted coconut milk, our yam paste had just the right amount of savoury in its mostly sweet body.
What I appreciate most about STREET 50 is its dedication to surprising its diners. You’ll find modern interpretations of familiar flavours – some work better than others but all are creative. We loved the concept of modernising classic Singaporean flavours. The traditionalist in me protests but I did enjoy the surprise of finding something new in every bite.
Adults:
$49++ with complimentary Singapore Sling cocktail
*With every 3 paying adult, 4th paying adult get to enjoy the buffet at $4.90++
Kids:
$25++ with complimentary Merlion Swing mocktail
Kids below 6 get to enjoy complimentary National Day buffet with every paying adult.
The Buffet is only available on National Day, 9th August 2014, Saturday, from 6.30pm to 10pm.
Tel: 6818 6681
Address: Bay Hotel Singapore, 50 Telok Blangah Road, Singapore 098828
This post was brought to you by STREET 50.
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