Chef Sam Leong is a friend whose first two cookbooks I’ve had the
pleasure of publishing. I was an avid fan since he was Executive Chef of the
Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore, and later when he helmed the Tung Lok Group of restaurants.
We lost contact when I moved to Hong Kong four years ago and he
quit his post with the restaurant group. But we rekindled our friendship in his
newly opened restaurant, Forest at Equarius Hotel, Sentosa, two nights ago.
This quiet restaurant with a seating capacity of more than 170 sat
in the midst of green and tranquil surroundings. The interior was cleanly
modern with a stylised eco theme complete with green wall and abstract palm
tree pillars.
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| Tuna tartar with fresh mango in cone |
We were first greeted with plum sorbet with cherry tomato and
pickled carrot. The chill taste of the plum sorbet left a lasting aftertaste of
plum and an acidic sweet effect.
Like a kid enticed with an ice-cream cone, the chill tuna tartar
marinated with fresh mango in crispy seaweed, which came after, was bliss. The
tuna and mango were like a pair of long-lost twins at a pleasant and
heartwarming reunion.
Steamed Chawanmushi egg with pan-seared foie gras was no surprise,
but who could refuse foie gras in whatever form?!
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| Steamed Chawanmushi with pan-fried foie gras |
This was one of my favourites of the evening: I could have begged
for more with the first spoonful of double-boiled sea whelk with Sakura chicken
consommé. The taste of sea whelk and cordyceps flowers was distinctive and
rich. The price of cordyceps has hit the sky and its flowers are nowadays a
good alternative. Chef Sam explained that he used Sakura chicken for its low
fat content. The tempura sea whelk? I loved its texture but the sea whelk
didn’t come through, only the prawn paste.
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| Double-boiled sea whelk soup & Sakura chicken consomme accompanied with Tempura sea whelk |
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| Charcoal-grilled cod fish with sauteed eggplant |
Charcoal-grilled honey cod fish was close to my taste buds. I love
my fish grilled with a crispy texture yet succulent to the bite. The hint of
sweetness flawlessly complemented the slight spicy sautéed eggplant that came
with the dish.
The influence of Chef Sam’s early stint as chef in Thailand, and
perhaps that of his wife, Forest, who is Thai-Chinese, was clearly evident. The
slightly acidic soup balanced with just the right amount of sweetness, brought
out the subtle taste of the sea from the scallop dumpling. The big surprise was
the dried scallop and prawn stuffed inside the dumpling, which I noticed upon
biting into the dumpling, betraying the Chinese influence on top of the Thai.
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| Steamed scallop dumpling in Thai-style hot and sour consomme |
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| Charcoal-grilled Wagyu Beef & foie gras with sea urchin |
Wagyu beef and foie gras are like the Simpson Twins of haute
cuisine. But the touch of sea urchin gave another dimension to the pairing. The
rich, cream-like taste and texture actually provided a nice break from the
heavy-tasting beef and liver. I loved this surprise combination!
The traditional Szechuan-style mapo tofu with crabmeat was great.
The generous serving of crabmeat added panache to this Chinese dish but I found
the mapo tofu overly generous for the small portion of accompanying rice. The
rice was drowned by the mapo tofu, which was, in turn, too salty to be eaten on
its own.
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| Szechuan-style mapo tofu with crab and steamed pearl rice |
The dessert finale didn’t disappoint. The Siam chocolate banana
ganache was wonderful as Chef Sam used Thai banana whose taste was strong, yet sat
comfortably with the chocolate. The Thai-teh ice-cream and Lemongrass jelly
were overshadowed by the goreng durian and chempedak. Durian and chempedak each
have strong pungent tastes of their own, yet bringing the two together created
an explosion of multi-level taste, texture and satisfaction….. provided you
liked durian and chempedak in the first place!
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| Siam chocolate banana ganache, Thai-teh ice-cream, lemongrass jelly and goreng durian & chempedak |
Throughout dinner, Chef Sam and I had the rare opportunity to
catch up with the past, present, and even the future. He told me that when he
quit his position with Tung Lok, everyone thought he had gone mad for forgoing
such a salary and a regional creative post on top of that. But he said that
while quitting at the seeming pinnacle of one’s career was always difficult, if
you didn’t do it you never will, because you always keep setting yourself a next
higher goal. So Chef Sam decided to bite the bullet, and now cherishes the time
he spends with his wife and family running his cooking school and his occasional
consulting stints. Well, Chef, here’s wishing you best of luck!
Forest
Equarius Hotel
Resorts World Sentosa
Sam.leong@forest
Cooking School
4A Craig Road
Singapore 089664
Tel: 65-6222 3305
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