While it obviously isn't the focus of Christmas, I must admit that one of the things I enjoy about Christmas is the FOOD. All the roasts and mash and ham and turkey and pies and mulled wine and… alright, I'm hungry already!
I'm looking forward to cooking up some of that yummy goodness for my family when we meet for our annual Christmas dinner. But if you have no inclination to cook but yet want to enjoy a satisfying Christmas dinner, a good option might be to visit Grub to enjoy their Christmas menu.
I realise I haven't blogged about Grub before (no thanks to me having an awesomely huge backlog of posts) but it is one of my favourite places to eat at whenever I'm near Bishan Park. Having been a fan of Chef Mervyn's food for a long time and having attended Cookyn classes since way back when they were being run out of Mervyn's apartment, I know I'm always in for a treat when he's in the kitchen.
So I was delighted to be invited to a session to sample Grub's Limited Edition Christmas 2013 Menu! As an extra bonus, the kids were invited make cake pops. Noey was away at Sports Camp, so I brought Meips along to enjoy some girly time with me.
If you haven't encountered cake pops, they are essentially little balls of cake, iced and served on a stick like a lollipop. I've been meaning to make these for a while now, so I was most interested to be given an opportunity this day. I did wonder if my two-year old was going to be able to manage, but she did, thanks to the fact that all the hard work was already done by the Grub team. They mixed the cake with ganache before hand, and prepared the white chocolate coating, prettily coloured pink and green in addition to the original cream colour. So all the kids had to do was shape the balls of cake, stick them on a stick, dip in chocolate and decorate. It was fun for the little ones and adults alike.
An Important tip: Don't make the chocolate coating too thick. In fact, after dipping, take time to let all the excess chocolate drip off. If you put too much chocolate, it will not hold the sprinkles, which will start sliding down. It did in fact happen to me, with the one pop I was a bit impatient with.
After we were done, it was time for the main event: lunch! Grub's Christmas Set Menu is a 3-course set with two choices per course. So between Meips and I, we sampled all of the choices and oh my goodness, me, it was good.
For appetisers, Meips had the Soup of the Day, which was a Leek Potato and Gorgonzola Soup. This was amazing. The leek and potato had been pureed into a creamy soup that was lovely and smooth. And yet, this was more than just a usual cream soup, probably because of the gorgonzola, which added another dimension to it. It was delicious. No surprises then that Meips loved it. She is fond of soup, but I've never seen her feed herself quite so much, and pretty quickly too. She managed to finish about half the bowl all on her own, and as you can see if the pic below, the bowl wasn't small!
I had the Smoked Salmon Salad. It was a reliably good one and I enjoyed it since I adore smoked salmon, but it wasn't mind-blowing, unlike the soup.
Next up, the mains, which I really think are the stars of this menu. The Slow-Roasted Juicy Turkey Breast was really juicy, as promised. Which is practically unheard of in my books. I've have had my fair share of dry, tough turkey, but this! It made me realise that turkey could be tasty if done well. It was so tender I could cut it with a fork. And I especially liked the sweet potato mash that it came with. Mmmm.
Meips had quite a bit of the turkey, but later decided that her favourite dish was the Honey Baked Ham. Of course. My kids are both quite ham fiends, but I'm slow to give them too much since it can be really salty. This wasn't salty but instead had a good sweet flavour. I also liked that it was served thick-cut, which is my favourite way to eat ham. No thin slices for me! Meips gobbled this up.
I must admit that I stuffed myself with all that yummy meat and so didn't have too much space left for dessert. I went for the Sticky Date Cake, because I love sticky date -- it's one of my favourite desserts. Grub's version didn't disappoint. The cake was lovely and moist, and the warm cake with the cold ice cream is a great way to round off a meal. My dining partners had good reviews of the Banoffee, though I myself didn't have much more than a bite since I'm not a huge fan of banana.
Grub's Christmas Set Menu is only available for dinner till Christmas Eve, but here's something you can look forward to which will be joining Grub's menu next year: Bread and Butter Pudding. I'm not a huge fan of bread and butter pudding, especially since I usually only have this at hotel buffets. But this is nothing like the mushy, soggy stuff I'm familiar with. I'm not sure how but Chef Mervyn has managed to get the texture really light and it is surprisingly yummy. I regretfully couldn't finish much that day but I'll be looking out for it when Grub debuts this next year!
Aside from all the yummy food, one of the best things about eating at Grub is that it's set in Bishan Park. Perfect for the kids to run around and have some fun before and after the meal! Meips had a good time scootering about and we also discovered that a playground new Grub that we didn't see before. It's better for older kids, say 5 years and above, but it didn't stop Meips from having a good go at it.
Thanks for the yummy treat Grub! We'll be back!
GRUB
510 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1
(Bishan Park 1)
Singapore 569983
Tel: 64595743 (No reservations)
Nearest parking can be found off Sin Ming Ave in the carpark across the road from Blk 408.
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