Prod­uct Pur­pose

With a

Expat Living (Singapore) - - Wine & Dine - - An­thia Chng

Ded­i­cated to serv­ing up a health­ier per­spec­tive on In­dian food through ac­ces­si­ble and nu­tri­tious recipes, Sin­ga­pore- based so­cial- im­pact food brand has re­launched its famed Spice­box Kit. The funky new de­sign trades the wooden look for air­tight, tin­plated steel to pro­vide max­i­mum fresh­ness. The re­vamped steel box (choose be­tween sil­ver or gold fin­ish) fea­tures nine colour­ful tins con­tain­ing the es­sen­tial spices needed to cook all of the recipes in the ac­com­pa­ny­ing 116-page, hardcover cook­book, Cook­ing with In­dian Spice­box by founder Namita Moolani Mehra – think North In­dian favourites like daal and but­ter chicken, and other In­di­an­in­spired dishes like lamb and veg­gie burg­ers, plus kid-friendly fare. With the pur­chase of each kit, 10 street chil­dren will be pro­vided with a hot, nu­tri­tious meal, in part­ner­ship with In­dia-based char­ity Life Vrin­da­van. To buy a Spice­box Kit, or for more de­tails, visit in­dian-spice­box.com.

In­dian Spice­box

18 North Canal Road 8182 2858 | face­book.com/the­bell­jar.sg

First im­pres­sions: Oc­cu­py­ing a three-storey shophouse in Boat Quay, The Bell­jar is dimly lit, with grey, black and wood fur­nish­ings cre­at­ing a classy-chic vibe. Feast on Asian-fu­sion dishes on the ground floor, re­lax with a sun­downer on the sec­ond level, or get fancy with a whisky ap­pre­ci­a­tion class on the top level; this multi-func­tional space suits var­i­ous oc­ca­sions.

The Cho­sen One: Apart from the ex­ten­sive whisky se­lec­tion, the orig­i­nal cock­tails on the menu are sure to ap­peal. Those who pre­fer a sweeter con­coc­tion will en­joy the Singer in a Smoky Room ($25), a flashy tip­ple pre­sented in an ac­tual bell jar with a mini smoke ma­chine. On first whiff, you’ll get the soft, her­bal scent of the laven­der flower, fol­lowed by a layer of red wine, which adds vis­ual ap­peal and fra­grance; the drink fin­ishes off with mar­malade, gin and el­der­flower. Look­ing for the clas­sics? Go for The Bell­jar Old Fash­ioned ($16), a great blend of Buf­falo Trace bour­bon, Bow­more 12-year-old whisky, bit­ters and sugar.

The Cheap­skate: Ladies get one-for-one on drinks like lychee mar­ti­nis and san­gria on Wed­nes­day and Thurs­day evenings.

Bite on this: Food takes equal weight at this restau­rant bar, which is open for both lunch and din­ner. Look for­ward to a se­lec­tion of shar­ing plates and mains in­spired by Sin­ga­pore’s melt­ing pot of cul­tures. We tried the har cheong siew yoke ($15), a prawn-paste and pork dish roasted to per­fec­tion. An ode to lo­cal hawker fare, the thick slices are the per­fect bal­ance be­tween crispy crack­ling and melt-in-the-mouth meat. An ideal com­ple­ment to this sin­ful­ness is the burst of cit­rus in the High­ball ($15), a re­fresh­ing whisky-based cock­tail. An­other must-try is the duck breast ($22), an in­ter­est­ing com­bi­na­tion of roasted meat, red cab­bage mousse, ju­niper berry cin­na­mon jus, fresh greens and Parme­san crumbs. What really stole the show for me, how­ever, was the gochu­jang pasta ($16), a unique fu­sion dish made with spicy Korean pep­per sauce for heat and peanut but­ter for creami­ness.

Last but not least: If you’re keen on learn­ing more about whiskies, this is the place to go. The Bell­jar of­fers whisky ap­pre­ci­a­tion classes and pair­ing ses­sions, soon to be ex­panded to in­clude other spir­its like gin.

Ceiba

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