Brand New Peranakan Menu From The Square @ Novotel

Peranakan culture is undergoing another phase of rejuvenation from the efforts of local members to introduce to Singaporeans. Remember the upcoming Peranakan Festival in September? If you can't wait for that to happen, you can first indulge with the newly crafted Peranakan menu from chefs at The Square of Novotel Hotel.

The interior of The Square adopts warm tones and a cozy restaurant setting. It sets up in a way for an easy to navigate experience for their daily buffet line-up. The highlight of the layout is the central floating dessert island of cakes and dessert alcohol-based shots. 

It's extremely easy to fall in love with Nonya kueh. Colourful, fragrant with coconut hints and its characteristically chewy and bouncy texture, these are a delight to have. Their dainty Kueh Pie Tee steals the show with its lovely crispy exterior and refreshing, generous, juicy and varied combination of ingredients within this photogenic dish. Stuffed with a sweet mixture of julienned vegetables, shrimp, turnip and egg, the variety of which really whet our appetites. A recommended main would be the Babi Ponteh: instead of pork belly, pork ribs were braised to achieve a more delicious finish. It is non-spicy and sweet, and thus aligns with my preferences immensely. For those looking for a spicy kick in your dining adventure, the Nonya Style Assam Fish will surely be right up your alley. A fiery dose of chilli padi went into making the tangy sweet and spicy sauce for the fish. It comes in both steamed and fried versions. I prefer the steamed version for its more tender texture. 

The tantalizing cake display definitely screams dessert before dinner right at your empty stomach. Visit it at the risk of snatching everything because all the cakes look so attractive and inviting. Award-winning Chef Sin Siak specializes in desserts and cakes creation, and all of the above talented pieces are designed and formulated by his team. The most memorable one has got to be the Raspberry Earl Grey Tea Cake which really got me at hello, I couldn't stop looking at it. The moment I savoured its rich, smooth base of a tinge of earl grey and decadent chocolate, I knew my obsession is completely valid. Another cake that I really enjoyed were the Chocolate Pineapple Cake which managed a really pleasant blend of chocolate and the unusual tropical fruit.