Masterchef Dining & Bar Singapore 2016 (1 Dec 2016 Dinner)

I’ve been watching MasterChef since 2013 when Eugene introduced the series to me.

That was the year Luca Manfe won.

Ever since then, I’ve never missed a season.

When I saw that MasterChef Dining and Bar is coming to Singapore, I was very excited. I remember when I saw the list of chefs coming though it only listed Masterchef Asia’s winner Woo Waileong (yes I watched that when it was on Channel 5) so I decided to wait and see if anyone from MasterChef USA will be coming.

Then! I realised a few weeks back that Luca was coming!! I wasn’t sure at first and commented on his instagram just to check:
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And guess who the other chefs are? Audra Morrice, MasterChef Australia (and judge of MasterChef Asia) and Woo Wai Leong, MasterChef Asia! I watched MasterChef Asia when it aired on TV and honestly it was very apparent which will win.

Anyway, it was only until after the press conference last week that I decided that I had to go. Despite the price, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to try out the food!

I sent the link to Alexis, and she saw that if we could gather 6 people, there would be a discount! Initially, most of our colleagues rejected us as they felt that it was too expensive – luckily, there are some foodies among us (and home cooks) who also knows about MasterChef and came along!

Finally 1 Dec came!
We excitedly went to Intercontinental Hotel Singapore’s Ash & Elm restaurant after work and waited for a while before they let us in. Once we went in we were asked if we wanted sparkling water or wine (both chargeable).

I don’t want to go into much detail, but they had a Mystery box challenge and a contest before the dinner. Audra was the emcee and the chefs introduced their dishes and inspiration for it.

The menu:

Food pictures (in order of the menu)!


Luca’s famouse Rabe Ravioli!


Leong’s dish – very life changing. I will never eat a better pork ever again


Best dessert ever!!

We approached Marco Pierre White (or MPW) first for pictures because Audra, Luca and Leong were busy in the kitchen. We were a bit intimidated at first because… Well he’s the Godfather of chefs. We took only 2 menus for him to autograph after a picture with him and he said, “where are your menus?” so we hurried back to take the rest of them. Haha. He’s extremely nice by the way! At the end of dinner, when we had took pictures and autographs and was walking out, he actually stopped chatting with his friend and came over to thank us and shook all our hands. 👍😊😊

Our group had a long chat with Waileong (which included a small tour of the open kitchen). I think Alexis (being her usual self) drove him crazy hahaha. It was fun though and we gained some tips from him about eating at expensive food places.

Meeting Audra was just inspiring. Especially when all I know about her was from MasterChef Asia’s episodes as well as some reading up after that. Her 2 dishes were 2 outstanding ones and I really hope to be able to get her recipe book someday and cook her dishes.

And finally Luca! Meeting him was just awesome! I gave him 2 tissue paper packs (aka napkins) and he kinda featured the group of us on his Instagram Stories lol
I’ve been a fan of him since MasterChef 2013. He’s the nicest person ever (remember him sharing butter with Jessie?? And garlic?). Even in real life he’s friendly despite the fact that he’s probably jetlagged and very busy.
If it were other MasterChef USA cast, I would most likely not want to go.

Overall, it was a great experience, and I think much better than having fine dining at a restaurant. You won’t be able to take pictures or get an autograph with the chef at a fine dining restaurant! My colleagues had fun too – which made it even better. 🙂 The organizers did well and everything was fun even though I honestly felt intimidated at first.

I wish I’d won some of the autographed recipe books though!

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The Soup Spoon Taste Brazil Preview Session

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I had the opportunity to attend the preview session for The Soup Spoon’s Taste Brazil launch on 13 July.

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Brought my sister along as the fiance had dinner with his friends and it’s my sister’s birthday week.

There are 8 soups that will be launched under the Taste Brazil season of which 4 will be launched first from 14 July to 4 Aug 2016 (which we got to try), and the next will be from 11 Aug to 1 Sept 2016.

Anna aka Souperchef Anna, who’s the chef behind the Soup Spoon, was sponsored a trip by Sadia (the sponsor for the event that we attended as well) to Brazil where she got to eat and learn the different Brazilian food and how they’re cook so that she can come up with new seasonal soups. I was really excited to be able to meet her as I really really love Soup Spoon and have followed her adventures on Instagram for a while. When we sat down, we were given hibiscus tea (one of my favourite teas) and while Anna shared about her trip to Brazil, we were served the food.

We were presented with 4 soups (the first 4 that are being launched) to taste, and they are namely, Mocofava My Version, Beef Feijoada (fay-zwah- da), Vegan Caldo Verde Curried and Pumpkin Mango & Prawn Bitsque.

Mocofava My Version

Mocofava My Version

One of my favourite! It’s made of beans, some curry spice, carrot puree and chicken collagen. It was inspired by Chef Rodrigo of Mocotó restaurant where Souperchef Anna tasted the soup and created her version of it. It comes with a soft boiled egg. The curry powder was really fragrant along with the beans. It was my first taste of Brazilian styled food and it awoke my senses!

We were given a pack of this to bring home and my dad absolutely loves it as well and asked me to get more if possible.

Beef Feijoada

Beef Feijoada

“Black bean soup!” the first thing that came to the minds of both my sister and I when we tasted this. Souperchef Anna had told us that quite a lot of Brazil food uses similar ingredients as us and this is one good example. The all too familiar Chinese-styled black bean soup is now presented to us in a different way – thicker, with beef and (most interesting of all) orange bits. The orange bits brought about a burst of acidity and flavour when you bite into it which excited my tastebuds. I was a little worried when I saw that chillis were in the soup but it wasn’t spicy to me (trust me when I say that I’m usually bad with chillis).

Vegan Caldo Verde Curried

Vegan Caldo Verde Curried

We rarely get to eat kale here in Singapore because they’re expensive (I once bought a bunch for SGD$9!), so I was excited to be able to try a vegan version of the Caldo Verde curried made from kale. It has vegetarian bacon bits topped to it which brought a little bit of crunch to it. I don’t think a lot of people finished this however, but I pretty much like vegetables (along with any kind of food) so I finished it all.

Pumpkin Mango & Prawn Bitsque

Pumpkin Mango & Prawn Bitsque

I was excited to try this as I absolutely love the Soup Spoon’s Prawn Bitsque when it came out during Christmas (and also introduced a lot of my friends to try that). Mango in a soup? It was absolutely delicious! The prawn bits were generous and there were quinoa inside as well which made the soup really hearty and full.

Other than the 4 soups, we were given a treat of Chicken rice made from Sadia Chicken and coconut mousse!

The recipe for the chicken rice can be found here in the E-magazine by The Soup Spoon on Souperchef’s Anna trip to Brazil.

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I really enjoyed my time and I think perhaps it’s time that I get my blogging habits back again 🙂

TSS Brazil soup tasting

Source: Instagram @souperchefanna

Find out more about the Brazil soups here: http://www.thesoupspoon.com/promotions/promotions-souperinspirations/

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