In case you have not read our original post, we are absolutely in love with the Halia at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Besides the ambiance, the main draw is definitely the amazing food being served at The Halia and now, they have launched Halia Catering which means we get to enjoy their signature cuisine in the comfort of our own home or office event.
I think one the biggest challenges (which turns out to be a happy problem) is choosing from the wide array of dishes from their menu. Because, to be very honest, pretty much EVERYTHING on that menu is sedap giler to the max! 😛
They have got plenty of catering packages to choose from no matter what your event may be. Well, it’s a good thing then that besides choosing a customized menu, they also have a Communal Feast menu. You still need to make a few choices here and there and most importantly – they have some of their Signature dishes in there so you’re in for a treat either way.
And this, my friends, is what we enjoyed 😀
Starting off with some soup and the Pumpkin Soup was definitely a good choice. Creamy, velvety smooth and definitely brimming with flavour (add some cracked black pepper for more oomph!). Best enjoyed with the Linseed Bread that comes with your choice of soup.
If Pumpkin Soup is not your thing or you’d prefer something a little different, perhaps you might consider the Tomato Basil Soup or the unique Celeriac & Apple Soup instead.
These are two separate dishes which have rather different tastes but bound to appeal to many. We’d tried the Lemongrass and Ginger Prawn Salad when we visited Halia at Botanic Gardens Singapore awhile back and this dish is definitely on our favourites list.
It’s got kind of a Vietnamese-style noodle salad thanks to the glass noodles among the greens but their signature homemade ginger flower dressing makes all the difference. Pair that with the char-grilled flavour from the prawns and you’re all set.
The Pulled Duck with Soba Noodle Salad was a new experience for us. I quite like duck and I quite like Soba so this was definitely up my alley 😛 There’s quite a myriad of flavours here and there is no need to worry about the duck because there was no trace of gamey-ness and it was delicious especially when paired with flavours like Nori (seaweed) and Ponzu.
Wooooooooooooooo I REALLY loved this dish. In fact, I’m pretty sure everyone did 😛 Any lovers of Smoked Salmon will definitely want to include this in your order – trust us.
The Smoked Salmon Paté has mixed herbs and cream cheese in there to achieve its absolutely delicious flavour and texture plus some avocado, tomato & cucumber salsa on top for good measure. But remember – you MUST be sure to enjoy with the Crostini because these little toasted slices of bread are the absolute bomb!
I wasn’t sure whether to include this as a Starter or a Main so.. I’m slotting it in between the 2 sections 😛
I guess it’s kind of like more of a Starter since you enjoy it with more of that heavenly Crostini right? So the Lamb Leg is pulled and finished with some smoky BBQ flavour. The result is a full-flavoured paté that meat lovers will appreciate. The lamb flavour is actually very delicate and tasty here!
Who or what is a spatchcock you may be asking? Well, ‘Spatchcock’ actually refers to the method splitting open a bird/poultry (in this case – chicken) before cooking. Pretty much the same as ‘Butterfly-ing’ lah 😀
Anyways, this Spatchcock of Spring Chicken has been ‘twice-cooked’ for good measure and features flavours like mesquite, Cajun and paprika for nice hints of BBQ and grill. Served with some Cabbage Slaw and Confit Potatoes. That sauce you see is not chili or anything like that – it’s actually Pineapple Ketchup!
This may also have been a Starter (because, vegetables) but I’m adding here because I quite enjoyed with the Spatchcock of Spring Chicken! So it’s more of like a… side dish or accompaniment.
The Fried Sweet Potato are pretty straightforward (seasoned with mesquite and accompanied with some Garlic Aioli) but the Marinated Cucumber may be a bit more… complicated LOL the flavours are predominantly garlic and soy. To be very honest with you, it reminded me a lot of that soy sauce that comes with your chicken when you have Chicken Rice at some places. Which is probably why I enjoyed this most with the Spatchcock of Spring Chicken 😀
This dish was unanimously selected as the one everyone enjoyed the most – the 12-Hour Five-Spiced Braised Beef was really something else. And if you have any doubts about the braised for “12-Hours” thing, just take a bite and you’ll know they ain’t kidding.
Super tender beef and really flavourful too. Despite the ‘Five-Spiced’ part of the name, good ol’ beefy flavour dominated this dish which was very welcome. Served on a bed of silky Mashed Potatoes and also comes with a few sides. The Pickled Vegetables was a nice contrast in flavour but my Dad will tell you that the Couscous Salad was the bomb! 😛
Although I do think that if I were really serving to guests, I might wanna dress this up which means a little more work in terms of the packaging… But more on that a little later okay!
When I first saw this on the menu card, the first thing that came to mind was when we enjoyed a similar dish during our visit to Halia. The Paperbag Oven-baked Halibut Fillet was one of the best (and surprising) dishes we enjoyed there.
This one is a bit different I think. Besides the different choice in fish (Seabass here instead of Halibut), this one was bit drier (less of the soy broth) which seemed a shame because one of the best parts of this Asian-style dish was enjoying a nice chunk of fish with the Japanese rice that comes with and a nice helping of that soy broth. FUYOH talk about comforting and familiar flavours that pack a punch!
Now that I think about it, maybe we should have tried re-heating it and maybe it *might* have become more fluid? And yes – they do give you instructions for re-heating (even specifically for different dish types!).
Anyways, there’s another dish on the Communal Feast menu – the Chili Crab Gratin – which we are unable to feature because… well, we didn’t get any 😛 But I reckon it’s a play on (and should be similar to) their famous signature Chili Crab Spaghettini.
JENG JENG JENG it’s time for some desserts! We enjoyed not just one but TWO! 😀
The Sticky Toffee Pudding was actually really nice. The ‘sticky’ part only comes when you drizzle some of that glorious Butterscotch sauce over the Toffee Pudding itself. Also comes with some sea salt so you can go all Salt Bae if you’d like (don’t put so much ah! LOL)
The Triple Chocolate Mousse was decadent serving of milk chocolate mousse, some dark chocolate sponge cake and topped with chocolate crumble. The cream and berries do and excellent job of cutting through all that chocolate for a fulfilling dessert.
The packaging that is used for the catering is actually very convenient. The dishes themselves are packed into these tin foil trays which are then covered and slipped into a cardboard box that easily slide in and out of the outer covering (with the Halia Catering logo).
This allows for easy re-heating for sure and on top of that, I find this is actually very presentable and if you’re outdoors or maybe in a more casual setting, you can pretty much serve up the dishes in their original packaging to save time (and water cos no need to wash dishes!). BUT if you do require the dishes to be served up a little bit more elegantly, you can always transfer the food onto your glassware or whatever you are using. I’m not sure if you can request for the food to be packed a little differently (case in point – the Mashed Potato that comes with the Braised Beef) but you can always let the Halia Catering team know and I’m sure they’ll find some way to accommodate maybe?
I definitely do want to give props to Halia Catering for doing their bit to help the environment. The cardboard boxes can actually be re-used (I’m using some for documents storage) and their utensils and serving plates are made of wood and Cornware! Way to go in minimizing the need for single-use plastics!
The Communal Feast we enjoyed is perfect for when you have guests over and you’re looking or something a little different to serve up for makan. The Communal Feast is available for groups of either 5 pax ($280+) or 10 pax ($535+) which is actually very reasonable considering you get to enjoy 14 dishes which are definitely of amazing quality and standards.
Yes – admittedly, I would not order something like this for every single weekend gathering I have at my home but for those special occasions, like entertaining guests from out of town, trying to impress prospective in-laws (ahem!) or even something special for that next office get-together, this is actually a really great choice.
Plus, if tak cukup, you can always add more from their catering menu or check out their other catering packages 😀 For more information, check out their website or give the Halia Catering team a call okay!
HALIA CATERING
1 Cluny Road (via Tyersall Road)
Ginger Gardens, Singapore Botanic Gardens
Tel: +65 8444 1148
www.thehalia.com/catering
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pg/HaliaSBG
Instagram: @thehalia
Operating Hours:
Monday to Thursday (Except public holidays) : 9.00am to 9.30pm
Friday & Eve of Public Holidays: 9.00am to 10.00pm
Saturday: 10.00am to 10.00pm
Sunday & Public Holidays: 10.00am to 9.30pm
This meal was sent to The Halal Food Blog on a no-obligations basis. We’re posting about it because we enjoyed it very much and good things must share lah right? All information (including prices, availability of item on menu and Halal status of establishment) are accurate at the time of posting. All photos used in this site are property of The Halal Food Blog unless stated otherwise.
