Taste of Singapore Hawker Buffet at The Stamford Plaza
SINGAPORE FOOD FESTIVAL
Taste of Singapore Hawker
Buffet at The Stamford Plaza until 31 August 2012
(Thurs,
Fri, Sat nights only)
By Mel Fernandez
³My mission is
to introduce Kiwis to Singaporean food because it has
that
extra Œzing¹ that they will enjoy², says Mohammed
(Mo) Arun, Stamford
Hotel¹s Fijian Executive
Chef
AUCKLAND - In Auckland you can take a taste trip to
Singapore without even
leaving the country - thanks to
The Stamford Plaza. The Singaporean-owned
5-star hotel is
commemorating Singapore¹s National Day, which was on
9th
August, with a month-long ŒTaste of Singapore¹
promotion.
Picking the dishes that will give punters a
Œtaste¹ of Singapore would be a
challenge for any
chef.But Stamford Hotel¹s Fijian Executive Chef
Mohammed
(Mo) Arun takes it in his stride.
³My mission
is to introduce Kiwis to Singaporean food because it has
that
extra Œzing¹ that they will enjoy², says Arun.
³We¹ve been offering this
menu in our hotel for the
last three years. Obviously, we want to make the
menu as
authentic as possible and this is an ongoing process. So
when chefs
from our Asia Pacific properties meet, we
exchange ideas to keep improving
our dishes.
³We feel
some of the dishes on our menu, like beef rendang, bak
chang, ikan
balis, fish head curry and the sambals are
very, very close to authentic
recipes. We use fresh local
ingredients and our highly skilled team strives
to meet
our guests' expectations.
³We¹ve had lots of Singaporean
guests who dined with us and they liked our
food and said
they would love to eat here again. Singaporeans are
foodies.
They expect perfection. We take that on as a
challenge. It¹s a good thing.
It puts us up there with
the best.²
What is Mo¹s personal favourite? ³I really
like the fish sambal², he
confides.
Mo¹s career spans
27 years and he has been with the Stamford for the last
5
years. It was his mother who inspired him to go into
the hospitality line.
³My mom was a great cook. Back
home in the villages you don't go to hotels
and stuff to
entertain. We have big families and for weddings it¹s all
done
at home. So my Mom used to cater for a couple of
hundred people. That is how
I got interested.²
Mo
started his career in Fiji and has worked for the Regent and
other
properties in New Zealand and Australia. He has
also worked at Auckland
destination restaurants Cin Cin
and Iguacu.
In the last ten years Arun has won 20 awards,
including, the NZ Beef and
Lamb Award (Gold), NZ Culinary
Fare Kitchen Team (Gold, Silver and Bronze),
Hallmark NZ
Best Dining Out Restaurant Award, Hallmark Supreme Award and
the
Food and Beer Match Gold Award.
The ŒTaste of
Singapore Hawker Buffet¹ is from 9-31 August (on
Thursday,
Friday and Saturday nights only) at the Knights
on Albert, The Stamford
Plaza, and priced at $49 per
person, gst incl. And if you book a table for
two you go
in the draw to win a trip for two to Singapore, including
deluxe
hotel accommodation and
flights.
ends