PUBLISHED August 10th, 2017 06:00 am | UPDATED July 25th, 2024 02:01 pm
There’s a funny thing about boozy brunches: we never seem to tire of them, even if we end up spending a good part of the weekend drunk as a skunk. Still, we are awfully selective here at City Nomads, and only want to showcase some of the best we can find. Ash & Elm, at InterContinental Singapore, makes the cut with their newly-refreshed Sunday Champagne Brunch experience, which features an intriguing range of breakfast-inspired gourmet delights, and of course, free-flow quality champagne. In this case, it’s Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut.
See our previous Bottomless Brunch of the Month, featuring Beach Road Kitchen at JW Marriott South Beach Hotel Singapore.
Perhaps the biggest draw is Ash & Elm’s impressive seafood range, which sees everything from Boston lobsters and oysters to two types of mussels, mud crabs, clam, and even yabbies, tastefully displayed near the restaurant’s entrance. Needless to say, they are all exceedingly fresh.
We like the custom-built charcuterie and cheese room with its numerous refrigerators, each containing fine meats and cheeses sourced internationally. Several tables hold what is one of the more impressive charcuterie selection I’ve seen, boasting nearly 10 types of cold cuts and meats, including Italian mortedella, housemade beef pastrami, chorizo, bresaola, and duck rillette. The same goes for the cheeses, which sees more uncommon French varieties like the aged Comté, sweet Port Salut, and the salty-nutty Sainte Maure.
Next to the charcuterie room, you’ll find a large wood-fired oven – using jarrah timber – churning out fantastic flat breads and pizza margheritas, and a comprehensive DIY salad bar with every condiment and ingredient you could want. There is also a series of brunch-inspired dishes such as Eggs Benedict, an intriguing onsen egg dish with spinach, roast beef, and a small sushi and sashimi corner. The latter is a bit off-themed, we know, but it is delicious.
The spotlight goes to the 11 new a la minute tasting platters that are brought to your table directly. Categorised into ‘garden’, ‘land’, and ‘sea’, standouts include the intensely fragrant truffle risotto cooked with parmesan, the tender-fresh braised beef short ribs, pan-fried duck foie gras on toasted brioche, and fabulously-seared Hokkaido scallops served with pancake. Meanwhile, cornflakes feature in the Sicilian yellowfin tuna a la plancha, because it is breakfast, after all.
Somewhere through your meal, a young man will push his pretty copper cart around asking if you’d like a Bloody Mary. Say yes, and watch as he whips up the fantastic cocktail right in front of you – three of them at once.
When you’re done polishing off all that delicious goodness, the dessert bar awaits with rows of very chocolate-y eclairs, fondants, cakes, fruits and quality ice creams, including my favourite black sesame. There’s also a live crepe station and chocolate fondue fountain, which is hard to beat. Now, if only breakfast was this fun and indulgent every day.
Ash & Elm is located at InterContinental Singapore, 80 Middle Rd, Singapore 188966, p. +65 6825 1008. For reservations, email to InterContinental.Dining@ihg.com or click here.