You get exquisite food served in a cosy home, and a bill that will not be inflated by the 17 per cent service charge and goods and services tax, corkage or charges for water.
The cost: between $40 and $125 a person, depending on the cuisine and number of courses.
In a colonial-style townhouse off Katong, former engineer Ruqxana Vasanwala, 46, whips up Asian and fusion dishes for a minimum of six guests from $60 to $80 per head.
Relax in her lush garden and tuck into favourites like Morroccan chicken with olives, baked fish topped with green papaya or mint and coriander chicken curry.
Her website is www.cookerymagic.com
In a Jurong penthouse, Mrs Forest Leong, 38, offers Thai cooking with Chinese accents. The Thai wife of celebrity chef Sam Leong caters to parties of between 10 and 16. Lunch starts at $40 and dinner at $60.
Menu staples are green curry, tom yam soup, pineapple rice and glutinous rice with durian and mango.
'I'm doing this out of passion,' says the gracious host. And it shows. Guests have been known to linger in her home, sipping coffee and singing karaoke long after dinner is over. E-mail her at kkjjgang@singnet.com.sg
Over in Bukit Timah, brothers Jonathan, 20, and Sean Gwee, 17, are reinventing haute cuisine.
The students - at the National University of Singapore's medical faculty and Anglo-Chinese Junior College - usually do dinner parties during school breaks.
They serve, among other things, squid ink pasta bathed in Konbu butter, duck confit and duck stock jelly wrapped in dumpling skins, and for dessert, creme brulee custard french toast with lavender, tomato and honey relish.
Prices range from $70 to $125 per person for seven to 13 courses. E-mail enquiry.bramble@hotmail.com for more details.
2. Use cheaper cuts
NOW that prices of Filet Mignon and richly marbled ribeye are spiralling out of reach, it's time to switch to thrift cuts and embrace the slow food movement.
Prime cuts set you back upwards of $40 a kilogram in supermarkets, whereas less popular cuts such as brisket, rump, chuck and shank cost about half or even less than that ($8 to $19 a kilogram).
But among the latter is a wealth of juicy cuts waiting to be discovered. The only trade-off is spontaneity.
Cooking with thrift also cuts requires forward planning, up to days before. Gone is the luxury of zipping back from the supermarket and speedily sauteing a steak, while tossing together a salad, in minutes.
Now that you need to stew or braise, instead of fry or grill, you need to plan ahead, thaw and pay greater attention to the marinade. The longer you soak the meat, the more tender it gets and the more flavours it picks up from the herbs and spices.
Then you have to slow-cook the meat at low temperatures to tenderise it and melt the connective tissue within the meat.
But chefs say there can be a huge pay-off in nutrition and flavour. There is also the convenience of meat dishes that practically make themselves in your slow cooker or Dutch oven.
It's also almost impossible to overcook simmered and braised cuts, so there is a lot of timing flexibility built in for those over-scheduled days.
There is also nothing boring about stews. You can mix it up, try out Moroccan spices one night, Italian herbs, or Chinese sauces on another.
And don't toss the bones. Corporate chef and director of kitchens at the Tung Lok Group Sam Leong says they are a resource, providing deep, rich flavour and abundant minerals when slowly simmered.
Plus, you won't need calcium supplements if you often cook with bone-in cuts.
COOK IT: Braised beef cheeks with white radish, sauteed vegetables
CELEBRITY chef Sam Leong's shares his favourite thrift cut recipe, Braised Beef Cheeks with White Radish and Sauteed Vegetables.
Beef cheeks are available at wet markets for $12 to $14 a kg. You can also substitute it with beef brisket, which costs $6 to $8 dollar per kg.
This recipe serves four.
INGREDIENTS:
Beef cheeks (cut into 6cm cubes) 800g
Garlic (whole/deep-fried) 10 cloves
Chinese dates 5 pcs
Ginger (2cm cubes) 50g
Coriander 100g
Spring onion 50g
Cinnamon stick 1 pc
Star aniseed 2 pcs
White radish (peeled and sliced) 8 stalks
Vegetable (xiao bai cai) 8 stalks
SEASONING:
Chicken consomme 2l
Bean paste 2 tbs
Oyster sauce 3 tbs
Rock sugar 30g
Dark soy sauce 1 tbs
Chinese wine (Hua tiao jiu) 5 tbs
1. Blanch beef cheeks in hot water for 20 seconds to clean them thoroughly
2. Place blanched beef cheeks, white radish, Chinese dates, ginger, coriander, spring onion, cinnamon stick and star aniseed into a large pot, pour in chicken consomme and bring to boil
3 Add the rest of seasoning and simmer on low heat. After about 40 minutes, remove the white radish and set aside. After about two hours, remove the beef cheeks.
4. Arrange the beef cheeks on top of the white radish on a plate. Bring the sauce to boil. Add 1 tsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp of water to thicken the sauce, then pour it over the beef cheeks and white radish.
5. Poach the vegetables in hot water for 20 seconds, with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of oil. Arrange the vegetable by the beef cheeks and radish and serve.
3. Go wholesale
THE goodness of eating fish is much extolled. But it does not come cheap. One way to continue eating well is to go direct to wholesalers, such as Fassler Gourmet in Woodlands Terrace (www.fassler.info)
A 200g packet of smoked salmon, for example, which costs $15 in supermarkets, costs $9.50. A kilo of sashimi-grade salmon fillets cost $20, compared to over $30 at supermarkets.
There is also Ben Foods Staff Club Shop at 1, Fishery Port Road in Jurong (tel: 6267-4372). It offers good deals on its food products to its staff and staff of subsidiaries but the mini-supermarket is also open to the public.
It stocks essentials from Thai Golden Leaf rice, Cowhead milk and cheese, Orchard Fresh orange juice to Farmland pizzas and burgers.
It also sells wine from different parts of the world, including popular Australian wines Moss Brothers and Pepper Tree. All at about 20 per cent cheaper than at supermarkets.
The only drawback: The shop is open only on Saturdays between 10am and noon.
But if heading to Woodlands or Jurong is going to bust your petrol bill, try shopping online at www.melvados.com, set up by Foodedge Gourmet, a food manufacturer which supplies to airlines, hotels and restaurants.
It sells a range of gourmet, ready-to-serve products such as breads, soups, sauces, sorbets and gelatos.
Freshly made loaves, such as walnut shallot or multi-grain bread, go for $4.50 each. House-brand frozen beef or chicken lasagne for four costs $15.20. A packet of mushroom soup for five costs $11.50.
For dessert, order in a tray of brownies (enough to feed 10) at $25. The only snag: You have to spend a minimum of $50, and the order must include a cake. Otherwise, the delivery charge is $8.50.
4. Get set for lunch bargains
FINE dining doesn't have to bust the budget, if you live it up at lunchtime. That's a good time to put your faith in the chef and pick the set- lunch option. At A-list joints, the chef will ensure that what you get at noon is just as good as what's on the a la carte dinner menu.
Here are six options worth considering. Note that menus change and prices do not include service charge and GST.
IF YOU HAVE $30:
THE MOUNTBATTEN ROOM, SINGAPORE POLO CLUB
Its colonial charm and quiet location are a real draw if you want to get away from the hubbub of the city.The three-course set lunch includes items such as mesclun salad with roma tomatoes and grilled squid, pan-seared beef onglet and creme brulee.
The nice price: $19.50
Book your table: 6854-3999
KANDAGAWA, HOTEL ROYAL
Dimly lit and tucked away on the third floor of a Newton Road hotel, this Japanese joint has around 10 bento box sets that you can choose from. The Wholesome Lunch set is popular. You get chawanmushi, tofu salad, seaweed in a vinegar dressing, grilled fish, soup, and rice with salmon fish flakes for $18.
The nice price: between $15 and $36
Book your table: 6256-9587
BISTRO PETIT SALUT, CHIP BEE GARDENS
Highly popular with the women who lunch set, this bistro is the casual cousin of Au Petit Salut restaurant in the Dempsey Road area.
Eye-catching choices on the set lunch menu include a vine-ripened tomato salad, fresh mushroom risotto and choux buns with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce.
The nice price: $25
Book your table: www.aupetitsalut.com
IF YOU HAVE $50:
NICOLAS LE RESTAURANT, KEONG SAIK ROAD
Even those who have yet to visit chef Nicolas Joanny's eponymous restaurant have been privy to the buzz about his cooking. Try the pan-seared duck fois gras, seared hotate scallops with prawn and basil ravioli, and caramelised apples with almond cookies for dessert.
The nice price: $38
Book your table: 6224-2404
GUNTHER'S AT PURVIS STREET
Flavourful, consistently delicious and not over-the-top - this is how chef Gunther Hubrechsen's food has been described.
Start with a Wagyu beef carpaccio, followed by a grilled rack of pork with chocolate sauce and plums, and end with a sorbet or ice-cream of the day.
The nice price: $38
Book your table: 6338-8955
MY HUMBLE HOUSE, THE ESPLANADE
This restaurant's boudoir-chic look complements its famed modern Chinese cuisine.
The five-course set lunch includes a double-boiled soup, dim sum and dessert. For your mains, get the crisply champagne pork ribs and Sichuan-style king prawns with homemade noodles.
The nice price: $40
Book your table: 6423-1881
5. Bring water
PACK a water bottle everywhere you go. A 600ml bottle filled from your tap costs just 0.1 cent, or nothing if you top it up at a water cooler in your office or a public building.
A bottle of mineral water costs $1 at a coffee shop and up to $2.20 at cinemas. If you buy a bottle a day, you are spending $365 a year on something that could cost next to nothing. And we're not even talking about Evian or San Pellegrino.
Singapore's tap water is one of the cleanest in the world. Besides, this will also help reduce the amount of plastic waste clogging our landfills.
6. Have your cake and eat it - at half price
HAVE your cake and eat it, especially at night.
Many bakeries sell breads, pastries and cakes at reduced prices just before they close shop for the day. The discounts can range from 20 per cent to a whopping 50 per cent. Perfect if you're picking up a birthday cake for a friend, or breakfast the day after.
Hotel cake shops, like those at the Shangri-La and Goodwood Park hotels, offer 50 per cent on their sliced cakes and pastries after 6pm and 8pm respectively.
At the Conrad, besides muffins, donuts and other pastries, whole cakes - including the house speciality Chocolate Royal Hazelnut Crunch which normally sells at $55 per kg - also go for half price after 9.30 pm.
La Tanglin Boulangerie at Tanglin Mall has a one-for-one offer on its pies, donuts, buns and breads after 8pm.
Crystal Jade bakeries, including the ones at Toa Payoh and Bishan, also offer 40 per cent discount on 1kg cakes, 30 per cent on 500g cakes, and 20 per cent on buns after 8.30pm.
7. Go organic on a budget
NOW, you don't have to be rich to go organic. Just head down to Zenxin Agri-Organic Food, an organic wholesale and retail shop, at Block 14, 01-25 Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre (tel: 6778-7369).
Open from 8.30am to 6.30pm daily, it has one of the widest organic selections of vegetables and fruit here. Shoppers can pick from over 50 types of greens such as kangkong, caixin, broccoli and corn.
Most of the produce is grown without chemical pesticides or fertilisers on its farms in Johor Baru and the Cameron Highlands, and delivered here in refrigerated trucks within 24 hours of harvesting.
The company says the close proximity of its farms to Singapore cuts down on transport costs, making its vegetables over a third cheaper than those imported from the United States and Australia that are sold in supermarkets.
Recent good buys: xiao bai cai for $6.80 a kg, dragon fruit at $6.50 a kg and bananas at $5 a kg.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 5, 2008.
