Idol Night at Shangri-La (6 Jan 2006)

I was invited to my friend (V)'s company dinner last night, which was held at the Shangri-La. The company is not huge, but it has a staff strength of almost 100. What amazed me was that the company is big on family and staff welfare as not many companies will actually invite the family (it is 1 guest for this) for their events.

This is the 3rd time I have been to their functions and I always had a good time. The first time was their family day to Bintan in 2001. She asked me along and since I have never been there, I took the opportunity to visit then. It was cool, single employees got a room and they can invite a guest while married employees had 2 rooms for their family (spouse, children, parents, etc). The second event I attended was another dinner in 2004, which was held at Grand Hyatt. The theme was Arabian Nights. What impressed me was the staff actually came up with the concept and decor without help from an events company. They did everything themselves. Then again, we are talking about a MICE company, plus special events too.

For this year, the theme was Idol Night (I thought it was a bit cheesey, as there had been a pleathora of such themes for many companies). The event was well-organized and much efforts had been put into the decorations and seating arrangements, plus necessary voting equipment, and of course, the people. They were all very vocal and sporting, which made it a fun night. Of course, it helped that alcohol flowed freely too ;p

I was at table 8 and it seated 7, chairs only occupied half the table in a semi-circle shape so that everyone can watch what went on on the stage. Party packs were given out so that everyone can create louder cheers with poppers, clappers, horns etc. It was fun. Okay, okay, I should get on with the food instead of describing the evening.

Table number (taken at the end, so the voting cards were gone)

Table Centerpiece (taken with flash, so the dim blue romantic effect is lost)

Menu

Plating

Plating - without flash(you can spy my glass of white wine *hic*)

I like the setting, with 2 sets of salt & pepper so that everyone can reach for them, with the tealights and proper cutlery and plates, etc. The bread roll (the server will come by for you to select the type of bread you want) was delicious. I chose the nuts/pumpkin seed coated roll which gave a nutty flavor, and the butter was great when spread on it.

Appetizer - Baby salmon cake, bean sprouts and salmon spring roll, mango dressing

The appetizer was nice, but I think I still prefer crabcake from SALT restaurant (sadly that has closed down :( ). I guess one can't really compare salmon cake to crabcake since they are different. The bean sprouts/salmon spring roll was refreshing, for a moment, it looked and tasted like sushi.

New England corn and clam chowder, creamy leek stew

The soup is slightly watery, not as thick as the clam chowder from The Soup Spoon. It went well with the breadroll.

Main Course

Chicken Teriyaki Macaire Potatoes, braised endive, assorted mushroom ragout

The main was pretty good, tender chicken (just a tad too much teriyaki sauce making it sweet) and very nice potato patty and mushroom.

Strawberry and mango creme brulee tartlet, praline custard

I love creme brulee, so this was great. It was not too eggy with slices of strawberries and mangoes hidden inside the creme brulee. The mixed fruits (esp blueberries and raspberries) were a bit tart, so it contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the creme brulee. The meal ended with coffee and 2 pieces of pralines.

A totally satisfying and nice meal. Then again, I do like the food at Shangri-La (love The Line and Blu Restaurant).