The most lavish dim sum brunch in Singapore – should you accept the challenge – is at Cassia, where free flow Ruinart Blanc de Blanc or Rosé accompany the selection of over 60 a la carte dishes. The weekend brunch, introduced in October 2010, received a slight tweak starting 8 January, now offering free-flow Ruinart bubbly. Priced at $148 per adult and $68 for kids, what you get is everything from roast meats, soups, seafood and meat entrees, to rice, noodles, desserts and handcrafted dim sums.
 
Seated in the Chinese restaurant at Capella Singapore designed by Andre Fu, guests would do well to relax and pace themselves on the creative menu. In particular, the steamed barbecued US kurobuta pork buns deserve multiple rounds – if only because real truffle bits richly enhance the sweetness of the gravy and the pork. Decadent pan-fried bean curd rolls are also updated with a sliver of goose liver, melding perfectly with the crunch of prawn and vegetables inside. For purists, the steamed siu mai dumplings are firm and juicy, while also balancing a jaunty topping of whole abalone – eaten together, it’s a meaty mouthful that is worth its weight in calories. Spinach har gau with bamboo shoot and Chinese celery with its translucent, silky skin and plump prawn helps towards cleaning the palate with clear flavours and no heavy sauces or salt. Another highlight was the steamed US kurobuta spare rib – the squares of spare rib proved tender and marinated through with fragrant black bean sauce, piquant yet pleasing with its textures. Throughout these dishes, the Ruinart Rosé proved a faithful companion, its fine bubbles cutting through the richness and mildly fruity acidity leaving a pleasant, long finish.

We finished our tasting with a much welcomed bird’s nest porridge, where shredded chicken, honshimeiji nushrooms and conpoy proved dominant over the gelatinous but largely tasteless bird’s nest strands. For dessert, a single golf-ball sized fried sesame dumpling excited the tastebuds with its unexpected filling – a lashing of Cointreau, accompanied by chocolate truffle, and chilled mango cream with sago and pomelo. Every Sat-Sun, 12.30-2.30pm. Capella Hotel, 1 The Knolls, Sentosa, Tel: 6591 5045

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