Every year for the past 5 years, everyone has had the wonderful opportunity to join in on the Marina Bay Sands' Epicurean Market. It is a 3-day gastronomical experience that just gets better and better every year. This year, Epicurean Market saw over 70 vendors come together at the expo hall, creating the biggest event to date. 

Foodies and F&B connoisseurs gather here to sample celebrity chef restaurant dishes, some of the best wine there is and to enjoy some fresh produce at the Farmer's Market.

This year saw the introduction of Singapore Street, a two-storey shophouse facade featuring the offerings of Rise and more. We absolutely loved the cute backdrop with plenty of thematically-appropriate props! I especially enjoyed watching the celebrity chefs make their grand entrance on a rickshaw! That certainly evoked a sense of nostalgia.

Just to name a few, celebrity chefs that were present during the official opening ceremony of Marina Bay Sands' Epicurean Market 2017 included Nancy Silverton, Chef Tetsuya Wakuda and Chef David Myers. Of course, everyone went absolutely nuts at Chef Tetsuya's Waku Ghin stall - the restaurant itself having just earned its second Michelin star. 

While we browsed through the Farmer's Market and enjoyed looking at the fresh produce and the mountain of cheese and cold cuts, we loved the hot food being served out in the main food hall. We went on a tour around the food hall to sample over 20 dishes and these are our highlights:
 

1. Lavo's meatball: Lavo is an upcoming restaurant at Marina Bay Sands, soon to make its debut in (hopefully) early 2018. We loved the texture of the meatball - it was so juicy and it was about the size of my fist! How could we possibly say no to it? 

2. Waku Ghin's cold prawn starter with caviar: We would have loved to be able to dine in the restaurant itself but we were happy enough to try a sampling portion of their starter. It was also such a pleasant experience to meet Chef Tetsuya and speak to him briefly. Such a humble man with such amazing talent. 

3. Bread Street Kitchen's fish and chips: we were slightly underwhelmed by this particular dish. But of course, being a brand by Gordon Ramsay, it was a must-try. However, we were told that the other offerings here would have been a better option. Guess we'll have to head to BSK ourselves to try the full meal next time!

4. db Bistro's lobster sliders: YASSSSS to lobster sliders. YAS. Every. Single. Time. I had two of it - not even going to deny it or be ashamed. It was so juicy and tasty I couldn't get enough!!!! We also attended a masterclass by the team behind db Bistro and tried their Madelines.... you have to make the trip to know what I am talking about, but I can safely attest to db Bistro's expertise in every dish they execute. 

5. Rise's banana fritters with gula melaka ice cream: So a misconception surrounding goreng pisang is that it can't possibly be tasty unless it's coming out of a stall by the roadside with oil as black as the darkest pits of hell. Well, let me just tell you that this was by far the BEST DAMN GORENG PISANG IN THE WORLD. The batter was so light and crispy and the banana was just the right amount of soft that just melts in your mouth. Pair that with the perfectly made gula melaka ice cream and I can safely say that this is truly the best goreng pisang ever. 

Overall, I have to say that I was really impressed by the whole event - from the way it was planned to its execution. There was plenty of vendors showcasing the best food offerings they could. We had so much truffle this trip, we easily entered a truffle food coma. Just look at these fresh truffles at one of the stalls - they had freshly flown them in for the event. 

So if you want an idea of how the rest of Epicurean Market went down, check out this photo gallery below: 

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A db Bistro masterclass in progress

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db Bistro masterclass - a full house!

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