Besides visiting friends and relatives, Lo Hei is another highlight during the Chinese New Year in Singapore and Malaysia. Lo Hei, which means ‘tossing up prosperity and good fortune’, is a tradition that most Chinese will follow. Avid believers, especially for those who want to usher in new wealth, use raw fish salad (yu sheng) to toss up abundance of wealth. Hence, it is imperative that restaurants serve this dish during the Chinese festive season.

This year being the year of the horse, many restaurants introduce yu sheng with the horse motif. One of them is Cassia at Capella Singapore. The ingredients for yu sheng are pretty standard, namely red pickled ginger, crackers, raw sliced salmon, peanuts, plum sauce and raw vegetables such as cucumber and carrots. However, at Cassia, instead of using plum sauce, they replace it with a sweet sauce made from the roselle plant.  The reddish sauce adds a touch of prosperity and vibrancy to the overall presentation of the yu sheng. And also, in addition to raw sliced salmon, Cassia also includes bits of raw lobster meat into its Signature Lo Hei salad.

The Bird’s Nest Dumpling with Thick Chicken Broth is outrageously good. The creamy chicken broth is infused with wolfberry’s flavour and is extremely delectable. The dumpling is also stuffed with a decadent amount of crystal clear bird’s nest.

Another of my favourite is the Braised Golden Dried Oyster stuffed with Minced Pork and Winter Melon with Dried Scallop. The winter melon is firm on the outside yet soft inside, and the braised sauce is packed with flavours from the dried seafood.

The Baked Chilean Sea Bass with Supreme Soya Sauce is equally gorgeous. The Chilean sea bass, or commonly known as cod fish, is fresh.  The silky white fish meat tastes splendid with the sweet supreme soya sauce.

For the Chinese New Year menu, Cassia improvised its steamed assorted rice. The chef added abalone and preserved Chinese sausages into the assorted rice.  The mouth-watering assorted rice is soft and emits a smoky fragrance from the preserved Chinese sausages.

The dessert is the all-time favourite Double-boiled Tianjin Pear infused with Tangerine Peels. This hot dessert is very light and hence, suitable after a heavy meal.

I admit that Cassia is one of my favourite restaurants and it’s so hard for me to find fault in the high quality food. The service was outstanding despite the fact that it was packed to the brim when I was there last Sunday. At $159++, this Wealthy Set Dinner menu does not come cheap but definitely worth every penny.

Cassia, Capella Singapore
1 The Knolls, Sentosa Island,
Singapore 098297
Tel: (65) 6591 5045
www.capellahotels.com/singapore