Cassia at Capella Singapore Introduces New Dishes (2024)

Cassia, the Chinese restaurant in Capella Singapore, has updated its menu with a number of new dishes. I personally find Cassia to be one of the most underrated Chinese restaurants in Singapore. A venue that’s located inside Sentosa does not have a big captive audience to depend on so it is paramount for the cuisine to stand out in order to convince people to come all the way.

By that measure, Cassia does not disappoint. The Chinese restaurant has a decent number of loyal customers and even during some weeknights, one finds a good crowd within its premises. I have personally been to Cassia around 4 times now and the food has remained consistently excellent, no matter which chef is helming the kitchen.

 The current chef, Alan Chan, is known in Singapore’s culinary circles for having brought a Michelin star to Four Seasons Singapore’s Jiang Nan Chun, whose kitchen he helmed for 6 years until 2021. At Cassia, he brings the same magic – utilizing his skills with age-old techniques in Cantonese cuisine and melding them with more modern ones. 

Here are some of the new dishes to expect in Cassia in 2024:

Charcoal-grilled, cinnamon-flavoured Iberico black pork char siew (S$24)

A dish that pays homage to the name of the restaurant. Cinnamon otherwise also known as cassia, is used to marinate a prized cut of Spanish black pork along with garlic and fried onions before it is glazed in a secret sauce and baked at 140 degrees for two hours. Perfectly caramelized after its time in the oven, it is served on a cute grill. I loved the melt-in-your mouth texture and fragrant aroma of the pork

Double-boiled almond broth, fish maw, fritillary bulb, pork rib (S$42)

The soups are always the star whenever I come to Cassia but I have to admit, what I tried that day was extra special. Chinese almonds (or apricot kernels) were used for the soup base and enriched with the likes of chicken and various herbs for more than 6 hours. A large serving of premium fish maw completes the scene. I love Chinese almonds so I was rather partial to the broth – it reminded me slightly of an almond milk dessert but with a richer texture.

Braised crab roe, fish maw stuffed prawn paste (S$48 per person)

A pillowy soft serving of house-made prawn paste is generously stuffed with fish maw before the combination is doused in a sauce of golden braised crab roe. A dash of aged Zhenjiang black vinegar is then added to the mix to elevate the umami of the crab roe. I loved how the prawn paste – fish maw combo possessed such a bouncy mouthfeel. 

Traditional braised fresh abalone, chicken, golden leaf (S$58 for 2 persons)

One of the most unexpected dishes of the night was this South African eight-head fresh abalone in a claypot with Anxin chicken. The abalone was actually marinated and fried before it was tossed into the claypot and cut into strips to let the flavors absorb into the shellfish. That explained its highly fragrant taste although the slight frying has resulted to the abalone being a tad harder than I am used to.

and a secret sauce to simmer to sweet perfection.

Stir-fried osmanthus egg, cured Yunnan ham, fresh crab meat, dried scallop (S$44 for 2 persons)

There was a lot going on here. This is a dish that is tricky to prepare due to delicate balance needed between eggs, bean sprouts, seafood and meat. The sprouts were first stir-fried with a dash of ginger juice to lend it a tang before eggs were added into the equation followed by crab, scallop and ham. Once cooked to an immaculate crispiness, it is served with lettuce that diners are supposed to eat with as a wrap.

Conger eel claypot rice, preserved black bean, garlic (S$38 per person)

My favorite dish that evening has got to be the Conger Eel Claypot Rice. White rice was steamed with the meat of white eel, flavored with Luoding black bean paste, minced garlic, dried onion and finished off with sun-dried tangerine peel. The secret soy sauce here is the star as it brought so much fragrance to this rice course while the slight tangerine aroma lent to a citrus-y kick afterwards.

Cassia’s Trio of Desserts (S$18 per person)

The dessert comprised of 3 goodies – golden sesame plaits twist, honey-baked jackfruit pudding and a duo combination jelly. Of the 3, my favorite sweet ending was the jackfruit pudding. There was a slight European twist to it as the pudding came with a bit of caramelized layer on top. Heavenly!

Cassia
Capella Singapore
1 The Knolls
Sentosa Island
Singapore 098297

+65 6591 5045