Seafood from the Heart with Peter Kuruvita

Sustainable seafood is catching on around the world and proving to be gaining popularity with diners, particularly the environment-conscious ones. Restaurants are taking the lead in serving ocean-friendly seafood dishes, and one such restaurant is The Kitchen Table, at W Singapore – Sentosa Cove.

Since November 2014, it has tied up with internationally renowned Australian chef Peter Kuruvita to launch the aptly named ‘Seafood from the Heart’ – a buffet featuring dishes cooked with only ocean-friendly catch. For a period of one year only, Chef Kuruvita – himself a strong advocate of sustainable seafood – brings his renditions of various Asian seafood cuisines to the tables of the restaurant set in the exclusive enclave of Sentosa Cove.

Diners have been flocking to the The Kitchen Table every Friday and Saturday — when ‘Seafood from the Heart’ is on the menu. It was no different on the Friday evening I visited the restaurant. Plenty of fellow seafood lovers added to the vibrant atmosphere for the night.

It was hard not to be bedazzled by the smorgasbord of seafood in front of us as we entered The Kitchen Table. Even though the buffet spread might not be the most extensive I’ve come across, I still didn’t quite know where to begin. As we walked by the six live cooking stations, it seemed like there were (almost) every type of seafood I could possibly think of from all corners of the world – oysters from New Zealand, scallops from Mexico, salmon from Norway, slipper lobster from Indonesia and the list goes on.

For those who prefer to begin on a lighter note, there is a selection of salads, such as ceviche, lobster salad tuna, tartare salad. Some of the salads came beautifully bottled in little jars I was tempted to take home with me. We instead decided to go for the specialty dishes of Chef Kuruvita for a start.

The first dish on our table was the seared yellow-fin tuna with sweet pork crackling, ruby red grapefruit and black pepper caramel. This was actually one of Chef Kuruvita’s signature dishes at the Sydney-based restaurant Flying Fish where he led as Executive Chef for eight years. The sweetness of the pork, the tartness of the grapefruit and the spiciness of the black pepper all melded together to create a wonderful balance of flavours.

We also sampled other Kuruvita specialties such as the popcorn prawn skewers, black pepper and curry leaf crab, and blue swimmer crab with chilli squid ink linguini. Rich Asian spices shone through the dishes created by the chef, who is known for his culturally inspired cooking.

However, my favourite dish was the Patagonian Toothfish with sauce Veronique. Sourced from the waters of the Antarctic Ocean, the Patagonian Toothfish (how exotic-sounding is that?) is one of the world’s premium table fish. I usually prefer “oily” fish like cod, and the Patagonian Toothfish, with its high content of Omega-3 oils, won my heart with its buttery smooth and silky texture. Its oily nature added to the moisture and enhanced the flavor of the fish.

The Kuruvita specialties did not appear much initially in terms of portion, but by the time we were done with them, we had gotten almost too full to try the other offerings at the live cooking stations and the dessert station. (I still managed to sample a few others.)

Now, this was one meal that I had eaten not only to my heart’s content, but in good conscience too.

‘Seafood from the Heart with Peter Kuruvita’ (S$85++ per person) happens every Friday and Saturday, between 6 pm and 11.30 pm at The Kitchen Table, W Singapore – Sentosa Cove.

The Kitchen Table
W Singapore – Sentosa Cove
21 Ocean Way
Singapore 098374
Tel: +65 6808 7268
Email: thekitchentable.singapore@whotels.com

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ABOUT THE WRITER

A wordsmith by trade and photographer at heart, Kat leaves her footprints around the world and tell stories as seen through her eyes, heart and soul.  Follow her travel and culinary journeys on her blog and Instagram. She can be reached at kat@kat-eyes.com.

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