Champagne Brunch Italian-Style at Basilico’s, The Regent Hotel, Singapore

Homemade pastas, a whole room of cheese, chocolate martinis and more, oh my!

I must admit I love a champagne brunch. And this one has to be among the best in Singapore. My favorite had been the St Regis Hotel Champagne brunch… and until recently nothing else had really come close. But I think now Basilico’s is right up there in my rankings.

There are 3 options for the brunch, which first and foremost is very smart. The only reason we don’t do more of these hotel brunches is that many do not have an option…it’s usually free flow champagne or nothing. But Basilico’s presents a more flexible option which all of our guests really appreciated. As a result our usual brunch club grew to 9 people on this particular Sunday to accommodate drinkers and non-drinkers. The 3 options included:

• $175++ with Billecart Salmon champagne and unlimited wine, beer and chocolate martinis
• $99 with Mumm Champagne or Italian Sparkling Wine
• $49 with unlimited soft drinks and juice

But now to the main event…the food! Ah, it was glorious. There was a carving station with pork belly and wagyu beef. The beef was a bit rare for my taste, but everyone else seemed happy with it. There was lots of fresh seafood …the usual brunch favorites like lobster, tiger prawns, crab legs and such. But the real standout favorites were lots of Italian touches like fire roasted veggies, including my favorite, grilled asparagus. And there were loads of spectacular homemade pastas….now normally I would skip the carbs and go straight for the proteins, but in this case I made an exception. The antipasto offering was extensive with lots of hard to find Italian hams and even the elusive burrata mozzarella cheese that one hardly ever finds in Asia.

But the fin de siècle had to be the foie gras and cheese room. It was a little slice of heaven tucked away on the side. With about a dozen cheeses and foie gras seared to order with honey drizzle and shaved truffles. Nothing spells decadence like foie gras and truffles and champagne…nothing. I won’t say who, but many went back for seconds and some even thirds! I myself was fully captivated by trying lots of the cheeses. There were many I had not heard of and so I was excited to experiment. And as a lovely touch, there were lots of citrusy jams and sweet chutneys to pair with the cheese in order to create the perfect bite.

The dessert buffet was a bit smaller in its offering than some of the other stations / courses. But at the end of the day, you’re probably not eating much dessert after this. I particularly enjoyed the homemade sorbet and  chocolate truffles. It was a fantastic pairing with the chocolate martinis (available in white or dark chocolate.)

We absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and so did our guests. Even now a couple of weeks later, we are still trading stories of debauchery…who had the most foie gras, the extra chocolate martini, the most ambitious seafood eater… I’d do it every weekend if it didn’t mean losing the day again in a 4 hour nap. Maybe next time I will do the non-alcoholic version 😉

Basilico’s
The Regent Hotel, 2^nd floor
1 Cuscaden Road
Singapore
Telephone: +65 6725 3232