SINGAPORE, June 28 — This year, if you want to get a bite of the Singapore Food Festival, you will not have to shell out top dollar for fancy ModSin fare or a ticket to a foodie workshop — you just have to walk to the nearest 7-Eleven, Ya Kun or LiHo outlet.
For the 26th edition of the festival, which will run from July 12 to 28, bubble tea chain LiHo has created an “avocado kopi” drink, which is a blend of avocado and coffee, that will be available at selected LiHO outlets from July 12 to September 30.
Homegrown Ya Kun, meanwhile, has teamed up with Japan’s Glico to produce two new Pocky flavours: Kopi-o and kaya toast, which will be sold at the upcoming Streat food fair and Ya Kun outlets islandwide from July 12 onwards, while stocks last.
Local and Japanese chefs will also be teaming up on two fronts.
The first will see them rolling out a line of convenience store fusion food items at 7-Eleven stores across Singapore between July 10 and August 6.
These are ready-to-eat chicken satay onigiri (rice balls with chicken satay), salted egg tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelette with salted egg yolk sauce) and takoyaki (ball-shaped Japanese snacks of fluffy dough) with chilli crab sauce and egg mayo, priced between S$2 and S$2.80 (RM6.10 to RM8.60).
Foodies with more cash to spare, meanwhile, can tuck into the collaboration between Japanese ramen chain Ippudo and local seafood restaurant No Signboard Seafood — the two will be offering an Ultimate Chilli Crab Ramen for S$33 a bowl throughout July, at Ippudo Mandarin Gallery and Marina Bay Sands. However, only 30 bowls will be served daily at each store.
Budget-conscious foodies such as undergraduate Nathis Wee, 25, who has never participated in Singapore Food Festival events before, said the 7-Eleven fusion snacks were a good way for young people like him to join in the festivities without breaking the bank, adding that he would not pay as much as S$33 for a bowl of ramen.
“I would only spend that much if the ingredients are premium, like if there’s uni, lobster or kurobuta pork inside, and provided the bowl is big enough to share among two people, otherwise it’s not really worth it,” he said.
Fellow undergraduate, How Ying Hui, 22, who similarly has never attended Singapore Food Festival events, said that the fusion treats on offer this year “look really good” and as they are affordable too, she will likely try them.
“Since it is all about the bubble tea craze now, it will be interesting to try LiHo’s avocado kopi at the festival. Like all Singaporeans, I too like to try new things, especially since it is only here for a limited period of time,” she said.
Singapore Tourism Board’s Director of Retail and Dining, Ranita Sundramoorthy, said the move to include popular snacks such as bubble tea and Pocky in this year’s festival was made to keep the festival’s offerings “fresh and relevant”.
Ranita said that the organisers always receive a lot of creative ideas for the festival each year, whenever they launch a call for suggestions.
That is a “clear indication that people are interested to do a lot more with food”, she said.
“So increasingly, you now find people who are not just doing food, but they are doing food and dance, food and art, food and photography, food and movies. And these are the kinds of new events that we want to introduce to the locals as well as tourists,” she said.
As with past editions of the Singapore Food Festival, this year will also feature events such as Streat, a food fair where 12 restaurateurs will sell their modern interpretations of local hawker food.
The festival will also feature workshops for foodies who want to try their hand at making tea, kuehs and special dishes and menus at a range of restaurants.
In a nod to the growing vegetarian and vegan community here, there will also be a Singapore Vegan Food Crawl, as well as a Singapore Tea Festival and Private Chef’s Table, a private dining experience and food from Singapore’s best home chefs, alongside other events. — TODAY
