‘Cigar’ dish stubbed out at two Singapore restaurants

SINGAPORE: Two Chinese restaurants have removed a dish resembling a cigar from their menu after authorities stepped in over concerns that the food item breaches Singapore’s tobacco control laws. 
Peach Blossoms Restaurant at Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay had offered a deep-fried “cigar” roll filled with ingredients such as snow crab, foie gras, black truffle and prawn mousse.
Priced at S$28 (US$21) for one roll, the dish is served on a plate resembling an ashtray with dipping sauce.
The other business that featured a similar dish is Tasty Court, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) told CNA on Tuesday (Sep 3). The restaurant is located in the Siglap area.
Under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, distributing or selling any food product, toy, device or article that resembles a tobacco product is prohibited.
Peach Blossoms Restaurant introduced the “cigar” dish in late 2020 when it reopened after the hotel’s revamp that year. The hotel was previously known as Marina Mandarin.
But the restaurant was only recently told to stop selling it.
In response to CNA’s queries, HSA said it ordered Peach Blossoms Restaurant to remove the deep-fried “cigar” roll on Aug 2 after receiving a report from a member of the public.
“HSA has also instructed Tasty Court to remove a similar cigar roll item from their menu,” the agency said, noting that both restaurants have done so.
“HSA has previously received reports from the public about food items imitating cigars and has requested their removal.”
When CNA visited Peach Blossoms on Aug 27 at around 6.30pm, the restaurant had just opened for dinner service. 
Of the six customers CNA spoke to near the restaurant, four were first-time patrons and had not heard of the “cigar” roll.
Two others who dine at Peach Blossoms about four times a year also said they had never tried the dish before.
A staff member who did not want to be named said the “cigar” roll had been removed from the menu about two to three weeks ago. 
The employee added that the staff “never received any details” from their management on why the item had to be removed. They were only told that the restaurant was going to “upgrade” the dish.
“We are waiting for our management to update us. We also don’t know what happened.”
The inspiration for the dish reportedly came from a cigar advertisement that Peach Blossoms’ executive chef Edward Chong came across, he said in an interview last year with fashion and luxury lifestyle magazine Tatler Asia. 
The chef was “struck by the beauty of the visual art direction” of the advertisement and spent more than two months creating the “cigar” roll.
To make the dish look “as realistic as possible”, he also recreated the ash at the tip of the roll.
The restaurant employee CNA spoke to said the dish is now served as a regular spring roll. 
As the “cigar” roll was a signature item, customers have asked – and some have complained – about its absence from the menu, the employee said.  
Staff members told customers that the restaurant had “changed the dish and upgraded it”.
Peach Blossoms said it could not comment as the matter is under review by the authorities.
CNA has also contacted Tasty Court for a response to HSA’s directive.