SO. What's it going to be this year? Roast turkey? Beef? Ham? A turkey stuffed with chicken, ham and a partridge in a pear tree? Never mind turkeys swallowing other small animals, why not a goose that swallowed a lobster? Whatever you choose, it's definitely going to be a super-rich Christmas. Not so much that you have to be getting a decent bonus to afford some of the high-end creations offered by some hotels this year, but rather that these new-fangled creations will score dangerously high on the cholesterol meter. Yes, it's that time of year to indulge but how much do you want to do that, and on what? Before you decide, BT Weekend provides a sampling of some of the festive delights on offer.

Turkey Luxe (main picture)
Pan Pacific Singapore. To order, call: 6826 8240

PAN Pacific is about to go down this year as the place that sells the most expensive roast turkey in Singapore. $500 is what you have to shell out for a bird that its head chef claims to be the ultimate gourmet treat, given its stuffing of foie gras, truffles, trumpet mushrooms and home-smoked wagyu parma, and a cranberry sauce flavoured with 16-year-old tawny port. What do you get for your money? First, it is housed in a fancy leather-like carrier. The bird itself tasted very good - it was the moistest turkey we had tried with a nice golden sheen and perfectly cooked meat that still dripped juices when it was carved. The stuffing had the texture of soft spongy sausage - a composition of bread mixed with the above ingredients, but with no particular ingredient dominating. So while you get some fragrance and taste of foie gras and a whiff of black truffle, there isn't quite enough of either to make you go wow.

But it was very enjoyable nonetheless, especially with the accompanying gravy, fondant potatoes, brussels sprouts and the cranberry sauce which had little taste of port but was super good anyway. Does it warrant the $500 price tag? We think it's too pricey for what it is, but if that $500 can guarantee you a super moist turkey on Christmas Eve, then that might be a premium some might be willing to pay.

Baked Turkey Pie
Raffles The Plaza Tel: 6338-8785

NOT to be outdone in the luxury sweepstakes, Raffles the Plaza takes the humble chicken pie and gives it a whopping Cinderella effect. The result is a $450, 2.5 kg bumper pie filled with chunks of turkey, whole lobes of goose liver, truffles, chestnuts, champagne, cream and brown sauce. The puff pastry is yummy, by the way - with that old-fashioned flakiness that has heft even as it crumbles. The heady fragrance and flavour of champagne permeates this heart-stoppingly rich creamy filling where mouthfuls of pure liver are plentiful, although the truffles are harder to detect. A few French kings of old and those in need of a cream infusion will likely take to this example of decadence to the extreme. If you have this, have nothing else heavier than a salad or something to cut through the richness, or you will not be able to get through more than a slice. Not for the faint-hearted.

Roast Goose filled with whole Lobster
Raffles The Plaza. Tel: 6338-8785

AGAIN, the imagination runs wild in the kitchens of Raffles the Plaza. Take one goose. Stuff it with a whole shelled lobster. Surround the lobster with duck farce. Roast. Serve it with a pink creamy sauce made with superior stock enriched further with crab roe and cream. Slice and indulge. Charge $420 for this high-end take on surf and turf. It's not something your palate might be used to, eating roast goose and lobster in the same mouthful as opposed to separate courses.

But the chef who created it does get marks for creativity, although he loses marks for not being able to temper the richness of one element with the lightness of another. Both the goose and the sauce are heavy-going, and if you are averse to strong seafood-smelling sauces, the rich crab roe gravy might be a bit too much for your palate. One reckons a simple butter lemon sauce or simple soy vinaigrette might have been a better match, rather than having two complicated concoctions competing with each other for the palate's attention. But worth a try for its sheer inventiveness, as your guests are not likely to forget this.

Deluxe Smoked Turkey Platter
Goodwood Park Hotel. Tel: 6730 1867/1868

YOU have to hand it to Goodwood Park Hotel for knowing their turkeys well. They're the ones who made the Turducken and Hainanese Turkey some of the more successful turkey interpretations over the years. This year's Deluxe Smoked Turkey Platter is no different, as $328 gets you a nicely smoky turkey with the added advantage of being super neatly sliced when you pick it up. The white and dark meat are separated into clean tasting white chunks and juicy meat rolled around a herb mixture. The meat slices are interspersed with fat slabs of stuffing, while mounds of roasted sweet potato, asparagus and even corn on the cob complete this presentable main dish. While enjoyable, smoked meat is still an acquired taste - nice but sometimes you prefer the natural taste of the meat. Still, this would be one of the top choices for the year. Just a word of caution - because it's pre-sliced, it doesn't keep well, so try not to have leftovers.

Pot of Fire
Goodwood Park Hotel. Tel: 6730 1867/1868

IS it Chinese? Is it Western? It's hard to tell with this smoked pork shoulder and pork belly in broth sealed in a wide terracotta pot filled to the brim with root vegetables and sausages. Said to be a local adaptation of a European winter favourite, this intensely flavoured broth has the same smoky overtones as the smoked turkey, except that you get thick slabs of meaty pork with fatty belly and chunks of salami. It's a tasty hot pot of confusion, perfect for those who like one pot meals with everything thrown in.

Stuffed Turkey and Roast Pork with Spinach Omelette
Galbiati Gourmet Deli. Tel: 6462-0926

IF you like uncomplicated flavours and turkey that tastes like turkey and stuffing the same, then check out Roberto Galbiati's deboned turkey with traditional chestnut stuffing. The Da Paolo alumni has slowly but surely earned a loyal following with his unassuming cafe/takeaway place at Rail Mall. With his $180 deboned turkey, he takes the hassle out of carving while retaining the bird's natural shape. Hence you get enough turkey meat and a generous amount of stuffing made from minced chicken and turkey breast mixed with mushrooms, chestnuts and pistachio nuts. For an additional $70 he'll add 500 gm of duck liver to the mixture. Whatever your preference, Galbiati's turkey is a happy combination of meat and stuffing without a dry morsel in sight. Check out also his roast pork stuffed with spinach omelette which is a little like eating pork with a crustless spinach quiche. Just that little bit different, but familiar enough to please your tastebuds without having to go overboard.

Barbary French Duck with foie gras and truffle stuffing
Saint Pierre. Tel: 6438-0887

IF you want to know what a proper stuffing with foie gras and truffle tastes like, you'll find it in the roast Barbary duck offered on Saint Pierre's takeaway menu. There's none of that compacted spongy sausage texture - you can taste the natural goodness of chopped meat, foie gras, truffle and chopped vegetables loosely stuffed into the duck's cavity. And it's a decent sized bird that's good value at $120 for a 1.5 kg duck. The meat is somewhat on the dry side, but with stuffing like this, you won't quibble too much.

Roast Organic Turkey
Supernature. Tel: 6735-4338

SO you just want a simple roast turkey, but you want something a little more special than a butterball. Organic food store SuperNature has been offering sustainably raised, hormone-free and organic turkeys for some time now. Usually sold frozen, it now offers roasted turkeys complete with stuffing for $250. Being free range, the birds are leaner than their supermarket cousins which means they come out of the oven a little on the dry side, but the taste is clean and pure and you have the knowledge that what you're eating is chemical-free meat. Besides, the accompanying sauce and stuffing are delicious and help to moisten the meat. The stuffing is especially good, made with mushrooms, chestnuts, chicken and veal mousse and herbs. If you want a guilt-free but tasty meal, check this out. Or for a change, try organic roast beef for $160.

Honey Baked Ham
Butcher House, 464 River Valley Road. Tel: 6887-3464

NO two hams are alike and if you are a ham sandwich connoisseur you know the difference between water-logged sandwich ham and the meaty versions carefully carved at the deli counter to order. There are many honey baked hams on the market, but the one that we reckon has achieved the right balance of meatiness and honey sweetness is the one produced by the relatively new Butcher House. Christmas hams can have this dry grainy texture about them, but Butcher House's version ($32/kg) has that lovely succulent, almost bouncy texture, with a natural honey sweetness that makes it a perfect combination. If you want to go the whole hog, you could also try its new-fangled ham creations like cheese, pepper or molasses ham, or its really authentic German-style sausages. Being a butcher, naturally it has got everything from black angus rib eye for roasting yourself, or even its own in-house roasted turkey.

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