White truffle season is coming, and this restaurant is serving the rare delicacy at cost price

The only thing that brightens foodie eyes more than the advent of white truffle season is white truffles at a bargain.

As we head into November and the prized delicacies climb into their fragrant, earthy peak, one restaurant in Singapore is taking a bit of a different approach.

Spanish restaurant FOC has boldly declared that from Nov 15 to 30, they’ll be offering white truffle at cost price. And not as part of a prix fixe, multi-course menu either – instead, they’re rolling out a special a la carte menu of white truffle dishes starting at S$24, meaning you can choose to dip your big toe into the truffle lake, plunge right in and do the backstroke, or anything in between.

This is the first time the restaurant is running an event like this. Chef Juanjo Carrillo says his goal is to create buzz for FOC and entice diners in through its doors. Judging from the vibrant lunchtime crowd when we visited on a weekday, we’re not sure that’s even necessary. But, in the uncertainty of today’s F&B climate, it certainly doesn’t hurt to do something that will get people talking.

FOC is all about “fine, fun” dining and the White Truffle Season menu, using Italian white truffles from the Piedmont region, is hearty and unpretentious, staying true to the Barcelona-style tapas and mains the restaurant is known and loved for.

The menu opens with two snacks, each with 2g of white truffle per dish; then builds in flavour, intensity and, of course, truffle volume. There's the charcoal brioche, burrata and olive oil caviar (S$24); and the sea urchin and Alaskan King Crab toast (S$40).

Then, two starters are on offer, each with 3g of white truffle. There's the confit Australian leek and organic cauliflower with poached egg yolk and hazelnuts (S$32), and the Japanese slow-cooked egg with potato foam, caramelised onion and croutons (S$32).

The two mains, happily, are carb dishes so as to showcase the flavour of the star ingredient. There is fresh tagliatelle with Spanish carbonara (S$48) and white truffle shaved paper-thin over it.

And for something at maximum intensity of flavour and texture, there’s the menu’s showstopper: Creamy Arborio rice with confit duck, mushroom and pan-seared foie gras (S$58). Carrillo says this is his personal favourite dish because it has cooked truffle in it, a flavour he particularly enjoys.

And, yes, there is also a truffle dessert: Spanish rice pudding with mascarpone, Chantilly ice cream and white truffle (S$24).

If you’re ordering from the original FOC menu, you can also top up any dish with white truffle at cost price, which is about S$7 to S$8 per gram.

Depending on the quality of the supply of the season’s white truffles, the restaurant may extend their White Truffle Season menu beyond Nov 30. But, why wait?

FOC is at 40 Hongkong Street.