Fans of my amateur photography will be disappointed this week. The bus I was on ran over a fatefully-placed pothole, leading to an untimely finger slip which caused a reformat and loss of the photographs documenting not one, not two but all three places I visited this past weekend. If I might add, the photographs were particularly good to boot! I offer my sincerest apologies and will try to be as descriptive as possible. I took the liberty of grouping these three entries for Private Affairs, Burger, Bench & Bar and DeSté together below.
Private Affairs –
I gave my close foodie friend Krystle a birthday brunch treat here on Sunday. It is a real tragedy that the pictures went up in smoke for the plating and presentation at this establishment is truly exceptional with a good combination of attention to detail and artistic flourish. The extensive brunch menu was intriguing but made repeated use of the same elements (e.g. papaya seed dressing, Avruga caviar) which were good but detracted from the wow factor it built up. The total damage came up to $177.14 with the additional indulgences of sparkling water and coffee.
I must add that although they offer you coffee at the end of the meal, it is not included and that six dollars could get you a better cuppa elsewhere. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a miscommunication rather than opportunism.
The Hazelnut Bread amuse bouche was a cross between a croissant, a brioche and a Chinese mantou. There was no discernible hazelnuttiness and it would have been great with French butter (yes, you can’t have too much of that stuff).
We started off with the oyster bar and its intimidating selection of five different toppings. The shellfish were plump, creamy and fresh; my lemon wedge placed so artistically in the composed shot (close your eyes and visualise that for a moment please) was untouched thereafter. The dressings were – without exception – creative, unusual and a pleasure to taste, though some seemed quite similar. Miso Powder & Yuzu Jelly accorded an interesting Oriental feel and was surprisingly more sweet than salty. The Namjin Dressing had a delicate sweetness to it along with a pleasant fragrance while the Rice Vinegar and Coriander Marinade was a refreshing alternative to the usual shallot vinaigrette. Both the Papaya Seed Dressing and Carrot Puree – while good - were a little too sweet in my opinion and the latter’s carrot flavour almost overpowered the shellfish.
The brunch heavyweight Eggs Benedict was served with crispy but stringy bacon and sausages that had a little too much starchy filler. The eggs were excellent and were covered with cheese as opposed to the traditional hollandaise. The Cured Salmon with Pickled Leek, Avruga and Yuzu Vinaigrette was assembled gorgeously with vibrant hues of pink and green contrasting sharply with the jet-black caviar. We suspected honey might have been used in the curing solution as a lovely sweetness and the distinct floral-caramel accent of honey was discernible in the rich fish.
The Green Pea Parfait with Mango and Tomato Salsa, Horseradish and Basil Cream was very, very rich. A stronger horseradish presence would have undercut the cloying creaminess effectively. The mango and tomato salsa was in a little mound by itself, a palate cleanser that was effective but an obvious afterthought.
The Yoghurt Parfait with
The Strawberry & Raisin Muesli was bursting with fruit for a very light and refreshing breakfast classic that had a little too much honey.
Scones with Basil Crème Fraiche & Jam were good albeit unexciting. I appreciated that the pastries were moist and not too buttery, crumbly or flaky; I was able to savour them neatly. Alongside them were Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins which were adorable little bite-sized morsels that adopted a classic flavour combination perfectly; a touch of the basil crème fraiche from the scones added a pleasant twist.
We were served Potato and Leek Moussline as compliments from the chef. This was presented in a most interesting manner with the mousseline piped into a crisp cone perched in a shot-glass of black uncooked rice; quite dramatic. Its most distinctive characteristic was its pungency along with an interesting blend of crisp and smooth textures.
The Duck Carpaccio with Granny Smith and Mustard Dressing was amazing! The lovely gaminess of duck is so much more tangible when it is raw; coupled with richness from a thin streak of fat, it was nothing short of phenomenal. My only conceivable complaint would be that the portion – though beautifully layered and wrapped round a fork – was tiny!
I am always a sucker for Indian food attempted by non-Indian restaurants; my curiosity gets the better of me as to whether they kept to the standard recipe or bastardized it in some way. In this case, the Naan Pancakes with spicy Eggplant, Cucumber in Green Pumpkin Seed Oil & Sherry-Oyster Vinaigrette was obviously a heavily modified creature, in a good way. The soft, yielding, spongy pancakes were very unlike the typically compact and chewy flatbread but shared the common trait of being an excellent vessel for flavour. I must say that the chutney was good though perhaps it’s my Bengali genes talking when I say I would’ve preferred the pumpkin seed oil replaced with mustard seed oil for a more flavourful result.
Prawn Bisque is a far lighter and less overpowering cousin of lobster bisque. This rendition was pleasantly smoky with strong flavours emerging from a well-made stock base. On the other hand, the Seared
The Alaskan King Crab Cake with Mango, Cilantro Salsa, Peanut and Laksa Leaf Vinaigrette was perhaps the most peculiar dish of the meal. It had too much mixed vegetables and too little crab meat to fit into the classic crab cake profile; it was closer to a croquette IMHO. Now, throw in peanut sauce plus more vegetables by the side and it achieves an effect remarkably similar to the Indonesian dish gado gado. Is that odd or what?
The Kurobuta Pork Ribs with Confit Onion and Arugula tossed in Papaya Seed Dressing suffered from a rather heavy handed use of Worcester sauce that masked everything else, porky flavour included. The cooking process also robbed the black pork of most of its signature marbling, leaving behind a tragically tough, hard and stringy piece of meat. This is an illustration of how a promising idea and premium ingredients can trip up.
I have a theory going that foie gras goes with everything, I’ve served it as a savoury starter on crostinis, as an accompaniment to healthy mains like Ratatouille and even as a semi-dessert alongside wine poached pears. Another winning combination was revealed in the Pan Fried Foie Gras with Rosemary Brioche and Cherry & Beetroot Reduction. The creaminess of the liver and the tart sweetness of the reduction performed pirouettes across my tongue like a pair of Olympic figure skaters. I’ll have to replicate this sometime.
After giving the appetisers their due attention, we finally moved on to the mains. I had the Roasted Rabbit with Green Curry Spatzle and Crushed Potato in Riesling Cream Sauce which was presented like one of those pretentious but undeniably gorgeous modern art showcases. This was my first textural encounter with rabbit (it was shredded in a risotto in my previous experience) and I cannot help but say – as cruel as it might sound to some – that rabbit tastes exactly like the animal looks: soft and fluffy. Another thing the meat shares with the pointy-eared, snow-white archetype is guiltlessness; for it was completely lean despite its pillow-softness. The Riesling cream sauce was lovely, a real pity that there was precious little of it.
The Duck Leg Confit with Potato Moussline, Pickled Carrot and Raisin Salad, Carrot Foam and Apple Vinaigrette that my friend had was far less enchanting than mine. The meat was tough, dry and stringy, most of its juice and moisture had been sapped in the cooking process to leave behind a skeleton of a drumstick. The highlight of the dish was the pumpkin chunk garnish which was divinely rich, sweet and creamy.
Our desserts arrived in an elegant 3-tiered contraption that typifies the quaint, old-world quality of tea parties and brunch; I loved the effect although it made photo-taking hellish (not that it matters now). The Passionfruit Cheesecake with Pistachio Crumbs was a little too firm and could have done with a little more passionfruit flavour. The Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream was a good take on the old classic though I would have preferred a spanner thrown in the works like what was done in the case of Bread and Butter Pudding with Black Sesame Ice Cream. This bold blending of East and West really works for the Black Sesame adds a much needed dose of pizzazz that the usual vanilla accompaniment cannot provide to the typically mildly flavoured pudding.
The final offering was Lemon Curd Hazelnut Cannelloni which bore a strong resemblance to traditional cream horns. That said, they were extremely good and just the thing to close the rich meal. I have always loved the seemingly impossible combination of richness and acidity achieved in lemon curd. The cannelloni – as with the amuse bouche – had nary a trace of hazelnut but was good all the same with a brandy-snap quality.
Burger, Bench & Bar - 8 Grange Road #01-02
As promised before, I returned to this lovely little hole-in-the-wall at Cathay Cineleisure for a snack on Saturday. I had the
For an added dollar to our burgers, my friend (he had the sautéed mushroom burger I reviewed last time around) and I tried the famous Hand-Cooked Crisps which proved to be a little underwhelming. The portion was small and cold but I did savour the crunchier texture that hand-cooking accord to crisps in general. I prefer Kettle Chips to Ruffles, Pringles and Lays for that reason alone.
Still not completely satisfied, we split a Grilled Chicken Burger with Relish and Jalapeno ($8.50); this was a bad call. While the jalapenos and relish made for a good dose of flavour, sweetness and spice, the meat was so dry that we resorted to washing it down with ice lemon tea. Stick with the beef at this joint.
The final to-eat on my list at Burger, Bench and Bar was the Dark Chocolate Soft-serve ($3). It sounded really enticing on paper but was actually decidedly average, largely indistinguishable from regular chocolate soft-serve. A touch more bitterness would have set it apart in the opinion of this dark chocolate nut.
DeSté -
I had to eat my words after persuading a bunch of friends to try it out by selling it as “an institution since it has 120 years of history”. I will not even dignify this with a lengthy post and analysis aside from how it is a shock that a patisserie helmed by the “fifth generation of one of
The Soffiato ($8.90), a chocolate fondant, was way too sweet without even a passable amount of chocolateyness. Furthermore, the crater in the centre took half the fun out of eating a lava cake: poking into a seemingly solid cake and having the glorious goo suddenly and somehow always surprisingly ooze out. The chocolate chip ice cream was an awful combination of flavourlessness (not even an attempt at chemical vanilla here) and an insane amount of sugar.
The Truffle Cheesecake ($8.40) was dry, tasteless and unsatisfying; I’ll leave it at that. The only consolation – and a marginal one at that – was the Limoncino ($7.80) which was a cake-take on lemon meringue pie. There was an adequate lemon tanginess which perhaps masked the recurring theme of sugar over-use. That said, the whites had been whipped to soft peaks instead of hard, yielding a meringue that was too spongy and formless for my liking.
No comments:
Post a Comment