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2022-08-06
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Friday night dinner out, first bad thing about this place would be only two seatings available for dining in which are 6pm and 8:30pm. So for folks who do not work near the place or leave office early, this is impossible to come unless getting a rather late dinner. This is understandable because of the small size of the place and possibly high rental for the area.Anyway, back to the topic. The place was really crowded and people sitting really close to each other. Not much space for belongin
Anyway, back to the topic. The place was really crowded and people sitting really close to each other. Not much space for belongings. Good vibe but quite noisy place.
Since most people opted for the chef tasting menu by looking at the old reviews, and the menu costed only $480 per head. It seemed reasonable and portion wise quite big comparing to ordering ala carte. Therefore, chef tasting menu for 5 courses was our choice.
Bref tartare
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Beef tartare.
First dish to come was a complimentary bite size starter to share. It was beef tartare with salted egg yolk paste on seaweed. It was not on the menu and was very good for my liking. Not too salty and surprising combo for beef tartare. It was indeed my favorite during the night.
Then here came the first appetizer in our chef tasting menu indeed. Brussel sprouts, radish, whipped ricotta. I took a very blurred photo and this dish was the most boring for the night. So please forgive me not to post the picture here. Though they did not mention golden beetroot, this indeed tasted the best in the dish with its sweetest taste. Other veg were too “crispy” in a way too raw/hard to serve without much taste. Whipped ricotta did not taste like ricotta. Quite disappointing.
Scallops, spring onion oil, white sesame oil.
Then another appetizer not on the menu. Scallops were pressed into one long thick noodle sheet as shown in the picture and quite sweet. Spring onion oil was very week in taste and almost covered by the strong white sesame. Also, the change in physical form of scallops did not really help elevate the dish but quite inventive in general. Overall, quite mediocre and taste was not well balanced.
Torched calamari, black garlic, smoked miso.
Calamari were very tender. Black garlic with spring onion sauce was complementing quite well with the calamari. Could taste little bit smoked miso but still too weak. A little of pomelo at the side for some sweetness and freshness. Not a very good match indeed but it was okay. I think extra sweetness was not necessary for the dish. Rather the smokiness and black garlic taste should be stronger to increase the character of the dish. Also, it was one of the bigger dish on the menu but it was really too small to feed our stomachs. Good dish but could be improved.
Harissa roasted cauliflower, mint gel, apricot tahini.
Second best dish during the night. Mint gel was a very smart touch to the dish and surprisingly going well with the smokiness of the cauliflower. Tahini was okay with bits of apricot to provide slight sweetness to the dish. Balanced taste overall. However, it did not taste like apricot tahini but only tahini with apricots. LOL
Hanger steak, coffee by fine print, soy cured egg yolk.
Good meat and refreshing coffee flavor from fineprint coffee beans. Quite distinctive aroma from usual smoking method. But sadly the cured egg yolk taste was not prominent at all which was a shame. A mere good Japanese egg yolk possibly tasted much better for the dish. Not to mention it was only an normal egg given its weak yellow color.
By looking back at the restaurant’s menu and considering the portion size of the dishes we had, it was not a worthy good experience for delivering a chef tasting menu of $480 per head, especially a cauliflower dish as a main dish though it tasted good. At the end, I and my friend did not feel really full after having all the food but felt disappointed to order more food from the menu anymore and rather left to hunt for other small bites to crave.
I think it was generally a good place for friends to drink while having tapas size dishes to share. Food was not bad and quite inventive palette to serve. Honestly, execution could be improved and all dishes were rather mild in taste without strong characters. Surprising pairing of ingredients but taste not too well balanced. I still would recommend to give this place a shot but might be better to opt for ala carte so you can choose what to have instead to feed your stomach. Only be aware of the small portion size if you are a big eater.
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