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2011-07-05
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My friend wanted to treat me to a dinner at one of his new-found favourites - a rather impromptu suggestion considering the fact that we just had lunch together.On arrival, we were shown to a round table in the centre of the restaurant, an unusual arrangement for a French restaurant I thought. The decor appeared well thought out but the tables were a little too packed which wasn't a problem for us as it was Monday evening and we were sitting away from the rest of the patrons.The menu looked int
On arrival, we were shown to a round table in the centre of the restaurant, an unusual arrangement for a French restaurant I thought. The decor appeared well thought out but the tables were a little too packed which wasn't a problem for us as it was Monday evening and we were sitting away from the rest of the patrons.
The menu looked interesting enough despite it being printed out on a piece of ordinary A4 which was put inside a transparent plastic holder. Not a nice way to impress first timers, I hate to say. As we were chatting and discussing the various items on the menu, I couldn't help but noticed that the song coming from the speakers, La Vie En Rose, was being replayed non-stop until I told them to change it.
The bread basket only had very limited choices in it but all of them tasted stale and they were not even re-heated! Adding to the insult, the butter came in a small dish in thin little slices.
If my memory serves me right, the menu consisted of 3 different price categories - an expensive taster's menu, a $4xx 4-course and a $3xx 3-course. For the latter 2, we could choose from a list of appetizers/soups, main courses and desserts. The items listed covered a variety of different taste buds but sadly lacking in vegetarian dishes unless one considers salad as a vegetarian dish. Between the 5 of us, we had ham with melon, 2 different types of soup as the appetizers; fish, beef stew, tenderloin and scallop risotto as the main courses; followed by all the available desserts to be shared between us. We also had some grilled wild mushroom, apparently they were fresh from France.
Not wanting to offend our host, we didn't get to discuss much on the food. But a few things couldn't be left unsaid. The grilled mushrooms were full of flavour but the preparation was a little bland. The mushroom soup was very very nice, an absolute delight! While not liking the stale bread, it was a good way to 'clean out' the soup. I had the sea bass as the main course; if it was as fresh as the French chef claimed it to be, I would have expected a lot more. All I could taste was the seasoning and the saltiness of the French beans, the fish really wasn't impressive at all. To finish off, I managed to taste almost all the desserts on offer and they were all very skillfully presented and tasty - no complaints there at all.
For the price, I thought it was a fair deal. Perhaps I have gone full of expectations from the way my friend described his many visits, the fact that it was not quite there gave me wishing for something slightly more.
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