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2013-03-17
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Friday – Dinner for 3 – A La CarteWhile the casual setting was fine and unpretentious, the paper place-settings advertising ginger-vinegar-pig trotters created a very Café-de-Coral-like feel. As for the food:-Shrimp and crab relish on baguetteSpoon relish onto one of the 6 thin slices of toasted baguette and voila. This was pretty much all there was to it, which seemed overly simple, like something fixed quickly at home. Perhaps the baguette slices could be slightly buttered, if only for more
While the casual setting was fine and unpretentious, the paper place-settings advertising ginger-vinegar-pig trotters created a very Café-de-Coral-like feel. As for the food:-
Shrimp and crab relish on baguette
Spoon relish onto one of the 6 thin slices of toasted baguette and voila. This was pretty much all there was to it, which seemed overly simple, like something fixed quickly at home. Perhaps the baguette slices could be slightly buttered, if only for more a more attractive goldenness, or perhaps some salad leaves as well – to reduce the self-made quality.Crispy stuffed duck with glutinous rice
This seemed to be an interesting sandwich-like composition of chewy rice and duck meat. Sadly, neither the glutinous rice nor the duck meat stood out – they both tasted of nothing if not for the sauce. It was really just like eating a clump of glutinous rice…Crispy tangerine peel spare ribs
This was actually the most disappointing – the small bite-sized pieces of pork weren’t crispy and just tasted slightly sweet/sour. Spring rolls with radish and dried oysters
I had never tried spring rolls with this mixture of filling before, and quite enjoyed it –not only were the spring rolls fresh and crispy, the strong taste of dried oyster was delectable too.Turnip Pancake
Again, I felt that this was quite an original recipe, and it was also quite nicely done, such that the edges of the pancake were crispy and there was plentiful plump turnips as well as mushroom and dried shrimp. However, although there was a right amount of batter, it was slightly too mushy and doughy.Dandan noodles
This was an interesting twist to the traditional version, which is worth a try, but in the end I’m still more of a fan of the latter. I find that this lacked peanut sauce and peanut crumbs. The noodles were very al dente, which is a sign of good quality ramen, but personally, I prefer the type of noodles used in the traditional version, which somehow for me, matches the intensity of the sauce more. DESSERTS
I was most eager to try the desserts, since this is the Sweets branch afterall. Unfortunately, the whole array of durian desserts were not available since it’s not the right season.
Green tea and black sesame glutinous rice balls
I’ve heard most about this dessert and decided it had to be good. But… the glutinous rice layer, though not too thick, was completely soft and mushy and totally lacked any chewiness whatsoever. I’m not sure that is deliberate, and if it is, this take on glutinous rice balls is really not my cup of tea.Cooked pear in osmanthus wine and tofu ice-cream
Home-made ice-cream: another must-try item. Sadly, I was rather let down again. It lacked tofu taste and smoothness. It was more akin to sorbet rather than ice-cream. The wine sauce also lacked intensity, and the pears seemed to not have been cooked for long enough.Caramel glutinous rice and banana ice-cream
The pairing of glutinous rice and ice-cream together is incredibly enjoyable, shame about the taste. To me, caramel and banana is itself a mouth-watering combination, but sadly, the tastes of both were hardly detectable. It was really just sweet - if one didn’t know what flavour the ice-cream was, it would have been pretty difficult to tell. For $220 per head for the above 6 dishes and 3 desserts, it’s not expensive at all. I just didn’t feel it was worth it.
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