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2012-03-06
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If I was asked to guess what Madam Sixty Ate’s brand essence was, I would venture that they were trying to put the fun back in “serious” food. From the pun name to the whimsical artwork to the menu to the presentation of the dishes, a sense of cheeriness permeates. What really gives the place its upbeat vibe though are the friendly staff and quirky team of chefs. However, just because it’s fun doesn’t mean they don’t take the food seriously, as a tasting of the food shows.The first inkling to
The first inkling to the good stuff to come was the bread and butter, especially the butter. It had a tasty bacony flavour to it, which I later found to be smoked. It managed to tempt this slightly gluten-averse customer to want more bread, just for the butter.
So many dishes I wanted to try, but limited stomach capacity… In the end, we settled for Scallop Bourguignon (as the bone marrow dumpling sounded very intriguing), and the Smoked duck ham with melon terrine.
The seared scallops, wagyu/mushroom/onion ragout and dumpling came in a “kayak” of ox bone – cute but precarious. The scallops were fresh and flavourful, the ragout was tasty and went really well with the scallops. The dumpling was a letdown as I couldn’t taste the marrow at all. The filling was gooey and not undelicious but given that I ordered the dish because of the marrow, you can imagine the disappointment.
The duck ham and melon terrine with the polka dots of puree/sauce was a competent dish in their own right, but the addition of quail eggs and mustard sauce just brought an otherwise ordinary dish to the next level.
For main course, we ordered “A day in Persia” and the roast veal. “A day in Persia” was spectacular. Slightly red pigeon breast and a sculptural pigeon leg in pastry on a plate with a bold dark red brush stroke of sauce. The pigeon breast was tender and succulent (though perhaps alarmingly red for some people); the crispy leg was crispy but a little dry and bony. A contemporary dish that skilfully weaved in references to its Persian root with vine leaf parcel of liver, bed of couscous, pomegranate bits and a dollop of pink sheep’s milk yoghurt that reminded me of taramosalata. Very memorable day in Persia indeed.
The roast veal with glazed sweetbread was by comparison less dramatic visually but no less spectacular in taste. The veal was tender as it should be; the coffee risotto was subtly fragrant and did not overpower the delicate taste of the veal or the sweetbread. Oh, the sweetbread, so sweet and airy and creamy and silky smooth. It raised the bar for all sweetbreads to come!Being a lollipop freak, I naturally did not pass on the chance to try the chocolate ice-cream lollipop in addition to dessert. The chocolate was good but they should have stuck to ice-cream inside instead of using sorbet, it was just not substantial enough. And at $30 a pop, it needs to have substance.
As for proper dessert, the poet in me was tempted by “The temptress’ redemption” which was watermelon, compressed melon in a melon consommé with basil granita. I hated this dessert – I couldn’t find anything I liked about it - the melon was not sweet, the granita was too sweet, and there were 2 blobs of pink foam that tasted weird, unpleasant weirdness. I can only advise: Stay away from the temptress!
The cinnamon parfait was on the contrary very good, and I was grateful to have a few mouthfuls to take away the taste of my melon dessert. This turned out to be the redemption I was looking for….
Throughout the dinner, the service was prompt, friendly and cheerful. Despite some imperfections, it was a lovely dinner.
Other Info. :
The menu is quite wordy and the font size small. Do bring your reading glasses.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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