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2009-07-19
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This place markets itself as a Hunan, Shanghainese and Italian restaurant, I think as a fusioned concept and not as separate distinct ones. More on this at the end.They've definitely made a lot of effort with the decor - the soft lighting, the rather gawdy gold peony centrepiece on the ceiling, the crockery, the tiles on the walls and floor. Even the legs of the tables had faux crystals with coloured lights. Although ambience is a factor in the overall dining experience, it is the quality of the
They've definitely made a lot of effort with the decor - the soft lighting, the rather gawdy gold peony centrepiece on the ceiling, the crockery, the tiles on the walls and floor. Even the legs of the tables had faux crystals with coloured lights. Although ambience is a factor in the overall dining experience, it is the quality of the food, and the "heart" of the people behind the restaurant that do it for me.
We ordered the following, in order of yummiliciousness:
(1) Braised pork with cuttlefish - this was a chef's recommendation. The taste was ok, the right balance of sweetness and savouriness. There were a few peanuts and halved eggs in the pot too. But only 5 or 6 rings of cuttlefish, and the pork was squared and tied with seaweed (the kind people use as strings in wet markets, not the nori variety - I don't know why the tying, apart from aesthetics, or is there an even more sinister reason?!). There was only enough meat for 4 normal-sized pieces. At $88, the portion was paltry and barely enough for 2 people.
(2) Rice with wild mushroom - nicely presented, it was a mixture of red and white rice stuffed in a big red bell pepper, with some string beans and 3 pieces of shitake mushrooms on the side as accompaniments. My biggest gripe with this dish is that, although it was flavourful, the rice was way way overcooked to rice-pudding consistency - stodgy and simply pretty much spoiled. I didn't ask if this was the intended effect (I should hope not).
(3) Abalone treasure pockets - another chef's recommendation, this looked quite impressive on the menu. When it arrived, I thought we had gone to a french resto instead lol - a small serving of chopped ingredients and 3 small flour pockets that were just big enough to empty the dish. Why such stingy? They must have zoomed in a lot with the pic on the menu to give a hugely false impression of a respectable portion. Not a hearty or welcoming appetizer dish even though the taste was OK.
(4) Mixed vegetable pot - this is 4th place only because the size was more decent, and it went towards fulfilling my 5-a-day But the veggies was overcooked to limpness, a great shame.
(5) Tiramisu with green tea and red beans - contrary to its namesake, the tiramisu was a defeated collapse plopped on one end of the stylish long dish. The only redeeming feature was the whipped cream which lent some much-needed flavour to the mixture. Strangely enough, the messiness became pretty homey and comforting after 2 or 3 spoonfuls. And it wasn't overly sweet.
(6) Hand-crafted gelato and S'hainese "bat bo fan" - I was intrigued by this one from the get-go and the nice pic on the menu looked good lol. The (vanilla?) gelato was a small rectangular block that was more like a semi-freddo in texture. It was again the creaminess that saved the day. The "bat po fan" had some unidentifiable crunchy bits in it and not many other "treasures" otherwise, apart from a faint ginger and (dates?) taste. I would probably have been more satisfied had I gone for a can of the stuff from "Lao San Yang" lol.
It wasn't apparent to me what was fusion about the food. It felt rather like some ingredients had gone missing, or they were trying too hard to sell the hip dining concept that was clearly evident in how they had decked the place out. To be fair, the efforts spent in serving good-looking food is praiseworthy. But the fundamental problem is this: Italian, Shanghainese or Hunan don't really mix with daintiness, let alone haute dining. These are cuisines that are "of the people, by the people and for the people",and are best served hearty, both literally and figuratively.
张贴