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2010-11-06
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The restaurant takes up 2 floors in L'hart, and there's an internal staircase with a chandelier that leads up to the 2nd floor. The downstairs is brighter with the big panes of windows letting the light in, and upstairs the blinds are closed behind the bar which means you could almost be fooled for thinking you're having dinner instead of lunch. The use of fake brick walls gave it a rustic feel, which was balanced by modern lamps and tableware. They put some thought into the water jugs, not the
There was an ?Indian/Pakistani manager and another waiter of darker skin colour, and the other 3 I saw were your typical young Chinese dudes with funky dyed hair. It seems they work as 2 separate teams - once I saw the expat waiter bring up a basket of bread in one hand and a pile of dishes on the other (intended for the kitchen), he eyed and gestured the other 3 Chinese staff to help him serve the bread basket, but they were all engrossed in their own conversation and completely ignored him, so he had to put down the dishes and serve the bread himself. Fair enough if it's your job, but it's team work that makes a restaurant run smoothly.
We arrived a bit earlier than our booking, and was seated upstairs. Others started to file in and soon the place was near full but still maintained a quiet and comfortable noise level and ambience. However, everyone else that ordered after us got their bread baskets and appetises before our table! That was quite poorly done, considering I had already asked nicely for the bread (was starving) and they still served the other tables first. The tables were a tad too close to each other, which meant that when the waiters had to walk between two tables to get to the other side, his butt (or his front) would be pushed right against our table. Not a very appetising thought. If only there were 3 instead of 4 tables along the middle of the room, that would have been much better. I hope the restaurant could take this into consideration of their customers' comfort despite a dent in their profits. The toilet was very technologically advanced, you pressed a button the right and it opens the door, and you hit the Lock button on the inside to maintain your privacy, and the sign outside turns from a green "available" to a red "occupied". A novel approach, but I just hope these mechanical things don't break down as often as they do in real life. Would be unpleasant to be stuck inside and have to find a technician/fireman to come rescue you.
The set lunches were very reasonably priced with a good range of options for main courses.
The minestrone was tasty and had quite a lot of nicely chopped vegetables, the salad was fresh but uninspiring, though they managed to get the mix of olive oil vs. balsamic vinegrette right.
We ordered the chicken and the pork for mains, and added a salmon spaghetti (they changed it from fettucine for us to my mum's request) to share. The chicken with cajun spices looked exactly like the pork in presentation and accompanying vegetables, and it seems every dish had a long sprig of rosemary as a decorative piece.
There was a large half-slice mushroom (猴頭菇) where the piece of meat was placed upon, and although I like these sort of mushrooms, the one they served was a bit too tough and rubbery, perhaps blanching it for a few seconds before grilling it would have improved the texture.
Otherwise the green beans, tomato and potato were very fresh and well-seasoned. The chicken was juicy but the cajun spices didn't come through for me. The pork was a much better option, it was of a very good quality and you can taste the freshness from each bite, and there was just enough fat to keep it moist and tender. The salmon spaghetti in tomato sauce was a well executed dish, the pasta al dente and there was just the right amount of sauce to keep it all together. The salmon was pan fried and cooked through but still retained its firmness and juice.
There was a complimentary dessert of 2 cheesecakes and a blueberry mousse cake, just enough for 2 to share.
The rose tea was a fragrant infusion of rose buds and sweetened gently, with a girly pinkish hue that shimmered through the glass tea pot. The coffee was aromatic and thick enough, with a thin cap of cream on the top.
A look around the other tables revealed prettily a tiramisu in a glass bowl decorated with 2 kinds of biscotti with a berry selection at the side, a long mille feuille with a light sweep of cream inbetween the layers to hold all the fruit together, and other colourfully made cocktails and drinks. All in all, the food was of an above-class quality for the price, and although the waiters were a bit slow initially, they made up for it by being more attentive in the end. (However, they forgot to lay out a knife for my mum until I got up to ask for one). The waiter gave us another 10% off which he promised to give us again if we see him next time. Gimmicky, but it works on me. Dinner's a "fine dining experience", or so the waiter claims, and for ~$300 a dinner set, that's a bargain. Corkage fee is $200 a bottle.
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