Restaurant Week is now over in Singapore, and for the budget-conscious it was a great opportunity to dine at new (and old) restaurants that might not have been on your must-eat lists. That said, a few of the participating restaurants are worth patronizing normally, and at $35/$55 per set menu during Restaurant Week they are an absolute steal. This explains why a number of places were fully booked a mere 8 hours after registration opened. Fortunately, I was still able to reserve a table at my top to-try for this year, BLU.
Modernist cuisine, or molecular gastronomy, is still a fairly novel field, so it’s always an adventure to try out a place daring enough to fuse laboratory experiments with cooking techniques. While most of us may never have the chance to eat at Fat Duck, Allinea, or El Bulli, at least there are a few restaurants in Singapore like Fifty-three, Novus, and BLU, that incorporate cutting edge techniques to add avant-garde twists to classic dishes.
Our meal began with an amuse bouche of foie gras mousse wedged between two pieces of pineapple meringue. This “toasted sandwich” was a nice starter even though the pineapple flavor was too intense and overwhelmed the much more delicate foie gras. Actual bread rolls were then served with an airy light goat cream and garlic aioli. The bread was still piping hot, steam rushed out when cracked open. Not a trick, just good old fashioned attention to detail. W’s note: G insisted on me mentioning that there were two kinds of breads served: potato rye and tomato. She liked the bread that much.
Next was the signature dish of a poached farm egg with dried tuna belly crumbs in a roasted onion broth with truffle essence. This was a really well composed dish in that the flavors were balanced, the “crumbs” provided a nice crunch, and the poached egg, already perfect, was pan fried for even more texture. Our main was an incredibly tender slow-braised beef cheek in a light but tasty pumpkin and red wine sauce. I found the amount to be just nice, but the sauce lovers in our group (ahem G and T) thought it could use just a bit more. Like any great restaurant, the staff was more than happy to accommodate with additional sauce.
So far, the food, while not fancy, was well cooked and meticulously presented. The service was good, and the ambiance and view were nice. Not a bad meal overall, especially for what we were paying. Still, it was a bit disappointing that there wasn’t any hint of the vaunted modernist cuisine in our meal other than the faux sandwich. Then our dessert was served:
This “Egg” is a mango puree “yolk” with a lime frozen yoghurt “egg white” and coconut “shell”. It if it wasn’t for the fact that the egg was about right for an ostrich, this could’ve easily fooled us, runny yolk and all. Taste-wise, the lime, coconut, and mango flavors blended nicely, and was not overly sweet. Thoughts of accompanying “bacon”, “toast”, and pancakes ran through my mind, sigh… too bad the pictures on our plate were not as edible. Finally, to end the meal, our table shared a strawberry blossom tree with bitter chocolate soil (pictured above). The blossoms were like cotton candy, but coated with a starch to eliminate stickiness (thank you chef!). The soil was crunchy with just a tinge of bitterness, and the leaves were cleverly painted chocolate.
What had started off as a enjoyable meal ended with two high notes that made me wonder what kind of menu this chef could come up with if he weren’t constrained by a hotel restaurant. While it may still be too early for Singapore to serve up modernist cuisine in every GRC, it’s nice to see little bits of inspiration pop up without it being all show and no taste. $55 for our meal really was a steal, way better than any group buying discount. The full price tasting menu ($128), which offers a similar course selection is also a bargain compared to most other restaurants in this range.
—————————————
BLU
22 Orange Grove Road (Shangri-la Hotel)
+65 6213 4598