Restaurant Ember: 15th Anniversary Degustation Dinner

Crab meat wrapped in Tuna Sashimi with
smoked Caviar and blood orange sorbet

Marriage isn't for everyone I guess, but personally, it suits me just fine. I am the kind of guy who likes stability and predictability in life, so it is comforting to come home everyday, have my meal, play with the kids, watch TV and go to bed.

I once joked with my wife that one of the reasons I wanted to get married (to her) was the fact that I did not like to say goodbye after a wonderful meal and a movie. I hated taking a bus all by myself after midnight (Those were the NS days). Another good thing about getting married is that you don't have to decide who to go to the movies with and you never have to grapple with the embarassment of being turned down. Ah yes, you also save a lot on phone bills.

Anyway, Amagada's tastebuds can be quite difficult to please. There have been so many occasions when I brought her to one of those "die die must try" places which I have blogged about only to be told that she felt it was quite ordinary. So I was under a lot of pressure to find a nice place to bring her for our anniversary dinner. Of course, she told me that flowers and dinner were not necessary, that we should save money lah, blah, blah blah. But take it from me guys, they might say "no", but often that "no" is often a test of your ability to read their thoughts. So, sometimes "no" means "No dinner huh? Next time you wait long long for your favourite Carrot Cake". But, sometimes "no" really means "no". So the secret of a good marriage is knowing when "no" means "no" and when it means otherwise. And that, unfortunately only comes through experience. So you can imagine how many times I kena from her in the early years of marriage.


Breaded Oysters with selection of 6 dips

Restaurant Ember has been around for six years already and has regulars like Jackie from Cilantro who can't stop raving about them. I did a quick search on the net and indeed most of the reviews have been positive, so it seemed like a sure bet.

Our degustation started with a very nice crab meat wrapped with tuna sashimi. The smoked cavier added a nice smoky savoury flavour and the orange sorbet gave it a nice zing. Simple and satisfying and got me really looking forward to the rest of the meal. 4.25/5

The Breaded Oysters is one of the restaurant's signature dishes and you will see most tables ordering one. The six shot glasses are filled with various flavoured mayonnaise, chutney and sauces which the chef has concocted. Now, you can't really go wrong with anything that is breaded, deep fried and served with a creamy or zesty dip. The oysters were perhaps not as creamy as I would have liked but tasty nonetheless. My favourite sauce was the Asian Peanut sauce and the tomato chutney. 4/5


Homemade Crispy Tofu with Foie Gras Mirin Sauce

The sweet Foie Gras and Mirin Sauce was really very good and went very well with the tofu. It was smooth and a little sticky with a mild savoury Foie Gras flavour. Quite shiok. 4.5/5


Pan Seared Foie Gras with Caramelised Apple and Clove Port and Raspberry Glaze

Just when we thought that the Foie Gras with Mirin sauce was all the Foie Gras we were going to have that night, out comes the real deal. The Foie Gras was expertly done with a nice crust on the outside and smooth and creamy on the inside. I felt it would have been better if the apples were a little more caramelised. The Raspberry Glaze which you had to scrape off the dish was a really nice tease. 4.25/5


Angelhair Pasta with Sakura Ebi in lobster oil

According our Lilian, out feisty and very friendly waitress, there are patrons of the restaurant who will only come back for the Sakura Ebi pasta. Sakura Ebi itself is a really tasty "Hae Bee" with lots of umami, but the chilli in the pasta just did not agree with me. It was a nice dish but I certainly did not share the same sentiments as the other patrons. I liked the Ebi but felt that it just did not not gel with the flavours of the pasta sauce. 3.5/5


Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass on a bed of Mushroom and Smoked Bacon Ragout
with Truffle Uzu Butter Sauce

The Chilean Sea Bass was my favourite dish of the night. You know how the difference between a good dish and a great dish is that elusive element of surprise that makes you go "Whoa what did they put in that?" So, whilest the previous Foie Gras was a good dish, you sort of knew what it was going to taste like when you saw it. This dish on the other hand caught me by surprise. The Truffle Uzu sauce was fantastic and really got me analyzing the flavours that went into the sauce. (For this dish Lilian kept the description of the dish secret till after I finished the course) I am looking forward to coming back for this dish as the main course! 4.75/5


Pan Roasted Pork Belly with Savoy Cabbage and Pork Jus

The Pork Belly is another signature dish of the restaurant with a regular following. Chef Sebastian braises the Pork Belly for 12 hours before separating some of the layers to remove the excess fat. The skin is then fried to a crisp just before serving so you have a crispy crackling contrasting the soft and tender layers of meat. I felt the meat was a little too soft, to the extent that it felt a little powdery on the palette and somehow it lacked that wonderful nutty savoury flavour of a good suckling pig. The pork jus which was served in a test tube was a good sauce to go with it but the Hoi Sin sauce was just a little too stark. 3.75/5


Creme Brulee with Tea Granita

Our first dessert was a very nice surprise. This was almost like a deconstructed Teh Si Peng (Ice Milk Tea). Chef Sebastian used the type of Tea you always get in Thailand where the colour is intense and orangey with a very unique flavour. (Not sure where he managed to procure this as I thought that this type of tea isn't commercially available in Singapore). The creme brulee tasted more like pannacotta but went very well with the Tea Granita. 4.5/5


Coconut Pannacotta with Gula Melaka, Water Chestnut, and warm Valhorna Chocolate cake

For the last dish, we had another Thai inspired Coconut Pannacotta with "Red Rubies" and warm Chocolate Cake. The Panncotta was interesting as it was like the Ang Moh version of the Thai Red Ruby dessert. The Chocolate Cake was good but pretty standard. 3.75/5

Conclusion

It's no wonder that Restaurant Ember has been around for six years and still going strong. The atmosphere is pretty informal and the waiting staff were friendly and personable. But I guess it is the excellent food that keeps their customers coming back for more. I seldom use the word "Shiok" for these sort of fine dining style food, but I must say that several of the dishes here were quite "Shiok". My only grouse was that even though I told them that it was our anniversary, the only thing that I got at the end was a "Happy Anniversary!". Would have been great if there was a little surprise item to mark the occasion, like a candle on the chocolate cake perhaps?

Restaurant Ember
50 Keong Saik Road,
Singapore 089154
63471928
Closed on Sundays
Lunch only from Mon-Friday
Saturday, Dinner only
Sunday Closed

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The Top Table: Looking for a Hang Cheng Pai Lobang?

Pan Fried Chicken Breast wrapped in Prociutto

With all the financial doom and gloom being reported in the news daily, a lot of people are making the extra effort to look for great deals. So much so that we even have a thread in the forum for people to share information on great deals called "Hang Cheng Pai Lobangs", hence the title for today's post.

For the benefit of those who don't understand the above phrase, which is a typical Singaporean fusion of Hokkien and Malay words, "Hang Cheng Pai" means "Bad Situation" in Hokkien and "Lobang" literally means a hole in Malay. But how can a "hole" help you in a bad situation and how did the word "Lobang" come to mean some sort of tip off for a great deal? One plausible explanation might be that the word for "Great Opportunity" in Hokkien is "Kang Tau" and the word "Kang" also means hole in Hokkien. So at some time in our history, rather than saying "Kang Tau", one Singaporean changed it to the Malay equivalent and a piece of Singlish history was made. Or could it be the other way round? Whatever it might be, a "Lobang" still came to signify a great opportunity which is not widely knowned except for the privileged few who have access to such information. Some people I know are like "Lobang Kings", they seem to know where to get the best deals for everything from electronics to real estate. I even know one lady who has a cut out coupon for just about anything you might want to buy!

Anyway, I am not a "Lobang King" but I came across this little lobang if you are looking for a cheap way of getting a four course upmarket meal for $12.50 with no +++. Of course there is a catch. You will be subjecting yourself as a guinea pig for trainee chefs and waiters to practise on. Now, I have never really considered a meal at any of the training institutes since I have always assumed that it would be a waste of calories. But it so happens that one of my makan kakis, Holydrummer had spent a term at the academy and he was raving about the food there. So since since people are looking for "Hang Cheng Pai Lobangs", I decided to "scope" this particular "hole" out.


Caesar Salad

The whole experience was a rather pleasant surprise. The place was modern and well decorated just like any proper restaurant and the food turned out to be really good! The lunch set changes every week and you get a choice between 2 starters and 2 mains. I started with the Caesar Salad which was as good, if not better than most Caesar salads I have eaten. The bacon was freshly fried and crisp, they used toasted homemade foccacia to replace the croutons and it was dressed with shaved Parmesan cheese, not the cheap commercial Parmesan powder that a lot of places use. The lettuce could have be colder and crispier and I think that they really should not put a green salad on a green plate. But other than that, it was a pretty nice starter. 4/5

This was followed by the Pan Fried Chicken Breast wrapped in Prosciutto. Chicken Breast is very difficult to get right since it can become dry if it is overcooked. Mine was juicy and tender and nicely spiced. Would be even better if there was a nice jus to go with it though. 4/5


Cream Caramel with Orange and Ginger foam

Usually with the budget set lunches, you get really simple cheap desserts like some jelly or a slice of peach. I always felt that this was simply a cheap scam so that they can call it a three course meal. Not here, here you get a proper dessert and, lucky me, it just happens to be creme caramel that day.... one of my favorite desserts. The orange was a nice twist I thought, but the ginger foam did not quite have any ginger taste. It served as a nice decoration though. 4/5


Caffe Latte: Extra $2.50

The set lunch does come with coffee (expresso) and tea (Lipton Tea Bag) in a nice cup and saucer served with cream (not milk) and sugar. But if you like to end your meal with something a little more special, you could order the Caffee Latte for an extra $2.50.

Conclusion

Seriously, foodwise I have eaten comparable set meals at some 5 star hotels for $35 or more. It isn't shiok enough to say it is a die die must try, but if you are really looking for a cheap place to eat pretty nice food, then it doesn't get better than this. The only thing is that the service tends to be a little amateurish as the students are understandably nervous and not as polished as seasoned waiters. Also the other patrons of the restaurants tend to be fellow students and lecturers, so the waiters tend to be a little over familiar with their customers.

I would say that this is the best value set meal I have had at $12.50 in recent memory. Don't think for a moment that you can just turn up and get a seat as they were fully booked one week in advance last week. Rumour has it that during their 2-3 month run, they would be serving stuff like Foie Gras, Duck Confit and Stewed Beef Cheeks. Holydrummer is keeping his antenna out for those and hopefully he can keep us all informed on this post.

Got other great "Hang Cheng Pai Lobangs"? Share lah!

The Top Table
Blk 31 Temasek Polytechnic
21 Tampines Ave 1,
S529757
Enter by the West Gate
Reservations: 67806369
17 Nov to 5 Dec 2008
29 Dec - 13 Feb 2009
Mon to Fri 11.30am to 2pm

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Seventh Heaven: "Adults Only" Ice Cream!

With Big MOG and Power|MOG

Single scoop Vanilla with Warm Chocolate Cake $7.80++

For Superman, it was Kryptonite. For Samson it was Delilah. Yes, every man has a weakness, something that would make him crumble to his knees. For the Big MOG, that happens to be ice cream. (His wife can also have the same effect sometimes, but that is not relevant to this story.)

It just so happened that when the Big MOG visited Singapore this time round, I also got contacted by Seventh Heaven to review their "Adults Only" ice cream. I thought that this was an opportunity too good to miss!

You see, Seventh Heaven is the latest player in the growing homemade ice cream market. But rather than going the "Homemade = Low Fat, Low Sugar = Good for You" route, they have gone directly opposite and are offering a "No holds barred, Sinfully Creamy, Don't tell me what the Doctor told you, just eat first and suffer the consequences later" type ice cream. So I was really excited to see whether this would literally send the Big MOG to Seventh Heaven.


Chocolate Coffee Crunch Single Scoop $5.80++ (brandied cherry in shotglass not shown)

The lady behind this ultra sinful dessert turned out to be quite an unlikely candidate. Rather than someone who looked like she really enjoys eating lots of pastries and desserts, she turned out to be a rather petite ex-English lecturer from NUS. And the place this cafe is situated is just as unlikely, being tucked away in "no-man's land" at the Marketing Institute of Singapore (former Gan Eng Seng School) where there is hardly any human traffic.


Big MOG in his moment of Epiphany

This ice cream really is for the true believers. There is no fancy sundaes here and you won't find them giving you a choice of toppings. The ice cream flavours are served as they are with just a wafer. Afterall, when so much effort has been put into each flavour of ice cream, it would be a waste to add anything else to it.

The one flavour that really stood out from the rest was the Chocolate Coffee Crunch which had hand pounded Arabica Coffee beans in chocolate ice cream made from Italian Amedei chocolate and Expresso. Big MOG was so ecstatic about it that he wanted to give it a 5/5 but but I had to moderate it a little. Having tasted the various homemade ice creams around town, I must say that this one is quite exceptional and coffee lovers will appreciate the pieces of crunchy coffee beans in the ice cream 4.5/5. Another one that I really enjoyed was the Chocolate and Scotch Whisky which is has a wonderous chocolate flavour and leaves that bit of Scotch Whisky aftertaste at the back of the palate. This one was my personal favourite. 4.5/5 If you like Kahlua, you should not miss out on that flavour as with all the ice cream here, they don't skimp on the amount of alcohol added, so the Kahlua taste really does hit home. 4.25/5


Lemon Granita

For those who like something a little lighter, you can try ordering the Lemon Granita which is essentially a hand crushed ice lemonade topped with their Vanilla ice cream which is made from a combination of four different Vanilla pods. When you visit, you should ask Dr Sein Chan, Phd herself why she went to so much effort to make a Vanilla ice cream. To me it was a good Vanilla Ice Cream but I don't think I could appreciate the difference that the four types of Vanilla pods made over other premium Vanilla Ice Creams. But eaten together with the zesty crushed lemon ice, it was quite addictive. 4.25/5

Conclusion

Quite a different class of homemade ice cream altogether. You are not going to find your usual Durian and Black Sesame here. Instead, they have the more "Grown up" flavours with a lot of them spiked with liquors and other stuff with fancy European names. Well worth a visit if you are an Ice Cream fan. It would be interesting to see if the "Ulu" (remote) location will play to their favour as the inaccessibility might add to their exclusivity.

Post Script:

I returned to Seventh Heaven with our regular Makan Kakis just before posting this to get their opinion on the Ice Cream. The majority ranked Chocolate and Whisky the highest (which was my personal perference as well) so I am upping its rating to 4.75/5. The other thing that we all agree was very very good was the warm chocolate cake ($7.80) which is probably the best value dish you can get there considering that a single scoop is already $5.80, that means that for an extra $2 you get a freshly baked warm chocolate cake with molten chocolate in the middle to go with your Ice Cream! We all gave that one a 4.75/5 as well.

Seventh Heaven
10 Raeburn Park, (Former Gan Eng Seng Sch)
#01-24/25/26
Marketing Institute of Singapore
Singapore 088702
Tel: 62277787
Mon - Thurs 11am to 8pm
Fri 11am to 11pm
Sat 1pm to 11pm
Closed Sundays and PH

Disclaimer: Please do not overindulge in this if you are suffering from conditions such as diabetes or high cholesterol. This blog does not in any way advocate underage drinking or excessive alcohol consumption.

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Cilantro: Foie Gras hits the Heartlands!

This stall is closed

Escargot $8

When I first started the blog, I wrote about Astons and eBlackboard and how these eateries are bringing affordable western cuisines to the heartlands. I hinted then, that we will see more and more Restaurant Style Western Food stalls in our heartlands. And it came to pass that Singaporeans are now enjoying the likes of Botak Jones, Crazy Ang Moh and Astons in a coffeeshop environment.

Now we move on to the next level. Foie Gras and Escargot in our heartland coffeeshops.

Actually the development is inevitable. With the increase in rental and food prices, Singaporeans are finding it increasingly expensive to dine at restaurants and restaurants are finding the high rental prohibitive to their businesses. That was the case with Cilantro, who used to be a fine dining restaurant at Purvis Street which earned rave reviews from the media. When their landlords increased their rentals, they decided that instead of continuing to work hard to feed the landlords, they would bring fine dining cuisine to our heartlanders instead.

Notice I never said "fine dining" but rather "fine dining cuisine". This is because it is still to be seen if Singaporeans will pay higher prices to eat at coffeeshops even though the food is fine dining standards. Or put another way, is fine dining just about the food or is it also about the service and the ambiance? If we can judge from the experience of Botak Jones and Astons, I would say confidently that a large segment of Singaporeans will take to this type of cuisine at coffeeshops IF the price is right. We Singaporeans are practical and more importantly we are know a good bargain when we see one.

So what is a good bargain? How about Escargot for $8 and Foie Gras (Goose, not duck liver) at $15 without GST and service charge? I think I got your attention.

This is the 2nd time I am trying Cilantro. During my first visit 1 month ago at the Old Airport Road Food Centre, they were still undecided as to whether the heartlanders will be willing to pay a little more for fine dining. So I ended up eating their "not so fine dining" standard fare. It was good but I felt that it wasn't exciting enough to be blogged, so I encouraged them to really give Singaporeans the good stuff they used to serve at their restaurant. I really believe that Foie Gras in a coffeeshop would cause some excitement, especially with the ieatishootipost makan kakis.


Foie Gras (Goose Liver) $15 (Special promo for ieatishootipost readers $12)

So here it is! $15 Foie Gras! And they are not cutting corners. They use Goose liver which have been marinated in Szechuan peppercorn and other spices, panfried till it is crisp outside and served with an excellent brown sauce reduction flavoured with truffle oil and topped with raisins which have been soaked in Black Vinegar and sweetened with rock suger.

I am not kidding. This is the one of the best Foie Gras I have eaten and certainly the cheapest. The Foie Gras is super creamy and oh so umami. And the sweetened black raisins were an excellent complement for the savoury Foie Gras. For those of you who have not tried Foie Gras, this would be a great opportunity to be introduced to the dish. If you think that you would never like liver, just remember that Foie Gras does not taste anything like the liver you know. Trust me, it's the only liver I eat. 4.75/5

The escargot was surprisingly good. Everytime I had escargots before, I thought they tasted like a cross between a rubber band and salted fish. But this one was surprisingly tender and flavoured with a mild curried butter. Ok, I still don't really appreciate the taste of the escargots itself but I think as a whole they make for a tasty appetizer. 4/5


Lamb Rack $20

The other dish that tingled my tastebuds was the lamb rack. Lamb has a very strong flavour, so I usually like it with a sauce that is fruity and sweet. They use an excellent chilled NZ lamb rack here which has been marinated with lemon grass and other spices before grilling and served with a piquant brown sauce. Rather than causing fusion confusion, I thought the combination of Asian spices to the lamb rack was excellent. The lamb was really tender with that melt in your mouth quality about it. So good that I am still thinking about it. 4.5/5


Smoked Duck Breast Pizza $6

One thing that was really good that I remember from my first visit was the Smoked Duck Breast. They actually marinate and smoke their own Duck and it is very good. The pizzas here will be great for the kids. I like the the chewy quality of the Mozarella they use here but I think the pre-baked crust needed a bit more tweaking. With the smoked duck pizza, I reckon a BBQ sauce like those served with Peking Duck would have made a better combination. 3.5/5


King Prawn Mee Sua

The Mee Sua was a little hard to figure out at first. I had really no reference point for this dish. It didn't come across as a Western dish with an Eastern influence or vice versa. To me it tasted a little like chicken broth with noodles.



However, the one thing that I did appreciate was the Mee Sua. It wasn't powdery like the Mee Sua that I was accustomed to. Instead it had a very unique bite to it that I really grew to appreciate. It was then that I found out that they were using Japanese Mee Sua! That was a first for me and I really give it to the Japanese for being able to make Mee Sua that tasted better than all the Mee Sua that I have eaten before! If you are the sort that likes noodle soups and ramen, I think you will like this one. 4/5

Conclusion

Be a part of Singapore Culinary history and be one of the first to eat Foie Gras in a coffee shop! Whether or not Singaporeans will be willing to pay for fine dining in a coffeeshop remains to be seen. But I think that we will be seeing more fine dining in our coffeeshops in the near future.

Special Promo for ieatishootipost readers:

Go to the stall and mention the blog and pay $12 for the Foie Gras. This is the normal portion not a mini portion. But you guys Zi Dong a bit and buy some of their other stuff okay? There are limited portions of foie gras so it may be a good idea to call up first to reserve yours.

Update: 4 Sep 2008

Due to lack of supply, the Foie Gras promotion will cease on 15 Sep 2008

Update: 9 Oct 2008

They have revamped their menu, so these items are no longer available.

Cilantro Modern Asia
Blk 28, Jln Bukit Merah,
#01/4476 S(152028)
www.cilantro.com.sg
10am to 10pm
Open daily
Disclaimer: This was an invited review.
97950289

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Trading my Stethescope for an Apron!

Thanks to Spring Singapore and Nuffnang, I got the chance to hang up my stethoscope for a day and experience what it is like to be a Chef (Something I always wanted to do). With the Integrated Resorts just around the corner and Singapore positioning itself as the Centre for the Arts, I am happy to see that Spring Singapore is also trying to promote the Culinary Arts by showcasing the life of a Chef in Singapore. Just imagine if Singapore could become the regional centre for Gastronomy as well! Wouldn't that be great for Singaporean foodies? But in order for us to get there, we need creative and passionate people to make feeding other people their life's mission.

When I was approached to write this post, Aurum immediately came to mind. It was a place where I could write about "molecular gastronomy" and at the same time provide a role model for aspiring chefs by showcasing its Award Winning Team headed by Chef Edward Voon. Edward had worked his way to becoming a Chef by the age of 33 and has won enough medals to give him a neck ache. He was part of the The Singapore Culinary National Team who was crowned overall champions of the Salon Culinaire Mondial held in Basel, Switzerland in 2005. Not bad considering this prestigious competition, considered by many to be the culinary "Olympics". Imagine an island best known for its Chilli Crab and Chicken Rice beating the Europeans at their own cuisine! Now that is something every potential Singaporean chef-to-be can aspire to.

But before you start dreaming about all the glory, let me tell you first hand that a chef's life is not easy. But like everything else in life, passion and determination can overcome every obstacle. By the end of my day with Edward, I was exhausted even though he was pretty easy on me. I was expecting some sort of boot camp where I would be screamed at, and maybe scolded with some Hokkien expletives by a Singaporean version of Gordon Ramsey. But Edward turned out to be quite a nice guy and my introduction to the kitchen can be considered a "soft landing".

Aurum is the first restaurant in Singapore to experiment with "Molecular Gastronomy" a term made popular by Ferran Adria of El Bulli. With the popularity of this type of cuisine, it seemed only proper that the most wired, interconnected, High Definition TV capable, most modern this and that country with the world's tallest revolving observatory and the world's first night Grand Prix, should also have a restaurant showcasing what modern technology can do to food. Food is after all the number one thing that makes Singaporeans happy, so we must also have the most modern type of cuisine in order to be in the forefront of creating happiness.

My day started off with the all important job of cutting vegetables. I couldn't wait to apply my surgical skills onto the unsuspecting celery. Now, those of you who are familiar with French cuisine or have at least watch Ratatouille, will know that the French are very exacting in their vegetable cutting. No, this is not like your Aunty at the Hawker Centre chopping up garlic. Each cube of celery must the the same size and shape. Edward told me that this was the first step in the making of my lobster risotto dish.

After passing my first test of being able to cut vegetables without the shedding of blood, I graduated to the more glamorous but back breaking work of wrapping wantons. Now, just so that they can charge you $10 per wanton, they have to make things a little more difficult by making wanton skin from olive oil and Parmesan cheese. This resulted in a wanton skin so delicate that it was extremely difficult to handle. I think I must have destroyed like 4 skins in order to get one right. All that work so that a diner can pop it into his mouth in one bite!

So the day went on with the laborious task of preparation without even the whiff of sizzling beef. I guess most laypersons like myself would not have realize the amount of preparation that had to be done before the fun bit can begin!

At any rate, I got to know the culinary team, each of whom were at different stages of their careers. Some of them are just starting out as Cook Grade 1, others were Chefs de partie and Sous Chefs. It may take anything from 5 to 20 years to eventually become a Chef depending on your ability. But if you are passionate about what you do and go hard at it, you could become a Chef by your early thirties like Edward. I was told that a top Chef in Singapore could earn anything from $10 - 20K which is quite decent. Like any professions, it is the cream of the crop that earn the big money, so you have to be good at what you do. But the advise from Edward to would be chefs is that you really do need to be passionate about food in order to do this job well because it is very hard work and oftentimes you don't get the recognition you deserve.

But on the other hand, passion and hard work can also fly you all round the world to taste all the wonderful exotic foods just like what Edward is doing this summer when he does a stint with Thomas Keller at the World renown French Laundry. Fly round the world eating the best food around.... now that is my dream!

Anyway back to dinner where the fun really starts. As the diners started to roll in, the wonderful aroma of sizzing butter started to fill the air. I got to finally cook my risotto under the careful direction of Edward and even got to do some Wok Hei (Flambe if you prefer). Although the cooking really does take skill and experience to make sure you get it right, that's just the technical bit. The real challenge is what the Chef actually does by coming up with fresh ideas for new dishes. And the reward is when the patrons send word back to the kitchen that the dish was "Fantastic! Umami!". Which was exactly what happened when the foie gras hot pot was served. Imagine the smell in the kitchen with foie gras being fried in the butter and finished with "air of truffles". I knew it had to hit the umami button of some lucky diner outside!

And so through each course, the chef would walk out to talk to the diners and back to the kitchen to cook the next dish, all the while pushing his team to perform at their peak. It was an adrenaline rush which left me exhausted by the end of the night. Exhausted but satisfied that at least someone out there enjoyed the wanton I made. That's just one wonton, imagine the amount of satisfaction on the part of the whole team!

So with Spring Singapore doing its bit to attract more talent into the Culinary Arts, I think we should be seeing further elevation of the Chef profession in Singapore. I don't see why Singapore can't be the Regional Centre for the Culinary Arts with a first class Culinary School like "Le Cordon Bleu" and an "El Bulli" style restaurant where our Chefs can do their research in a World Class Culinary Research Lab churning out novel dishes and techniques for transforming food. But in order to do that, we cannot always be relying on foreign talents. As with every other industry, Singapore must produce its own talents that are good enough to be in demand globally.

With events such as the World Gourmet Summit and the Singapore Food Festival, the Culinary Arts are really getting more recognition in recent years and I even read on the Singapore Chef Associations website that Michelin Guide has Singapore on its radar next. That means that we might be seeing some local "Michelin Star" Chefs soon! Now that would be an exciting development indeed. With all these things that happening, I think the future is indeed looking very bright for our aspiring Chefs.

This post was done in support of Spring Singapore's promotional drive to recruit people into the F&B Industry.

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Aurum: Memories Etched in Gold

With Amagada

Martini Gold Lychee Cavier - Part of a set of 6 "Aurum Insanity" $28

I have always wondered if I would ever end up as a chef if given a second chance at choosing a career. Well, now thanks to Nuffnang and Spring Singapore, I get the opportunity to spend a day as an apprentice cook with one of Singapore's most creative chefs, Edward Voon, who was Captain and manager of the Culinary Team which won the coveted best Gourmet Team award in this year's Food and Hotel Asia event. But before I get to do that, Edward suggested that I should at least come over to have a taste of his creations first.

The kind of cuisine that Edward dishes out is what I would call experimental cuisine. Some call it "molecular gastronomy" but I beg to differ. There is nothing "molecular" in the strict sense of the word. It is true that turning peas into something that resembles an egg yolk but still retaining the taste of peas (ala Ferran Adria's Liquid Pea Ravioli) is a veritable feat of food engineering but at most it occurs at a cellular level. So it should rightly be called "cellular gastronomy", but I am just being pedantic.

Whatever you call it, I really enjoy this type of manic food mutilation which turns the kitchen into a chemistry lab. At this point, a lot of what is being done is essentially to change the texture of produce whilst preserving its taste. So, for example, they turn ham into a liquid, olive oil into powder and vinegar into air (foam). I reckon in the future our Alchemists cum Chefs might even be able to cause a concoction of chemicals to precipitate into beluga caviar -- now that would truly be molecular manipulation!

This type of stuff might not appeal to everyone especially if you are the type that likes to eat a big hunk of meat to fill the tummy. But for me, I felt like a kid opening my presents on Christmas Day.

One of the interesting starters we had was the Martini Lychee and Gold Caviar. It tastes like Lychee but the refreshing little globules bursts in your mouth like Ikura (Salmon Roe). And real gold dust was actually used to give it that twenty four carat look. In case you are wondering, gold can be eaten. As a matter of fact, we even use it to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. It was certainly the most memorable palate cleanser I have ever come across.


Mini Foie Gras, Port Wine jelly (Part of the "Aurum Insanity" set)

The foie gras is the one dish that really got us excited. I am tempted to give this dish a 5/5 for sheer amount of enjoyment I got out of it. The foie gras terrine had the colour and consistency of hazelnut cream that you often find in chocolates. It was smooth, almost slightly sticky and full of intense foie gras flavour.



The shell was made of Port Wine Aspic (Jelly) which had the consistency of the egg white (or should it be egg black?) of Century Egg, but tasted like Port. The combination worked extremely well. I could easily eat ten sticks of this and forget about everything else.


Liquid Ham "Replicated Crunch" (Part of "Aurum insanity")

Liquid ham is basically a ham and cheese sandwich in the form of an egg yolk with bread crumbs sprinkled on top. This is very much like the Liquid Pea Ravioli in concept but instead it is filled with a warm ham and cheese liquid that tasted exactly like, well, ham and cheese. I thought this might taste better if it was cold though. The warm ham was a tad too heavy and sluggish for me.


Omelette of the XXI Century

Omelette of the XXI century takes the classic Spanish Omelette and metamorphasizes it to fit into a Martini glass. What it had was caramelised onions on the bottom with egg yolk sabayon slowly cooking in hot potato puree topped with a slice of truffle. The potato puree had the consistency of a mousse rather than a puree and although it was very light, the taste of the potato was pretty intense.

The thing I find about this type of cuisine is that the altered textures and presentation really focuses your mind onto trying to identify the taste of the food presented. As a result, you gain a profound appreciation of the taste of simple things like egg yolk and potatoes which are actually very tasty everyday items we frequently take for granted.


Golden Shitake Broth $16

The Golden Shitake Broth gives new meaning to the phrase "Instant noodles". The olive oil suspension in the syringe immediately turns to noodles when it is squirted into the hot shimmering Shitake Broth which had gold dust swirling inside. It was certainly a interesting dish to "wow" your date. The broth was really salty like what you get with a Sukiyaki. Just imagine an Ebi Tempura in a Shitake flavoured Sukiyaki soup and you got what it tastes like.


Grilled Peppery Angus Beef $60 200g

Now after about eight amazing appetizers, I must say that main course was a bit of a let down. Don't get me wrong, the Peppery Angus Beef Steak is probably the tastiest steak I have had this year but we were expecting it to come in a liquid form or otherwise disguised beyond recognition. I guess sometimes you really don't want to improve on perfection which is a USDA Angus Beef steak. The one thing they did was to add some edible Gold leaf which was made from polenta and saffron. I must have eaten more gold that night then in my whole lifetime and strangely all my joints are feeling quite supple!



For dessert, a hospital like trolley was wheeled in front of us with a trough of freezing cold liquid nitrogen. You can actually draw some up and treat the warts on your feet and save yourself the cost of the meal by not seeing the Doctor! Just kidding..... if you have any warty lesions please see your Doctor yeah? Anyway the liquid nitrogen is used to quick freeze the white chocolate mousse and to do other nifty things like turning diners in to "fire" breathing dragons.


Chocolate Nitro $20

What emerged from the liquid nitrogen was a ball of liquid white chocolate encased in a crisp meringue like shell. The little chocolate brownies were little more than a garnishing. If you love Pavlovas (which I do), then you will certainly love this dish.

Conclusion

There have been a handful of truly memorable dinners that Amagada and I have shared together and our meal at Aurum has just been etched into that exclusive list. It wasn't just that the presentation were novel, but a few of the dishes were actually quite shiok. Of course there were some items which I felt could be further improved, but overall, I'd say that the degustation menu ($198++ for 15 courses) is worth every cent for the experience you are getting. If you still prefer ala carte, they have a special $98++ set which serves normal portions so that you get to choose one entree, soup, main and dessert. The "golden" memories are worth every cent, in my opinion.

Though we might still have a long way to go before we get anywhere near El Bulli, it is good to know that we have home grown talents like Edward who are boldly going where no Chef has gone before. So I am glad to be part of Spring Singapore's drive to attract more of our young people into this industry.

Postscript:

The bad news is that Aurum will be shutting its doors on 27 May and relocating somewhere else. Meanwhile there will be a 2 month hiatus while Edward does a stint at the French Laundry to get new inspiration.

Aurum
Blk C, #01-02A
The Cannery Clarke Quay
Open for dinner only
www.aurum.com.sg
68873733
Closed on Sundays

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Absolute Haven: Fine Dining for the whole Family

Mother's Day Celebrations

Risotto Rice Cakes $8++

There is no problem looking for good food in Singapore if money is not a problem. You just have to go to some really high class restaurant and enjoy a great meal. The tricky thing is how to find a place that serves great food but at a price which would not make you think about going there only on special occasions. Plus, as our blog monitoress, Khim would testify, sometimes you can spend a lot of money at a fancy restaurant and still need to go to the hawker centre afterwards because your stomach is only half full (or half empty depending on whether.... aiyah you heard it all before)

Anyway, I am very pleased to find a restaurant that I think khim would approve.

Absolute Haven was started by a brother and sister team who's idea is to provide value-for-money, fine dining in an informal setting. This is the kind of idea I like since that means that I can bring my kids along and still enjoy a great meal.

We started off with their signature appetizer which is Risotto Rice cakes. Imagine potato rosti but made of rice instead. I liked their parmigiana sauce which has just the right balance of sweetness and tang to it. The Rice Cakes was a little novel for me and I can't really decide if I actually like Rice which is crispy on the outside but mushy like a thick porridge within. Still the strength of the sauce made for quite a tasty bite. 4/5


Yorkshire Pork Rack $23++

Let's move quickly to the dish that I am highly recommending.

When it comes to Grilled Pork Rack, the Yorkshire White Pig is Champion over the Berkshire Black Pig (Kurobuta) in my books. I have a stack of Grilled Kurobuta Pork Rack photos still sitting in my hard drive that will never see the light of a LCD screen. They were expensive and really nothing to write about (at least those that I have tried). Now the Yorkshire Pork Rack is a different story. I have had this twice and both times it has raised my eyelids and delighted my tastebuds.


Not easy to get Pork Chops to remain juicy!

The thing about Pork Chops is that they get dry very easily if not done well. But the Yorkshire Pork Rack tends to be juicy and tender and the pork has a wonderful nutty and earthy flavour about it. Part of the tenderness is due to the fact that they marinade the pork in milk before cooking. They grill it quite nicely here such that the Pork has that wonderful smoky charred flavor. Quite a big portion for $23 and around half the price of the Kurobuta Pork Rack that I've had elsewhere. The jus has just enough umami to bring out the full flavour of the pork. 4.5/5


Lamb Rack $26++

Would you agree with me that it is easier to come across lousy beef than lousy lamb? Most Lamb racks can still "make it" even if they are not cooked well. My usual complain with lamb is that there is never enough to eat because they are so small.

I am happy to report however that you get 3 quite generous cuts of Lamb Rack here and they use quite a good quality Australian chilled lamb, so its tender and juicy. The sauce has just the right amount of sweetness which I like with stronger tasting meats. It was so good that the kids were clamoring for more and we had to order a second portion just for them! (And for the M-I-L too) 4.5/5


Pesto Cod $26++

$26 here buys you two generous slices of "White Cod" (Not gindara, my guess is it's probably Sea Perch) as well as a deep fried soft shell crab which I think is great value. I found though that the pesto sauce was a little too mild. I think it could be better with more ground up pinenuts and a stiffer parmesan to give it more punch. 3.75/5


Panna Cotta++

Not everything is rosy though and the dessert dept needs a bit of a brush up. We tried the Panna Cotta and the Creme Brulee and all I can say is that if you are the type who is concerned about health, then the desserts here will suit you well. However, I think that most dessert lovers will go for something that is sweet and creamy so the stuff here might not make the grade for them. So I hope that they can work on this dept so that we can all finish the meal with something that is more on par with their appetizer and mains. 3/5

Conclusion

If only this place had been around when I was still dating Amagada! It would have been quite an affordable place for a romantic dinner! Great place for a set lunch too except that the interior lighting needs to be changed because it is too dim when there is bright sunshine shining through the narrow main entrance. Oh yes, and for those who like to complain about places charging for ice water, you'll be pleased to know that ice water here is not only free, it is nicely scented with slices of strawberries as well.

Absolute Haven
70, Princep St (Opp Parklane)
63334358
www.absolutehaven.com.sg

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