Menotti

I have been busy. Hence the lapse in posts. Here is an overdue review of several lunches I had at Menotti. (Raffles City Shopping Centre, #01-17)

I went there a couple of times and had a variety of dishes. The sandwiches looked promising but were a letdown, especially the pesto mushroom which was way too oily and lack the oomph of the basil. Also, you can't mix and match the fillings and breads - rather annoying little detail. The soups were also not worth mentioning - watery and rather tasteless. A friend had the chicken soup which was a poorly homecooked broth. Another friend had a spinach and crab which was just cream and whizzed up spinach.

Well, it's not all bad. I like the ravioli (pictured above) which was squid ink pasta with cod filling and saffron cream. The play of colours was a riot and the taste was a wonderful mix of creaminess (from the sauce), richness (the cod) and fragrance (from the saffron) and was all satisfying. D had the crabmeat linguini in creamy tomato sauce which he liked. The pastas are served in deep bowls and are enough for two. One time, we ordered a bottle of wine and with it came a complementary thin-crusted margarita pizza. A very nice touch.

For desserts, I liked the cannoli - which was a deep fried chocolate tube pastry filled with ricotta cheese and mixed citrus peel. The slight saltiness of the cheese took the otherwise cloying sweetness away. As for the molten chocolate cake, it wasn't 'molten' enough. In fact, it was rather dry; not very good at all. I do liked the range of affogato available though - hazelnut, chocolate, even a 'black forest' one, among many other 'espresso inspired' desserts in a glass. I liked that they used Victtoria Coffee as well - strong, aromatic and dark roasted.

Overall, menotti is a reasonably priced lunch spot for decent Italian cafe eats. Its not going to blow anyone away with its food or service (which I must add is rather inconsistent at times) but its pastas at the $15 range and lunch sets at $19.90 is quite a steal.

Perfect for a lazy weekday afternoon.

a salty affair at Miharu

A very salty affair to be exact. The ramen at Miharu (located at the Gallery Hotel at 76, Robertson Quay) is well-known for its springy-ness, its bite and its stock. D and I are fans of ramen, so we decided to go check this reputed ramen shop out.

We were there sometime ago, on a Friday night. It was packed with your typical after work yuppie crowd. We had to sit outside at the bar counter. No complaints. We were there for the ramen. The noodles don't come cheap at S$13 and above for a bowl, guess it's not your regular cup-a-noodle. The eagerly awaited noodles arrived to great disappointment. Salty stock and smelly bamboo shoots. Totally cooked boiled eggs (I like my yolks still slightly soft in the centre) and tough pork slices. To give them some credit, the noodles are rather springy, but a real shame that that is not enough to save that bowl of highly anticipated ramen. I really wanted to enjoy that bowl of ramen. It is a quaint little shop, great location, focused on one signature dish, efficient service. A real pity. A real pity indeed.

another salmon carpaccio - chinese style

Another carpaccio I made was this one - flavoured with Chinese seasonings and garnishes. The dressing was soy-sesame oil based and I added sugar for a blend of flavours. I fried ginger strips and shallots till crisp and reserved the oil which I added to the dressing. I also made candied chilli which were chilli slices cooked in heavy syrup till it was almost like candy. The heat of the chilli was very subtle which was really nice. The dish was finished off with sprigs of coriander leaves and spring onions.

PS. The flavours of this one is much stronger than the other one so I don't recommend serving them together.

salmon carpaccio japanese style

Some time back I made this salmon carpaccio for a dinner party. The richness of the salmon was wonderfully balanced with the pickled ginger, which I pickled myself simply with sugar and rice vinegar. I let it sit for at least two hours to get rid of the sharpness of the ginger. The edamame beans gave a nice bite and provided the contrasting colour and taste. I love the calming green of the beans with the bright, happy orange of the salmon. To finish off, I also made a miso-soy dressing with sesame oil which I drizzled over at the end. Wonderful flavours all coming together on one plate. A perfect way to start a dinner party. Serve with a crisp sauvignon blanc or warm sake.

Sage the Restaurant

picture taken from the restaurant's website

Having read quite a bit online about Sage the Restaurant (Robertson Walk, #02-12) after last year's food bloggers' dinner (which I unfortunately missed due to work commitments), I have been wanting to try out the food there. So recently, after a very hectic and stressful week of family affairs, D and I decided to take some time off for ourselves with a dinner for two.

We ordered a 4 course set dinner and an additional 2 ala carte dishes to share out between us. We also ordered the Huia Pinot Noir (Marlborough 2004) which was fantastic.

First up was the escargot and prawns. I was kinda tricked by the description on the menu which read, 'A risotto of Burgundy escargot and tiger prawns flambéed with pastis, Parmesan crusted poached egg and an Italian parsley foam'. I guess 'of' and 'with' makes a whole lot of difference. I, being a risotto fanatic, was hoping for a creamy and starchy start to my meal, was a little surprised the dish came without the rice. No matter, I still liked the dish, especially with the perfectly done poached egg with oozy yolk, though I must add, I was a little put off by the parsley foam. Anything green should not be foamy. Also, I do think that foam is not quite your fashionable garnish these days.

The next dish was the pumpkin soup & foie gras. Veloute of pumpkin and bittersweet chocolate with brioche crouton topped with chilled foie gras confit. The soup was delicious. Velvety rich pumpkin served piping hot. The chocolate left an unusual aftertaste which I quite liked. The foie gras was served cold and arrived pint-sized on a equally pint-sized brioche toast. That I didn't like. Eating foie gras cold is like eating cubes of butter - way too rich and cloying.

Main course was next. D ordered the beef cheek which came with a polenta cake and a 'crispy cannelloni' of butternut pumpkin. The cannelloni was nothing more than a fried spring roll. But I guess cannelloni sounds less tim sum-like. The polenta cake was great, especially the parsley crust on the top, and definitely a better choice of side compared to mash or risotto which would have overloaded the dish entirely. The beef cheek was melt-in-the-mouth tender so no complaints there. D savoured every morsel.

I ordered the smoked duck breast for my main. I enjoyed the couscous which was scented with cumin and studded with raisins and almonds. Very middle-eastern. D felt it was very Indian. He said it tasted like briani. Well, not quite. Overall, the dish worked out fine, except for the 'puree of summer peaches cooked in red wine' that was spread across the plate on the side. It didn't taste at all like peaches. In fact, I thought it was plum sauce till I looked at the menu again at the end of the meal.

Lastly - dessert. We had the lavender-infused creme brulee with dark chocolate mousse and blood orange sorbet. It wasn't bad but it wasn't outstanding either. I could do without it.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed our dinner that night. The food could do with a little tweaking here and there but I liked the fact they stayed true to their take of Modern European without veering into the Asian-fusion or modern Pacific Rim which many restaurants here have done. A little more hearty and a little less fluff (like foams and purees) and this restaurant is a real keeper.