Thursday, January 27, 2011

Salt Grill & Sky Bar @ ION Orchard

While many people know about the spectacular rooftop dining in Marina Bay area, but not as many people know about Salt Grill over at Orchard Road.

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Salt Grill occupies the 55th and 56th floor of ION Orchard. In fact, it stands at 218m above the road, and I believe it is the highest point along the entire Orchard Road shopping district.

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Here, diners get to enjoy the view of River Valley and beyond. However, it may get a bit too glaring when the sun decides to shine directly through the glass panels. So do ask the service staff to help lower the blinds if it gets overwhelming bright.

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It's quite a fun journey up to Salt Grill. Diners first will proceed to the 4th floor of ION Orchard where ION Arts is. Check in at the restaurant's counter, and you will be ushered up to a private lift which goes directly up to the 55th floor in 15 seconds.

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As you will see later in the photographs, almost every glass, menu and plate here bears the logo (4 red cubes) and name of Chef Luke Mangan. A bit on the chef: Luke Mangan is quite the celebrity chef in Australia. He operates from the Hilton Hotel's Glass Brasserie in Sydney, Australia. And he has restaurants in Melbourne, Tokyo and even on board a cruise ship.

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Everything here bears the Chef's trademark. From the cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, to the salt and pepper.

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Free iced tap water served here, in the chef's own glass.

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Freshly baked bread with olive oil and paprika. The paprika had a distinctive Indian spice flavour. The bread was warm and I believe baked fresh in the kitchen.

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TarraWarra Estate Pinot Noir Rose 2008 from Yarra Valley, Victoria (S$15 per glass) - A single block of Pinot Noir was picked early to retain the natural acidity and elegant flavours.

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"Glass" Sydney crab omelette, with Miso mustard broth (S$29). This is the perfect comfort food for a lazy Sunday afternoon brunch. The omelette is moist and creamy. And it's filled with sweet crab meat and mushrooms flavoured by a light miso sauce. One of the signature starters by Chef Luke Mangan.

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Another of the chef's signature starter is the Australian Yellowtail Kingfish sashimi, ginger eschallot and goats feta (S$27). At first, we were not very keen to order this. The thought of minced ginger and cheese over sashimi was not attrative to us. But, we decided to go for it, and in the end, we thought that this dish was the best dish of our meal there. The fish was very fresh, sweet. And the combination of the ginger eschallot and feta cheese paired really well with the sashimi. I wonder where the ginger went, because there were not hints of ginger at all.

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Torbreck "Old Vines" GSM 2005 - Barossa Valley, South Australia (S$20 per glass). This is to go with the red meat we are having next.

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Maori Lakes Beef tenderloin, pan fried with celeriac puree, mixed mushrooms and sauce borderlaise (S$60). We like the beef tenderloin here as it is tender and moist. And quite a generous serving too. The Australian vegetable produce is sweet and fresh too.

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As sides had to be ordered seperately, we selected the Truffled mashed potato (S$13). The potatoes were creamy but perhaps sometimes, too much of a good thing, is not good at all. After a while, you will get tired of the taste of the truffle oil and potatoes. Best shared among 3 to 4 diners.

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The signature mains here is no doubt their Barramundi fillet 160g with miso mayonnaise, served with green beans (S$29) . The Barramundi is flown in fresh from Australia. The chef had done a wonderful job in grilling and baking the fish. The skin was crispy and had a nice sea salt taste to it. Fish was fresh without any stale aftertaste. The green beans were crunchy. No wonder this is crowned as one of their signatures.

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It's dessert time. We had 2 desserts. First was the Chocolate 3 ways - Valrhona chocolate fondant, wattleseed chocolate mousse cone, white chocolate and salted caramel macadamia semifreddo (S$18). I like the wattleseed chocolate mousse cone the best.

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This is their signature dessert: Luke's Liquorice parfait with lime (S$16). Liquorice is a herb used in medicine, especially for cough. But you don't taste any of those "cough syrup" taste here. But still, I prefer the chocolate dessert.

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There is a cool viewfinder at the gallery which cans how you day and night view of anywhere you point the viewfinder at. Very cool.

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And of course, nibbets of information about the weather, inscribed on the glass windows.

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We really think Salt Grill could very well be one of the best high altitude restaurant in Singapore. Great food, wonderful staff and a good location in the middle of Orchard Road.

We will be back for more very soon!


Salt Grill & Sky Bar
ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn
#55-01

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Akari Dining & Bar @ Marina Bay Link Mall

We spotted this compact Japanese restaurant Akari (meaning light in Japanese) over at the ground floor at Marina Bay Financial Centre (directly below Paradise Pavilion). It was eerily quiet on a Sunday evening with the service staff and chef outnumbering the number of diners.


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Later we found out that this is the upmarket restaurant opened by Tomo Japanese restaurant. The tables are unique as in that lights are fitted into the table, so food bloggers will be able to take very beautiful photographs here.

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Jyakokyuuri Ume (S$7) - Instead of the usual Miso paste to dip the cucumbers, we have this sweet and sour Ume sauce which helps to "open up" our appetite, together with some bonito shavings.

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Hot green tea

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Otsukuri (Sashimi) course (S$58) - The sashimi is worth every single cent. No fishy taste or smell here, only the sweetness of the fish slices and a fresh crunchy texture.

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Amaebi Kimizu (S$14), which means sweet ebi or prawns (Amaebi) with egg and rice vinegar sauce (kimizu). The eggy sauce complimented the sweet prawns.


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Kurobuta Misoyaki (S$24) - Juicy grilled slices of top grade Kurobuta pork. Special miso seasoning paste was added to the pork before grilling.

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Rice (S$3 per person). At S$3 a bowl, this is definitely not cheap.

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Misoshiru Asari (S$7 per person). The soup was made with sweet Asari clams from Hokkaido.


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Anago Kyabetsu Maki (S$16) - A unique twist to a healthier version of sushi. Sweet crunchy cabbage which has been braised in a stock, is used instead of rice and seaweed. here, the sweet cabbage wraps the Anago eel to form a "Maki".

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Kamo Kinoko Kuzuni (S$18) - We like how the little yellow flower petals add a floral taste to this pipping hot dish of sliced duck meat and kinoko mushrooms. The sauce went great with our white rice.

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From left to right: Kuzukiri (S$7), Kanten Pudding Matcha (S$7.50) and Mochi Zenzai (S$8). A trio of desserts, my favourite being the Kuzukiri which is a type glass vermicelli. Here it is served cold with a sweet citrus syrup. Wonderfully refreshing.

No doubt prices here at Akari are not cheap. So it will take a lot of top notch culinary skills to bring back customers here.


Akari Dining & Bar
8A Marina Boulevard
Ground Plaza #01-02
Marina Bay Link Mall

Friday, January 21, 2011

Jaan @ Swissotel The Stamford

Q: So with Andre gone from Jaan, how has Jaan been preparing to welcome back her guests to this post-Andre era?

A: Swedish star and former London-based Gordon Ramsay cohort Chef Ebbe Vollmer

Well, we are here on a weekday night to find out from their 7 courses Gallic nouvelle cuisine dinner at S$240.

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We started off our dinner with a appetizer of Radish with bonito, rock melon with ham, carrot and beet root. The vegetables and fruits were crunchy and sweet. Refreshing.

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Next was the Mozzarella powder with Artemis leave, served on a black stone. Roll up the artemis leave with the mozzarella powder inside and pop it into your mouth.

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Their Salted and unsalted butter are shaped like tiny buns. Very cute.

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We had all the breads they prepared for us that night. Our favourite is still the truffle bun.

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This was a unique dish - Avocado slices, Walnut, Atlantic caviar, dill. The base was made with avocado and topped with the other ingredients.
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We love this Boudin Blanc, sausage made from Pheasant with Chanterelle fungus and Madeira wine sauce. The sausage was a tad too bland for my liking.

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Rabbit Presse with Apricot and Pistachio - Slightly gamey, traditional winter food, prepared in unusual way (instead of the usual stew).

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Scallop with Apple and Marjoram (a kind of herb)

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Kinki fish with orange and pepper - The prized rock fish from Japan has been baked till golden brown.

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Lamb loin, Aubergine (eggplant), Olives, pumpkin puree, spinach, onion crisps. The lamb was juicy and tender. The onion crisps were exceptionally tasty.

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Our pre-dessert: Hawthorn Jelly, Lemon Espuma, was an interesting palate cleanser.

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Our dessert was this chocolatey Chocolate, Pecan, Nutmeg

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and ended our dinner with a pot of Tea

I remembered when Jaan first started ages ago, it positioned itself as some kind of Khmer and French fusion food restaurant, which is quite a weird mix. After Chef Andre came, he took Jaan (par Andre) to an incredible level with his southern French style cooking but using fresh Asian ingredients.

Now at the new Jaan, we think that the presentation was excellent and the ingredients used were unique, but somehow the taste lacks that little magical touch.


Jaan
2 Stamford Road
70F
Swissotel The Stamford

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Andre @ Bukit Pasoh Road

Andre Chiang is now one of Singapore's most famous celebrity chef and even the New York Times recently selected his restaurant Andre as one of the Top 10 Restaurants in the World worth a plane ride!

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Chef Andre was there when we went there for a dinner one Sunday night. And he gamely posed for our blog before he went in to whip up his masterpieces.

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The restaurant is pretty small. Not a good place for candlelight dinner. Instead, this restaurant is hoping to create a "home" feeling to it and you feel like you are dining in Andre's house among his other friends.

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Our first Amuse Bouche - Chicken skin Masala, which was crispy. The skin was "clipped" into place by 2 black containers. Interesting presentation and we loved this a lot.

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The second Amuse Bouche was a trio platter with Onion truffle tart, Pop corn vanilla spread and Amberjack tartar. The truffle tart was aromatic, crisp and light, while the pop corn with vanilla spread had a creamy texture.

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The choice of wine for our dinner was Lapierre Morgon 2009 (S$113 per bottle)

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With our wine, the actual 8 courses dinner starts. Each of the course is given a special name and the ingredients reflect the name.

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Pure - Scallop ravioli with Japanese chives, dill flower and purple cauliflower consume. What is interesting is that the chef uses no seasoning for this dish.

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Salt - This dish wants to allow diners to have a taste of the ocean's flavour. And what we had was a French oyster with seaweed which has been mixed into a jelly with the original seawater from inside the oyster, seagrape and Granny Smith Apple. No salt was used to create this dish. It's refreshing, and people who do not like the "fishy' taste of oysters will be glad to know that the oysters here are very fresh and sweet.

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Before I forget, we were also served wheat bread freshly baked in the kitchen.

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Artisan - Charcoal grilled Baby corn from Taipei, Milk and yogurt creme anglaise. This is a dish which reminded the chef of his hometown in Taiwan and for this, he specially used baby corn grown in Taiwan. Those who like to eat grilled corn will know how aromatic the aroma is when it is served right off the grill.

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The next dish, South, came as a special 2 tier dish. The bottom tier was this beautiful presentation of Tomatoes with Japanese seaweed and fish slices.

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The top tier was another winner - Risotto with Spanish prawn head and fish

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Texture - Here, Chef Andre served up a Squid ink risotto and cauliflower puree

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You would have thought that the squid ink was black and the risotto was white. But actually, the squid is the white colour item, while the rissoto was cooked with squid ink and baked into a thin crisp crust to "cover" the squid with cauliflower puree.

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Unique - This is comfort food at its best: Black truffle with Iberico ham. The service staff first brought out a bowl with the ingredients to explain that the egg was no ordinary egg, but from a black chicken. And they are baked at 56 degrees amongst rock salt.

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And what you get is the above with very generous slices of black truffle.
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Memory - This dish was Chef Andre's original creation back in 1998 and even though he has moved from Jaan to his current restaurant, this dish has followed him here. Black truffle coulees and foei gras jelly are the main items in this dish.

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The last was Terroir, where ingredients from different regions were brought together to create this dish. Here we have Milk fed lamb from wales, green peas, olives, garlic and crosnes (pronounced as crones, rare rooted vegetable).

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After the meal, we were served cheese from Bernard Antony. Bernard Antony only provides cheese to the top restaurants in the world, such as Alain Ducasse. And here in Singapore, his cheese is only supplied to 1 restaurant - Andre. Accompanying the cheese are preserved fruits like prunes and apricot.

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Dessert is a chocoholic's dream come true - Tonka bean, chocolate sphere, spicy chocolate powder with vanilla bean ice-cream.

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We truly had a magical time at Andre, and at S$288 per person, the food here is worth every single cent.


Andre
41 Bukit Pasoh Road