Julien Bompard

Just came back from Julien Bompard, again for Restaurant Week. The decor this time was far different from Forlino's - almost diametrically opposite, with light pastel walls, comfortable airy high ceilings, glass panels, open concept - as opposed to the rather more European dark timbres of Forlino's.

The food was also different; Julien Bompard specialises in Spanish-French cuisine, thus for the set lunch the menu consisted of smoked duck breast; the main course was a choice between Paella or Pork lion/jowl with apple sauce, and the dessert was coconut cake with Chocolate gelato.



We ordered some Foie Gras to start; Foie Gras is always excellent. I just love the richness of the liver and THAT liver taste, which is nearly always complemented by tart sauce to cut through the richness. Wow its been so long since I have had foie gras - so for that, it deserves a (8/10)

First course was the smoked duck breast - it was not too bad, quite subtle in flavour; what was nice was the little portions of wild mushrooms which added a nice earthly twist to the dish, complementing the duck. didn't see what the point is with the vegetables though. (7/10)



Second course was Pork Jowl, Loin, and other parts of the pork, with roast apples and onions; now this was truly stunning. The pork was extremely flavourful and porky, with a nice hearty, earthly, rich flavour that really shone through; what was nice was that they gave us different parts of pork which really was a nice contrast in flavour and texture; there was a bacon-like bit which had a more earthly duck-confit-like flavour; the loin was more tender, and there was some bits that really were melt in your mouth tender. Lovely. (8.5/10)



Dessert was coconut cake with chocolate fondant i thought the cake was a bit hard, unfortunately; the chocolate wasn't as rich as I would have liked it to be; this wasn't that good. (6.5/10)

Forlino's

Went for Restaurant Week set lunch at Forlino's on Monday - so excited to try the food because, as you know, Forlino's is one of the premier restaurants dishing up Italian food in Singapore. So a few uni friends and I trooped down to Forlino's to try the food there.

We were ushered into a labyrinth of sorts - as I was climbing up the stairs, I remarked that this place really looks like China Black. Because okay there are stairs, and because it's black, but really because China Black was one of those places where you'd need to climb a nice flight of stairs, in the dark, around and around. Okay this is really out of point but never mind - really loved the walls, they were like in a pale shade of blue with lovely gold platings. We were led into a board room which was pretty nice, with black walls and gold plated ornaments adoring those walls. Floor-to-ceiling windows gave us a fantastic view of Marina Bay and the soon-to-be-finished Integrated Resort.

First course was the amuse bouche: salmon with some leaves. alright, nothing spectacular. i have had better amuse bouches from my friend's kitchen. (colin's).


Next up was the wonderful wonderful freshly baked foccacia with sea-salt. Baked with lots of olive oil, it was extremely fragrant and tasty, and a sprinkling of sea salt melded wonderfully with the freshness of the bread. (8/10)




Appetizer was crab meat with some melon puree; this was a bit like eating, pardon me, chinese fruit salad. okay not that bad. but the crabmeat could have been more flavourful. It was a bit...subtle. (6.5/10)



The main course was Spaghetti with Black Cod, prawns; the spaghetti was wonderfully al dente, and there was just enough sauce to render everything very tasty and savoury. Nice subtle crustacean flavours. Not particularly stunning (maybe I was still sick that day) but still good. (7.5/10)


Dessert blew me away. Warm chocolate fondant with banana gelato, this was amazing. The fondant was extremely rich and satisfying, with a wonderful balance of sweetness and bitterness. The banana gelato went perfectly with it (think Chocolate Banana but much better) - Excellent. (8.5/10)



We finished with coffee and petit fours, and I ordered some more bread just for the sake of it. And the great news was, it was only S$25++ per head. Great stuff.

Nara Japanese Restaurant

Wanted to go to Matsuo's but the queue was ridiculously long (requiring a one hour wait) - so we ended up at Nara instead. Nara's at Goldhill as well, in a pretty nondescript shophouse nearby Udders. The interior was pretty dark and wooden - perfect for quiet conversation, I guess.

For lunch they had a few lunch sets which were quite reasonable, below $20. I ordered the sashimi set which came with rice, sashimi, chawan mushi, and a little appetizers on the side.
The sashimi was of pretty high quality; the tuna was ok, the salmon was very fresh and tasty, full of fish oils; there was swordfish as well - yummy - i love swordfish; and a few pieces of hamachi which were quite delicious too.

The chawan mushi didn't fare as well though - it was of a very nice texture, but the taste was a bit lacking, as though the daiko stock was not good.
(7.5/10)

Crystal Jade Kitchen

I went to Crystal Jade Kitchen twice over the last weekend, once on Friday with friends and once on Sunday with the family, for unpretentious, delicious, Cantonese cuisine. I only took photos the second time with the family, so here goes:

Hor Fun with seafood in gravy - this was quite excellent; superior stock reminscient of the stock that you'd get with Sharks Fin, fragrant, savoury brown sauce, smothering smooth hor fun. i wished the horfun had more wok hei though, that was really what i was looking for, but can't complain. the portions were quite generous - it came with scallops, prawns, and fish. ($14.50)
(7.5/10)


Roasted Duck - our family ordered half a duck to share and this was quite excellent; very tasty meat, with a wonderful roasted smoky flavour, and went very well with the "plum" sauce on the side. (8.5/10)

Riccioti

Haven't updated for a very long time, sorry guys! (as if there's any one reading anyway, but if you are, thanks)

Went to Riccioti for K's birthday, after a long hiatus. I used to come here often when they had the 1/2 price offers for desserts, which made it extremely worthwhile.
This time they had some set dinner, consisting of a starter, main and dessert, for $30 quid.

For the starter, I was served Caprese, which is a salad made of fresh buffalo mozzerella, tomatoes, and sprinkled with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (I think) and basil. This was extremely good: very tasty, with the ingredients being well coated with the dressing.simple but delicious. full thumbs up! (8/10)

Next up, I had the Rib-eye ;this one was a bit peculiar in that the rib-eye was very thin, so thin that it became impossible to cook it to a medium rare doneness, and true enough, this was really just medium, because there wasn't any space beyond the surface to be pink, anyway. But still quite delicious with the peppercorns on the side. (7/10)



For dessert, we could choose anything on the "desserts/pastries" menu, so, true to my boring self, i went for the Soffiato. Why change a good thing right? This is their house special, and so why wouldn't you go for the best? True enough I was rewarded with one of the best Chocolate Molten Cakes in town. The balance of sweetness and bitterness was absolutely spot on, and it was chocolatey to the core. The texture was perfect as well, just gooey enough but not too wet. Perfect.
(8.5/10)