It’s been a long time since I last visited this eatery and they’ve refurbished. Still in the same seedy Cuppage plaza though, where we sighted a suspiciously promiscuous woman hanging out the rails of a well placed flight of stairs, calling out to single men.
Charming.
I digress, back to the restaurant! While it did away with the elbow to elbow diner chumminess, the new decor feels rather cold where it was cosy in the past.
The cabbage dip is no longer free. Sacrilege! They charge SGD3 for it now, in smaller portions.
My favorite foie gras skewer arrived over cooked. Sad and rubbery with none of that oozing goodness that graced its former self. What a disappointment.
It seems like the mouth devoured before the camera had a chance. The lamb chop was nice and tender, needed a touch more seasoning but it wasn’t bad.
Sometimes I write blog posts to remind myself that some dishes should never ever be attempted again. This chicken skin skewer is prime target in this post. It was not crunchy, rather, it was chewy. I do not understand the thought process that went behind this dish. Bad.
Pork and apple skewers. I only ordered 3 before they ran out. This was decent, a classic combination of soft, sweet apple and savory pork. Lovely. My only gripe is that the pork could be a little more tender, but I’m happy even with this.
Tsukune (meatball) is usually dipped in egg yolk and eaten, in a glorious pairing of rich yolk and delightful dark sauce. Here, the yolk has been replaced with a dab of mayo, some spring onions and soy sauce. It works almost as well. The meat is cooked to perfection and tender to a fault. Just enough char on it to pique the interest. Very good.
Hotaru ika (firefly squid) is a seasonal delicacy that I love. Pop the entire morsel in your mouth and enjoy. The ones here are cooked well and tender, but tasted a little fishy. We’ve had fresher ones elsewhere.
If I had to pick one dish to come back for it would be this. The humble cheese sausage. Humble in origin it may be but cooked in this manner, with all its blistered skinned finery, it is a delight in the mouth. Juicy and mouthwatering, we could have just made the entire meal about sausages.
We might have ended up with a cheaper bill too! Everything else was more expensive. It was a hefty bill. I left with more disappointment than mixed feelings, from the hole in my pocket to the dishes that felt somewhat lesser than the ones in my memory.
3 out of 5