FiftyThree on Armenian Street

To say that 53 Armenian St came with lofty expectations was a bit of an understatement. I've been hearing the stories from friends about this place for quite some time now, and they are usually surprised that I hadn't considered having a meal there. Well, I do admit all the traveling this year has allowed me to sample some very fine cuisines around the world, so that left very little time for trying new restaurants when I'm in town. And usually, I would invariably stick with comfort food when I'm home. Otherwise, I might as well be ordering room service at the Hyatt every night.

My overall experience with FiftyThree hasn't been all that mind-blowing, as had been described by some of my friends. First of all, they had trouble with their oven and didn't serve us our bread until 30 minutes after we were seated. The wait staff seemed rather inexperienced, or at least did not project that aura of confidence and pride in their service. But I did recognize a couple of familiar faces I'd seen at Les Amis a few months ago, so I'd say we were in good hands. (Writing food blogs can work up an appetite sometimes, I'm going to order a turkey provolone sandwich from the galley now while we're enroute into HKG.)

I opted for the 3-course set lunch and had seared scallops for starters, followed by baked chicken with cauliflower foam and radish and I finished off with a chilled consomme with cucumber sorbet, caramelized green apples. The ingredients were fresh and the execution was flawless, but I couldn't help compare this with my recent lunch at Les Amis and must admit FiftyThree came up a little short. Perhaps I'm biased, I've always held Les Amis in the highest regard and it would be difficult to top that. And then there's the French Laundry and Chez Panisse, but those are stories for another day.

I couldn't quite put a finger on what the missing ingredient was, but I'll call it a lack of soul for now. The packaging is wonderful, and meticulously cultured, but something seems lacking on the inside. Maybe that's the standard of avant garde in Singapore.

53 Armenian St is in Singapore. Tel: 6334 5535

Tenshin Tempura, The Regent Hotel, Singapore

I have only eaten at a specialist tempura restaurant once. This was a few years ago in Tokyo on a joint trip with D Guy. That little restaurant only catered for three rooms a night and was located close to Tsukiji where the chef handpicked the freshest seafood daily. It was this fact coupled with their secret flour mix and their special oil that made them so good.

I had heard of a local equivalent some years ago, told myself I had to go but was reminded only recently about it again. The place is Tenshin Tempura located at The Regent Singapore. It is known to be quite pricey but going there for lunch fit in nicely with my continuing quest for good-value set lunches.

Of course, I found a willing accomplice in D Guy.

The set lunches ranged from $30 to $85 with the choice of also ordering ala carte items from the daily vegetable and seafood boards.

There is a certain point at which my stomach hits a limit for oily food. On this day, that point took quite long to reach, meaning, the food was very finely prepared (not too much oil).

The first course of prawn tempura was a little tough, but I reserved my judgement and was rewarded with perfectly cooked pumpkin (not too raw and not too overcooked), wonderfully sweet corn which they take off the cob and formed into a round cake held together only by the batter, seasonal eel (sweet and still moist inside).

Overall, a very nice meal but probably 80% of the Tsukiji tempura place whose name escapes me now. Would I go again? Yes, their Tendon set lunch looked wonderful, served in a hot steaming bowl of rice with generous lashings of their own tempura sauce.

Nogawa Restaurant, Concorde Hotel, Singapore

Mr. Nogawa is known as the man that trained some of the most successful Japanese chefs in Singapore. Ronnie of Tatsuya fame, is one of them.

After many years of hearing of Nogawa, I finally, finally, made a reservation and had the omakase sushi menu. The meal had a promising start with fresh gingko nuts lightly salted and grilled. I was pleasantly surprised by how tender and succulent the octopus starte was. I am also a fan of well-prepared pickles and these were crisp and crunchy with a little sour kick. Just the thing to whet your appetite.

When I was served the first piece of sushi (we sat at the counter), I was looking forward to a burst of freshness and flavour but became completely distracted by the rice. Sushi rice is meant to be firm but soft enough to provide a nice base to the fish on top. However, either there was not enough vinegar and mirin or the rice was a tad undercooked but the rice started to crumble the minute I put it in my mouth. Unfortunately, this rice texture continued throughout the meal and detracted from the array of fish served. Very sad.

As you can see, we were treated to beautiful Toro, Otoro and Chu Toro (?) AND very nice uni. Perhaps my palate has gotten used to Tatsuya's but the seared sushi did not even come close to Ronnie's version. It could be a case of the student surpassing the master here or I could have become brainwashed by Tatsuya's. I had stopped going for a while as they had become incredibly expensive after winning the award from the World Gourmet Summit, but after paying about $200 per person at Nogawa, I may just be dining at Tatsuya's more often now.

Nogawa has another restaurant at the Sentosa Golf & Country Club. Perhaps I should go there for comparison. It's hard to believe that I was so disappointed with the master chef. One must note that Mr. Nogawa was not there and we were served by Chef Kevin. Unfortunately, Kevin did introduce each sushi as most chefs usually do when serving pieces individually but maybe he thought we were sushi connoisseurs or we were too deep in conversation.

2am Dessert Bar, Holland Village, Singapore

As the name reflects, this dessert place is open til 2 am. It is the place for very sinful desserts if that's what rings your bell.

2am is located at the end of Lorong Liput, the street which is home to great shops like Parisilk Store (the mother of all consumer electronics shops), Provence (fantastic Japanese-French Bakery) and of course, Pet Lovers Centre (your dog's one-stop wonderland).

Left : Amadei Chili Chocolate

Below Left : Warm Chocolate Tart

Below Right : Hot Chocolate with Churros

The Amadei Chili Chocolate is very unique and actually very suited to the Singapore palate. However, for those who can't take spicy food, stay away. It actually packs quite a punch. As for the Warm Chocolate Tart, it was beautifully presented with blood orange sorbet as an accompaniment. My favorite however, was the Hot Chocolate, the highlight being the cinnamon sugar coated churros. It comes with three but you can ask for an extra order of 5 for $4 more. The five churros are well worth the money if you are a churro fan. I made the mistake of not dipping the churros into the hot chocolate which meant that I did not finish my hot chocolate. It turned out to be too thick to finish on its own and not sweet enough as it did not have the benefit of the sugar from the churros.

The ambience was simple and chic. I particularly liked the Bed Supper Club type lounge seating meaning that you can recline while enjoying your decadent desserts. How good can life get? They currently have a one-for-one Mumm's Champagne offer if you use your UOB card. Chocolate and alcohol are lethal partners, but oh, the parties you will have.

2am is available for private parties as well. This is one place to visit if you have a midnight craving for rich desserts.

21A Lorong Liput
Holland Village
Tel: +65 6291 9727

Friday Lunch At L'Olivier

This place was barely 2 days old when we decided to give it a try for our weekly Friday lunch. Expectations were a little high, based on initial biased reviews, but then again, I hadn't eaten breakfast, so any food is good food for me that day.

We arrived to a very empty restaurant in the heart of the financial district. I guess word of mouth hadn't gotten round the block yet. Which was a good thing - we were ensured a nice quiet meal. The waiter brought us to the corner of the restaurant with booth seats, a great vantage point to check out the rest of the room and the people strolling past outside.

The set lunch for S$26.00++ looked tempting, and a good deal, so we decided to give it a try, along with the house wine on promotion for the month. My squid fritters appetizer was accompanied by grilled eggplant slivers, salsa and pesto sauce, and tasted ordinary, but well prepared. The main course of pan fried seabass was also well done, with a good creamy hollandaise sauce and pomme noisette. Again, nothing out of the ordinary, but delicious nonetheless. The dessert was a plum tart that was excellent, and we also ordered a serving of profiteroles to share.The chocolate sauce was a bit sweet, could have been more bitter with some quality Valrhona chocolate add to the mix. For the price, this was a very good meal, and we had a good time. The dinner ala carte menu looked more tempting, and we'd definitely be back to give it a try soon.

L'Olivier is located at 137 Telok Ayer Street, downtown Singapore. Tel: +65-6227-6022

Edward Voon - Still Magnificent

The first blog I posted here featured Aurum, a now-defunct restaurant at Clarke Quay, helmed by Chef Edward Voon. Penang-born Voon is, in my opinion, one of the most daring chefs on our shores. I am happy to hear that he will soon become Singaporean as this may reduce the likelihood of him leaving for more receptive climes overseas AND I can selfishly continue to enjoy his beautiful and tasty creations.

Ed is now Head Chef at the Tower Club at the top of Republic Plaza and currently their best kept secret around. He tells me that he can arrange a 6-course set lunch for $40 if we call ahead. I can't believe he has not opened his own restaurant yet but I am sure he will find a willing tycoon somewhere to finance a culinary home of his own in time. I had the privilege of having a farewell dinner for a friend planned at the restaurant and luckier still that Chef Voon decided to test his new "tapas" concept menu on (lucky) us. Just be warned that unlike Tippling Club or even Fifty-three, you will not leave hungry. On this evening we had a 23-course dinner of various shapes and sizes :

1. Foire gras in port wine reduction
2. Tomato biscuit
3. Walnut sponge
4. Green olives
5. Evaporated strawberries
6. Carrot wafer
7. Parmesan cut sandwhiches
8. Crispy bread sheets with olive oil emulsion and olive oil butter
9. Daquiri
10. Beef tendon with bone marrow dip
11. Ravioli with olive oil & shrimp
12. Sangria
13. Lychee passion fruit Caviar
14. Parma ham topped with bread crumbs
15. Caprese salad, tomato soup filled with mozarella garnished with breadcrumbs, balsamic vinegar and pesto.
16. Spanish omelette with caramelised onions and potato
17. Mushroom essence spaghetti with truffle and chive
18. Poached egg (Parmesan cheese) on birds nest (liquified morel mushrooms).
19. White truffle soup with chocolate soil and mozarella
20. Salmon with mustard
21. Suckling pig
22. Yogurt mochi with berries
23. Chocolate ganache, cake, drop, parfait and purée