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2011-03-23
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Made reservations. They're really pretty packed for lunch although most diners stay no longer than 1 hour. After the pleasant experience last time I had high expectations. Some things were still good, for example the salad bar. I still liked it a lot. Environment:This time dined on the other side of the restaurant. There are things to like about either side. Had a cozy 2-seater this time. They wanted to give us a round table but I preferred the small rectangular one. Facilitates conversation and
After the pleasant experience last time I had high expectations. Some things were still good, for example the salad bar. I still liked it a lot.
Environment:
This time dined on the other side of the restaurant. There are things to like about either side. Had a cozy 2-seater this time. They wanted to give us a round table but I preferred the small rectangular one. Facilitates conversation and anyway the round table could seat more guests. Unfurnished, low ceiling, small salad bar in the middle of the room to ease things out a bit, bright enough, nice tablecloth and cutlery, good. Service:
I like the no-nonsense approach. No nonsense at all, and the waitresses kind of have their own carefree style. Not careless though. They are quite attentive. When I spooned a mouthful of M's soup using M's utensils, the waitress spotted it and gave me a spoon. She probably thought I lacked table manners.
Food:
Bread rolls
As good as 'soft on the inside and crisp on the outside' hot rolls get! They came in that same heat-proof bag, with a bit of room temperature butter, which I appreciated. Not too difficult to spread. I really like carbs. Especially when they come in the form of pastry. And basically anything I can find in a bakery. Potato and bacon soup 6/10
M ordered this, as mentioned above. I could really taste the potato coming through. Normal potatoes. But I couldn't taste bacon. When I fished out a bit of bacon and chewed on it, it was rather bland, and boring. I don't think they fried the bacon before incorporating it into the soup. They probably cooked the bacon together with the spuds in the liquid...regrettably not too successful. Next time could give bacon rashes a good fry before putting it into the soup. The dollop of creme fraiche helped to thicken the soup. Not strictly necessary, but not bad either. Salad bar
My favorite bit of the meal. They put in something new to replace the quinoa! Salad bar includes: Garlic broccoli, balsamic watermelon, mixed veg, Greek risoni, cucumber with poppy seed (couldn't really taste the poppy seed though), purple yam - extremely sweet I took a bit of everything. I spotted my favorite watermelon with balsamic and heaped a spoonful onto my bowl. They were deliciously sweet, juicy, and refreshing. Would've been perfect if they were a tad cooler. OH well. Good enough for me. Everything else was good - i like greens - Broccoli was fresh and paired with garlic, my favorite, that I had lots of, mm - the only trouble being - lack of variety perhaps. Could also throw in a bit of meat. Or something that's warmer. Would fancy that. I also liked the strong red onion in the Greek risoni, together with sweet capsicum, and feta cheese (which I didn't particularly fancy, but am sure most would). Salad already filled me up half way. Good thing I ordered the chicken and avocado sub, not too filling there.
Slow-braised Oxtail with cauliflower mash
It looked tasty. The portions were very generous and the bed of mashed mash was overwhelming. The oxtail itself was not cooked long enough, or they didn't put in enough seasoning. It was tender, but it wasn't tasty enough. If cooked longer, I think the meat would be more fragrant. And the juice wasn't sticky enough. I prefer oxtail with sticky juices. The accompanying veg wasn't soft enough and tasted as if they weren't really cooked with the oxtail. The cauliflower mash was quite interesting as it wasn't fluffy or smooth like mashed potatoes but granular and rough. A nice interpretation of mash? Nothing special apart from the texture. It's nice if you eat it with a bit of oxtail though. And it feels healthier coz you're not eating as much carbs while attaining the same filling effect. Chicken and avocado baguette with potato wedges
Smoked thinly-pulled chicken: flavorful and tender. Avocado was buttery. Thousand island dressing a no-no for me. Small portions though, but enough for me considering the huge salad I'd had for starter. The baguette was accompanied by a jar of pickled veg and baked potato wedges. The wedges, as mentioned in my previous post, are healthy and authentic. Not the deep-fried stuff with lots of flavoring, but a simple, baked wedge with thin, crisp skin, lightly salted, peelable. Homemade rum raisin gelato (aspiring to be ice cream?)
How should I put it? I wasn't sure whether this is meant to be a gelato or an ice-cream. The flavour was really nice though - the pleasant taste of rum both inside the gelato and the raisins. Juicy raisins. Probably homemade. If it were meant to be an ice cream it would be too icy. But whatever it was meant to be - I wouldn't recommend it. Honey lemon chiffon cake
Sadly I wouldn't recommend this either. M and I were delighted by the sound of it - but were bitterly disappointed when it turned out to be something of less-than-average quality. The cake itself had a dry, crumbly body, didn't taste particularly strongly of anything at all, and the texture was just wrong - chiffon cake is supposed to be light, spongy, with some bounce if you press it down with the side of a fork, not 'dry' in the mouth..this one felt like pound cake instead. Not what I expected, or wanted. Conclusion:
Much less of a delight than the last time I came. Perhaps I'd just come for the salad bar priced at $80 next time. The set lunches aren't that exciting anymore. But I know I should come for dinner one day, yes.
張貼
