A group of friends, checking out the food scene and talking bout stuff.

Thursday 30 April 2015

Anti:dote at Fairmont: Novelty bar bites that take you on a culinary journey

Agua Fresca
ingapore's cocktail bar scene has been exponentially growing over the past couple of years, and one bar that's been gaining traction is Anti:dote at Fairmont. Head bartender, Tom Hogan has been manning the bar since it first opened, and he unveiled his brand new cocktail menu this month, designed and hand-drawn by himself. Did you know that he is a fine arts graduate?

For a start, we had the Agua Fresca, made of Mezcal, parsley, sweet turnip, lime juice, and suze liqueur. A clean, crisp concoction with a welcome tang to whet our appetites.

Working closely with Hogan is the Spanish head chef, Carlos Montobbio, who's responsible for the bar bites, designed to complement the new cocktails on the new menu. Along with the new cocktail menu comes an array of new dishes as well. This plate of braised eel coquettes with teriyaki sauce and kimchi mayo may look unremarkable from the outside, but each ball certainly packed a punch, especially when dipped in the piquant kimchi mayo. The eel filling wan't minced, it was chopped into little pieces, so I got a nice bite of fish with each coquette.

Chef Carlos has been working in Singapore for close to two years now, and it's the first Asian country he had ever been to before leaving Spain. He's developed a passion for Asian flavours which he infuses in his dishes. This is a serving of oysters with warm ginger sauce, red curry, and celery cress. Each morsel of oyster still retained its ocean freshness, with the slight heat from the dressing tickling my tastebuds.

This was a pleasant surprise for me, because it isn't what it looks like, Nope, not sushi. It's actually salted cod brandade topped with tuna sashimi. Those tiny orange balls on top of the tuna aren't salmon caviar. They're sesame oil spheres. How clever! If you're worried that fish on fish would be too overwhelming, this is actually pretty subtle, with the sesame oil spheres lending it a delightful aroma as they pop in your mouth. However, the cod was so finely blended and emulsified with the potato in the brandade that I could barely taste it.

Monte- Cachaca, fine sherry, homemade falernum, lime.
Mixed reviews all around for this cocktail that could be a little herb-heavy for those who are averse to um, herbs.


Ah, the famous crisp parmesan pizza topped with tomato flakes, fresh pesto olive oil caviar and sweet basil cress ($16). It's been on the menu from the start as well as a hot favourite of Anti:dote's patrons, and I could see why. While thin and tiny and a little pricey for its size, it was robust in flavours-- sweet, salty, and herbaceous. An elegant mini version of the classic margherita pizza. Replacing the typical bread crust with only parmesan cheese is a genius move, methinks.

The paleta iberica Joselito, Italian burrata, cristal bread, with tomato essence shabu-shabu is again, another delight of a dish. The iberico ham needs no introduction, everyone knows it's good. What needs highlighting is the cristal bread, a Spanish style ciabatta with a light and airy centre reminiscent of a youtiao. Eat this with chopsticks. Pick up a slice of ham and burrata along with a piece of bread, and dip it into the tomato essence emulsion and you have a party in your mouth. The crispness of the bread combined with the general softness of the other components of this dish make for a wonderfully textured mouthfeel.

Here's another new dish, the braised beef Cannelloni with Spanish onion, black truffle, and cepes bechamel. Visually unappealing, but you can't go wrong with braised beef. Thankfully, it wasn't dry, and the black truffle really came through.

One of the best dishes of the night was definitely this crispy suckling pig with cherry miso caramel and sherry soaked cherries. A perfectly crispy crackling with very tender meat.

The much-raved-about black truffle bao with braised beal cheek, foie gras and caramelised shallots with Madeira was sadly a little disappointing for me. I could barely detect a hint of foie gras, and the sea salt sprinkled on top of the buns harshly cut through and overpowered the flavours of the filling as I felt myself chewing on grains of salt with each bite.

Another brand new item on the menu, a twist on the pork adobo, coated with a thin dough crust topped with thin slices of garlic. This was the winner. I love a dish that has contrast in textures and the buttery crust with the juicy pork won me over. Unlike the vinegary Filipino  PorkAdobo, this one let the natural flavour of the pork shine through while the vinegar was just there as a supporting character.

Dainty little cakes.
Seger Seelbach- Bourbon, hum, peychaud bitters, angostura bitters, Champagne.
The Tragedy of Tom Dooley
I know I haven't talked much about the cocktails in this post, but this is important: there's one thing you need to order before you leave Anti:dote, and it's The Tragedy of Tom Dooley. Everyone at the table unanimously agreed that this was the best drink of the night. Made of Tequila, aperol, lime, lavender syrup, and egg white, it's inspired by Tom Dula, who was framed for the murder of his girlfriend. Some speculate that it was his ex-girlfriend who murdered his  girlfriend, and then committed suicide, leaving Dula as the main suspect. A tragic backstory for an utterly lovely drink. It went down so smoothly. Don't the red dots on top of the egg white foam remind you of blood splatters in a gruesome murder scene?

The new cocktails and new dishes complimented each other wonderfully, and were every bit an exciting journey through a fusion of Spanish and Asian flavous, each dish more intense than the last. It got a bit overwhelming at some point that a palate cleanser of sorts would have been nice. But the next time I come back, I'd go straight for the pork dishes, and the crisp parmesan pizza for variety if you must.

Anti:dote
80 Bras Basah Road, Level 1, Fairmont, Raffles City, 189560

Tel: 6431 5315

Saturday 25 April 2015

Ippin Cafe Bar - Humble Japanese home-style dishes that'll surprise you.

04:33 Posted by Unknown , , , No comments
If you're ever in the vicinity of Clarke Quay/River Valley/Mohamed Sultan, you'll notice many Japanese restaurants lining the streets. Most of these restaurants are rather pricey, but take a walk opposite UE Square (across Hakata Ippudo to be more specific) and you'll find an unassuming, humble little family-run Japanese eatery called Ippin Cafe Bar tucked in a corner.

Once you step inside, you'll be greeted by the cheerful Ayumi Fujishiro, who runs the restaurant. You'll also notice Japanese condiments, ingredients and food products lining the shelves. But I'll talk about why they're there later. Let's get to the food first.

Here's the Deep Fried Oyster Set ($24) with sides of Hatcho miso soup, Nikujaga pork and potato stew, salad, and rice cooked with barley to reduce carb intake so you'll have a healthier meal. 

The oysters were lightly battered and fried to a crisp golden brown, and paired very well with the wasabi egg mayo dressing. But here's the thing: I'm not gonna lie, the oysters were pre-battered, pre-fried, then frozen. But don't worry, they didn't smell or taste of the stink that sometimes comes with oysters.

The pork and potato stew we sampled was lacking in pork but it still remains a hearty side that'll fill you up, especially with the generous serving of potato.

 This is the Grilled Oyster & Veggies in Ponzu Butter Sauce set ($20).

If you prefer something light, this is for you. The juicy oysters were grilled in a fragrant ponzu butter sauce.
 The Miso Udon Noodle with Oyster Set ($15) was very tasty. It may look simple, but something about the sauce it was cooked in gave it so much flavour. As someone who prefers strong, vibrant flavours, this hit the spot for me. But imagine my surprise when I found out how it was made.

This is how. From a pack of instant noodles that comes with the deliciously flavourful sauce. Add veggies and meat and there you have it! There's nothing wrong with eating instant noodles of course, I eat it all the time. But I had expected more, coming to an F&B establishment that charges above $10 for each dish. I had expected them to make the sauce themselves, perhaps with a family recipe passed down from a grandma. After all, Ippin is a home-style eatery.
A three-pack instant noodles (shown above) costs $7. Was it really worth $15 with sides of Kobachi and dessert? I don't think it was, but you do the math.

The Oyakudon set ($15) was pretty simple as well. And as I had caught on to the secret to their dishes, I asked about the stock that's used to cook this dish– it's a pre-packed dashi stock.

Towards the end of our meal, Chef Naomi came out to speak to us. She candidly said, "Honestly, I'm not a very good chef. But I'm very lucky to be able to use these great products to cook."

I appreciated her honesty and candor. And I guess Ippin's selling point is in their exclusive Japanese food products. It's not only an cafe, it's also where you can purchase some Japanese food products you can't find anywhere else in Singapore. If you want to recreate a dish you've tasted at Ippin, you can just ask about the ingredients, buy some off the shelves, and cook it at home if you so wish to.

Ippin Cafe Bar
18 Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore 238967
Tel: 6733-4794
Hours: 11am-11pm