New Restaurant: anti:dote at Fairmont Hotel

Today's review is a little different because this is not a restaurant per se, but a bar. Don't click the close button yet, cos you may just regret!

What I'll be reviewing is the "bar bites" of this place, tapas if you'll call it 'cos their portions are really quite small. But my oh my, you'd be wow-ed by the dishes! By the creativity, taste and presentation. Whats even more interesting is that the tapas served here is molecular gastronomy style. That's right. No more fancy prices, saving up to get molecular gastronomy. You have it here in this bar, relatively affordable (10+ range) and yummy.

This was from where I sat. We called to make a reservation for Vday dinner (yes I had my vday here! By my request haha) and when we arrived, the bar was super empty! Okay another 2-3 tables were there but thats about it. We sat at this quiet spot, just the 2 of us, away from other people/couples/tables. The chair was quite comfy :) not like these bars you see in the photo haha.

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Below's the menu! I've tried sourcing for the menu online but to no avail so I've taken photos of it for your reference!

This is their cocktail menu. I like how they have the ratings for potency & refreshing!

Him: Le Lisson

Okay I can't really tell from the menu what liquor there is in this cos the words are blur but basically its alcohol mixed w egg white, lemon, winter bitters and scotch (from what I can make out!)

3/5 for potency, 3/5 for refreshing

$13

He felt that this was sweet but I didn't think this was sweet! And yup its not potent at all so don't worry!  Quite like his drink cos it isn't really like drinking alcohol! 4/5

Mine: Brown Derby

Grapefruit, honey, bourbon

3/5 for potency, 3/5 for refreshing

$13

Felt that mine had a stronger alcohol taste vs the boy's! And the honey taste didn't really come through? It was a tad bitter though probably cos of the grapefruit! 3.8/5

Now onto the food!

When each course is served, the chef will come over and tell you what's what and give you some background wrt the ingredients.

Langoustine tartar, peanut tofu, chilled tom yum broth

$16

Its quite difficult to slurp the tofu + the broth together haha so you might want to use a spoon! The tofu has hints of peanut and the langoustine's taste was covered by the tofu + tomyum! Tomyum was average. This dish was a so-so for us! 3.5/5

3 Shigoku oysters, cucumber, wasabi cream, passionfruit jelly

$18

The oysters weren't cold cold but merely just barely cold. Would've been better if it were colder. BUT regardless of that we still enjoyed this little morsel! Each was very plump and sweet. Went well with the toppings although when you put it in your mouth, they just all sort of come together and you can't differentiate them. Wasabi, don't worry if you can't take wasabi, cos I didn't even taste it! Somehow, the amalgamation of tastes works even though you probably can't guess what you're eating besides oyster. 4/5

Now onto the STAR of the night!

Crisp Parmesan pizza, Olive oil caviar, tomatoes, basil

$12

Now honestly I can't believe this is just $12. The BEST BEST $12 I've ever spent in my life!!!!! This according to the guy, is a v popular item at the bar and I can TOTALLY see why omg. The boy and I both proclaimed this to be the best dish of the night and we were super wowed by this! 

The crust is actually made of parmesan and its really DAMN crispy and fragrant!!! I ate the olive oil caviar on its own and it literally just bursts in your mouth exploding olive oil, bliss if you like olive oil :) otherwise eating it as a whole w the pizza is a good way to go as well! In fact its a damn good way to go. Honestly everything marries together so perfectly that this was a dish we could've ordered more of! There were about 8 slices of this pizza and we gladly devoured it. That said you must like cheese cos the crust is cheese and the cheese taste does come out rather strong. MUST-TRY 'nuff said. 5/5

Am totally imaging the taste in my mouth now and craving for it!!

Clam sphere, crispy bacon, samphire, parsley oil

$14

He says this was inspired by boston clam chowder and he made it into a sphere form! My oh my. STAR #2 of the night! This sphere seriously PACKS A PUNCH. Slide it into your mouth, pop it, and boom explosion of creamy flavourful rich delicious clam chowder. Its not creamy jia-lat kind of creamy but the creamy good kind of creamy. Cant really taste the bacon nor the parsley oil. That or they've weaved themselves so well into the dish that you can't tell them apart and assume its part of the chowder which could very much be the case. 

Little blobs of goodness these are. 5/5

Caramelized Foie Gras, vinegar glazed leeks, crisp puff pastry

$18

I was v excited about this dish cos I love foie gras but honestly this dish was just average. The foie taste didn't really come through and it was a tad too sweet. The puff pastry wasn't exactly crispy but neither was it soggy. If it were just that bit less sweet, the foie's flavour would probably have shone through and it would've been a nicer dish! The boy also felt that this was too sweet. 3.8/5

Scrambled eggs, sea urchin, asparagus, Kaluga caviar

$24

Don't be fooled and think its only scrambled eggs! There's a mountain of gold waiting to spill out under that! See next photo:

Yup the egg yolk post-spillage!

This dish was hmm how should I say. The uni by itself was sweet, caviar's taste was covered by the eggs, can't really taste the uni if you eat it w everything else. But still decadent creamy dish this was :) 3.9/5

Mussels escabeche, green olives, red pepper sorbet

$12

This was our 3rd fav dish of the night!

The taste of the mussels w the red pepper sorbet was just so good. And if you don't like olives don't worry, it isn't discernible. The garlic crispbread at the side was super crispy and went well w the mussels. The boy didn't like to put them tgt though, so that he could really taste the flavours of each. The mussels were SO plump, juicy and sweet!! I really liked the sorbet as well. 4.6/5

Baked Chocolate mousse, hazelnut praline, pear sorbet, capovilla eau de vie

$12

I wanted to have their roasted beetroot dessert initially but was told it was sold out already! O: guess it'll be one of the reasons why I'd return! Anyway so I ordered this instead cos I was craving for chocolate-y stuff as well and this definitely did not let me down. 

The pears were stewed till they were just the right consistency, not too soft like mush but not hard like their natural state. And they were super fragrant too, of cinnamon and what not. The jelly cubes there was some pear liquor which shouldn't be underestimated. The hazelnuts lent a really really good textural contrast to the dish and I felt was integral in making this dish yummy! Else the whole dish would be really quite one-dimensional texture wise. The mousse was dark, smooth, velvety and wonderful. Sorbet was good as well perfumed nicely with the taste of pears. All in all, a good ending to a good meal. 4.5/5

Service: I got wonderful service there with very friendly staff with smiles, and they were polite and nice! Funny too at times :)

Ambience: as this is a bar in a hotel, you can expect that there would be some standard to the ambience. Dark, but adequate lighting. Comfy chairs. Lots of personal space!

Food: molecular gastronomy made affordable!!! And it works too :) I've been reading many reviews saying their "Braised veal cheek, caramelised shallot, Perigord black truffle bao" is out of this world!!! And we would definitely order that the next time we go back. And we would be going back. Hopefully they'll introduce new items to their menu/periodically change it 'cos if they do that, I'll be wanting to go back again and again to try the new items!

Apparently they also serve breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea but I'm not sure whats on the menu for those so if you know, please let me know!

anti:dote

Fairmont Hotel 

Dinner: Mon-Fri 6-11pm, Sat-Sun & Eve of PH 6pm-1230am (they open till late!!! Great for late night snacks!)

64315315

Facebook

Rather New Restaurant: The Crostini Bar

Hi everyone!!

Have quite a few posts in the works :) so sorry for the lack of constant updates! My hols start 16 may so rest assured I'll be posting much more frequently then :)

The Crostini Bar is located at the level below Bar Stories where they used to sell furniture. The head chef was formerly head chef of Boathouse. Sorry I just realised I forgot to take a picture of the interior! So I took a photo off their Fb page!

Credits: The Crostini Bar Facebook

So basically this is at the "bar" where you can watch the chefs plate your food and prepare some of the dishes. Most of the stuff that needs cooking is done to the left of this area. Then this wooden table extends to the right of this area and can sit about 5? Then there are tables as well when you enter but the space is q cramped. A booth table for about 5-6 then a 2-seater table really close-by. But, diners can also order food upstairs to Bar Stories where there are about 20 seats.

Menu!

So sorry its dirty haha I only remembered to take a shot aft dinner!! You can order from this menu or you can leave it up to the chef and its called "carte blanche". Basically you choose the number of courses, 6/7/8 course and the chef decides what you're gonna eat. Can't really remember how much the 6 & 7 courses are but the 8 course was $85 if I'm not wrong!

The boy and I decided to get an 8 course menu to share (its actually portioned for one) and then some items from the ala carte menu to share too (which is portioned for sharing). Unless otherwise marked "ala carte", the dish would be from the "carte blanche" menu.

Eggs with Iberian Flavours

Ala carte

$15

Poached egg, asparagus, sausage, saffron emulsion

The guy told us to poke the egg and mix it w the sausages and eat them tgt and I think you must really do that cos the sausages are quite salty when eaten on its own. Nothing too spectacular this dish though it was recommended to us by our server. 3/5

Pork cheek crostini

The pork cheek doesnt have the strong smell of pork and well honestly, you can't really taste what meat you're eating! But the bread was v crispy though and the texture of the pork is really tender and soft! And the pork's not too fatty/oily and this is a plus point for me! 3/5

Crostini aux Champignon
$12 ala carte
Fricasse of Mushrooms, tartare of champignon, truffle essence

This was recommended to us by our server and if you're a mushroom lover, please do order this!!!! The thin white strip is actually mushroom (uncooked). The mushrooms (cooked) are done very nicely, crunchy with an awesome aroma. Mushroom done well this is. 4.2/5

Pan-fried foie gras with egg
$25/28, ala carte (off the menu special)

Once again you're supposed to break the egg and eat it tgt w the foie. The boy and I both thought this was a wonderful combination! It was our first time trying this combi, and am happy to report that it WORKS! Now why didnt anyone think of this earlier. One of the more memorable dishes that night. Foie gras serving is actually bigger than what it seems here in the pic. 4.3/5

Tomato salad

The tomato you see in the foreground (the one righttttt in front) is actually soaked w booze! I totally didnt know that and thought it was some normal sweet cherry tomato and popped it in my mouth and bit it expecting sweet juice to spurt out but no it was laced with alcohol!!! Haha what a pleasant surprise! Well I should have known better since this is from the folks behind Bar Stories upstairs. There was also a dried tomato and fresh cherry tomatoes atop the crostini. Aside from the booze-laden one, there wasnt anything special about this dish. 3.5/5

Green pea soup with croutons and caviar

The green pea soup didn’t taste strongly of green pea although you can tell that it is green pea. Its slightly creamy and we both thought that it went better with the “sauce” at the side which tastes like truffle. The boy said the croutons were really salty, so I didn’t eat those haha so no comments about them! the caviar in the middle didn’t do much for the dish except that it looked nice. And well, its caviar. 3.5/5

I forgot what this dish is called but basically it tastes like home-made luncheon meat haha. It has like small pieces of pork cheek, sausages etc inside and it really tastes like luncheon meat haha. It was slightly salty so you gotta eat it w the veggies provided. 3.4/5

We were given a free drink as they asked (very nicely) us to move twice and we didn’t know what we were given but we could guess that it was the strawberry shortcake drink shown on the menu towards the left side. It really tastes like strawberry shortcake!!! A refreshing drink cos of the strawberries but some sweet aftertaste too, like vanilla. Wonderful cocktail mix. Makes me want to go back and try more! 4.5/5

Seared scallops with cauliflower veloute

The scallops were a little overcooked for me but went quite well w the veloute even though it didn’t taste like cauliflower. Went rather well with the mustard at the side too. I’m not sure what the dried chips are but they give a slightly bitter aftertaste. Below the scallops lie a bed of leek (we think) and they’re soaked in booze too! Rather pleasant surprise once again. So be prepared to be surprised by food spiked w booze while dining there! 3.3/5

Palette cleanser

This was SUPER sour!!!!!!! It’s a granite made of yuzu I think but its super duperrrrrr sour!!!!! The strawberry and raspberries are actually “Sweeter” then the granite! Please do not take this in big mouths. That said, its an awesome palette cleanser!

Pan seared sea bass 

With barley risotto, kailan cake, fish veloute

This was really creamy and we felt that it got kinda jialat towards the end. Like the kailan cake was creamy by itself and then the fish veloute was creamy too, so there was just too much creamy here. First few bites were yummy though. Perhaps the palette cleanser should have been given tgt with this dish or minus one of the creamy items. The sea bass was done really nicely though and the skin was slightly salty, which cuts through the creaminess. I liked the barley risotto by itself. So well, this dish is more of a I-like-the-components-separately instead of as a whole dish. 3.2/5

Apple textures
Apple parfait (cube), apple chip (darkest green thing there), apple jelly (snake-like transparent thing below), apple w walnut (rounded ball)

Apple parfait - this one didnt really have a strong apple taste and its texture is like soft but with a little bit of bite to it.

Apple chip - like any other apple chip with a rather strong apple taste

Apple jelly - texture is more on the hard side, not strong apple taste but can tell its apple

Apple w walnut - this is like caramelized and kinda tastes like roasted pork/charsiew haahha I know it sounds damn ridiculous but I think its cos of the roasty/caramelized taste haha. The boy gave this description and at first I was like "whuttttt?!" but then I tried it and it DOES taste like that in the first few bites haha.

So overall this gets 3.4/5

Ambience: small and cosy, bustling but not overly noisy

Service: well it was kind of lacking towards the later part of the night where more customers came in as our cutlery wasn't changed when we moved on to dessert, and our water wasn't refilled too. 

Overall: I think that the food is rather innovative with some surprises here and there, a rather good option to try out if you're in the area! Do try their cocktails!

The Crostini Bar

55 Haji Lane

62980838

4-11pm Mon-Fri

4pm-1.30am Sat-Sun

New: Amuse by Armin Leitgeb

Awhile ago, Chef Armin Leitgeb of Les Amis left the group and went back to his homeland but now he's back with Amuse! Its a totally different concept from Les Amis. This is a tapas restaurant, muchhh cheaper and less formal!

The restaurant has been opened for about a week now! It has taken over Bodega Y Tapas at Orchard Hotel!

Colour scheme of the restaurant's red and black

Where we sat! - Bar seats

With compliments - cashew nuts!

Lightly Smoked Eel

Crispy pork crouton

Horseradish, dijon mustard, greens

$17

There were only 3 pieces of smoked eel given and its hidden below this big slice of pork crouton haha. The boy and I really loved the smoked eel though :) We like how it retains some degree of its original flavour but mixed with a tinge of saltiness 'cos its smoked.

The pork crouton is interesting cos its like a savory crisp. Goes well with the greens I must say. 3.6/5

Grilled Spanish Octopus

Heirloom tomatoes, Austrian pumkin seed oil

$19

The octopus was not bad, not too chewy actually! The grill taste isnt strong though. Generally a simple and clean tasting dish. Tomatoes were quite sweet. 3.4/5

Raw Marinated Japanese Hamachi

Green asparagus

Black truffle vinaigrette

$16

Honestly I didnt really like this dish cos you can barely tell what you're eating except for the asparagus. The vinaigrette doesnt taste like black truffle at all and the hamachi has no taste? 2/5

Herbs Roasted Portobello Mushroom

Runny egg, lettuce, croutons, mushroom coulis

$12

I guess they changed the croutons and mushroom coulis to cherry tomato but we're not complaining! The cherry tomatoes were really sweet and juicy! The dressing for this salad is kinda like a mild version of the Jap sesame dressing.

Sizzling Tiger Prawns

garlic, EVO, parsley

$16

EVO is extra virgin olive oil btw! This was not bad, crunchy + chewy little morsels with fragrant seasoning of garlic + parsley (cant taste parsley, no worries). A little bit of grill taste in this. 3.5/5

Here's their menu I took from reserveit.sg. Sorry its so blur, when I zoom in on the menu at reserveit.sg, its this blur! I'll just type out some stuff I find interesting but didnt try today:

BLT - crispybread, bacon foam (sounds interesting!), piccolo tomatoes

Chili crab "mantou" bun

Pickled Kurobuta Pork Cheeks (pickled!! O:)

Spicy lamb burger

And the cheese platter looks really good btw!

Service there is friendly but at the same time, you're given privacy. As you can see, I'm not very blown away by the food. I feel that this are dishes that are done well but nothing special to make me go "woah I wanna come again soon". Perhaps the other dishes are better? Do try and let me know :)

Amuse by Armin Leitgeb

67353476

442 Orchard Road #01-29 Orchard Hotel (where Bodega Y Tapas used to be)

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New: Lolla

Hi everyone!

I just want to say that the numerous posts with "New" in front means that the restaurant is new and that there's a review on it. If it's just "New Place" means there's no review about it, just a "notification" of sorts that something's open! I'll post this on my sidebar too!

The boy and I visited Lolla on Friday, 14 Sept and it was only 6 days old! Literally super duper new :) I love the beautiful tiles lining the store entrance.

The concept here is very much like FoodBar Dada, where you see the chefs cooking your food, preparing everything, and you sit arnd a bar-like place watching them cook + to eat your food. Seats are very limited, like 13 seats only! Though there's this super pretty private dining area (I guess) downstairs! Pic of that later!

They serve dishes tapas style here, meaning in small portions and mainly for sharing. But like Dada, the "table" you sit at doesnt really facilitate sharing unless you're like in a small grp of 2 or 3. But the chefs worked a way to work around this! They've already portioned things for you so you just take your portion and pass on :)

Jug of water for y'all to share

That's the steamed chocolate pudding to the left and the gratinated leek fondant (which our superduperrrrr friendly and nice server Nic told us!!)

Open-kitchen concept

Concept of what they serve

Sea Urchin Pudding

$19

Omg this is DELICIOUS. 

 MUST MUST MUST TRY BEFORE YOU DIE. This is totally new and something I bet most have not tried before. I will totally go back for more of this!! Basically the uni doesnt really have much taste for me, even if you eat it individually. The squid ink custard below is more of what I'm talking about. Its magical I'd say. It has hints of saltiness, smokiness, and tastes that my limited vocabulary cannot describe. The texture is like chawanmushi but softer. Please guys, you've gotta try this! I promise you you'd be scraping that tiny bowl for more, like what we did HAHA. And what our dear server told us people did too :)

This is that good!

Oh yes, if there's a cross next to this, just ask them if its available! Cos that happened to us today and I asked and they said its available!! SO lucky it was hehe. Really made our night!  5/5

Beet Carpaccio

$15

This was simple and fresh though not really worth $15 imo. The beet flavour really shone through with a simple sauce that looked like there was olive oil in it. Of course there's salt sprinkled on top too. Taste-wise, this was quite normal, 'cos you just taste beet haha. 3.8/5

Kumato Tomato Salad

$12

This was supposed to be kumato tomato ie the jap tomato but they dont have it today so its heirloom instead! Really love love love heirlooms!!! All the weird shapes and colours (if I'm not wrong, tomatoes wasnt originally red, think they were green. Like the norm colour for tomatoes were green and they were ripe ones k!) So anyway this was made in the same way I think, as the beet, so the sweet tastes of the heirlooms really shone through! Good starter 4/5

 Hokkaido Scallop Carpaccio

$38

Would have liked the scallops to be colder! This was lukewarm kinda temperature and I know carpaccios and tartares are like that but well to me, I dont really like lukewarm raw stuff :/ Anyway, scallops didnt really have much taste. Quite a lot of pieces given and the roe on top? Totally different texture from what you eat usually! It doesnt just pop super easily in your mouth! This one is firm and takes effort to bite through. 3.6/5

Spanish Tortilla w Smoked Eel

$19

This tortilla isnt like your normal tortilla. Its much more liquid-ish in the middle and creamy! Chunks of potato within it has just the right texture. Somehow the combination of creamy eggs with the salty smoked eel goes very well. Sometimes you taste dashes of pepper which adds another dimension to this dish. A new combi that works I'd say. 4.1/5

Pan-seared Lamb Ribs

$25

Mmm this was another star of the night. Marinated with paprika, mustard, and other secret ingredients, this lamb rack is seared in the pan then put in the oven. It is so good. Nicely charred top with just the right mix of fat and meat to give you the satisfaction of having a juicy succulent bite of the meat. Dont worry about the lamb-taste, this doesnt have any! It was so good that the boy and I just picked it up to bite the parts of meat off the ribs. Dont worry abt being unglam, the people behind this restaurant want it to be casual and relaxed so they're totally fine abt you using your fingers!!! Go ahead is what they say :) Enjoy it! Trust me, you'll give up using the fork and knife to eat the parts near the rib haha. 

The meat is still v soft and not that hard to chew. Still brimming w its own juices and sigh just awesome. Heard other diners saying its really good as well and our dear server told us many people love it too! She knows cos she always goes around asking for opinions about the food :) Only thing I dont really like is the cherry tomatoes cos they're a lil too salty for me but otherwise, great lamb! 4.8/5

 

Glimpse of how the crema catalana looks like!

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Other observations of items on the menu & how the dishes look to me:

Goose fat potatoes looked and smelled amazing. Basically its like small cubes of potatoes cooked w small chunks of goose!

Quite a lot of people ordered the baguette w Echire butter (At first I thought the butter was cheese cos of how they slice it, or maybe it really is cheese!)

Oh yes, the specials for tonight were mozambique prawns (huge prawns cooked w butter and drizzled w white wine sauce), the pan seared lamb ribs we had and fried sardines. The sardines were v popular tonight and so were the lamb ribs!

Scrambled eggs w Bottarga looked really awesome! The scrambled eggs looked super creamy and fluffy and the shavings of bottarga looked like truffles but orange coloured ones! 

"Eggs sunny side" up w Chorizo Iberico is literally 2 sunny side up eggs atop chorizo, which looked heavenly btw. 

Super pretty private dining room!!!!! (am assuming it is)

I must really commend the service here. I know I gush about service often but overhere? They totally crossed the "oh just be polite and helpful" border. They're kinda like friends?? Thats the feeling I get. Its like going to someone's home and eating what they cook for you. People check and make sure the food's okay, be extremely amiable and approachable about things, make sure you know what's available and what's good. The chef even recommended us to get the tomato salad w a seafood dish 'cos it says they pair well together. The owners are super friendly to talk to. Felt the warmth there and it was a good night :)

They guy I was talking to, he's also the owner of lollapalooza, a shop in Spore selling unique special champagnes/wines/etc, and lolla's secret suppers and then he decided to open this! Glad he did else I wouldnt have been able to try the sea urchin pudding.

I would definitely go back there but the incentive to go back will increase if their menu changes! Oh yes, in case you're wondering when you go down to the restaurant and see their coaster w corsets and stuff? Lolla doesnt have anything to do w it k, its just decor that the design team thought was good to use!!

Final note: prices are a little on the high side and they're small portions so you might go away still feeling a little hungry or at the 80% full stage. Everything's mainly above $10, even appetisers etc.

Lolla

No. 22 Ann Siang Road

Mon-Sat: 5pm-Midnight

64231228

NO RESERVATIONS pls take note!!!

Website (click for menu and map! Read the produce & purveyors page to see where they get their food from!)