Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger

So, this was a rather new place down at Tanjong Pagar (83 Duxton Road, Berjaya Hotel Singapore, tel : 6438-9638) that was opened about 3 months or so back with a Czech chef that has done a stint in Italy and also formerly under Gordon Ramsey. I don't really know if the latter situation really makes any difference, but so far, I must say that the food was really not bad. In a way that it wasn't overly complicated and that the individual wasn't overwhelmed by the sum of its part if you catch my drift. Much modern cooking transforms a dish into a form where the original ingredients are often lost in translation (lol!), but it certainly didn't look like it was that way here.

There was a generously portion Parma ham with juicy pieces of porcini on bruchetta to start. The truffle oil was a very nice accent to the rockets and mushrooms with neither of the flavors overpowering. In fact, what was really nice about it was that every ingredient could be distinctly tasted.

The pan roasted tenderloin featured also porcini and truffle oil. I'm wondering if its the same batch of mushrooms that was done with the starter. Again, it was another item where both fungal aromas were identifiably in harmony even with the red wine reduction. The beef was a well medium-rare, nicely browned on the outside and a juicy red on the interior. No complains except for the size. Lol. I've gotta say that I hope the grilled calf livers are here to stay as a permanent item on the menu. Done medium with a very nice char grill fragrance on the exterior, I would expect this to be rather enjoyable to anyone who has a thing for innards. On a bed of exquisitely soft gnocchis.

I like them freshly made baked apples on puff pastry. They certainly appeared very unassuming to me on first glance but it's really good, served hot with a good measure of drizzled caramel. Even though the base of the pastry was soggy, hot and buttery really elevated it into a good difference there. It's kinda like bread pudding. This is something that one should not give a miss for dessert. Personally, I liked the pineapple raviolis as well which seems to be a signature dessert that they have. It's basically thinly sliced frozen pineapples folded across a lime sorbet. Along with chopped bits of strawberries in balsamic vinegar. It's not the usual sweet item for dessert, but chilled as they are, I found them rather refreshingly sour for an interesting change.