Revisiting Bar-Roque Grill

We didn't think so much of Bar-Roque the last time we ate here, but that had been quite a long while ago and I had forgotten that I had meant not to come back. But back we came, lured by the prospect of their Beef Wellington.

We tried one of their rum infusions. This was known as Sing, something with pineapple, red chilli and vanilla. The chilli existed as an aromatic with none of the heat. I suppose it would have been much much more interesting if there was something prickly in it.

We had a tarte flambée with snails and bacon. This was quite nice. Cheesy, salty and a nice flavour coming from the pesto.

The other cold starter was their quail terrine en croute with black trumpet mushrooms, foie gras and raisins. Not bad.

We had mixed fillings on their Beef Wellington. The doneness of the meat was quite spot on and the buttery crust was good. But there wasn't any mushroom duxelle - there was a paste on the tenderloin in the crust which tasted like meat. The foie gras was a pan fried one on top of the pastry rather than in it. Though those mushrooms bits that came with the spinach was amazingly fragrant. I couldn't say that I didn't like this because I did in some ways - but this liking didn't feel definitive somehow.

We were lured by an off menu special. Lamb saddle - how could we have resisted? In retrospect, this wasn't one of the more enjoyable ones we've had in the vicinity. There was quite a bit of garlic flavour in the meat (along with rosemary and something else) and I supposed we just like lamb to mostly taste like lamb without too much detraction from the natural flavours. I'm pretty sure we've had better.

Bar-Roque Grill, Amara Hotel

A confluence of rustic themed modern rotisserie and bar that features a Stéphane Istel - chef, owner and previously from the Daniel Boulud group. Said chef hails from Alsace, a picturesque region of France along the borders of Germany and Switzerland. It would seem that, that heritage is what Bar-Roque (165 Tanjong Pagar #01-00, tel : +65 6444 9672) is here to offer.

They have tarte flambée. It was ok I guess. Pretty much what one can expect of cream cheese, onions and bacon on flatbread.

Their beef carpaccio was excellent. Flavourful thinly sliced beef that wasn't shy with the salt and nicely flavoured with toasted pine nuts and shaven truffle. It was also however very tiny in portions and for $25. I could have rolled up all that beef into one mouthful.

We decided to take on their sample meat platter for a taste of what Bar-Roque had to offer. From what they had done up, the Australian wagyu and lamb shoulders were excellent. Their pork with inadequately crispy skin fell flat on flavour, was sinewy and had to be rescued by the mustard. Challans ducks had lost everything French about them with a very Asian sauce slathered over. These aren't even close to the best ducks I've had. They did however, do a pretty decent roasted chicken.

And then, tiny mushroom raviolis which went through some confusion. We had ordered a main sized portion which the server had confirmed upon arrival. It was delicious from the cream sauce backed with fried shallots, but the portions were puny. A three year old would have had no problems finishing them. I mean, come on, those raviolis were barely larger than my thumbnails. Later, a second wait staff informed us it might have been a portion for sides. No one seemed to be sure. 

Apple pie was really good. I mean, exceptionally good. But at $66 for a whole pie, I don't think I'll buy from them. In fact, I don't think I'll be coming back.