Perhaps it was because of the timing of the visit. The name of this place just reminded me of Barbossa and
Jack Sparrow. Did I mention having caught the latest installment of Pirates and that you might want to stay till the end of the credits for something extra? I digress....Perle Noire (687 East Coast Road) located just beside Cheesecake Cafe is a western restaurant that does excellent pork. Their talked about
Yorkshire Pork Rack was simply exceptional. I'm not too sure of the cuisine direction of the restaurant but the mood tries to be Spanish? Didn't see any paella on menu though.
The meat served in this restaurant are mostly from Australia from what I can recall. It's Australian beef, lamb, pork. And then there was a foie gras and a grilled French duck breast. And Japanese sweet potato mash. Ok, I'll really not go into that. Very pleasantly surprising start to the dinner we were served piping hot hot cross buns. Seriously, I haven't seen these around much. My last recollection of these things were.....nursery rhymes. Lol. But the ones which the Black Pearl provided were fragrant with onion bits in the bun and piping hot. With the option of olive oil and butter. It was so good we asked for extras.
The shared starter of foie gras and oysters were far from impressive. So these are a couple of things that I'll be avoiding if I come back. The
foie gras with rice honey and soy was sliced and pan fried. Being sliced meant that the timing of the sear must be impeccable or it gets overcooked. I hear that it's goose
liver that was used, but I couldn't tell the same. It wasn't something I would recall fondly upon. I very much prefer what I had at
Ember. The
Perle Noir Deluxe Oven Baked Oysters sounded pretty good on the menu with spinach, crab meat, topped with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese. The oysters sealed in cheese didn't have enough crab meat to be even noticeable while the shellfish didn't taste fresh and was a little watery.
Moving on, I do have something good to say about the mains which were really the highlights.
Yorkshire pork rack
This pork, I reiterate, was excellent. It came slightly under cooked which the chef was rather apologetic about, explaining that it was due to having have to do a thick slice of meat. And that the pork which was a grain fed white hog is actually very edible at medium doneness. It was brought back to be redone and the result came out to be one of the best tasting pork I've ever had. Honestly, I do not remember having better. The fat was along the edges of the meat with the rest was pretty lean yet very juicy. The seasoning was but salt and pepper. Along with a very nice cream sauce. This dish is highly recommended.
braised lamb shank
This lamb shank didn't have a nice sauce, but the meat was was good. The flavour was almost subtle and the meat tender. A friend of mine who doesn't normally eat them thinks this is good stuff. My gripe was that I wished it had a bit more meat. The Japanese sweet potato that served as the bedding didn't taste as fragrant as I remember of them. Again, I compare this to Ember with their
sweet potato mash that came with their rack of lamb which was presented in a way where you could just taste the potatoes, neat. Yeap, I said neat.
roasted honey pork knuckle
The pork knuckles were very ordinary. The meat was a little too dry. The only honey that was detected was the honey mustard that came on the side. The positive part to this dish was the crispy skin which by far is the best I've ever had.
Would I come back again? Maybe. Perhaps just for the pork rack.
I wonder at the term 'Japanese casual pasta'. Waraku seems to be expanding their line of Japanese restaurants. In that, they also appear to be venturing beyond what their original establishments serve. This one is obviously about pasta. I'm generally favourably disposed with Japanese western food since Ma Maison. I think they get it. They also understand the concept of al dente pasta better than most local shops. What's different here are the sauces and toppings which have a specific variety that makes them distinctly Japanese.
complimentary salad with more of that ponzu sauce
oyster & bacon carbonara
spaghetti al nero di seppia
scallop and prawn pizza
The gripe I had were their oysters. Those were just bad. Weren't fresh tasting at all and I'm disappointed that it was of so poor quality. The sauce was not one of the better carbonara I've had but it was smokey. Of the two pastas, the spaghetti al nero di seppia was the winner in terms of taste. Pizza was also pretty good. The crust was impressively thin and fragrantly crispy. Thin like Japanese rice crackers with charred cheese topping, crunchy prawns and scallops big enough to be identifiable as scallops. I recommend it.
