Good Interesting 2pax Lunch @ Immanuel French Kitchen on 19Mar2015

duck rillette & kakuni belly pork

duck rillette & kakuni belly pork

went with a friend to try out immanuel french kitchen at salute coffeeshop at alexandra village on 19.3.2015.^^

my interest was piqued by the saw a write-up on ST Life on enochximmanuel 6-course dinner menu 3-day event.

i did not managed that but did went with my wife to enoch’s the evening before. so today, it’s time to try out immanuel french kitchen.

it’s not easy to get parking even at 11.45am. anyhow i managed to parked at SCAL (singapore contractors association limited) building.

salute coffee shop

salute coffee shop

salute coffee shop

salute coffee shop

salute coffeeshop is really an interesting concept. all the stallholders are “boutique restaurants” in a non-air con environment.

the “people in white” wearing the stew kuche tees seemed to be policing the place. i was early & place was quite empty so i sat at a 4-seat table. they asked me to move to the next 2-seat table. reasonable ask, good practice i guess – so comply, not that there was a choice!

they did that to a young couple again who came to sit at the table i vacated. well, at least it was consistent & diligent.

immauel french kitchen menu

immauel french kitchen menu

we came mainly for immanuel french kitchen. chef immanuel tee has rather illustrious pedigree, having worked at jaan with chef andre chiang, restaurant andre (where he met & worked with chef enoch teo), michelin starred guy savoy & pastorale, & keystone.

young chef was busy. there were another 3 helpers.

we ordered the duck rillette & the kakuni style braised belly pork. both were good!

kakuni style braised belly pork

kakuni style braised belly pork

kakuni style braised belly pork

kakuni style braised belly pork

kakuni style braised belly pork

kakuni style braised belly pork

the belly pork was excellent. i guess sous vide, & very well done for taste, texture, with the onset egg & croutons. very enjoyable dish, big for 1pax & quite perfect to be enjoyed by 2pax or 3.^^

duck rillette + gerkhins

duck rillette + gerkhins

duck rillette

duck rillette

i love the duck rillette. it was a very good helping too, & served with pickled gerkhins, which i liked too. the baguette was good too & excellent taken together with the duck rillette. i want to eat this again!

mussels pot

mussels pot

mussels pot

mussels pot

mussels pot

mussels pot

the stew ruche menu did not look exciting. we were not going to take the knuckles, & the pasta did not look great. of course could not tell until you tasted it but on photos alone, think my own pastas are better than any of them.

1 reviewer commented that the ramen burger had nice bulgogi but the burger tasted like maggi instant noodles snack!

my friend decided to try the mussels pot from seasalt. this was poor really! & such a simple dish to make. mussels were just slightly overcooked & not so juicy & succulent. the sauce gravy was ordinary.

worse, 1/2 the mussels had beards that were not removed, quite “dirty” really. no chance i would try this again.

c.h.e.f andy

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Chicken Rice 白斩鸡饭

been doing poached chicken白斩鸡 quite a bit, most recently for a 9pax homecooked lunch on 9.3.2015.

1 of the delectable dishes i made was “hong lim FC curry chicken noodles”. basically i used the same method to make the poached chicken白斩鸡, just that the chicken stock needed to be more intense to produce a tasty chicken curry gravy.

though i have made the poached chicken白斩鸡 many a times, i had not gotten around to making the chilli sauce & the rice. recently my son in london shared on family whatsapp the chicken rice he made for his friends. that finally got me to try out my own chicken rice.

so i followed my trusted poached chicken白斩鸡 recipe & made another tasty, moist, tender chicken.

this was my very first time though to attempt the chicken rice.

chicken stock

chicken stock

after i deboned the chicken, i put pack the bones to the stock & boiled for another 2 hrs, reducing to a very flavourful chicken stock. i was cooking 2 cups of rice so took out 2 cups of chicken stock to cool down.

chicken rice after frying before cooking

chicken rice after frying before cooking

1 browned 3 chopped shallots, then added 2 teaspoon minced garlic & slice ginger (3cm piece) & fry for short time to get the fragrance aroma, then i added the 2 cups of rice and mixed thoroughly. i removed rice & put in the rice cooker & wait for the stock & rice to cool.

chicken rice cooked with stock

chicken rice cooked with stock

then i cooked the rice in my regular rice cooker.

chicken rice

chicken rice

chicken rice

chicken rice

the rice tasted a tad soft at first, but when eaten with the chicken, chilli & black sauce (& even overnight), it tasted pretty good.

soup - chicken stock

soup – chicken stock

the stock was heavenly!

chilli

chilli

i wasn’t sure about the chilli. i picked 1 recipe but did not have 6 large red chilli, so i made do with 3 chilli padi + a large red tomato. the blend needed the bulk. i reduced lime juice to 1 tablespoon (from 1/3cup or about 5 tbsp), added 1 tbsp mirin, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, then blended. and after tasting added 1 tsp tsuyu.

chilli taste was pretty ok. daughter said it tasted good but different from the chicken rice chilli. wife though i had too much shallot, no sesame, & just above average kind of good. i guess that was ok for my first try.

it was basically just inertia that i cooked many times poached chicken白斩鸡 but avoided the rice & chilli. anyway will do more chicken rice soon!^^

c.h.e.f andy

Good 2pax Dinner @ Enoch’s on 18Mar2015

sous vide leg of lamb

sous vide leg of lamb

saw a write-up on ST Life on enochximmanuel 6-course dinner menu 3-day event.

i called up but it was the last day & i wasn’t free that evening. it was fully booked anyway.

i did the next best thing & booked a dinner at enoch’s on 18.3.2015. good to support these young aspiring singaporean chef.^^

young chef enoch teo honed his skills at restaurant andre (where he worked with another young chef immanuel tee), absinthe, bistro du vin.

the restaurant was previously known as le petit paradis (“the little paradise” in french), which started out at alibabar hawker bar for two years before moving to its current premises on east coast road.

managed to park at marshall road 2 side roads before enoch’s at 7pm. it was free parking too after 5pm.^^

enoch's

enoch’s

place was the minimalist deco type, bright & pleasant, which was the right way to go. there were 2 other tables, a quiet evening.

mushroom cappuccino

mushroom cappuccino

mushroom cappuccino

mushroom cappuccino

i ordered the set, which came with the truffle asparagus, their signature dish, choice of lamb or seabass (i had lamb), and dessert (which was an apple crumble).

wife ordered mushroom cappuccino & truffle asparagus from the ala carte menu.

surprisingly, the mushroom cappuccino was very much below par. it was firstly too salty. apart from the foam & the nice crisp crouton? the soup was very average tasting, did not feel any intensity or flavours standing out. i do my soup better!

truffle asparagus

truffle asparagus – S$17

truffle asparagus

truffle asparagus – S$17

asparagus was good. but parma ham was salty, not a very good grade. onsen egg (sous vide egg) was great texture & silky as it should be. asparagus was done very well, cooked, tasty & still having the bite, not soft.

it was overall a pretty good dish, of course not in the class of Jaan’s 64degC 55mins sous vide egg with iberico chorizo.

but it was a small dish, i think at most S$10, so S$17 was too pricy for this dish. the lady server from myanmar mentioned the tiny piece of truffle. i guess that is individual preference. to me the tiny piece of truffle added nothing to the dish & it was better off with just a dash of truffle oil (which many restaurants do) that would add great flavours to the dish.

sous vide leg of lamb

sous vide leg of lamb

sous vide leg of lamb

sous vide leg of lamb

the dish that stood out was the sous vide lamb. it was tender & tasty & the pesto sauce also enhanced the taste. a great dish!^^ & a large helping too.

apple crumble

apple crumble

apple crumble

apple crumble

i commented to my wife “hope it is not too sweet” before i dipped into the apple crumble. and first bite – it was too sweet! but actually after a few bites, it was quite ok because the apple was actually quite sour & the sweetness (slightly & not sickeningly sweet) counteract the sourness.

overall, other than the sous vide lamb, the dishes were just average and i think below what saveur offer.

c/w concetto also, i think concetto dishes were much better crafted & plated, and much lower prices.

price wise meat dishes were ok but the asparagus was overly priced, and the mushroom cappuccino was just not restaurant class.

service by the myanmar lady server was ok. chef enoch was a bit shy & did not come to talk to us after taking the orders or he was much in conversation with the other table.

it is an ok place which i don’t mind returning to after a while, except it is a bit farther & not the most convenient for me.

c.h.e.f andy