wife & i joined a group of friends for a west cape howe wine dinner at zafferano on 19.8.2015.^^

we had 7pax this time. the last time i joined a wine dinner she organised at halia @ raffles hotel was in dec 2013. we had a larger group then.

i had not been to zafferano before. it’s located on level 43 at ocean financial centre & the terrace outside the restaurant had a good view over marina bay.

i saw the food menu & thought it was quite ok for the price of S$88++, even minus the wine, as i do not take much wine at all.

we started with a chardonay & some canapes.

the tuna was best!

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dinner started with some focaccia.

#1 first course was hokkaido scallop carpaccio.

scallop was fresh, sweet, very good slightly gummy bite texture & nice artsy presentation. 🙂

#2 for me, the poached & pan-fried octopus was the best dish for the evening. octopus was very tender almost like a sous vide or low temperature braise preparation but just only poached according to the chef. for me it was very as good indeed –

as good as that at monterosso miky in italy, &

almost as good as that at alle darsene at lake como, the best i had.

again presentation was elegant…was it more of the same?

after the dinner though, one friend said his octopus was tough. odd! not sure why?

#3 3rd course was veal ravioli, veal reduction.

it was a good pasta, great ravioli texture, maybe a bit beefy, not really my favourite. 🙂

the restaurant replaced it with a cheese pasta for a friend who doesn’t take beef. she said it was very good, and perhaps that would actually be a better choice than the veal ravioli. 🙂

#4 next black angus tenderloin tagliata, served with pan-fried foie gras.

the dish sounded good. unfortunately for me & my friends, it was donwright poor!

the foie gras was not creamy enough & did not come with some citrus matching palate.

& i don’t understand the beef.

it is hard to damage a good beef, and this was black angus tenderloin.

beef was hard, not tasty, not flavourful.

tenderloin not much marbling but should at least be tender & sweet.

sorry to say, but i think my own tagliata di manzo is many times better than this, taste & texture wise, cannot match the presentation of course.

did not have photo of the cod which the restaurant replaced for a friend who does not take beef. she said it was very good.

the chef came to talk to us.

dessert was ok, but not my favourite.

overall, my wife & i had derived much lower satisfaction than we expected from reading the menu.

S$88++ was ok with the canapes & wine. for the food, octopus & scallop were my best dishes, veal ravioli neutral, tagliata poor & dessert indifferent.

i don’t know how much the wine dinner we had recently at da luca cost, but the food was superior to this, and i thought the wine this evening was also mediocre.

c.h.e.f andy