4 snacks1 – musk melon

wife bought an exquisite 8-course degustation dinner for our belated anniversary celebrations on 6.6.2018. ^^

since Jaan was removed from amex love dining (Jaan was our favourite both under andre & subsequently julian royers), there were not so many places we go for degustation & omakase.

the best for me is hachi – both the omakase lunch & dinner. hachi omakase lunch much greater value at 1/2 the price of dinner.

the other place is cornerhouse, which we go few & far between for occasions like anniversary dinner 1.6.2016.^^ that was one of the best with very good quality of ingredients like lobster & tajiyama wagyu..

last year we had a late valentine dinner at summerhouse on 1.3.2017… chef florian ridder was formerly sous chef here at one-Michelin-starred alma. the S$128 10-course menu was good but not quite in the same league as what we had this evening…

4 snacks2 – potato, salted egg yoke

alma’s dishes were equally fine & more inventive c/w cornerhouse, and every snack & course dishes were delicious, wonderful combination of flavours.

4 snack3 -foie gras toast

4 snack3 -foie gras toast

4 snack3 -foie gras toast

4 snack4 – brie & truffle

we enjoyed all the 4 wonderful snacks…all delicious & a great start to the evening…

alma degustation menu

alma degustation menu

we took the 8-course & wife had the 5 wine pairing. 🙂

alma @ goodwood park

nice setting, they have rooms for bigger groups, most interesting was the whisky cellar room. 🙂

freshly baked bread

freshly baked bread

the bread was very good too. they offered more. we had to keep our stomach for the finer things…. 🙂

#1 very sweet jap tomatoes with umeshu granitas

tomatoes were very sweet!

#1 very sweet jap tomatoes with umeshu granitas

#1 very sweet jap tomatoes with umeshu granitas

the umeshu ice was great too..

#2 chutoro, daikon, kimchi

chutoro very good, very sweet, nicely presented & excellent but i guess no better than a regular sashimi serving.

#3 uni on hamachi

#3 uni on hamachi

#3 uni on hamachi

the uni & hamachi obviously very good, very sweet & perfect texture..

#4 oyster, lobster, caviar chawanmushi

& they had a chawanmushi dish (fusion)..the chopped lobster & oyster & caviar added luxury to the great tasting dish. 🙂

#5 morel & cheese ravioli

morel & cheese ravioli also first class!

#6 yorkshire pork jowl & celeriac tea

#6 yorkshire pork jowl & celeriac tea

the celeriac tea was very good.

#6 yorkshire pork jowl

the yorkshire pork jowl itself seemed ordinary after so many tasty dishes.

#7 miyazaki A5 wagyu

the miyazaki A5 wagyu of course the best! (though hachi omakase lunch serving of 3 better quality ohmi wagyu was unmatchable)

#7 miyazaki A5 wagyu2

#7 miyazaki A5 wagyu

steak was properly charred & nicely medium falourarare, moist & sweet.

#8 rhubarb dessert

the dessert was served with a chocolate drawn anniversary greeting. 🙂

petite four

alas, all good thing comes to an end.

the petite four were very good too!

prawn & scallop

wife was invited to a wine dinner @ morton’s the steakhouse on 2JUn2018^^..

i was the spouse invite – gladly la!

wine dinner at morton of chicago 

5 wine pairing 

the wine were the best i had in all the wine dinners i had..5 wines including 1985,1995,2009,2012 etc incredible wines..

prawn & scallop 

food was good for me not fitting wife’s palette

prawn & scallop starter was great. i agree it was not special for this kind of restaurant.

still it was more than competent. both scallops & prawns were fresh & plump & tasty with the bacon wrap..& the salsa was good too. 🙂

smoked bacon 

smoked bacon had wonderful texture & smoked flavours but very salty..

(thinking how i can create this texture of belly pork)

so this was bacon which were sold salted, no doubt the restaurant smoked their own….

it could be a main course served with rice or other carbs in its own rights, then it might be ok…as a second appetizer (kind of large serving) or a primi (first main course) it was too salty taken on its own..

fillet & foie gras

fillet & foie gras 

unfortunately the fillet was well below par. it felt really odd to be saying that of a steak restaurant.

firstly they got the the menu wrong. the menu said ny strip so everyone ordered medium rare ..instead we had fillet (which wife & i & many on the table would have ordered rare)..

steak was well charred but hard on the outside & dry on the inside! there was some sweetness but tenderloin are less flavourful thna marbled meats & need to be tender & moist, so can only say the steak was well below par,…

foie gras was not well seared & camaralised. this a different preparation, texture like steamed, so also not what wife likes.

in that sense the management & service was at fault as if the restaurant had changed from ny strip to fillet, well managed & well trained staff ought to have inform the guests.

cake

cake 

dessert was maybe the best even for wife & i who are not dessert persons..

it was much sweeter than what i would usually take, but it was super moist & tasty so the sweetness came with wonderful flavours that i took double than what I usually would.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++