Nectarie - Canele's Got A Mean Rival

The highlights of my night



Necatrie Dessert Patisserie

Blk C , The Canery,

#01-05 River Valley Road

Clark Quay

63056728

The White Rabbit that should have stayed as a sweet

The good memories of white rabbits I have, are the ever-nostalgic white rabbit milk sweets from china and the retro rabbit character from Alice in Wonderland.

That's probably the ONLY memories I will want to keep, because the visit to the new over-rated and over-hyped White Rabbit at Dempsey, was abysmal.

True to form of most establishments in Dempsey, they boast of great ambience but fail to impress even in the simplest of declared signatures from the Kitchen. Taking over the old Ebenezer Chapel on Harding Road opposite Au Petite Salut, the place oozes much charm and comes brightly alive with voices ringing through the high ceilings. So imagine my disappointment when none of the dishes that came highly recommended were above decent average. And to think this was hailed one of the "must-trys" by respected critics in the food and blogging industry. One of the "must-avoids" I say.

I normally shy from giving extremely bad reviews. I'll be the first to boldly admit I'm no food connoisseur. I sometimes eat to live more then live to spend my days eating. So when a place is really bad in my books, take a leaf from it. If people say its the teething periods of any new kitchen,... well, only time will prove me wrong I suppose.

Q and I started with the Prawn Bisque and foie gras. The prawn bisque was highly recommended, served generous compliments on the facebook group. And since I like coconut and the laksa souffle sounded so interesting, we ordered despite my allergy to prawns. The soup was a little bland, without much richness of the seafood. The coconut souffle unfortunately did not complement the broth either.

Next for our mains, we shared the white rabbit mac and cheese and and rack of lamb. The mac and cheese was the ultimate disappointment. European comfort food should be robust, full of flavour and so simple, it's an art. Mac and Cheese falls into such a category. Kenny Rogers mac and cheese could have won hands down. The cheese was sharp rather then creamy and homely, the rustic comfort glow did not come through. And it most certainly did not have that the main reason I ordered the dish in the first place - black truffles and truffle sauce - did nothing to accentuate the flavours.


The lamb did salvage a few points. But was forgettable because it was decent, not great.

Needless to say, we declined dessert. I doubt we will be going back anytime ever..

Dad's BIG 6-Zero - Celebrations at Tetsuya

Mother of all sea urchins - Freakazoids to me, Solidz for L and G

Cream of baby corn and eggplant. Amazing blend of flavours

Sushi!

Party on!

Dozo - Fine Modern Japanese



When B & L invited us to Dozo, I wasn't quite expected what was to come. Japanese restaurants in Singapore usually look the same with their tatami mats, water features and Japanese paintings and writings hanging on the walls. Dozo only kept the water features similarities. Other then that, the newly-opened modern fine-dining Dozo, is furnished with strong European fine-dining influence and floor to ceiling dark and simple finishing.

There are no less then 5 private dining areas, either separated by sliding wooden doors, or simple partitions to create private cosiness shared with the general romantic ambience. What I would describe as one of the most perfect perfect private dining experiences.

The food served from Dozo's kitchen is more fusion then the purported "Fine Modern Japanese" inked on their website. There are surely European, French and Italian influences peppered across their 6-course degustation menu. For those who prefer simplicity, focusing more on their dining dates then deciding on what to eat, there is only 1 menu - the degustation menu. But for those who like to be fussy within limitations, there's at least 4 items to choose from within each of the six courses, so mix and match your own set dinner for the absolutely sweet price of $58.80 per person.

Dinner starts with a refreshing mango shooter and a trio of amuse boche.
The platter cradled a smoked salmon with a dollop of fresh cream, a scallop on asparagus and foie gras on a tiny toast. Yan, our head waiter for the evening advised us to start from the middle and work our way outwards. The scallop was fresh but my favourite was the salmon. Interesting to find whipped cream among any kind of food whatsoever, but the textures and the combination of flavours worked.

Our appetizer and side dishes were a plethora of colours and flavours, a mixture of sea and farm, a fusion of Jap and French! We had the Tataki beef cappacio, Giant king crab claw, smoked duck breast with the sweetest frozen cranberry vanetta, escargots with yuzu butter and garlic, soft shell crab tempura and chawamusi with scallop and foie gras and caviar.

The beef cappacio came along with a hollow spring roll "rocket" wrapped within and the Asian fusion made my appetiser a 'crisp' to enjoy. The duck breast had a pleasant smoky flavour to pair with the sweet berry compote. The escargot and chawamushi were pleasantly predictable. And the tempura was crispy and light, no hint of oiliness, just how good tempura should be done.

What I really liked best was the small but sizable portions everything came in. When the forks started poking all across the table, there was more then enough to serve as tasting portions, but not too much that each dish became overpowering.

Next course was soup. Between miso, beef consomme, seafood and mushroom with truffle, only 2 options appealed for the four of 4. So we had the seafood bisque and the mushroom and truffle (naturally!). The seafood bisque was a rich broth and the mushroom with truffle was hearty.

By this time of dinner, I was already beyond terribly stuffed. But as our beef tenderloins and lamb shank took their places, I found myself willingly releasing the grip on the growing paunch and greedily reaching for my fork.

The braised lamb shank came in a cup and was served with some bread and sweet potato croquette. Though pretty daunting, the meat came off quite easily and was rather tender. The herb sauce was also really palatable. But the star was the show was the signature beef tenderloin served in a granite hot stone.

I presume more a gimmick then of actual practical use because a hot stone and a slab of tenderloin on a 'pu-ye' just screamed "Pepper Lunch!!" to me. According to Yan, the leaf is essential to get that smoky flavour and we had to constantly flip the beef around to ensure it didn't become overcooked.

I ripped into each red and juicy slice well before they got to the stage of well done. This cow died for a most worthy cause.

And too quickly, it was time for dessert. We took the liberty of ordering quite extensively since there were so many of us. We went from the light green tea creme brulee, to the contrasting rich yam cake with ice cream, the must-order chocolate lava cake to the signature cheesecake from the reputed Hilton chef.

We sampled, and they were all decent. The creme brulee and chocolate cake in particular deserves second chances, the others I probably will give a miss. We would strongly recommend you bring more then a date to this place. Maybe bring the whole extended family, that way, you won't be torn across choices and get to try everything in just one sitting.

And as we wine down the evening and our stomachs, the set dinner concludes with a refreshing pot of tea of your choice. Another cute gimmick as it petite pots, of refreshing iced or hot fruit teas are distributed.

For the unabashed price of $58.50++, Dozo has hit the nail perfectly on it's head for a fanciful 7-course dinner with tranquil cosy ambience and enjoyable food. To have several uber-chic private rooms to sit 7 to 10 persons was a brilliant business idea. The very pleasant demeanor and patient smiles of the wait staff is reason enough to experience and warrant a second visit.

Dozo#02-02/03 Valley Point Shopping Centre

491 River Valley Road Singapore 248371

Tel: 6838 6966

http://www.dozo.com.sg/