...And that's exactly what we devote our precious Saturdays to...selfish brunches, lazy lunches and family dinners. Since last week Chalk lost to District 10 - and such a poor victory it turned out to be, we thought we should give it a chance this week.
One walk in and I already like this place. Perhaps it's the large dining room space, or the chalkboard specials or the open kitchen concept or friendly owners Marcus and Laurent. We settled ourselves at our table, tripping over the fact that there were only a combine total of 2 filled tables for lunch. An empty restaurant means private and efficient dining - me like.
Jumping straight into the menu, we ordered a few appetizers - the mushroom consomme, smoked duck breast and the beef carpaccio from the specials that day - to share.
The appetizers were pretty average. The soup was a clear and light broth and the carpaccio was as predictable as day in what we expected. The smoked duck salad was interesting and the pear with raspberry dressing gave it a nice refreshing twist.
Lunch moved on at a leisurely pace. Our hearty mains were dished out as we chilled with cold beers and relaxing conversations.
We ordered another 2 items from the specials - the duo of pork and lamb parmentier. Normally I wouldn't recommend walking into a restaurant and ordering the specials since they tend to be what the kitchen needs to have thrown out. And this is the case for the lamb. But for the pork, it should be a main stay.This was lovely. Done in 2 ways, the pork was tasty and tender. The lamb wasn't so great though.
Sadly, that was about the only fantastic main we had. The rest failed to impress. The braised duck pappardelle wasn't that yummy.
The duck confit that came highly recommended was a little on the dry side. The sweet potato mash was really nice though. Refine and smooth.
Although the mains were not terribly impressive, I was still rather eager to move on to dessert. There were 3 items that had already screamed out to me when we first stepped in and I couldn't wait to sink my folk into them: sticky date cake with ginger ice-cream - Marcus laments that Laurent loves to dapple with everything ginger. We think it's yummy! - champagne sorbet with strawberries and fried banana with coconut ice cream.
The cake was warm and so homely. The ginger ice cream was a nice touch compared to the usual french vanilla ice creams normally served.
The champagne sorbet was light but the essence from the bubbly was apparent. Decently generous but not loud enough to cause drunkenness.
My absolute highlight was the fried banana and coconut ice cream. Fancy 'she-bang' for goreng pisang, I would still come back just for seconds. I don't like bananas actually, in fact I detest them to the point where I barf the minute I put a morsel in my mouth. But my dining companions confer that they are yummy. Coated with dessicated coconut and drizzled with creamy caramel - the pipping hot bananas are superb. And the coconut ice cream is perfection. I begged Marcus before we left to find a way to sell his ice cream by take-away tubs. Sadly, it's so yummy because they don't use stabilizers and that means that the ice cream melts in 10 minutes. It's never going to make it home with me... Sigh, such are life's ironies.
But Marcus makes it up by serving us another treat on the house - vanilla pana cotta with berry compote.
The pana cotta is so smooth and velvety creamy. So rich, yet so light. So sweet and tart at the same time. It was an extreme delight.
So will I come back to Chalk?
Like District 10, the food is nothing to rave about. The bulk of the menu is about average food. Like owner Marcus purports, it's meant to feel home-made and rusty.
But will I come back? Certainly!
If anything, it's for the yummy dessert and the chatty owners, Marcus and Laurent, who made lunch such a simple joy on a hot lazy Saturday afternoon.
Chalk@ Mt Sophia
11 the Old School at Mount Sophia,
#01-03, Singapore 228461
Tel: 6883 2120
http://www.chalk.com.sg/
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