the eight-course degustation began with an amazing chilled angel hair pasta appetiser, cooked in mirin and drizzled with special japanese seaweed. extremely refreshing and this girl couldn't think of a more perfect way to start the meal. appetiser two was nice and familiar...fresh oysters deep fried in a nice crisp batter and served with six different sauces. with wasabi mayo, mint sauce, thai sweet chilli and sweet salsa to choose from, we were a little disappointed we only had two oysters to enjoy!
course three is what i would coin the appetiser to foie gras bridge. i've never had foie gras whizzed up and served in a sauce before and after this, i am sold! served over a slice of deep fried tofu, topped with yummy enoki mushrooms and bonito flakes, the foie gras sauce augmented the earthy japanese flavours with its rich creaminess. some might think that having foie gras this way takes away the melt in your mouth sensation and i guess that is why the chef's table served up a huge slab of foie gras in course four, just to satisfy those who prefer their foie gras whole. slightly cautious of an overdose of richness, i was already prepared to give half of my portion to g...however after one slice of the smooth liver, dipped in a tangy apple sauce and topped with a slices of buttered french toast, i managed to work my way through the whole slab! somehow the apple sauce and the buttered toast cut away the lemakness of the foie gras, yet still letting one fully experience the creamy melt in mouth sensation. this is not on the menu, fyi, but i'm quite sure it will soon see itself as a regular feature at ember, for it is quite perfectly exquisite!
to be honest, i was already quite stuffed half way through the degustation and we haven't even had any mains! the chef definitely knew how to pace one through the entire eight courses as we were given a short breather before serving out a light truffle oil based angel hair pasta. once again, done fantastically al dente and cooked with a million fresh crunchy sakura ebi, this girl is an angel hair pasta convert! after the refreshing pasta, we were treated to one of ember's classics - chilean sea bass, nestled on a bed of truffle butter. pan fried perfectly such that it is crisp on the outside yet smooth and tender on the inside, it still amazes me how ember does their fish, as it is always, always done to perfection. to complete the main course cycle, the final dish was a serving of meat, a cube of pork belly to be exact. and yes, this is one of the few times the picture does reflect how good this was. i mean, while this girl's not big on 'shao rou', the meat was tender with very generous layers of belly and quite well done fried to crispy top layer.
with seven of the eight courses served already, i was a little disappointed yet thankful that we were not going to have two courses of dessert but like i said, the chef really planned this whole table out and brought out the pre-dessert, which we both thought was the actual dessert course, a nice refreshing cirtus fruit parfait, to cleanse the palate. then the sweet works were presented in front of us....an outstanding lemon parfait, sandwiched between two layers of caramelised sugar and fresh strawberries and another ember classic the warm chocolate cake. all i can say, is that we were full but still managed polish up both desserts...clean! 
we started off with three appetizers - the beef carparcio, deep fried tofu and pumpkin rocket salad. the beef carparccio was exactly how the smoked salmon was done (see previous post!) except of course instead of paper thin salmon, it was paper thin smoked beef...producing fantastic flavours that really opened up everyone's palate! using the signature rocket leaves, the pumpkin rocket salad was another crowd pleaser, with fresh rocket drizzled with tangy dressing and sprinkled with roasted nuts and pumpkin seeds. a very nice asiany touch, reflecting the creativeness of the chef and attention to detail even with starters! the best of the three in my book, was the deep fried tofu. served fresh out of hot oil, the tofu was crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. it could have been some special oil they use, or the probaby made from scratch batter, whatever it was...the tofu was heavenly! to top it all off, chef willin treated the table to a nice refreshing bottle of chilean sauvignon blanc just so that we could kick start the occasion on a perfect note.
the mains were served on cue the moment we were done with the starters and the table was quickly filled with classic white plates of al dente pastas and hot off the grill meats and fish. we had pastas done three ways, with me indulging in the the signature laksa pesto with tiger prawns and quails eggs, g revisiting the chili crab linguine and evan requesting to have the same yummy mushroom cream pasta he had at brunch two weeks back (even he remembers!). i thoroughly enjoyed the laksa pesto and think chef willin managed to capture the lemak-ness of the laksa and blend it perfectly with the pesto, resulting in a fusion of both asian and western flavours in every mouthful. and trust me, it isn't too spicy or too lemak, allowing one to really savour every last strand with the fresh seafood. g was slightly disappointed with his linguine, having remembered it to be a bit more creamy...but i personally found it still good with a bit more spice and less richness of the cream. for all cabonara and cream sauce fans, the mushroom cream pasta is a definitely must have. really rich cream sauce with a lot of mushroom and hints of ham (or was it bacon?) smothering fettucine done al dente, all the adults around the table were more then happy to have a second helping following the first bite!
like i mentioned in the earlier post, each main was portioned perfectly allowing all of us to have just the right amount of tummy space for dessert. birthday wishes were made over the must try molten lava warm chocolate cake. smooth warm chocolate encased by freshly baked chocolate cake, it was pure chocolate heaven! chef willin surprised us with wild rocket's dessert platter so next to the chocolate cake was a small serving of strawberry cheesecake and black sesame soup. we weren't too keen on cheesecake initially, thinking it would be your usual cake slice type, but this version reminded me of ben and jerry's strawberry cheesecake ice cream! think lots of yummy pieces of cake base infused in fresh strawberry cream and light cheese. very good! but what was truly phenomenal was the black sesame soup. freshly ground roasted black sesame with a bit of white sesame gave the soup a nice subtle grainy texture and truly sesame flavour. as chef willin said as we were leaving, most zi-ma hu has got too much hu and not enough zi-ma flavour...i couldn't agree more which is why he has definitely nailed this classic dessert and it is now my favourite place for zi ma hu! served with vanilla ice cream, the black sesame soup tops the books for best dessert at wild rocket. we also had the affrogato (served with a fresh shot of espresson) which is a must try for coffee lovers and the champagne jelly granita which is a must try for those craving a bit of alcohol to complete the meal.
all set for dinner, we ordered quite quickly, despite the quite extensive food and drink menu, thanks to ben's recommendations! appetizers for the evening consisted of calamari and caeser salad. both were not bad, the calamari was served right out of the fryer with yummy mayo and the caeser had generous portions of bacon and croutons. i do have to admit though, the caeser at cellar door still takes the spot in my book, but oosh's version wasn't bad either.
mains were duck confit for my sis, cabonnara for my nephew, rack of lamb done medium well for dad, thai pizza for ben and a seafood aglio olio for me. of the lot, the thai pizza was something quite different and quite well done. minced meat seasoned in tom yum and lots of thai spices. very flavourful, with the basil adding the truly finishing touch. the pastas were not bad as well. evan polished off almost all his cabonnara whilst i enjoyed the aglio olio. both were done al dente but i think the aglio olio still was missing a bit of the garlic oomph. maybe it was because it was also a pesto based sauce which made it a little different from what i was used too, but yes, more garlic would have complemented the fresh seafood that wee bit better. meat wise, short of sounding biased (and i am truly being honest and fair here), the lamb could not compare to that from pat law's kitchen at one six b. it was good, cooked to the order and seasoned with honey, but it was still missing something that i still can't quite put my finger on. i didn't manage to have a go at the duck confit, but it managed to get a nod of approval from my sis so do order that if you are in the mood for some quack. 
Posts
All Comments
