of mojitos and other madness: gorgeous gunther's

with plans made as early as january, the regulars at one six b were quite happy to give pak law a break from the kitchen the weekend of his birthday, and head out for a night at one of the much talked about places in town at the moment - gunther's.

right from the time we stepped in, we were immediately well taken care of by the fantastic service staff. from the arrangement of our table in the private room to the detailed attention to our needs (including the one from the kids), the staff really made us at home and the entire experience truly memorable. dinner started off with a champagne toast, and an additional order of special spanish gammon ham that pak law spotted on the way in...both of which i do have to profess, were well worth the additional investment! the champagne (sorry i don't know the name of the bottle we ordered!) was very good...refined, part sweet part dry, with a never ending stream of pretty bubbles *grin* this went very well with the freshly baked mini baguettes and whipped butter. even better with the warm crusty breads were the smokey slices of marbled ham. brought in all the way from spain, the ham was sliced just right, smoked just right, giving it a rich salty flavor and an unusual (in a good way) texture.

the first official course was the egg cocoon. think warm frothy egg white enveloping a runny egg yolk, infused with a touch of cocoa and spice (i think!), we were all blown away just by the myriad of flavors and textures with just one teaspoonful of the dish. hors d'oeuvre number two was a carpaccio of wagyu beef (grade 9!) done tartare style and served with potato crisps. with a grade 9, we all knew we were in for a treat and would have been quite happy to just have the beef as is! but chef gunther put together such an awesome mustardy, masala-y sauce that brought out the awesome flavor of the beef, we would have picked up the plates to lick them clean if we could!

a clear mushroom consomme bridged the meal perfectly, closing the course of hor d'oeuvres and whetting our appetites for the mains. the consomme was earthy and had a touch of beef flavors in the background but it was mainly sweet due to the medley of different mushrooms used to concoct the refreshing soup. with most mushroom soups done creamy, chef gunther really stepped things up by flipping the usual ordinary cream soup to quite an extraordinary bowl of goodness!

we were further spoiled with two outstanding mains...first, the sicilian vongole pasta. this girl literally fell in love with the pasta on first bite! cooked fantastically al dente, tossed in a delicate and perfect mix of olive oil, fresh garlic, chilli and the brine of the fresh juicy clams (they were specially flown in from sicily!), coupled of course with the flavorful clams themselves, this was one vongole bursting with so much flavor that chef gunther's definitely got my vote for the best pasta vongole in singapore! the second main was a true indulgence with all of us treated to thick slabs of roasted kurabota pork, nestled on a bed of apple compote and slice of handmade potato crisp. crisp on the outside, yet moist and with an almost melt in your mouth texture, the pork again was another example of chef gunther's innovation of keeping the ingredients and dish simple yet in combination producing a harmonious blend of flavors.

the finale to the dinner was chef gunther's signature apple tart with rum and raisin ice cream. just typing this already makes me wish i could taste it right now! think the crispy texture of a flaky pastry pancake, enveloping a warm candied mixture of apple, topped with sprinkles of roasted almonds and icing sugar...this dessert was hot yet cold, tangy yet sweet, crispy yet moist...it is no wonder this is the restaurant's signature. inspired (we think!) by the cantonese styled red bean pancake, this was given a western twist and refined several folds over to produce a definite winner. post dessert treats were handmade petit fours that were once again a runway hit. both the caneles and chocolate egg discs were freshly made, not too sweet and hence perfectly complemented the illy cuppas we had.

ahh...if i had one word to describe the culinary experience at gunther's, it would most definitely be 'gorgeous'! i hope we have yet another occasion to head back!

ps: happy birthday pak law....we love you!