Thursday, May 17, 2012

Pamplemousse Bistro + Bar ... where have you been all these while?

We had a hard time searching for a place for lunch during the Mother's Day weekend and decided to just crash Dempsey Hill to see what's available. PS Cafe, long wait, Barracks Cafe fully booked. As we drove past block 7, HY remembered that someone had planted Pamplemousse Bistro + Bar in her mind. The bistro belongs to the husband and wife team, Adrian Ling and Cleo Chiang-Ling, who brings an international twist to French and Italian dishes.

I don't even know that it's there until I reached passage way leading to the entrance. The restaurant's signboard was mostly made obscured by the trees that adds shade to the tables at the corridor. I was glad that the service staff told me that there was a vacant table for us. We didn't know the level of standard for food here but on Mother's day weekend without any reservations, beggars can't be choosers. 

Enjoyment started with hot bread with rich butter ....

We ordered the set lunch that was a good deal at $32++ for a 3 course meal. There were 6 choices of appetizers and each equally interesting.

Appetizers


Porcini Mushroom Cream Soup. Adding escargot to the porcini soup was a good touch. The escargot was chewy and the drizzle of truffle oil enhances the taste. Service staff were prompt enough to serve extra hot bread to compliment this soup. I'm glad to know that the soup came with the goodness of cordyceps which didn't add much to the taste or aroma.

Mains

HY's mains was the Australian Onglet Steak 200g. Love the pomme puree which was smooth and that meant plenty of butter. Yummy.

Here's the onglet. A friend on Facebook ask me what's an onglet. An onglet, in French, is actually hanger steak referred to as "skirt" in Britain. It's sometimes referred to as "Butcher's Steak" as butchers used to keep this for themselves. It was tender and tasted good enough with the sprinkle of fleur de sel. The truffle infuse Madeira sauce was provided as a side as Chef probably knew that it's good enough without the sauce.

My Spanner Crab Capellini was made al dente. The mix of shellfish jus was balanced with a good portion of pancetta.  This pasta dish has the obvious shell fish savory taste but was light and appetizing.

W ordered the Duck Confit that was tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.


For Desserts, we had ....

Milo Dinosaur. The Milo Parfait wasn't anything to shout about but was good nevertheless. Singaporeans would say ... "So So lor"

Osmanthus Creme Brulee with Lychee sorbet. Someone on the table, not me, said "HY's creme brulee was better". Well I must say I would agree with the statement in part. Only if HY is able to char the sugar  better it'll be perfect. Anyway, I find that the creme brulee was not as creamy rich as I would have liked and the osmanthus flavor wasn't obvious. The lychee sorbet was pretty refreshing though.

Fresh Milk Ice Cream was my choice of dessert and of course I thought was the best among all. The fresh milk ice cream acted to tone down the sweetness of the gula melaka and the spice cake. Yum Yum.

I've been around Dempsey Hill but Pamplemousse, where have you been? The fact is, Pamplemousse has been around since December 2009. The restaurant was probably too inconspicuous. With their food standard and their immaculate service, the bistro should be filled during Mother's Day Weekend. It was weird that it wasn't the case. Anyway if Set Lunch continues to be priced at $32++, it's good enough reason for me to revisit.


7 Dempsey Road 01~04
Singapore 249671
Tel : +65 6475 0800

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