Singapore Restaurant Week, October 2016: Umi + Vino @ Emporium Shohukin

The last restaurant week, we went to another one of Emporium Shokuhin's establishment, Takujo Fine Dining. The experience back then was enjoyable and worthy of visiting during the restaurant week. This time round, we decided to try Umi + Vino, a modern seafood joint that is part of Emporium Shokuhin.

The 3-course dinner give diners a choice of asian prawn stew or french oysters as a starter, a la plancha sampling platter or braised wagyu beef as a main, and a chocolate cake for the dessert. We got around to try each dish on the restaurant week menu.

I had read good reviews of their asian prawn stew, and true to that, it turned out good. The grilled prawns were served in a lemongrass-infused broth and with toasted bread. The highlight of this dish was the broth, which was full of flavour without over-killing the taste of the prawns.

On the other hand, the oysters were well, decent oysters. It was most definitely fresh, but the accompanying raspberry shallot vinaigrette did nothing much to it.

I was looking forward to my main course, the a la plancha sampling platter, which is essentially a mix of grilled seafood. It came with half a lobster, squid, prawns and a piece of rice cake. The prawns were cooked the same way as in the asian prawn stew - grilled and lightly seasoned. The lobster was of a decent size and they even extracted the claw meat from it's shell for you! The squid and rice cake were my favourite. I have a soft spot for squid, especially when it's grilled and lightly seasoned. The rice cake was like a MOS burger rice burger patty but with even better seasoning. It might come across as oily for some, but I thought it was a pretty good twist to plain old rice. The accompanying ginger shoyu sauce was not necessary at all and savouring the seafood on its own is more than enough. 

The portion of  braised wagyu beef was quite big, suitable for guys. However, it was too oily and rich for my liking.

Last but not least, the chocolate cake was of a certain quality, and not just a filler to the set meal. I was surprised that the cake was comparable to those found in specialised bakery shops. It wasn't a rich chocolate cake. The layers of chocolate sponge, whipped cream, liquer, nuts and chocolate mousse made it a light and enjoyable end to the meal.

Review: Platypus Lobster Shack

before yesterday, i was under the impression that nothing can go wrong with lobster as an ingredient. platypus lobster shack proved me wrong.

after reading decent reviews about their lobster rolls and crustacean bowl, i went there with high expectations. ordered a traditional lobster roll and a crustacean bowl (main) and was promptly informed that the crustacean bowl will take about 15mins.

quick service, the lobster roll arrived within 5mins of ordering. even at first glance, it doesn't look appealing. it was not overflowing with lobster chunks, instead, all i saw was lots of diced tomatoes and sauce. the presentation of the food was also bad, with the mesclun salad sloppily piled on one corner, with some of it even hanging down from the edge of the plate. i would give credit to the truffle crisps, though slightly oily, tasted good. as i expected just from the outer appearance, the roll came with small and few chunks of lobster meat which were overpowered by the sauce. i would say even the one at boston lobster shack tasted better!

after tasting the disappointing roll, i was hoping the crustacean bowl wasn't as bad, given that most reviews highly recommended it. the first bite was not bad, smoky taste of burnt cheddar, like eating an aburi sushi. however, after the third or fourth bite, i started getting sick of it. like really sick. the caviar was nothing to rave about and did little to enhance the overall taste of the dish. there was barely any sea urchin creme as touted in their menu. the lobster meat was in small mushy chunks, and you can hardly tastes the sweetness of the lobster with so many flavors going on in your mouth. the rice, with the ponzu sauce, would have tasted nice if not for the overpowering burnt cheddar on top. though this dish took 15mins to arrive, but it was lukewarm. im not sure if the rice was meant to be partly cooked and partly uncooked, but it tasted like that to me, and i didn't really like it.

Review: Pince and Pints

I have been wanting to try out Pince and Pints (P&P) for a long time, but was choosing the right time to go so that I can avoid having to queue. I tried Burger and Lobster (B&L) in London, where P&P drew inspiration from, and had a really enjoyable meal there.

Went on a Wednesday evening. Reached around 5.45pm and there was some refurbishing going at the other half of the shop so I can only be seated at around 6.15pm. I love the grilled lobster at B&L so naturally I opted for the same at P&P. The pricing at B&L and P&P were about the same, though I have this feeling that it is more value for money in London compared to Singapore as it is more difficult to get a S$5 meal in London than in Singapore, so at S$48 per lobster dish... B&L is definitely value for money.

My grilled lobster took about 15mins to arrive. It was plated just like B&L and has the same side dishes to go with it. I would say the lobster at P&P was decent and worth a visit, but after experiencing the one at B&L, this pales in comparison.

The lobster here was smaller and doesn't seem as fresh as over at B&L. The flesh should be firm and bouncy, but it was mushy at some parts. The char-grilled taste was there and it was delicious, but the quality of the lobster definitely needed some improvement. I remembered feeling full and satisfied at B&L, but not so at P&P. I even managed to finish everything (including the fries and salad) even though I'm an extremely small eater! The greens had the taste of soil/mud and the overall taste was just ok. The butter/garlic sauce seems diluted and the chives seems like it has been left in the open for a long time. The fries, at first few bites, was surprisingly better than at B&L. However, towards the end of my meal, I started to feel the grease in my throat and was wondering if they used bad oil or didn't change the oil often enough. That said, their service was excellent, way better than at B&L.

Address
Pince and Pints
32, 33 Duxton Rd, 089497