roast saddle of welsh lamb, with walnuts, herbs and white cocoa beans - 8.5/10it's been quite awhile since i wrote about proper restaurants. like i mentioned before, i haven't really been going to really nice places much. in part because i tend to get sick of expensive pretentious food all the time and also in part cause i'm trying to save money. eating at nice restaurants all the time is a definite way to go broke. it's almost as bad as speculating in an overvalued stock markets like cinderella at the ball. not the way you wanna go.
but there are times when you should spend. special occasions like when you complete the latest edition of resident evil or when you finally manage to win your friends in an arm wrestling competition all call for a celebration. and of course not to mention your anniversary.
so it was our 2 year "get together anniversary". don't ask me when the exact date is cause i can't really remember. all i know is that it was "magically" implanted into the calendar on my blackberry with an XOXO and a heart shaped icon. goodness knows i didn't put it there.
12 oz/340g usda prime angus ribeye steak - 9/10so given that cupid himself (yes, that is indeed what d said) had marked the date, i knew i would totally get a kick in the nuts if i didn't do anything. so fast forward to the date, and i knew that i had to be the slave and look for somewhere "nice" to eat (interestingly though, i didn't have to search very hard because a not so subtle *hint came from d just the day before). Privé (pronouced pri-veh) is apparently a new "hot" restaurant at keppel bay. it's just along the waterfront where all the rich people (or not so rich people who spend all their net worth buying boats to look rich) park all their nice yatchs. it's a really romantic place (not from personal opinion) to take a walk down at night with your s/o and just chill and enjoy the view and cool breeze.
Privé is divided into 3 main sections. you have the restaurant (which we went to), the waterfront bar (which has a gorgeous view), and the bakery cafe (which smells so damn good). the restaurant is at the deeper end, and it boasts michelin star chef wayne nish. in order to get there, you have to pass by the bakery and the bar. the aromas that drifted as we passed by the bakery beckoned us, and i nearly gave up on the restaurant as i unconsciously walked closer into the bakery. of course i was awakened back to reality by a really hard smack on my head upon my suggestion of doing just that. apparently the bakery has really good desserts; so for all you dessert fans out there, do give it a shot and let me know!
sautéed bobby veal loin with french shallots, sultanas and gnocchi - 7.5/10we finally made it to the restaurant, and a big door greeted us into a brightly lit open room, layed out with just bare tables and walls. bare in a sense that there wasn't much decor or anything. but it was definitely lavishly bare. what greeted you was a sense of opulence, a nice, richly fine restaurant that was bare not because it needed to be, but because it wanted to be.
the waitstaff were nice and attentive without being overly annoying. they presented us with a large menu that was decently varied. not the best, but i've seen worse. then again sometimes the best restaurants don't really have much of a menu (the worst restaurants too though). nonetheless, we got through it pretty quickly and d ordered the veal loin, while i had (surprise surprise) the ribeye steak. we also ordered the roast lamb to share, along with sides of ragout mushrooms and bone marrows. yes, i do agree that bone marrows are kind of a strange choice, but i never really had them, and just the day before i saw on AFC this chef making a bone marrow sandwich which looked really good, so i was inspired to eat it (i wasn't too enthusiastic about the outcome though).
so the food came soon enough. i sliced into the lamb first. mmm.. my knife cut right through the lamb like it was firm butter. just fantastic. i loved how smooth it's texture was, which had a totally mild taste to it without much gamey taste. it was just mildly chewy, similar to that of your thanksgiving honey baked ham, but it had a better, less salty taste to it. done very well. i didn't fancy the walnuts and white cocoa beans very much but the lamb itself definitely suited my taste.i cut into my ribeye next. done perfectly medium as ordered, with a pink shade in the center, charred nicely on the outside to give it a nice flavor. i salted it a little more and tasted it. the meat was very good. great marbling and wonderful texture. the secret to a good steak always starts with the best cuts of beef. that's why great steaks are so expensive. it's not something you can just cook. without the right piece of meat, no amount of culinary skill can make it good.
the ribeye here was one of the better ones i had outside of morton's. honestly, if you're a steak lover, you have to go to morton's. the problem is though, once you go there, steaks anywhere else, even at good establishments, mostly taste sub-par. the quality of the meats at morton's is just incredible. i always get either prime rib or rib eye there. and it's definitely something you can share because alot of people do that since the portions are really big. but other than morton's, i really enjoyed the steak here.
ragout of organic mushrooms with dried cepes in veal jus next up was the veal loin. very tender to the touch, it gave a slightly chewy, tasty texture that not all might appreciate. it was done medium, and i think for veal, medium might be a tad to rare. but that's my personal taste. to me veal becomes too chewy and raw if not done enough. don't be mistaken, the first few bites were good. but coming to the end of it, i felt as though i was chewing on a raw piece of meat or some rubber.
on the side, we had the mushrooms, which i found were a delightful accompaniment, and the bone marrow. the mushrooms where fresh and definitely had that whole "fresh from the farms organic" feel to them. the bone marrow, on the other hand, was a first for me and something i found semi unusual. it had a nice, mild taste to it but the gelatinous texture was something i was not used to. overall it was quite abit of food and it took awhile (for her at least) to get through it.
molten center chocolate soufflewe got to the end of the meal and we decided "hell, lets just finish of a sinful meal with some sweet, calorie-filled goodness". we ordered the chocolate souffle. i was expecting alot from it, considering he did have a michelin star, but i was disappointed. the chocolate souffle turned out too soft, which lacked the richness that a good souffle should have not only on the outside, but inside also. the molten center was not hot enough and definitely not flavorful enough. so i took 2 bites of it and gave all the empty calories to d, who is the sugar queen (no points for guessing who her sugar daddy is, pun absolutely intended).
all in all, i think Privé is one of the better fine dining establishments i've been to. the food is top notch, and all the ingredients used are very fresh and authentic. they don't try to cover up the freshness with all sorts of fancy sauces and toppings, but rather try to stay true to form with sauces only meant to bring out the best of the natural flavors, letting you sample what real good, wholesome food is about.
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