E'spuma Lab (Closed)

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/07/espuma-lab-pomo-media-invite.htmlMy friend Wendy was invited by Mileage Comms for a Food tasting event at E'spuma Lab located at POMO (7-8mins walk from Dhoby Ghuat MRT). She brought along Pauline and myself for the tasting event.E'spuma Lab is located at the ground floor and is pretty near to the main entrance. The tiny store spots a clean and chic look with striking yellow color furnishing. Tiny but hard to miss.E'spuma Lab serves up affordable western fusion set meals cooked with either espuma or sous vide technique, usually found only at fine dining establishments.Espuma is Spanish for foam or froth, is a culinary technique in which an espuma siphon is used to infuse air into food, extruding through a N2O canister. The introduction of air in food gives it a lighter and smoother texture without changing the physical composition or taste of a dish.Sous vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath or in a temperature-controlled steam environment for longer than normal cooking times at an accurately regulated temperature much lower than normally used for cooking, typically around 55 °C (131 °F) to 60 °C (140 °F) for meats and higher for vegetables. The intention is to cook the food evenly, ensuring that the inside is properly cooked without overcooking the outside, and sealing in the moisture.After a quick registration at the store entrance, we were given some reading materials describing the culinary concept of E'spuma Lab, and the current menu and price points for the dishes served here.The food tasting session kick started with a formal introduction to the team behind E'spuma Lab. Mr Andrew Koh, the Marketing & Communications Director at E'spuma Lab, gave us a low down on their unique culinary concept, followed by a short culinary demonstration from Chef Teo Yeow Siang showcasing the espuma cooking technique.The Chef also explained how the sous vide machine works, and the technology behind creating evenly cooked dishes. We also saw more siphons and used canisters on display at the shop front.We were then treated to a delicious meal comprising of several signature dishes from E'spuma Lab. First up, Sous Vide Eggs w/ Smoked Norwegian Salmon $3.80, served with crispy salmon skin and ginger soyu. This is a tasting portion, the normal serving has got two eggs and more toppings.E'spuma surprises us with a perfectly executed and evenly cooked poached egg that is smooth and creamy from inside out. The ginger soyu sauce and the salmon toppings were a flawless union with the egg. Thumbs up!Curry Chicken w/ E'spuma Potato Foam $6.80, served with mini french baguettes. We were not given baguettes as we will be having more dishes later.The savory curry chicken cubes blends really well with the potato foam which was velvety, light and creamy, like a cream soup version of the mashed potato. Very yummy indeed.Sauteed Mushrooms w/ E'spuma Potato Foam $6.80, a vegetarian version of the curry chicken dish. Mushroom was plump and juicy, and the tasty truffle crumbles topping added a nice bite to the dish.Our main courses, Fragrant Rice w/ Cajun Chicken Leg & E'spuma Curry Sauce, Fragrant Rice w/ Pan Seared Sous Vide Chicken Breast & E'spuma Pesto Sauce and Spaghetti w/ Swedish Meatballs & E'spuma Caramelized Onion Sauce, all priced at $6.80 each.Fragrant Rice w/ Cajun Chicken Leg & E'spuma Curry Sauce, comes with a whole chicken drumstick with thigh that is steam baked till crispy on the outside but retaining its tenderness inside. Best eaten with the lightly textured curry foam sauce. The fragrant rice looks like nasi biryani but tastes like chicken rice with sweet raisins, which is quite nice actually.Spaghetti w/ Swedish Meatballs & E'spuma Caramelized Onion Sauce, comes with crispy beef meatballs and aglio olio spaghetti, served with sweet onion foam sauce. The pasta is bland on its own but taste pretty good with the onion sauce. The meatballs were also kinda ordinary until eaten with the sauce. The portion featured here is a tasting portion size.Fragrant Rice w/ Pan Seared Sous Vide Chicken Breast & E'spuma Pesto Sauce, comes with a chunky sous vide chicken beast that is lightly pan seared to achieve a slightly crispy exterior, served with pesto foam sauce. The chicken breast was evenly cooked throughout and remains moist and tender inside.Lastly, we had a small serving of dessert/snack each. There is a choice of Spiced Calamari w/ Fries $5.80 or E'spuma Batter D24 Durian Fritters $3.80, in tasting portion.I had the Durian fritters, which has a light as air crispy coating with warm and creamy durian puree inside. Its a tad sweet for my liking though but a steal at $3.80 for 5pcs. Great for those who has a sweet tooth.My drink Ice Blended Mango Blaster $2.80, a nice cooling drink to wash down the yummy meal.We had a wonderful time learning new culinary jargon and tasting uniquely prepared food that is very kind to the wallets. Thank you E'spuma Lab and Mileage Comms for arranging this tasting session. Here are some official menu photos from E'spuma Lab to pique your interest. continue reading

Following my previous visit to Espuma Lab @ POMO, I was invited again for a media tasting at their official launch! For a quick recap: their three-course set meals are very affordable at $8.80 with a soup, choice of main course, and a drink. The best part? You won't find them scrimping on quality at such low prices. If there's a place I'd recommend along the whole of Orchard Road for value and taste, it'll be Espuma Lab. The launch started with a brief introduction by Andrew Koh, the Marketing & Communications Director of Espuma Lab alongside Alfred Lin, the Managing Director about their inspiration and aspirations for this concept-eatery. This is followed by a live demonstration by the renowned Chef Yeo Yeow Siang, who has worked in top hotels in Singapore. Their passion and dedication for their restaurant shine through their eyes when they introduced to us the dishes.Espuma is a culinary technique in which an espuma siphon is used to infuse air into the food, creating an airily light mouthfeel. Here is Chef Teo showing us how he merged top-notch culinary techniques into our local delights like Beef Rendang, Curry Chicken and more.This technique can be used to inject an interesting dimension to the texture of natural ingredients that have been pureed, mashed or juiced. For example, they mashed the potatoes and put it into the siphon equipment for it to be pumped out with a different texture. It has the taste of mashed potatoes, but it feels like clouds dancing on my tongue when I tasted it. It is very different from the usual heavy-weighted potato dishes and made it much more special. Note that for $8.80, you will probably get pretty uninspiring run-of-the-mill food elsewhere.Chef Teo also explained to us about another culinary technique called the sous vide. The technical explanation is this: food is cooked in a vacuum at a constant temperature using a thermal circulator. This will help ensure eggs are perfectly cooked, without having to use an egg timer. This technique is also used with meats so as to lock in the moisture and tenderness of the meat. It's such a genius way of cooking that ensures consistency in every meal served at Espuma Lab.The Sous Vide Eggs with Smoked Norwegian Salmon ($3.80) is a fusion local creation by Espuma Lab. I really liked this because the eggs were perfectly poached - the jelly sort of egg while it is still in a bowl but spills over in gold yolk fashion when you poke at it? Yes this is it. I wish I can learn how to sous-vide all my eggs... but until then, I know I can rely on Espuma Lab for consistent perfect eggs.The Curry Chicken with Espuma Potato Foam was a special combination: a strong spicy curry kick with crunchy mini baguette bits and aerial potato espuma foam. Other variations of this dish include the Sauteed Mushrooms and Beef Rendang.For my main course, I chose the Spaghetti with Swedish Meat Balls and Espuma Caramelized Onion Sauce. I love how fresh the ingredients tasted in my mouth. Let's begin with the pasta - it was cooked al dente and swirled beautifully into the little cocoon. This reminds me a little of Saveur's Pasta, which has similar presentation. I liked the thoughtfulness that goes into the plating. The sweet sauce complements the meatballs very well - I mopped up all of it to make sure none of it goes to waste.I like how it isn't jelat at all, though the meatballs were a little dry and hard, I reflected it to the chef - rather timidly I would say. I'm a beginner when it comes to cooking - I'm the sort that can only help with the eating when it comes to mealtimes. Despite his accolades and experience in the industry, Chef Teo was very humble and said that he would look into improving that. I was pleasantly surprised and it made me feel very confident in their menu sets.I was missing their D24 durian fritters since my first visit, which was very rich and fragrant with real durian batter encrusted in the golden crispy balls. Of course I have to try this again... and they taste as good as my memory remembers. If you love durians, you have to get this when you are here. I don't actively seek for durian food but this was an exception that really whet my appetite.This was the Fragrant Rice served with Cajun Chicken Leg and Espuma Curry Sauce ($6.80) which I had the other time, but they made an improvement on it which was using the sous vide method! I was again impressed by the amount of thoughtfulness and effort that the Espuma team put into perfecting each dish. Initially I thought that the cajun chicken leg was inconsistent in the tenderness, but with this new method, those worries are unfounded. This time, the cajun chicken leg was melt-in-the-mouth tender.All in all, I felt that this is a eatery-restaurant that's worth supporting and re-visiting because the Espuma team has a very upbeat and positive attitude towards creating a wonderful dining experience for their customers. Some behind-the-scenes comments - when it came to the media food tasting event, the PR team, Chef Teo and the managing directors ensured that all of us knew what goes on behind each dish, the cooking methods and also sought our opinions on how to improve them. This down-to-earth approach puts me at ease and definitely a place I want to recommend to my friends because I'm confident of their dish quality. continue reading