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2012-10-25
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For a full story review, please visit: http://www.epinosh.com/pollen-singapore/Welcome to the Gardens! The long awaited Gardens By The Bay is finally attracting swarm of bees to pollinate its new lush. However, I am the pollen today; at my sweetest front.My meals took place in the upper deck; some called it “sunny patio”, where the bar sits. Why chose the bar area? I prefer the roomy hemispheric roofing – the glass dome ceiling shelters me instead of the concrete pillars downstairs. I get to enj
Welcome to the Gardens! The long awaited Gardens By The Bay is finally attracting swarm of bees to pollinate its new lush. However, I am the pollen today; at my sweetest front.
My meals took place in the upper deck; some called it “sunny patio”, where the bar sits. Why chose the bar area? I prefer the roomy hemispheric roofing – the glass dome ceiling shelters me instead of the concrete pillars downstairs. I get to enjoy a more magnificent view of the Singapore Flyer and MBS, along with the sun setting afar. Less of seeing people footing on the walk path outside the restaurant. More, I was surrounded by Pollen’s very own mini herbs garden – thyme, lavender and even the 1000-year old olive tree! The temperature is cooler than the ground’s, a regulated climate which can dip to 17-20 degree Celsius in the evening. It can be chilly; so ladies, a shawl will helps when you are dining at the bar. But the coolness will not dampen your dining spirit as your visual gets warmed by the bright looking tiles, informal table settings and without plush carpets -full of Mediterranean vibe.
To ease our hunger, warm dinner rolls were served. I loved the sliced sourdough for the tangy rye and its crusty texture while the portioned wholemeal baguette was a lot more chewy. We enjoyed the slab of butter served on the small ridged board – pale looking but was silky-smooth and mild-mannered. The Sicilian olives were a little raw & hard while the cod potato dip compliments the bread with a briny taste. Side note: As the upper deck temperature is cooler, the bread turns cold at an amazing rate, so do not hesitate to ask for a reheat. Anyway, the wait staff was diligent enough to have done so without prompts. Very attentive).
We started off with Salad of buttered lobster, pasta, seaweed (of which I opted out), maple dressing. A very refreshing salad with unpretentious sweet tangy seasoning, less of a maple flavour. The homemade pasta has an unusual texture of its own – flabby and soft noodles not the regular al dente that one would expect, nonetheless very gratifying. Then comes the sweet & succulent lobster meat, so fresh that you could smell the ocean breeze. Fighting against it, the baby Romanine was crisp to the core, served in total freshness.
Scallop carpaccio, cucumber, apple, horseradish snow – much-hyped dish @London’s Pollen street Social. What makes it such a hit? The modern culinary technique employed to make it stunning and pleasurable looking, along with the lingering taste it brought about. At one point, I’d thought that I am eating it alive – the raw scallop slices were meaty and tasted sweet which further accentuated by the vinaigrette dressing. Floral-inpired; the teaser was dressed up in colorful petals and dills, accompanied with the semi-frozen cucumber slices – as beautiful as its name sounds. I am so captivated by the horseradish ‘snow’ – using new culinary technique; where the buttermilk was added to horseradish juice & thickened with cornstarch, thereafter frozen and pacotized, and later grated microscopically when served. This dish is as pleasing to the palate as to the eyes, I am hoping for some headphones to come along soon. A total bliss out.
Roasted monkfish, creamed olive oil potatoes, lemon conserve, orange grenobloise – everyone thought it was an uninteresting dish but they were wrong, it was a truly comforting one! The ponderous fillet sits atop the silky creamed mash potato which was rich and gratifying. The fish tasted oceanic; fresh and moist despite being roasted. You get to savor the sweetness in the meat which brought about by the lemon dressing. The orange flavored croutons further intensified the dish with more flavors and crunch.
Roasted pork belly, broad beans, slow-cooked squid, chorizo – do not make comparison with the Asian Siew Bak that you would eat at your favorite stall. This dish has its own uniqueness; the pork was well-roasted and the meat wasn’t tough. Somewhat moist, thanks to that thin layer of fats under the crackling pork skin. The chorizo sauce enhanced the overall faintly seasoned meat, making it wholesome. Cannellini beans were cooked to tender to fill the loose space in your gastric.Nothing could hide my excitement when it comes to dessert moments. I can’t wait to announce that I am done with my courses and need badly to head to the subterranean. The wait staff got me right away and gave signal. Christophe appeared instantly and offered to escort us to the ground level via the side lift behind the bar. The main dining room – clad in dim lightings, dark wooden tables & rattan chairs; casual in a classical manner.
We were placed at the center of the 9m long dessert counter with Chef Andres Lara standing right in front. He greeted us somewhat shyly and handed us the menu. Jokingly, he said we could have everything here or as much as we wanted; I wished too if I haven’t had my meals.
“PB&J” – Peanut butter and cherry yuzu sorbet; topped the dessert list in London’s flagship which I certainly wouldn’t want to pass it up. Dreamy as it looked but serious in its taste! Sounds like a big diversion between the sweet peanut butter parfait & sour yuzu cherry sorbet, they duo did harmonize when eaten together. The after taste of yuzu has always been unique which I don’t know what to make of it. Lara has been very creative when comes to plating – pomegranates, black raspberry & floral petals, everything looks so whimsical.
For a more witty whip up; Bitter chocolate banana, white sesame ice cream, caramel nitro, definitely wow you with Lara’s witty modern technique. I was inspired by the print “nitro” which lured me into trying (I am such a follower of molecular culinary these days that I went crazy after it). The bitterness in the chocolate crumbles amid the ice-cream of its own kind, interfused with the sweetness found in the white sesame ice-cream. Although the sesame flavor was less prominent, its smooth and creamy texture made good. The banana bits add crunch to the otherwise velvety sweets. For all you know, I’d love that “vaporing effect” from caramel; accordingly it has been dipped in liquid nitrogen for a quick freeze. I hope the mist did somehow veil my blushes.For a sweet ending, Lara gave each of us a passion-fruit milk chocolate popsicle. The passion-fruit - a tad too tart but was average out by the sweetness of the milk chocolate shell. (My friend had a similar pop ice on the next day, but with
yoghurt fillings instead)
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