Open Door Policy (Closed)

We actually came here for brunch but we ordered from the lunch menu instead because the items sounded so much more enticing. and no regrets at all ;) maybe sometime i should come back for the real brunch, but i think that menu isn't as fantastic.so, first thing we ordered was this wild mushroom risotto with truffle and chanterelle ($45). this is probably not on the menu actually, because it was a special 5-day only menu. but gosh, those truffles were amazing!!! the risotto itself unfortunately didn't have much of a truffle flavour, but it was nevertheless very tasty. i didn't actually try the truffle itself though, because it wasn't my dish. but it looks soooo gorgeous! and love all the photos i took that day ^^ the lighting at ODP is perfetto! ;)i sorta regretted ordering the braised duck ragout with pappardelle pasta and smoked tomato sauce ($25), but only because it was such a carb-y dish!! >.< other than that, this dish was wonderful actually! it had a delicious flavour that appealed to everyone, and the pasta was cooked just right (: so much better than italian pasta!!! haha. always cannot forget that ;) and i love how the cheese lent an additional dimension to the dish, which complemented the pasta perfectly. the only thing that left me rather bewildered was the duck ragout! haha it didn't taste like duck at all imo. but it was nice anyway!!the smoked pork belly with garlic spinach and pickled vegetables ($30) totally looked like 烧肉 doesn't it! haha. (guess what, i finally figured out how to type chinese words on my keyboard lol!) it was soooo yummy. fried to a precise crisp on the outside, while the interior was nicely tender and firm, without being too fatty (ne of my favourites that day was the 48 hour braised beef cheek with mochi potatoes, carrot puree and pea tendrils ($29). omgosh!!! it was SOOOOO TENDER, it literally MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH. i'm not kidding you. you barely have to chew on it at all. just pop it in your mouth, move it around a little and it just gradually dissolves. it was that soft. i loved the texture. i did wish that it had a deeper flavour though! perhaps the long cooking drained away its taste, because i felt that there was something lacking in that respect.For photos and the rest of the review, visit http://thelittlemomentsofmylife.blogspot.sg/2013/11/open-door-policy.html continue reading

Open Door Policy is another one of those places you hear a lot of people talk about and want to see what the fuss is about. And there is a lot of fuss.Located at the Tiong Bahru Neighbourhood, this seems like an odd match. The food is average I would say, but atmosphere is very appealing.Tried the 48hr braised beef cheek, tender but slightly gamey in taste. Roasted chicken was rubbery in texture.Apple crumble was very nicely baked though, crusty and fragrant vanilla custard on top.The entire experience and more photos can be read at my blog:For full review and more photos, please visit http://sethlui.com/food-review-open-door-policy/ continue reading

Open Door Policy is located on the chic Yong Siak Street at Tiong Bahru, bang opposite the Forty Hands Café… Classily decorated in a mixture of rustic and wood… the place is endowed with some old style bare brick walls and… a glass roof! You can see right through the ceiling. I am sure it must be amazing to sit beneath that roof when it is raining! The first thing you see when you enter is an immaculately designed bar, and a glass-walled kitchen! In fact there are some bar stools outside the kitchen, allowing cooking enthusiasts to sit there and enjoy the chefs at work!Moving to food… ODP has a decently extensive and creative ala carte menu. That’s no surprise, because the menu is written and overseen by Executive Chef Ryan Clift of the Tipping Club (ranked Asia’s 10th best restaurant in the 2011 Miele Guide) fame. Their menu is available on their website… however, going back to the beginning of this post, this time, at ODP we left the decision about what we eat with the chef… this is how.The first line in their menu has something called “Feed us” sharing menu. It says “can’t decide and prefer to share? simply ask your waiter to ‘FEED US’ as we roll out a selection of delicious dishes for $47++ per head or add desserts for $59++ per head. One the recommendation of our friends, we went in for Feed Us, and were not disappointed. We were four of us, three hardcore non-veggies and one non-fussy, “I can try anything as long as it is veg” veggie. And all four of us were in for a treat:Starters: Freshly shucked oysters with shallot vinaigrette: Ripe fresh oysters with mild flavour of shallot and strong vinaigrette were served on bed of sea salt… the oysters were delicious. I am not a huge oyster fan, and ala carte, I would never order it. But I washed down two of those in quick successions! Seared scallops with cauliflower couscous and preserved lemon: Just like oyster’s I am skeptical about ordering scallops… not because I don’t like them, but I personally believe scallops are one of the trickiest to cook! Cook them too long, and you have an unappetizing hard mass. But the seared scallops were perfect and the lemon just right. Delicious! Ginger and spring onion roast quail with fragrant herbs: I love quails… especially since I don’t often make them at home… the fried ginger endowing the dish worked perfectly with the quail. All in all an extremely interesting dish. Spinach, broccoli and snap pea salad with goat’s cheese and pine nuts: This is the veggie starter. There are no vegetarian starters, but their choice of soups and salads is very good. This veggie got the goat’s cheese salad in his feed us, actually feed me, as he was the only veggie!Mains: Seared kingfish with clams, chorizo, saffron and parsley: By the time we reached the mains, we were a satisfied lot already. The seared kingfish was fresh, delicately cooked and moist enough! The saffron was an interesting flavour as I have rarely seen fish and saffron paired before. Slow-braised short rib with red curry jus and green mango salad: The short ribs were perfectly cooked, and deliciously presented in a red curry topped with along with the tangy green mango. The spice of the short ribs and curry and the tanginess of the mango blended perfectly. Great dish. Australian strip loin with hand-cut chips and sauce béarnaise: The steak was probably the only dish I did not particularly enjoy. Not because it wasn’t made well… it was just not to my taste. I prefer my steaks to be at least medium to well-done, if not well-done. Beetroot and goat’s cheese risotto: This was a unique vegetarian risotto. I would never imagine the sweet tasting, beet root being paired with a pasta or a risotto. But what you know, it worked oh so beautifully! Dessert: The ice cream ‘why just Sunday’: A cold dessert to wash down all the spicy and seasoned meal! Vanilla ice cream on bed of nuts and crunchies topped with “burnt dark chocolate”, chocolate and caramel sauce. Good dessert if not absolutely great. Apple crumble with vanilla custard: This was the absolute star of the evening. The Apple crumble is by far the best one I have had, ever! Freshly made, perfectly crumbly, the apple just melted in your mouth. The vanilla custard was equally luscious and made for a perfect end for the perfect meal!Definite Thumbs up. For more information and updates do check my blog: http://www.facebook.com/spicerover OR http://spicerover.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/open-door-policy-feed-us/ continue reading

Gone were the good old days when lunch was just walking down to the school canteen and buying back food up to class to enjoy or walking with a bunch of friends to the nearby Ang Mio Kio hawker centres for dinner. I really missed those good old times with my classmates when school life was about looking for the next place to eat as one big group.Not that I don’t organise outings after graduated from poly life. But to gather everyone out now when they are busy working and finding jobs is definitely a challenge now. Nevertheless, we still compromise with each other’s timing just for sake of savoury food. And what better place to meet that is central and still convenient for all to meet? You thinking what I thinking?I’m thinking how about Tiong Barhu or to be more precise, Open Door Policy.Started by the same people behind Tiong Barhu Bakery and 40 Hands Cafe, Open Door Policy functions more than just another brunch serving cafe that popularise the area but also a modern casual dining restaurant. It was an early weekend evening when my friends and I dropped by for dinner. To my surprise, the place was already running on full-house capacity. It sure speaks of their quality of food I thought to myself.The three of us were gestured to sit by the glass panel kitchen. It does helps facilitate your decision to order since you could just observe what are the dishes that appeals you more when the chefs are busy preparing the dishes for someone else. Occasionally, you get to see the kitchen staffs mistake and you'd wish you just have a huge piece of paper with a statement “I saw that!” and flash it to the chef as they nibble on the fries off your plate.I thought our food will served promptly but 30 minutes into our wine-sipping conversations, I realised that our food wasn’t even anywhere near our table. I got a nasty shock when one of the female servers told me that some of the dishes we ordered have a waiting time of 20 minutes on average.I could totally understand that some places like to prepare their dishes upon customer’s order but shouldn’t these restaurateurs take the courtesy to inform diners about the waiting time? Well, when I first made my orders, no one actually bothered to tell me and that particular female server expects me to know from my first visit and walks away without apologising? In any case, it sure left me with a bad impression of their service that’s for sure.Our food did came ultimately but unlike Abe’s Diner’s Seafood Gratin, this causal dining place sure wasn’t worth the wait. Their Roast Chicken with Chickpea Cassoulet and Wet Polenta ($26.00) which was just two slabs of petite chicken fillet nicely decorated with chickpeas and wild rocket leaves sitting on a huge dish plate. It does not help to know that it took them 30 minutes to roast them tough and dry instead of tender and moist.For that kind of price, I might as well head down to the nearby hawker centre and order one whole roasted chicken to go with a bowl of rice instead.Next up was their 48 hour Braised Beef Cheek with Mochi Potatoes, Carrot Puree and Pea Tendrils ($29.00) which I felt was really nothing special even after being braised for two days as they claimed. Surely the meat was tender and soft but that should be expected since it’s braised so long. Just a pity the accompanying sauce failed to bring out the wow factor in this dish.Among the three dishes we had, I only held in high regards of their Braised Duck Ragout with Pappardelle Pasta and Smoked Tomato Sauce ($25.00). I like the fact that the pasta is evenly coated with the smoked tomato sauce with bits of duck ragout with each mouthful but otherwise, I would expect a bigger portion for the price I’m paying.Their desserts on their other hand were their saving grace. This time, we were informed about the waiting time involved into making of the Chocolate and Pistachio Souffle with Creme Anglaise ($18.00). We weren’t disappointed when we saw a cup of creamy custard cream poured into the souffle right before our eyes.Light and fluffy and still tasted the subtle pistachio from within. I wouldn’t mind telling you this might just be one of the better souffles in downtown Singapore!The last dessert we had was the Apple Crumble with Vanilla Custard ($15.00) which was also well-received by the three of us. If only their main dishes could match their desserts then it would have been the perfect dining experience. I certainly wasn’t impressed by Open Door Policy with what they have to offer. The prices they charge are definitely much more than most places similar to what they serve. I wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon unless I am in search of somewhere with nice coffee to go with souffle. I wouldn’t even recommend this place for a simple light causal meal but maybe their much rave brunch food is more worth going for instead.But if you do see yourself coming down, do make a reservations just to secure table. Another plus point would be their alcoholic drinks going at $8 after 6pm if you had make a reservation.For me, I will always be looking elsewhere to meet my friends over meal and I think I have just found another in Tiong Bahru again. Just stay tune and watch this space! continue reading

Read more food reviews at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.comOpen Door Policy (aka ODP) reminds me of New York. It's cool without being pretentious. Yuppies/adults will so love this place, but I can't quite see people bringing their young kids here. The food was pretty awesome. We had:1) Braised Beef Cheek ($29), braised for 48 hours for a plastic fork-tender texture, super soft and moist and tender, it hardly required any chewing. While it could have done with a teensy bit more flavour, it had that delectable caramelized glaze brush-on treatment. The carrot puree bed lent sweetness while rolls of mochi potatoes, baby carrots and rocket leaves lent crunch and texture. A really great dish but I think I prefer TWR's version.2) Wild Mushroom Risotto ($22): perfectly al dente with earthy mushrooms, sprinkled with headily aromatic truffle crumbs and topped with snow pea tendrils and fresh bunashimeiji. I think I've found my go-to place for the perfect risotto3) Classic English Apple Crumble ($14): old-school appeal and hugely portioned. Sweet caramelized cubes of apple were topped with burnt sugary golden oatmeal crumbs4) Chocolate and Pistachio Souffle ($15): so light and airy we almost don't feel guilty indulging. It's was a perfect marriage of bitter chocolate and nutty pistachio continue reading