feizhu's Reviews
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Located on the second floor of the building and playing neighbours to a Thai food outlet and a pub, Horizon Bistronomy offers both indoors and alfresco seating, with the latter obviously being more popular due to an unblocked view of the Singapore/Johor Straits.
Chilled Crab Meat Angel Hair - To start, I had the crab meat angel hair, which came topped with three substantial chunks of chilled, crunchy crab meat and chorizo oil (pork sausage) that had bits of crisp chorizo for that nice bacon-like texture and taste. Finished off with salty, crunchy salmon roe. Although the angel hair had a touch of truffle oil which gave it a light fragrance and smoothness, it was a tad too thick in my humble opinion. Overall a very decent dish but not something I would go wow over.
Horizon Pork 2 Way - The two way refers to a 24hrs slow braised pork belly and a kurobuta pork tenderloin. The former was melt in your mouth tender and topped with mild grape mustard but as it had quite a substantial amount of fat, the nausea kicked in really quickly. I personally preferred the latter, which was tender with a nice smokey taste to it. The accompanying cauliflower puree was smooth but could do with a little butter. All in all, a pretty good dish!
Chocolate Textures - The name of this dessert brought back wonderful memories of Quay's rendition. But the end result was vastly different. A brownie like chocolate base topped with 66% valrhona chocolate mousse, seperated by a thin layer of orange marmalade and finished with a coffee sauce. Contrary to the menu's claim that this dessert is "simply divine!", the orange marmalade weighed in too strong on the flavours, effectively diluting the taste of the chocolate whilst the bitterness of the coffee sauce didn't quite jell with the whole dish in my humble opinion. Maybe a vanilla bean sauce would have been more appropriate?
Garden By The Bay - A chef's special that's not on the menu, the Garden By The Bay came looking like a few random greens growing out of a pot of soil. Beneath the soil (which is actually chocolate crumbs with bits of nuts) was a thick layer of smooth and light but rather bland vanilla mousse with strawberries, apple slices etc thrown into the mix. I personally liked the chocolate soil, which had a nice crunch coupled with a mild nutty flavour.
The 6 of us spent close to $250 which wasn't too expensive quantitatively but portion sizes did seem a tad small and quality was somewhat a mixed bag. Some items, like the pork and angel hair pasta, were decent but others, like the King of the Sea (not featured because I forgot to take a photo of it) came across as average (salmon was bland and king prawn wasn't fresh). Desserts are definitely not a forte at this place as well. On the upside, service was good with a great view to boot. That, coupled with the pork dish, might well be enough to warrant a revisit.
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I really don't know how to begin describing the interior of Mikuni. It had sort of a weird vibe to it, like they couldn't decide whether to make it techno-ish or modern Japanese (what's with the blue overhanging lights?) and tables were placed relatively close to each other. I could make out what the tables to our left and right were talking about which was quite a turn off in my humble opinion, the tron legacy lights notwithstanding (reminded me a little of Eva Air's Infinity Lounge @ Taipei as well).
Appetiser - And we started off with a bowl of complimentary salad and some thin, crustacean crisps (I believe it was ebi) with dashes of spice. Pretty nice.
Sashimi Set - Very fresh sashimi; Tuna, creamily smooth sea urchin, salmon, swordfish, squid and amberjack. Need I say more? Served with a cup of chawanmushi (more on that later) and a rather tasty agedashi tofu sporting a somewhat elastic skin.
Australian Beef & Ebi Ougon Sauce Set - Although portions were a tad dainty, this teppanyaki set offered a pretty good sampling of beef and prawn. The beef was tender and flavourful with bits of fat even though it came almost well done instead of my requested medium. However, the highlight was the prawns; Fresh, crunchy and smothered in creamy yet lightly savoury golden sauce (The old Inagiku's rendition was slightly richer and better in my humble opinion though). I personally loved the addition of the fried garlic chips to the dish for that strong garlic infusion and crunch.
The set also included a bowl of fragrant garlic fried rich and a cup of chawanmushi, with the latter silky smooth with bits of prawn and meat inside without coming across as too eggy.
Espresso Ice Cream & Petit Fours - I'm usually not a big fan of coffee ice creams but the espresso ice cream was pretty good; Not too strong or acidic and went well with the blob of cream in the center. Biscuit crumbs atop provided a nice crunchy texture to the equation.
The petit fours included rather interesting red bean squares that had a smooth, melt in your mouth texture (similar to paste) but appeared gelatin like. Matcha balls (matcha cream encapsulated by a thin white chocolate shell and dusted with matcha powder) completed the picture and I personally liked how the bitterness of the matcha complemented the sweetness of the chocolate.
If it wasn't for the Feed At Raffles discount, our lunch would have been exorbitantly priced. Thankfully, with the 50% discount, it was a more affordable $103 for two. Food quality was pretty decent but I wouldn't describe it as mind blowing. More like reliable if you ask me. Service was good but the ambience wasn't ideal (lose the blue lights please). However, at such a price point (with the 50% discount) and food quality, I'll be inclined to return.
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The cafe isn't big, with a couple of tables indoors and a few long benches in the al fresco dining area. Since the weather was nice and cooling, we opted to sit outside over the rather squeezy tables inside.
Crab Burger - A rather sizable patty chock full of crab meat shreds topped with sweet caramelised onion and tomato jam, sandwiched between two unremarkable buns. Pretty decent but the taste of the crab could be a little more pronounced in my humble opinion. The accompanying truffle fries were cut a tad too thick for my liking and coated with flour, which gave it a relatively stiff texture. Not really my cup of tea.
Nasi Lemak Burger - Now this was rather interesting. Pandan buns infused with coconut shreds coupled with a sunny side up, ikan bilis (dried anchovies), peanuts and a slab of juicy but relatively bland piece of breaded chicken thigh. Accompanied by a small dish of mildly sweet and spicy chilli. In all honesty, there was some resemblance to the real nasi lemak (coconut milk rice) but the less than fresh tasting peanuts could do with a little more work. Oh yes and maybe the chicken could use some seasoning. Nonetheless, still a thumbs up for the idea.
PB&J French Toast - And of course desserts. The peanut butter & jelly french toast sported a a beautifully crisp surface while the insides were lightly moist yet airy and played host to a filling of smooth and sweet peanut butter and jelly. Served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and finished off with a topping of blueberry jam and a dusting of icing sugar. Pretty simple yet delectable I must say!
All in all, the both of us spent $54 for brunch (no service charge or GST is a plus!) which was quite reasonable considering that the food was quite decent overall and service was friendly. But the sole reason for my return would be for the PB&J french toast.
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Occupying a single storey shophouse along Nankin Row @ China Square Central, PLS offers both alfreso and indoor seating (both rather limited by the way), separated only by an air curtain. The place practices an open concept and you can see your food being prepared. Only major gripe I had was that the noise level was rather ridiculous; More like a pub than an eatery. And the main culprit? Loud music. So much for a pleasant meal.
The menu is divided into three sections; Starters, lobster rolls and drinks. Pretty specialised eh?
Crustacean Bowl - Apparently there are only limited quantities of this available on a daily basis and you have a choice of having it in either starter ($19 ) or main ($26 ) portions. The starter portion looked a little pathetic honestly so we had the mains to share (two pax to one serving). And it was pretty good. Crunchy lobster chunks pressed upon sushi rice and topped with char grilled cheddar cheese, uni creme and caviar. Mildly sweet, creamy and savoury all in one mouth. The caviar could do with a quality upgrade though. And even as a main, this was quite small. I would probably need at least three to four servings to fill my stomach. Nonetheless still a great eat and I would love to have more!
The Traditional - I'm a purist so I went with the traditional lobster roll. First impressions, the roll was rather small but packed with crunchy lobster chunks that didn't have much crustacean sweetness to speak about and the roasted garlic mayonnaise came across as mild and lacking in depth. Though crisp on the outside, the bread roll lacked butter whilst the side of crisp chips were unevenly drizzled with truffle oil (still nice though as I'm biased towards truffle oil!). All in all, a very average tasting lobster roll and pales in comparison to Luke's Lobster in New York or my current favourite, Burger and Lobster in London.
The spicy roasted garlic variant of the lobster roll tasted pretty similar to the traditional offering save for the spiciness from the chilli and crunchiness of the garlic chips. Average tasting as well.
The six of us chalked up a bill of about $237, which wasn't too expensive considering that there was lobster involved. But portion sizes were small and quality of the lobster rolls were average at best. Service was decent but I honestly can't see myself returning unless I am in the mood to blow in excess of $100 on four crustacean bowls!
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Duck Rillettes - Served up in a tin container alongside another tin of gherkins and a platter of sliced, rather dry and hard baguette, the duck rillettes came across as decent; Generous and well shredded with a nicely smooth, oily finish. Would have been better if it had been a little creamier and a little less salty.
Pork Belly Braised In Kakuni Style Served With Duxelle Mushrooms, Onsen Egg & Potato Foam - This dish was a little east meets west as the pork belly was done Kakuni style (simmered in dashi, soya sauce, mirin, sugar and sake and popular in Nagasaki). The belly was relatively tender but had quite a fair bit of fat, giving it a nice wobbly texture but also a rather nauseating effect. Amidst the richness of the pork belly and a quivery onsen egg sporting a runny center (topped unfortunately with bacon bits that tasted straight off the shelves), the duxelle mushrooms provided a commendable earthy complement whilst the lightly smooth potato foam and croutons dispensed the necessary carbohydrates. Pretty decent but honestly it was the potato foam that impressed me more than anything else.
1 duck rillettes and 1 pork belly dish for a grand total of $25.50. Whilst I appreciate the thought and effort that has gone into both dishes, I personally do feel that $16.90 is a bit too much to pay for the pork belly, given the quantity (not much!) and setting of the place (coffeeshop). But to be fair, food quality is a notch or two above average so that should count for something I guess?
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