Wednesday 17 August 2016

Beast & Butterflies - Retro Ambiance With Asian Inspired Menu [MEDIA INVITE]



Beast & Butterflies (BnB) is the main dining destination for latest Boutique Hotel in the Millenium Group Singapore stable. Designed by one of the world's most prolific designer, Philippe Starck, you can expect BnB to be imaginative, colourful, retro and playful at the same time. Moulding together the retro theme with modern technology, BnB is definitely edgy with its own unique style.

Part of the Dining Area - Philippe Starck Design

Part of the Dining Area

Part of the Dining Area

Once you enter BnB, you can see the centre tables are filled with lava lamp, creating the distinct red flow that filled the dining area. There are about 40 Android tablets on the wall showing contemporary art, where can actually use it to take photos and send it to yourself. Android users like LD and I were able to take advantage of charging cables to charge our phones. Sorry Apple users, this is Android territory. Pool table and interactive bar counter added to the chill factor of this establishment.


Part of the Dining Area

The Pool Table


The menu in BnB is definitely not a plain vanilla. Executive Chef Bryce Li menu includes local favourites, International dishes with a twist drawing from his experience in Thailand.

The Bar Area

Oyster Shot ($10 per pair). It comes in a pair, infused with a touch of Nam Jin sauce topped with fried shallots, fried garlic and cilantro garnish will remind you on how you eat oyster in Thailand.

Oyster Shot

Duck Crispies ($18). This plump wanton is crispy and filled with the goodness of duck rillettes. Alright, shredded duck meat soak in duck fats. To balance the richness of the fillings, you should eat it with the pickled cucumber.

Duck Crispies

Crispy Spinach ($8). One of the bar snack, thin crispy and almost tasteless. The garlic powder enhanced the taste, simply eating healthy cracker. I wonder what it will taste like if they dry it like the dry seaweed.

Crispy Spinach

The Simply Scallops ($24). Chef's version of scallop carpaccio. Thinly sliced Hokkaido scallop was thinly sliced and dressed with yuzu and ginger marination. You will taste the pinch of ginger with refreshing yuzu flavour when you put the scallops in your mouth, following the sweet sea flavour from the scallops. Yum Yum, what a refreshing dish.

The Simply Scallops

There was two similar soupy items in the menu which was Fragrant Sea ($26) and Lobster Porridge ($28). The Fragrant Sea is a clear seafood Bouillabaisse, filled with the harvest of the sea; clams, sliced fish, prawns and crab pincer. The broth is sweet drawing the essence of the crab, with crispy rice to provide the crunchy texture. It is a good light entrée to start your meal.

 Fragrant Sea

Meanwhile, the lobster porridge has the jasmine long grain rice immerse in the soup, topped with half of a lobster. The broth is almost similar to the Fragrant Sea, which remind me of Teochew fish porridge.

Lobster Porridge 

There is also Cody Mee ($28) for fish lover. The use of Atlantic Cod Fillet and plating it in a big cooking ladle to contain the fish definitely give the wow. The cod is fatty, velvety and well paired with the superior soy sauce. The crispy egg noodle with mushroom gravy provided the opposite texture to the fish, while the bai ling mushroom and brocolini really complete the dish. Delicious!!

Cody Mee

For the meat protein, BnB selection will include Ham Hock ($28 for half, $38 for full), Lamb Rack ($36) and Beef Ichiban ($68). Ham Hock is BnB version of Crispy German Pork Knuckle. The skin is crispy and well seasoned, while the meat is tender and succulent. The twist here come in the form of pickle cabbage instead of sauerkraut and the Thai Nam Jim Sauce. A very good combination indeed.

Ham Hock - Whole

Ham Hock - Ready to eat

For the lamb rack, the meat is grilled to perfection. Brown on the exterior, while pinkish soft in the middle. The gravy has a numbing peppercorn kick into it, however I am not particularly sold on the steamed oriental glutinous rice to go with this dish.

Lamb Rack

Beef Ichiban is the most expensive main dish at BnB. Using US Wagyu Beef, it definitely deliver term of texture and flavour. However, the cut of the beef is a bit too thin, in which I guess it might be slightly less than 200 grams. The soy mirin marinate gave the dish a Japanese feel to the dish. Unfortunately, the baked masala potato gratin kind of offset the Zen feel to the dish. I don't think it is a very filling meal. A bigger cut of meat for this dish will be of more value, just my suggestion.

Beef Ichiban

Dessert was Extravaganza ($25). A symphony of Yoghurt & Lime Moose with fruits; Yam Brulee; Chocolate and Banana Crumbles; Mango Sticky Rice. This is basically the tasting platter for the desserts. Don't expect any wow factor from the mango sticky rice here. It is slightly too refine for my palate as I prefer this dish to be more rustic. The Yam Brulee is an interesting concept, if you allow the coconut ice cream to melts, it definitely tasted close to the original orh nee.

Extravaganza

The chocolate and banana crumbles provide a solid chocolate flavour. A hot chocolate syrup is poured on the chocolate ball, during serving, giving you the WOW factor. I left the Yoghurt & Lime Moose to the end as I like the acidity to clear the richness and sweetness from the rest of the desserts.

Yoghurt & Lime Moose & Yam Burlee

Beast & Butterflies is definitely an interesting place to dine. The décor is colourful, retro and playful at the same time definitely making your dining here an enjoyable experience. We recommend Oyster Shot, Simply Scallops, Cody Mee, Ham Hock and Extravaganza for a beautiful dining experience here. Cheers!!

Food & Drinks: 7.75/10
Value: 7.25/10
Service: N/A (Tasting Event)
Ambiance: 9.25/10
Budget per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - $80

Beast & Butterflies
90 Robertson Quay
Ground Floor, M Social Singapore
Singapore 238259

T: +65 6884 6884
+65 6206 1888
IG: @beastandbutterflies
OH:
Dining
Mon- Fri: 07.00 – 10.00
Sat, Sun & PH: 07.00 – 10.30
Daily: 11.30 – 14.30; 17.00 – 22.30

Bar
Sun – Thu: L.O. at Midnight
Fri, Sat & Eve PH: L.O. 01.00

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