Monday 11 May 2015

[CLOSED] Violet Herbs – Beautiful Food and Beautiful Place [MEDIA INVITE]



Violet Herbs - a Modern European restaurant with exquisite dishes deriving from French and Italian Cuisine. Once I heard of Modern European, the first thing come to my mind is Heston Blumental, followed by Ferran Adrià. Although I've never been to the Fat Duck or El Bulli, watching them created multisensory and sophisticated dishes on Food Channels, tingle my taste buds.

Violet Herbs - The Enterance

Opened in December 2014, Violet Herbs are the brain child of Chef Edward Hoe and his wife Danni. Chef Edward Hoe has more than 19 years experience in Modern European Cuisine, and being made a head chef at the age of 25. His CV will include executive roles in Fish Market & Bistro, Restaurant Ember and The American Club Singapore.




We started our tasting session with Amuse Bouche of Beef Tender with Madiera sauce and fried saffron. The cubed beef are well-seared and tender. The sauce is bold and thick, while the fried saffron and strips of fried egg provide a crisp texture to the dish. On the side, there is a saffron crusty bread. The saffron flavour on the bread has a unique taste.

Amuse Bouche of Beef Tender saffron crusty bread

Mango Scallops. This dish have a multiple layer of flavours. Creamy yet subtle Parsnip Puree, nicely seared scallops with sweet mango salsa on top. To savour this dish, you need to poke the mango gels before you spread it to your scallop. The potato chip with parma ham suppose to add to the crispy texture, however this time around it tasted a bit rancid and the taste of the parma ham seems to be missing. Maybe skipping the potato chip, just singly use of crispy parma ham will maintain its flavour yet remains the crispiness.

Mango Scallops

Next was Parsnip Velouté. In simple English Velouté means thick soup. The soup was dense, creamy, smooth yet subtle in flavour. This allowed the freshness of the crab meat, fresh herb and flower petal to stand out. Unfortunately I can't taste the crumble though.

Parsnip Velouté

Parsnip Velouté - Up Close

Truffle Foie Gras. This dish was just delightful in my mouth. Accompanying the perfectly seared foie gras was one hour poached egg. Using sous vide technique, the egg was cooked in immersion circulator at the temperature 65°C for an hour. This result in an intense orange colour yolk and in thicken texture, more gooey egg white with velvety texture in your mouth. The perfectly poached egg binds well with the thick Cepes (Porcini Mushroom) sauce and lighter flavour of summer black truffle. I was actually tempted to ask for second serving He..he..

Truffle Foie Gras

Truffle Foie Gras with oozing yolk

In between the heavy flavoured dish, we had Yuzu Sorbet, which was a refreshing palate cleanser. It can taste a bit sweet, but definitely prepare our taste sensory for the next dish.

Yuzu Sorbet

Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly. This dish is not for the faint hearted. Kurobuta pork is similar to the comparison to Wagyu beef. Meaning high in marbling (fat content). The pork belly looks fatty, and it just melts in your mouth. The spicy blood orange sauce helps to balance the dish, and crunchy asparagus for texture. The fries was double fried, however I expected to be more crispy.

Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly

Marinated Red Miso Cod. The cod fish was well marinated with the right amount of red miso. The fish was flaky and tender. While I have to admit I don't like to eat eggplant unless they are crispy, I find Chef Ho manage to incorporate well the mushy eggplant with the crispy chips. The roasted pumpkin puree gave the slightly intense and sweet flavour to the dish.

Marinated Red Miso Cod

For a sweet ending, we had Frozen Nougat. The soft texture nougat was mild in its sweetness was paired with refreshing lychee sorbet. The raspberry sauce which almost in dried state with strawberry and blackberry provide the balancing of acidity to the dessert. A nice ending to the meal.

Frozen Nougat

I noticed all the dishes served with either micro herbs, flower petals or aromatics. While it does not provide a strong aroma to influence the dishes, the presence and subtle flavours mean a lot to the multi sensory experience when you are dining at Violet Herbs.

The Decor & Dining Set up at 1st Floor

The Bar

Violet Herbs has two levels of dining area. On the first floor it has the purple violet theme, with the bar which served their signature herb cocktails feature prominently. On the second floor, the theme is more simple and natural. During the day, there will be lots of natural light came in from the windows to brighten up the room. Other than the semi formal dining experience here, Violet Herbs are suitable for corporate or private functions.

The Decor & Dining Set up at 2nd Floor

Overall, I really enjoy my dining experience here. I think the decorations and lightings of the dining area are just right. The food are delicious and with a little bit more on tweaking the dishes, it will be excellent. Can't wait for my next visit here. Cheers!!

Thank you very much to Open Rice and Violet Herbs team for the tasting invitation.

Food & Drink: 8/10
Value: 7.5/10
Service: N/A
Ambiance: 9/10
Budget per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - 80; $81 and Above

Violet Herbs
81 Tras Street
Singapore 079020

T: +65 6221 3988
IG: @Violetherbs
OH:
Mon – Sat: 11.30 – 15.00; 18.00 – 22.00
Closed on Sunday (Except for Special occasion)
Menu available online


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