Friday, October 31, 2014

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

Are you a 'fan' of the Mandarin Oriental?

Once you have stayed in one of their properties, you somehow get addicted to their impeccable service and quality of their rooms and restaurants. My wife and I were converts when we had our wedding at Mandarin Oriental Singapore and saw what they could provide to our guests during the dinner. We were also impressed with the rooms and restaurants we dined during our stay. Since then, we have stayed in a few other MO properties. We wished we could stay in more, but it really is beyond our budget at this junction of life, we need to save up.

Are you a fan of great chefs? Are you are a fan of Austrian food? Are you are a fan of the Obauer brothers? If you are, you are in for a treat.

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

From 30 October to 2 November 2014, there will be Special Lunch and Dinner Menu featuring the works of the Chefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer here at the Mandarin Oriental. I was privileged to have tasted the lunch menu yesterday.

There are 2 lunch menus and 2 dinner menus, and you can view them here.

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

Lunch started with a baskets of different rolls and crisps and it was served with this interesting saucer of green dip. After we tasted it, we wanted to know what is in it! The chef was happy to tell us the ingredients: Crème fraîche, Quark, Wasabi and Steinklee. Steinklee are Alpine mountain herbs and they brought in the dried powdered version to make this.


Amuse Bouche:

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

It was an interesting start of 5 little tidbits. We had chickpea purée in the spoon, veal tartare, and a shot glass of zucchini yoghurt. My favourite of it all is the shot glass of zucchini yoghurt made from zucchini cream and yoghurt with pumpkin seed oil in it.

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

There's also this little cube of Parmesan „QimiQ“ jelly. To put in names that we in Singapore would understand, it has the texture of marshmallows. I just searched about QimiQ to find out what it is! There is also the lamb sausage.


Course 1: Cauliflower Jelly

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

Cauliflower jelly is something we don't usually see in menus here. I have seen it in some restaurants and this is the first time I tasted it. I think I will eat more cauliflower if it's served to me this way! It's light tasting, there were small pieces of soft cauliflower in a firm jelly. It rested on bell pepper purée which gave it a nice slightly sweet and piquant flavours.

There's also the aged smoked beef from Salzburg and eggplant chutney. A very nice texture and taste to complement the cauliflower jelly. I was hesitant to finish all the goose liver though. The reason being, it raw goose liver. If you don't tell me what it is, I will have finished it up because it was delicious when I had some of it with the grains of green tea salt and alpine herbs. Blame it on the service staff for explaining what it was. Haha! My head said don't finish it, when the mouth wanted to eat it up.


Course 2: Lake Char Lasagna

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

This very interesting dish is made up layers of pasta sheets, Arctic Char and reduced tomato slices. It's covered with big basil leaves. The sauce is made from reduced seafood stock with Grüner Veltliner (a variety of white white grape grown in the Alpine region).

Not the usual soft mushy lasagna, but al dante pasta sheets layered between the ingredients. The sauce is something I enjoyed too.

Grüner Veltliner

Since we were talking about Grüner Veltliner, we were treated to some Grüner Veltliner that MO Singapore carries in their collection. The sommelier said only 2 MOs around the world carry this.


Course 3: Celery-Saffron Soup

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

Something to warm up our tummies mid meal. Steamed Pike in a simple celery saffron soup. It's always nice to elegantly punctuate the meal with a bowl of warm light soup.


Course 4: Saddle of Lamb

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

Mary would have cried because it's lamb they are serving. I would cry too for a different reason. It's so delicious. I wasn't listen to what the service staff was talking when he was explaining the dish because I was mesmerized by the looks and the aroma of the lamb.

It was two medium rare piece, so tender and not much of a gamey smell I thought I was having beef. Oh yes, I am a parsley lover, so this dish just resonated with me. You know I am normally not a lamb person, but this was good.

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

The lamb was served with a mix of horse radish, sour cream and a dash of balsamic v. It goes very well with the lamb. In fact, it was nice just to nibble bits of this by itself.


Course 5: Apple Strudel and Cottage Cheese.

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

The last course, the desserts. This apple strudel deserves a photo of it by itself because of the work that has gone into it. Apple that has been reduced with coconut and also with rum and raisin. Let your imagination brings out the flavour for you.

Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer @ Dolce Vita, Mandarin Oriental Singapore

Many of us loved the ice cream. It's chamomile ice cream that's so refreshing. Another flavour that I should try to make with my ice cream machine one of these days. I don't know how to appreciate the cottage cheese curd though. I am not a very cheese nor curd person. It just tasted good to me that's all and a nice clean end to the meal.

We also had some petit fours from Dolce Vita's pastry chefs with coffee and tea.

If you are thinking of bringing that someone special to a special Austrian meal, get a reservation here. Chefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer have a long list of awards under the belt. They are been Chefs of the Year in Austria, named Chefs of the Decade by Gault Millau Austria, and also they have rave reviews by acclaimed food critics. You just need to search their names to read about them. They will be here in Singapore from 30 October to 2 November 2014.


The pricing:
Four-course lunch at SGD 88 per person.
Five-course lunch at SGD 128 per person.
Five-course dinner at SGD 128 per person.
Seven-course dinner at SGD 188 per person.
View the menu here.


I have been a fan of Mandarin Oriental and this lunch was on invitation by Mandarin Oriental Singapore. Thanks!


Guest Masterchefs Karl and Rudolf Obauer
Dolce Vita
Mandarin Oriental Singapore
5 Raffles Avenue
Marina Square
Singapore 039797

Tel: +65 6885 3500.
Email: mosin-dining@mohg.com







Stumble Upon Toolbar

No comments:

Blog Widget by LinkWithin