One Night Only: Quique Dacosta in Singapore @ Sofitel So Singapore.

The wife and I were recently in Barcelona and Madrid in Spain for a holiday. This was the aerial photo that we took and we see lots of rectangular shape plots. We are missing Spain and all the Spanish food we had. Some of you probably ate virtually with us on Instagram too.



After we booked our flight tickets, we were browsing through the World's 50 Top Restaurant to see where we can go. It was a futile effort for us, the places required a few months of booking! It was also difficult to route the cities we wanted to visit to the restaurants as they are like 300 - 700 km apart from where we are.

Flying or taking a train to Valentia from either Barcelona or Madrid will means we will be travelling more than we get to eat and sight see.



105 km from Valencia is the coastal town of Dénia. It's also where Chef Quique Dacosta who is touted to be one to watch out for after El Bulli closed. The NYT says so!

Good News!

If you are into Spanish Avant-Garde cuisine, three-Michelin-star Chef Quique Dacosta will be in Singapore for a ONE DAY only dinner at Sofitel So Singapore. It's a specially crafted five-course menu priced at $538++ and every dish will be paired with fine wines from Spain’s Castell d’Encus winery. The dishes being presented will include:

The Haze – a dish that recreates the taste of humidity and warm of the earth after a storm – featuring pine nuts, raw peas, pig crackling crumble with mushrooms, black truffle and small flowers – paired with a Taleia 2012

Cuba Libre of Foie Gras – a Dacasta signature of melt-in-your-mouth foie gras with cream, veiled with coca-cola and rum and granita of lemon with brioche on the side – paired with Ekam 2012

The Hen of the Golden Eggs – a poached egg cooked at low temperature with a broth of chicken and vegetables, coffee and gold – served with Ascup 2011

Ashes Rice – soft senia rice with smoked black truffle, braised pigeon, chanterelle mushrooms, inspired by the rice of Valencia after harvesting and burning – paired with Quest 2011

Chocolate Sand – a signature delight of textures and tastes of chocolate – paired with Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage Blanc 2006


(This is a sampling of what you will get when you order the tasting menu at his restaurant. )

There's only spaces for 100 diners though. If you are interested in this dinner, you can call  +65 6701 6800


Xperience Restaurant
Sofitel So Singapore
35 Robinson Road
Singapore 068876

Tel:  +65 6701 6800

MAD (Modern Asian Diner) @ The Grandstand

What a name! MAD which stands for Modern Asian Diner is a collaboration between TungLok Group, Bar Stories and Dick Lee. I am guessing the name must have been suggested by Dick Lee, the flamboyant Singapore performer, composer and playwright.



This was an invited review to see what MAD has to offer and it was it is quite an interesting concept. I would not have worded it any nicer sounding than this press release by them:

"The split-levelled MAD features a bar, manned by famed mixologist Kino from Bar Stories; a charcoal-powered Josper Oven to enhance the flavour profile of meats and seafood; a specially fitted and designed Omakase-style tapas counter; and a wine cellar and tasting room by Top Wines, which boasts one of the most extensive wine lists in Singapore; and a bakery and bread boutique by Bakerzin which will serve freshly baked artisan breads."



During the day, this place is a bakery, cafe and dim sum place.
During the night, it transform into a restaurant and cocktail bar.

I heard that during the day, Dim Sum Trolleys will be going around serving Dim Sums here. For those who are nostalgic. Bring your parents or grandparents! 



MAD occupies two levels. On the first level has a bakery and a cafe seating area.

(Residents of Bukit Timah on the way home at night, drop by for some bread near their closing time. I think it was 50% off. I bought some after dinner.)



As you have probably experience it, with the recent labour restrictions, more and more restaurants are deploying tablets to take over what humans can do. Everything you want to order can be done through this iPad.



Oh yes, you can preview your bill at anytime too!

(Now, they should have an app to rearrange the bill according to the diners ya? As an IT guy, I know it can be done!)

>> The Bar

During the night, you have the Bar that's manned by famed mixologist Kino from Bar Stories. They specialise in tea and coffee based cocktails. Talk to them, let the mixologist come up with something, either alcoholic or non-alcoholic that suits your 'mood' at the moment.

Here's some photo of the beautiful creations. These were what we had:









I did not note down the name of the drinks. It was just so beautiful. This last one was the cutest with a little rubber duckie on it!


>> The Restaurant



Artisanal Bread from bakery.

 
MAD Baby Ribs with Homemade Barbeque Sauce



You can mark this place as one of the places for delicious ribs. Well marinated and done really well. Tender meat, wonder their charcoal oven had an special powers.

I like how it was served in a wooden board. So rustic and the presentation already makes you hungry by looking at it.



Foie Gras Terrine



The terrine goes well with the bread that they serve. If you order this, don't finish up the bread when they are served. Save them for the terrine. It had a nice texture and less oily too. I know some of you only prefer your Foie Gras pan seared.


Teriyaki Glazed Mushrooms with Cuttlefish Tagliatelle

Other than the ribs, this was also my favourites for the night. That's not green pasta but cuttlefish! It's not tough cuttlefish either. It's something you will probably order seconds.

I read from Bibik Gourmand's blog that portobello mushroom has been sous-vide. No wonder they taste just nice. (now to find out the ideal temp to sous vide portobello!)


Mushroom Risotto with Poached Egg.

Beautifully done. It's tedious cooking this. It reminds me of the 'cooking' competition that I was preparing risotto everyday to perfect it and on time too.

The mushroom flavour was not too overpowering and they added a poached egg. It seems they know that many people are obsessed with poached eggs!



For the tasting portion, they poached mini quail eggs for us too! So cute eh!


Rum and Banana Tatin with Vanilla Ice Cream.

They have a dessert menu and you can satisfy your sweet tooth by ordering through the iPad. ;-)
I liked the caramelized banana with the ice cream.



For those with kids and your kids can't get enough of macarons. Order them!




The kitchen is helmed by Chef Roberto Hernandez Sevillano.
He's previously from the Esmirada Group's Tapas Bar. 



If you prefer, you can dine at the Omasake-style Tapas Bar too.

>> The Retail Gallery



Other than eating, people in Singapore love to shop.
They have added a retail gallery to make some of our better halves happy.



It sells lots of quirky things that even I was tempted to buy.
I heard all of it has been selected by Dick Lee himself.

While dining, I thought the music sounds familiar and some of it seems to be from Dick Lee's musicals. I asked them who selects the songs and was told Dick Lee has selected the songs for all 365 days to be played here!



Oh snowy from Tin Tin Comics is available for sale here too!

>> The Wine Cellar



There's also the cellar and wine tasting room here by Top Wines.

It's quite an interesting concept here. First in Singapore to combine a 5-in-1.
Thanks to the PR folks of MAD for the invite.


MAD (Modern Asian Diner)
200 Turf Club Road
#01-20/21, The Grandstand
Singapore 287994

Tel: +65 64663303
Hours:  Sun to Thu – 10.00am to 10.30pm / Fri to Sat – 9.00am to 12 midnight

Website: http://www.modernasiandiner.com

Don Quijote @ Lorong Kilat (Part II)

Welcome to Part II of our adventure to a Spanish restaurant.

These tapas served in this small brown platters reminds me of Spain. My parents and I went to the Andalucia region in Spain last year, and these food we ate reminded me of the trip. We sure enjoyed the tapas there. Tapas reminded us of the Dim Sum we had back home.

You know how come Dim Sum places have 'carts' that move around to serve you Dim Sums? When we were in Spain, they had people walking around with all these little brown plates on a huge serving platter. They stop by the tables and you can pick what you want. (Just like dim sum carts right?)

Back to what we ate at Don Quijote. This is some salad. Forgot the name of it. Just call it by the generic name: Ensalada.



Revuelto de Espárragos y Gambas (Scrambled Eggs with Asparagus and Shrimp)
This was not bad, I wonder why we did not order more of this? Maybe we preferred the shrimp and mushrooms?



Patatas Bravas (Potatoes fried in a spicy Tomato-Chilli Sauce)
Some carbo to go. We also had another carbo dish, pasta with beef, but the photos came out bad, so it's not here.



Manitas de Cerdo con Garbanzos (Stewed Pigs Feet with White Beans)
The ladies were not interested in this, but I secretly ordered it. LOL. It turned out quite nice. Momo also find it nice. The trotters have already been stewed till they are really really soft. The broth is nice too!



Chorizo Asado (Barbequed Spanish Chorizo Sausage)
Some spanish sausages that reminded us of 'lap cheong'. ;-)



Calamares Fritos (Fried Battered Squid served with House Sauce)
Not too bad, one plate was nicely done, another was a bit tough. But generally quite ok.



This is Pisto Castellano (Mixed Vegetable Stew).
This brinjal soup turns out quite nice.



This is the last thing we ate: Pudín de Pan y de la Mantequilla (Bread and Butter Pudding).
Quite delicious and a good end to our buffet.



We love the colourful Spanish plates.



We had so much food. Never underestimate skinny girls. They can eat!
The buffet's on Sunday Afternoon from 11.30 am - 2.30 pm. We went there at 1 pm!

We paid $33 per person for the option with free flow of soft drinks. There's also a $48 version with free flow of Sangria and Wine and $62 with free flow of Sangria de Cava. We had this in June, so you can call them up if it's still on in July.


Don Quijote
17 Lorong Kilat
#01-09
Singapore 598139

Tel: 6465 1811
Web: http://www.don-quijote-restaurants.com


Click here for Part I of this post.

Don Quijote @ Lorong Kilat (Part I)

Few Sundays ago, iPhoneGirl recommended us to another place that we should try it out. The ladies - Momo, Dino, MsMHA and iPhoneGirl were meeting up to plan their upcoming trip. I was just there to eat. :-)

The place that was recommended is Don Quijote at Lorong Kilat. Hmm I just realized that Lorong Kilat is becoming quite 'happening' with so many new discoveries!



We were here on a Sunday afternoon because there's a Sunday Brunch Buffet. So here's what we had:

This Creme de Setas (aka Mushroom Soup) is nice. It looks very smooth, but when you put some in your mouth, you can still taste the mushrooms, and lots of it. We had many helpings of this!



Crema de Calabaza y Puerros (Cream of Pumpkin & Leek). It's nice to me, but the ladies seems to prefer the mushroom.



I am bad with Spanish names, so I am just guessing them with their online menu. LOL.

Tortilla Espanola. (Spanish Style Eggs Stuffed with Potatoes)
When it came out, we thought they were all eggs, until we ate it. It's potatoes! Reminds us of rosti.



This is Rollitos de Repollo con Arroz (Rice, Bacon & Nuts rolled in Cabbage).

MsMFA seems love this, she calls this "He Ye Fan" (Lotus Leaf Rice). It does taste like it, except that it's wrapped with cabbage. Cabbage is edible whilst Lotus Leaves are not. We had many helpings of this.



Aguacate con Cangrejo (Crab and Scallop Meats made into a dip and served in a Half Avocado)
MsMFA and iPhoneGirl seems to like this. I find it a bit 'fishy' ;-)



I can't remember the name of this dish, and I can't find the name on their online menu. It's chicken with red/green peppers with toothpicks.



We (except Dino) loved this, we ate so much of this, we were a bit embarrassed to order more. Setas al Ajillo (Garlic Fried Mixed Mushrooms).



Gambas al Ajillo (Garlic Fried Shrimp)
Another of our favourites. Who can get sick of garlic shrimps??



Alitas de Pollo al Ajillo con Salsa Picante (Chicken Wings in a Garlic-and-Chilli Sauce)
This is Momo's favourite. She really loves her chicken wings! We ate quite a lot of this, I think 5 chicken had to be sacrificed to provide us the wings. LOL... We like the Picante Salsa on the fried chicken. Yummy.



We had more food. I shall continue with Part II tomorrow ;-)


Don Quijote
17 Lorong Kilat
#01-09
Singapore 598139

Tel: 6465 1811
Web: http://www.don-quijote-restaurants.com