Trip to Singapore 1- X'mas Eve Dinner

On most trips to Singapore, I usually par take in local cuisine. After all, that's the type of food I missed the most.

On this trip, being Christmas and all, I decided to do some fine dining (Singaporean tends to not celebrate Christmas as a family holiday). My dear sister did some research and sent me menu to White Rabbit, Prive, Il Lido and Flutes. From the menu, Prive's Christmas eve menu was most interesting and that's where we went...Joining me for dinner were my parents, my sister and niece.

Amuse Bouche

Prive offered a 7 course dinner menu. The dinner started with an amuse bouche: a cherry tomato stuffed with cream cheese, sprinkled with chopped pistachios, over a pesto base and some cracked red pepper. I guessed this was the chef's play on caprese salad. Given it was not summer, the tomato did not have the bright flavor to carry the dish. Still, it was a good concept and well executed dish.


Citrus-cured Tasmanian Ocean Trout, served chilled with Soy Dressing, Marinated Cucumver and Ikura


Compressed Watermelon Salad with Cherry Vine Tomatoes, Strawberries and Sangria Granite

For the second course, we had a choice of trout with soy or watermelon salad sangria granite. I opted for the trout. The menu describe the trout to be citrus cured, but I was unable to detect citrus flavor. The trout was served sashimi style, cubed and uncooked, with soy dressing. I liked sashimi and really enjoyed the texture and the sweetness of the fish. I had a little taste of the watermelon salad. The greens were tossed with kaffir lime leaves based oil, giving the greens a lot citrus feel without the acid.


Pan Seared Hokkaido Scallops with Ikura, Custard, Asparagus Ribbon and Beurre Blanc

The third course was scallop, pan seared and served topped with salmon roe. The kitchen showed its execution with a delicious beurre blanc sauce. The scallop was well cooked, with a hint of crust outside and tender inside. It was accompanied by a tempura tofu, wrapped with asparagus ribbon, showing a hint of Japanese influence in the chef's preparation.


Pan Seared Foie Gras with Caramelized Figs, Puff Pastry and Baby Spinach

The fourth course was pan seared foie gras. For health reasons, I seldom ordered foie gras, let alone pan seared foie gras. This dish was also well executed. The foie gras had great texture, with a touch of crispiness on the surface and a soft, melt in your mouth center. The foie gras was lightly salted and not greasy. It was served atop a puff pastery and fig jam. The puff pastery provided a good base to set off the flavor of the foie gras. I only wished the fig jam was a little more sweet to help cut through the fattiness of the foie gras.

The fifth course was the main course. We were given a choice of bracuida(fish), turkey or pigeon. I opted for the fish, while others chose the turkey and the pigeon.


Crispy Skin Barramundi with Caramelized Eschalot, Shimeji Mushroom, Broccolini and Sauce Bordelaise

The barramundi was a firm white fish. The skin side was seared until really crispy. It was served over a small soy sauce, broccolini and shimeji mushroom. The dish had an Asian flair to it. The flavor was well balance. It was a good but not great dish.


Slow-cooked Turkey Breast with Brown Butter, Pickled Vegetables and Glazed Cranberries

I also tried a little turkey. Here turkey breast was brined and probably roasted, then sliced into triangle. The turkey was not dry and had pretty good flavor. I did not try the accompanied vegetables.


French Young Pigeon: Roasted Breast and Leg of Pigeon with Sauteed Baby Carrots, Pocini Mushrooms and Taylor's Port Sauce

I had a tasted of the pigeon too. The meat was quite gamey, but very soft. The skin side was crispy and made for an interesting texture contrast.


Calvados Gelee with Granny Smith Foam

After the main course, we were served a gelee. It was an apple puree piped over pear gelatin. The dish was not too sweet and worked well as a palate cleanser.


White Chocolate Log with Griottine Cherries with White Chocolate Mousse and Cranberry Compote

The final course was dessert. The dessert was a log cake with graham cracker base and white chocolate mousse molded to looked like a traditional log cake. The log cake was garnished with a clear sugar disc, sprinkled with chocolate. The log cake was accompanied with cherry, tart cranberries and garnished with a chocolate straw. It was a good mix of sweet and sour on the plate.

After dessert, we were served tea and coffee with petit four. It was a sweet end to dinner.

The food was of high quality, but I though service level was poor, especially when the restaurant was promoted as a fine dining destination.

The servers were not knowledgeable about the dishes being served. When we were served the gelee, we asked what was in the dish. The wait staff was only able to repeat the name of the dish on the menu.

While we brought our own wine, my sister studied the wine menu just to see what they carried. The server show a hint of impatient while waiting on us.

Finally, and more seriously, I found a hair in my gelee and alerted the server. The dish was not replace, nor were any apology given.


Bridge

The restaurant is located in the marina in Keppel Bay. While the dinning room itself was curtained off, we took a stroll outside the dining room after dinner. The restaurant was located on a small island and we had to drive on a small bridge to get to the restaurant. The marina was being used as a dock and there were many boats in the harbor, which added to the atmosphere.

The food itself was very good. The chef show much creativity in the menu planning. There was good use of Chinese/Asian technique/ingredients to highlight seafood dishes. Overall there was interesting play of texture and good balance of flavor in the dishes.

The menu for the night can be found here. Given my preference for local food while in Singapore, I will probably not come again, but thought the food was prepare well enough, I am willing to give this place a chance to improve their service.