Restorante Otto: a gem in Italian cuisine

Otto has been one of my favourite Italian fine dining restaurants. Always appropriate, always excellent cooking.

This recent visit, on invitation by Omega Watches in a dinner to show their latest BaselWorld collection, was no different. Except for one dish, which while still ok, did not make the cut of the other excellent dishes served. 

The dinner was a degustation menu. Let me start with the wines. The white is an old favourite from the region of Langhe. 

Nice, dry, with sweet notes, apples, pineapple. Very good with the starter, which were giant white asparagus with parma ham and Montasio cheese gratin.

Very good. I am reminded with the Spargel Konig in Germany when I was there for the whole month of May in 2010. Very nice indeed. And complimented wonderfully with the saltish and savoury parma ham.

The second course was a pan fried foie gras

Magnificent. Two rather large slivers of a top grade foie gras. No veins, all smooth, wonderfully aromatic and fantastic mouthfeel. The tiny drops of aged balsamic vinegar providing a nice counterpoint by cutting the fat.

The ravoili was next

I loved this as well. Dutch veal in ravioli. The meat was very nicely balanced within...bursting as one bites into the ravioli. The pasta itself was perfectly cooked...a nice al dente.

We also had a seared kingfish, but that dish was a letdown after the amazing appetizers, and what was to come next. No pic of the fish. 

But the mains of suckling pig was superb

The very crispy skin of the suckling pig, lacquered with black locus tree honey and aged balsamic vinegar. The meat was also extremely tender, and flavourful. Very good main course which went well with the red wine chosen for the evening.

Not really a wine I am familiar with, but the Vigneto Gallina Vursu Reserva 2006 was quite superb. Dark, fruity, crisp barbaresco, the wine paired perfectly with the suckling pig. 

For dessert, a dark chocolate cake

Served with Haitian vanilla ice cream. The chocolate was as chocholate usually is...marvellous. Dark, a tinge of bitterness but clothed with sweetness, and a rich, oozing mouthfeel. Great way to end a wonderful meal.

Highly recommended for a great Italian meal. And thanks to Omega for hosting.

Restorante Otto

28 Maxwell Road,
#01-02 Red Dot Traffic Building
Singapore 069120

Reservations strongly recommended
Telephone +65 6227 6819
Fax +65 6227 8350
Email info@ottoristorante.com.sg

Chef d'Table at CHIJMES

A western themed restaurant...tucked in CHIJMES. Small, cozy, comfortable. This is Chef d'Table.

In the interest of a full disclosure, the restaurant is owned by the family of a good friend. But the views expressed are totally mine, and I hope not biased by friendship. I know my friend would want no biasness in my review.

The bar outside is fully stocked, but we brought our own wines

We started with appetizer of chilled angel hair pasta, perfumed with white truffle oil, tossed with ebbiko and konby with a sauteed garlic prawn

Excellent. Reminds me very much of the signature dish at Gunther's, but with a twist. Less luxurious as in the place of caviar, ebbiko is used. And two beautifully cooked and fresh prawns adorns. Very nice.

The next course was a lobster bisque cappucinno

Very good. Strong lobster bisque flavours. Served very hot. My only complaint on this soup? I wish it had larger chunks of lobster meat within...but mainly I wished the soup were bigger. I was later told that a regular a la carte serving would be on a soup dish, and a larger serving size. But we were there for a banquet like event...some 30 pax, so the portion size was reduced to meet our very specific budget. Anyway, excellent soup.

For mains, I had the grilled US Angus rib-eye steak, with grilled asparagus and crispy fried eggplant with a shallot red wine veal jus

The meat was excellent. Again, I wished for a larger portion. I prefer steaks which are at least 1-1.5 inches thick, so the doneness can be perfect...charred on the outside, medium for the inside, with a tinge of medium rare at the core.

As steaks go, this was quite good. The ribeye was tender, juicy, well marbled. The accompanying vegetables were excellent. And though I am not a jus fan, the sauce went very well with the steak.

For dessert, baked filo pastry, wrapped caramalized banana with almond and crumble with a warm chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream

I found this to be magnificent. The pastry was light, crisp and fluffy. The banana within beautifully cooked. The entire dish, being a dessert provided a wonderful sweet ending to the meal...but not too sweet...just right. The vanilla ice cream added a dimension which transforms this dessert.

The chef...Jason was an quiet, unassuming man...but quite accomplished in the kitchen.

Overall, highly recommended restaurant. Beautiful surroundings and romantic atmosphere complemented by truly excellent cooking.

Chef d'Table
CHIJMES
#01-29
30 Victoria Street
11.30am – 2.30pm
6.30pm – 10.30pm
Closed on Sundays

Postcards from Germany: Heidehof again...

As Heidehof is my home for the next 3 weeks, and we are a bit away from the great city of Dresden (19km), I spend most dinners when I do not have company in Heidehof's own award winning restaurant.



The wall of awards, including from Gault Millau and Michelin. Not bad for a little hotel in the middle of nowhere...from the vantage point of the hotel's garden, its basically miles of plains.

This evening, the amuse bouche was a tortellini of spinach.



Quite well done...I can tell that the chef is trained in an Italian kitchen. The tortellini is totally made from scratch. The pasta was just nicely done...with a minutest of bite like fresh pasta can be, and the filling was creamy, and bursting with flavour.

My main course was a pork schnitzel, with white asparagus:



The asparagus was superb. Fresh, as it is asparagus season now. Blanched just right, and smothered with an orange cream sauce. Shiok. The schnitzel was a rather large slice of lean pork, breaded, and fried golden brown...perfectly done. The pork was lean, but flavourful, and sufficiently tender not to be sinewy or tough, and the bread crust was wonderful, crispy golden brown.

My dessert was two scoops of vanilla ice cream with balsamic cream sauce:



The vanilla is regular vanilla ice cream...rich, a bit less sweet than many, but not unusually so. The balsamic cream made all the difference. It had a sharp, almost tart bite, and provided the perfect foil for the rich vanilla ice cream. Superb.


Landhaus Heidehof
Hohe Strasse 2
Dippoldswilde
Germany



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