Eating fish in Dresden: Kastenmeirs

I am always impressed with fish in the city of Dresden...the source of fish is either the Elbe River, or to be transported from the harbour...the nearest probably Hamburg, some 500km away. But consistently, the passionate restauranters in the city impresses me with great fish. I have written about the Carousel Bistro at the Bulow Palais and I did return for a fish lunch again...and again Chef Dirk Schroer delighted me with some great fish:



But the topic of today's post is a very specialized fish restaurant in Dresden...the Kastenmeiers.

As one enters the restaurant, the pride of place is the kitchen, which is fully visible, and the aquarium on the counter above:



There is indoor sitting within the restaurant (of course! This is Saxony, where winter temperatures often dip to -10C and lots of snow), but we opted to sit outside because the weather was quite wonderful. 25C on a nice evening.



After a hard day at work reviewing the contents of my book: The Pour le Merite Collection by A. Lange & Sohne, it was time to have a nice glass of champagne before commencing dinner:



So we start with the amuse bouche:



Interesting concoction of a small river fish, I suspect smelt, battered, and deep fried. Quite nice I must say.

For the starters, I had the King Prawns in a salad:



Quite superb. The prawns, which I think were river prawns, were very large, succulent. And grilled to perfection. The salad which accompanied is also quite excellent...fresh.

We selected a local (to the region) white wine for our dinner. We seldom hear much talk about German wine other than the Reislings and Gewurtztraminer...mostly sweet German wine from the South. But in Saxony, they have been harbouring some pretty serious contenders to the Chablis and Sauvignon Blancs.



The hue of the wine is interesting...a pale shade of straw, with a blush of pink



Made from 100% Pinot Noir grape. The wine is refreshingly fruity. On the nose, an aroma of citrus, ripe apples and pears. On the palate, a bit dry, but excellent finish, and refinement. Even for a 2010 vintage, it showed great elegance, and goes very well with the prawn salad and the fish that was to come.

For the main course, I selected the Dorade...a sea bream from the Mediterranean Sea.

Roasted/grilled whole, the two fishes serves four:


photograph taken under red warming light in the kitchen

Served with a small cup of cream sauce, and a slice of lemon for acid:



For me, I prefer my fish slightly medium rare, with a slight pink at the bone, and lightly cooked so as not to destroy the delicate texture of fish meat...this dorade was delivered medium...cooked to the bone. A little too cooked for my tastes:



Notice the fish meat is already begining to flake, indicating that it is starting to break down. But that did not distract me from enjoying the fish, which was still rather excellent, in spite of that. Smooth, almost creamy texture.

We finished with some espresso and ice cream which I did not photograph.

A worthy restaurant, especially for the elegant interior and great service. For me the fish, which was their raison d'tre was ever so slightly overcooked. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed this fish, but I prefer the gentle hand of Dirk Schroer, whose fish was perfectly cooked. This is perhaps a matter of taste, as my German hosts loved the dorade.



Kastenmeiers
Tzschirnerplatz 3-5
01067 Dresden
Telefon: +49 (0) 351/ 48 48 48 01
E-Mail: info@kastenmeiers.de
http://www.kastenmeiers.de/



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Gourmet coffe in Singapore: its looking up...here is another: Soho7

I am glad that the coffee scene in Singapore is finally maturing. With the arrival of Oriole a few years ago, and the arrival of Papa Palheta and Loysel's Toys. I think the coffee scene, has progressed beyond Starbucks and mass market drinks masquerading as espressos. At least, now we have nice espresso at the above places. Fourty hands at a curious place in Tiong Bahru is another of these new entries...Australian styled...so nice lattes, but I found the espresso a bit bitter, and lacking in body. And now another...some 3 months old, just a stone's throw from the old US Embassy (which was the Malaysian High Commission for a while, and now some commercial building)



The roaster...Die Dietrich(?) stands proud with its own bow tie at the corner...in the photograph, right of the roaster is barista Ian, a fine young fellow, still honing his roasting craft. We had an espresso and a latte this afternoon...the beans were a blend called Harmony...
Brasil, Ethopian, Indian beans. But the roast was only done yesterday! Too fresh. Need a bit more time to breath.

His stash of beans



So starting with my espresso:



A bit tart, probably due to the fresh-ness of the beans. The dark crema is a bit foreboding...the body of the coffee a bit lacking. Especially when compared with the smooth, rich, syrupy espresso (even more so ristretto) at Papa Palheta.

But mixed with milk, as Ian recommends, the brew is more palatable.



They serve food there too...and we had a Double Burger...with two patties...



The burger is large...I mean LARGE. More than enough for me, and good to share. To be fair, they offer a single patty burger, and also a triple patty burger. I found the patty to be quite nice...roughly chopped beef, lean chuck I am guessing. With loads of vegetables, some fresh, some pickled. Lovely!

We also had the steak and salad sandwich



Messy...:-)...but heaps of heaps of vegetables, piled on a slice of steak, and bacon, hiding within three slices of wholemeal toast. Quite nice...except the steak was a bit tough...perhaps erring too much on the side of providing a healthy meal...but much too tough for our liking. The rest of the sandwich was ok.

And they serve a nice spread of all day breakfasts...we tried the eggs benedict



Beautifully done. Poached egg was perfectly done...runny inside. On a beautiful toast, and two slices of ham with a nice serving of salad on the side. The Hollandaise sauce was quite good. I enjoyed this.

Nice little place...gutsy for joining the fray to try and serve good, hand crafted espressos and coffes. And good, hearty food. Will return for more.




Soho7
36 Armenian Street
soho7cafe@gmail.com
8389 7877 6634 5779

Kha: innovative modern Thai cuisine

A few years ago, when the HortPark first opened, I chanced on a restaurant at the park, very quaint and nicely designed. I tried only the phad thai, and found it to be quite good...not classical phad thai, but more avant garde - with the clever use of ingredients.



So when I received an invitation to do a tasting at Kha at its new location at 38 Martin, I jumped at the chance. So, bear in mind that this is an invited review.

Owned by the same people who also own Jia - a wonderful boutique hotel in Hong Kong, the decor was modern, but distinctly Thai.



Showing the main dining room...from the photograph left, there is a small door which opens into Kha's sister restaurant - Graze, and Australian inspired eatery.

They also have a small private room, perhaps sitting 12, and nicely decorated:



We started with the two signature welcome drinks...the first...with a mocktail name of Ruby Starlet



Made with lychee juice and fresh lime juice, frozen like an icee...and dressed with promegranate and fresh mint leaves, the drink is just perfect for a hot, humid day. It was superbly refreshing.

We also trie dthe other mocktail...the Dragon Eye...



Made with lychee juice and fresh lime juice as well, but trimmed with a nice big lychee and fresh mint leaves. Interestingly though both the drinks are based on lychee and lime, they tasted different. The Dragon Eye was a little sweeter, but also very refreshing, though I prefer the Ruby Starlet as a great aperetif and respite from the outside.

We tasted 3 appetizers and 3 main courses...so off we start with the appetizers.

Wagyu beef salad:



This is a typical twist to tradition. Beef salad is quite a typical Thai salad...but the use of wagyu in place of local Thai beef (or even Australian Angus in the more upmarket eateries in Bangkok) is a nice twist. The wagyu is cleverly grilled just shy of medium rare - the only way to eat wagyu without spoiling it with overcooking. The julianned vegetables - I tasted mango, cucumber, carrots. Nicely done.

We also tried the crab cakes



Called Tod Man Poo...the traditional name for crab cakes in Thai, the cakes tasted more like very good Californian crab cakes than traditional tod man. The dish was served with a green mango salad.

And the third appetizer was a rather interesting deep fried chilli fritters.



This was interesting. The batter was a bit thick, and very crispy. The chilli was stripped of its seeds, and kind of mild, and stuffed with minced pork. Very tasty, especially when dipped with one of the three sauces. In particular the Malibu Chili is interesting. The other two being Tom Yum Mayonnaise and Lemon Mustard

The dishes are rather generous serving sizes, so order accordingly or be very hungry...:-) At this point, the three of us sharing the meal was feeling a bit full, but then came the main courses:

As a bridge between appetizer and main course is the tom yam kung



A winner for me...this dish was done more traditionally than avant garde. A very large, very fresh prawn sits center stage. And supported by no less than 3 smaller prawns within the sour, spicy soup. Very nice.



Next...the duck curry:



Instead of the more traditional roast duck used in a thick red or yellow curry, this one had grilled duck...with skin removed, perhaps to make it more appealing to the diet conscious, and in a beautiful, luxurious curry.



The curry was very good. Beautiful flavours meld seamlessly with the rich coconut milk. And the duck meat providing nice bite to the concoction. Interestingly, we found whole grapes and lotus seeds in the curry. Eaten with the fragrant jasmine rice, this dish makes the whole lunch for me.

We also had the char grilled sea bass with lemongrass



Though the fish was very fresh...not a big feat these days, especially for sea bass which is farmed nearby and delivered live to restaurants and wet markets. But the grilling was quite expertly done. The green mint sauce a good complement to the succulent fish. However, I find despite the ingenuity shown by the chef and cooks elsewhere, they did not do such a good job at elevating this dish above the ordinary. Don't get me wrong, it is very good, but given the exciting flavours and tastes offered by the duck curry, the fish did not impress me.

The tofu was next:



Known by the romantic name of Papa Adun's Phad Tow Hu...the tofu is wonderfully creamy and rich when you bite into the nice crispy skin. The sauce was piquant and lifts the rich creamy tofu to another level. Very shiok.

We also had a bowl of vegetables, to balance our meal



The baby kai lan was fresh, and nicely wok fried...very lightly cooked so the vegetable remained crunchy.

Then the desserts.

The standard bearer of Thai desserts, the red ruby



This was rather de rigeur. The chestnuts in the red rubies were large, plump and succulent. Only a touch of coconut milk provided some richness. The dish was not overly sweet as many Thai desserts can sometimes be. Nicely balanced.

We also had the grilled mango with lime sorbet, with a thick creamy mango sauce



The mango was very sweet, and goes very well with the spunk and tartness of the sorbet.

And the traditional Mamuang khao niaw



Traditional to the core, but the Kha twist is in the thick coconut milk flavoured with pandan leaf. The mango was sweet and fresh, and goes well (of course! Thousands, perhaps millions of Thais swear by this combination of taste) together.

Overall, Kha serves excellent Thai inspired cuisine. If you are looking for true traditional Thai, either Royal Thai or street Thai, perhaps there are better restaurants elsewhere. But for a fresh look and taste of Thai cuisine, Kha offers a lot to the diner. Beautiful decor. Good service. Great food. The prices are a little on the high side, but not extremely so, given the quality.


Kha
38 Martin Road
www.kha.sg

Luca Italian Restaurant: Home cooking from Tuscany?

Italian restaurants have become a dime a dozen in Singapore...seriously, so many Italian joints? I have tried many of them, and painfully, only a small handful meet the grade when compared to authentic cuisine we get in Italy. Many of the others are Italian inspired...don't get me wrong, these can sometimes be very good...like the Coffee Stars at Dao in Wisma Atria. But when one craves for authentic Italian cuisine, especially the glorious food and wine from Tuscany, there are precious few places to visit in Singapore.

My Florentine friend sent me a sms one evening after he finished dinner...saying that I should go try out this restaurant because it brings home memories of Tuscany for him, I immediately made arrangements to do a dinner with him and his wife.

So with great anticipation, Kin and I arrived at Da Luca...we found out that the chef's name is indeed Luca...and he hails from the town of Lucca in Tuscany. He was previously working in the kitchens of Garibaldi and Gunter's...so he came with impeccable credentials.



He was a fine young fellow, who spoke good English...and while he chatted with Massi and Fran in Italian, he spoke to me and Kin in English and Singlish (lah!).

We started with the burrata cheese salad:



Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese. Made from mozzarella and cream, the outer shell is a solid mozzarella with a soft creamy inside. The cream made the cheese, well creamy and very mild...mozzarella is a very mild cheese anyway...the whole combination, with the blanched spinach and tomato halves is quite excellent, and a wonderful way to start the meal.

We then had the pasta and risotto...for pasta we chose the raviolli in a mushroom cream sauce:



The pasta cover for the raviolli was superbly done...soft, tender, and yet had a very light bite. The inside was filled with minced beef. I found the beef to be a little on the salty side, but my other dinner companions wolfed theirs down. The mushroom cream sauce was superb...rich, luxurious, with a wonderful mouthfeel, and fragrance.

We also had the risotto...also with a mushroom sauce...we realised that we were heavy on the mushrooms this evening...but no matter, all of us loved mushrooms.



This was a superb risotto. Cooked perfectly. Sometimes, risotto is undercooked for the extra al dente effect, providing a slight crunch on the rice on the bite. But not Luca's creation. This risotto was perfectly cooked...each grain of rice has fully absorbed the flavours of the stock, and while still al dente to the bite, is fully cooked. The sauce is very similar to the raviolli sauce, but perhaps a bit less butter, so less rich. One of the better risotto I have eaten for a while. Very good...Brava.

Next was the mixed grill...even though recommended for 2, it was rather a generous serving, so the four of us shared it:



Chicken, pork, sausage, lamb, and very nicely roasted potatos and a sliced portion of a grilled corn. Nice mix. I found the sausage a bit on the salty side again...and had a rather gamey flavour. But the rest was excellent, especially the pork. The lamb was ok, but I thought the lamb at La Nonna I wrote about earlier is better.

And we had a pizza.



With procuitto and mushrooms (again!) and cheese. Very nice, methots. The crust was thin and very tasty. The filling generous. Kin thought it was good, but not exceptional. And I think she was right, though I rather enjoyed the pizza.

And desserts. Kin had the tiramisu...home made, served in a small bowl. For us, it was not spectacular, but nice. But what was spectacular, and indeed one of the best around is the molten chocholate cake with ice cream:



This is one of my favourite desserts, and sadly missed since Sebastian's who used to served the best in my opinion closed. Bakerzin serves a reasonable one. But Luca's tops them all...perhaps even Sebastians. I would rate it as high as the one served at Cut by Wolfgang Puck, but the styles are different. The nice chocholaty crust bursts to a beautiful, luxurious molten core. Heavenly. Superb. Truly Shiok.

Overall, Luca offers a taste of home cooking from Tuscany. It feels like one steps in to the kitchen of someone's home in Tuscany...and allowed to savour the food. Very good, and worthy of several return visits.


Da Luca Italian Restaurant.
1 Goldhill Plaza, #01-19/21
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Da-Luca-Italian-Restaurant/148564715190972?sk=info

Private Dining: Xi Yan in Singapore

The world of private dining is both interesting and sometimes a bit intimidating...no walk ins. Reservations only. Private environments. Often times, a bit on the pricey side...but the promise of a special meal. Interesting and very good ingredients bekons. Hold that thought...

Our local watch group meets about quarterly for some dining, watch chat and just catching up with each other. This quarter, we had decided on Xi Yan...a little restaurant, tucked away somewhere near Tanjong Pagar. The restaurant has no frontage so to speak, the only way in is via a small staircase. But once inside, one is transformed into a very cozy and interesting space.



The decor is quite beautifully done, with big paintings simply placed on the walls almost everywhere. It is quite apparent that the owner must be an art lover. Started in Hong Kong by the celebrity chef Jacky Wu, the concept of private dining is one where instead of going to a restaurant, one visits the chef at his home, and eats whatever he has selected for the day...kind of an omakase.

Fresh flowers adorn each table, and the evening when we were there, we were the only guests, but we were some 22 pax, occupying 2 large tables.



We had the chef's menu, comprising of some 10 dishes...quite a menu...and perhaps I may let the cat out of the bag by saying that the servings were rather generous...so best to come hungry.

Starters...of which there were 3:

First off the house favourite of green house tomatoes in wasabi sesame sauce.



The tomatos were rather large. The set above serves a table of 10 to 12. The wasabi sesame sauce completely envelopes the whole fresh, cooked tomatos. The dish characterises the house style...fresh, good ingredients. Allowed to shine and the taste of the principal ingredient coming through. In this tomato dish, it is certainly a winner! The tomato was fresh, beautifully ripe...so a tinge of sweetness coupled with the characteristic richness but mildly acid tomato flavour. Beautiful.

The next dish was the crispy xiangsu duck with Chinese plum sauce



The dish looked like a dish of prime ribs...but not so...this was the duck appetizer dish. It seemed to me that the skin of the duck was removed, and roasted or fried till crisp. The remainder of the fat and meat was probably mashed, and mixed with nuts, and roasted till cooked, and the crispy skin returned to adorn it. The dish tasted mildly of duck, and the nuts were quite nice. The plum sauce was essential to bring out the flavours as without it was rather bland.

Next, cloud ear with wasabi



Black cloud ear, cooked mildly in a mild wasabi sauce. This dish was particularly difficult to photograph, as the black cloud ear afforded little contrast to show the texture of the ingredient. Taste-wise it was rather light, mild tasting, with the character of the cloud ear shining through with just a hint of wasabi.

At this point, some of us were already almost full, when the waiter - superb chap...knowledgable and very polite, no service faux pas throughout the evening, announded that this is the first of the main courses - the oolong tea smoked chicken with mango salsa.



Excellent dish. Easily my favourite for the evening. The chicken was carefully smoked with oolong tea. Looks like it was roasted, but the flavour and aroma of the fresh oolong was quite apparent on the table. The chicken was only very mildly seasoned, if at all. This was the key feature of the Xi Yan cooking...the flavours of the ingredients allowed to shine with minimal seasoning and salt. The mango salsa lifted the chicken to another level, quite a masterful blend of sweet and sour and spice. Great dish. Most shiok!

The peppercorn crabs were next:



For me this was a bit of a let down. The crab was a little small...we had two for our table of 9. So the meat was not as fat and flavourful as I would have liked...perhaps I have been spoilt by the 2kg Sri Lankan crabs elsewhere. These were rather small. The meat was reasonably tasty, the peppercorn again providing subtle support to the sweetness of the crab. But I wished for fatter crabs.

The zhengjiang spare ribs was next



When delivered to our table, it smells reminiscent of coffee pork ribs. This dish has a rather strong porky flavour. Some may like it, but for me, I prefer a milder, less gamey flavour. The pork was also a bit on the tough side, perhaps a nod towards a healtier dish as it was not as fat and rich as most spare rib dishes.

The fish dish was steamed fish with pickled olive and black bean paste served on a bed of hor fun"



I quite liked this dish. The garoupas were steamed to perfection, and more or less encrusted by the olive and black bean paste. The perfectly cooked done-ness of the fish was not extraordinary in a restaurant of this caliber, but the pairing of the mild pickled olive and black bean paste was quite a stroke of genius. As was serving it on a bed of lightly cooked hor fun. Made the hor fun dish light and not oily. And nicely imbued with the very fresh fish flavours. Another winner for me.

We next had a chicken coconut soup, which I didn't photograph...as soups, especially clear soup like this was rather boring to photograph...it was a clear soup, with a slice of coconut flesh. The coconut was very hard, totally unexpected as I had imagined a soft, tender young coconut flesh to adorn. But the soup was full of flavour. Both the chicken and coconut flavours were apparent, and melded nicely. Not bad.

The final dish was the stir fried mushrooms with picked cucumber.



For me, this was a quintessential mushroom dish. The mushrooms were fresh, and luscious. Very plum and rich flavours...robust even. I hardly tasted the pickled cucumbers, but that was fine...I was luxuriating in the flavours and wonderful texture of the mushrooms.

Desserts was a Japanese black sugar ice cream, which I found as a nice way to cap the meal, but in no way exceptional.

When I arrived at the restaurant, we were introduced to the owner Thomas Choong, who recognized me as someone familiar, and we eventually traced it to a common emplpoyer some 10 years ago. This review is written with this disclosure, and also without prejudice that I know the owner.



As it was a dinner of the horological enthusiasts, we could not resist putting our watches on the table for that table shot....apologies to non-watch collectors. But for those who are, the theme of the evening was watches purchases below S$1000 or pre-1970. For the eagle eyed, there is one watch on this table which breaks both rules...but the excuse for that watch being present is that it is probably the first one to be delivered in Singapore and the owner picked it up just before coming for this dinner.



Overall, Xi Yan makes good on its promise of a light meal, expertly prepared, and beautifully presented in a cozy yet private environment. Highly recommended.





Xi Yan Private Dining
38A, Craig Road, Singapore 089676
6220 3546 (10.00am - 10.00pm)
Email : info@xiyan.com.sg
Reservations only.