17 January 2005
The Business Times

CHERRY GARDEN
The Oriental Singapore, 5 Raffles Avenue, Marina Square
Tel: 6885-3538
Rating: 7/10

In line with the Oriental Singapore's swish new look, the revamped Cherry Garden is a startling combination of uber cool and Chinese tradition. Witness the inky panels, exposed white brick covered with floaty drapes and gleaming chandelier effect from the partially exposed private dining room - and note the Oriental embellishments like an opium bed taking centre-stage.

The food is an extension of this East-West concept - so instead of the traditional Chinese cuisine that Cherry Garden served pre-renovation, it has now incorporated fusion elements like wasabi and foie gras.

Some items we sampled were off the menu, so you'll need to specifically request them if necessary. Those with a fusion bent might be delighted with the deep-fried prawn coated in wasabi cream and served with a piece of pan-fried foie gras topped with a crispy slice of suckling pig skin. The wasabi prawn isn't quite a novelty - Sam Leong of the Tung Lok group created it several years ago - and the trio of creamy prawn, rich foie gras and suckling pig can be a little rich for one's blood, literally.

A less pervasive fusion influence can be found in the double-boiled seafood soup served in a coconut shell, so you get the sweet nutty fragrance as you sip the clear broth filled with cod, scallop, prawn and a crab claw. The honey pork-rib was braised to a meltingly soft texture that broke away easily when you put knife and fork to it, and its rich unctuous sauce married well with the soft white bun that came with it. One successful fusion creation was the chef's version of Sichuan-style chicken stir-fried with dried chilli, served on a piece of flaky puff pastry instead of the usual deep-fried bun. The flaky pastry, once softened by the hot-sweet sauce, creates a lovely complexity of textures in the mouth. We also enjoyed the chef's special beancurd, an eggy custard served in a thick gravy chock full of enoki mushrooms.

The chef's special fried rice was traditional wok-hei goodness which didn't need the addition of foie gras. It also showed the chef's stronger skill with non-fusion dishes, which rather makes one wonder if fusion is really the way to go here. As they say, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Well, there is one reason: its excellent dessert of slippery lime jelly served with diced strawberries and kiwi so sour it makes your mouth pucker up, only to be soothed by the milky pieces of lush coconut flesh underneath, and the quivering mound of tofu jelly on the side.

Whether you're a purist or a foodie with a fusion bent, looks like you can have it both ways here. - By Jaime Ee

Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine
391 Orchard Road, #04-20A Ngee Ann City
Tel: 6736-2118
Rating: 7/10

Desserts from Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine

You can take the man out of a Cantonese restaurant, but you can't take the Cantonese restaurant out of the man. Especially when the man is Crystal Jade alumnus Alfred Leung, whose new Imperial Treasure Teochew restaurant is raking in the customers lapping up his upmarket Teochew cuisine with its distinctively Cantonese touch.

One would expect Teochew food to be a little heavy, but here it's given a delicate approach, to the point that if you close your eyes, you could be eating Cantonese food and be none the wiser. Not that it's bad, because the food is good.

Once you gently get past the restaurant captain to stop recommending you expensive items like a live mouse garoupa at $24 per 100gm, Teochew crab and other exotic delicacies your limited Cantonese/Mandarin can't understand, it's possible to get a reasonably priced meal if you order judiciously.

The Teochew mainstay of sliced goose with beancurd ($14 for small) is an almost sauce-less version - too delicate, perhaps, for those who enjoy the stronger, robust flavours of this favourite dish you would get in a 'real' Teochew restaurant.

While we didn't really fancy the rather oily double boiled watercress soup of the day ($10), the hearty pig's stomach soup with its peppery kick and salted vegetables ($6) was more soup for our buck, and was comfortingly good.

The restaurant's Cantonese leanings mean you get perfectly steamed fish - in our case a 500gm soon hock ($35) that came with requisite Teochew trimmings like salted vegetable and tomato. We also enjoyed the prawns cooked with salted egg yolk ($20) which was rich and creamy yet crispy enough to chew on the shells without choking.

The traditional or nee ($4) or steamed mashed yam dessert was also lighter than usual, and served simply with mashed pumpkin. It also means you can eat it with less guilt. The sweetened tau suan ($4) was mediocre.

At lunch, Imperial Treasure serves faultless Cantonese dim sum with a few Teochew items thrown in like a nutty crystal dumpling.

Or course, if you want to make the obvious comparison - ie, is it better than Crystal Jade - then that may well spark some lively debate. But if action speaks louder than words - there was a crowd milling outside Crystal Jade Takashimaya on Saturday afternoon, while Imperial Treasure was comfortably full. - By Jaime Ee

Passa Passa
30 Maxwell Road
Tel: 6224-9085
Rating: 6.5/10

Japanese curry from hip cafe Passa Passa

It may be a bit of a stretch for an open-air car park in the middle of the downtown area to be called an oasis of tranquility, but the mood at this particular one - tucked behind the former Traffic Police Headquarters on Maxwell Road - is ultra laid-back. It's even more unusual to find a hip cafe there offering Japanese curry, original art and chill-out music - with lots of attitude to match.

A small building at one end of the car park is home to Passa Passa, a three-month-old 'art cafe' owned by Kenji Komuro, an Osaka native who has been in Singapore for about 10 years. Komuro-san was formerly in the cosmetics industry, and Passa Passa (loosely translated, Jamaican slang for 'What's happenin' mon?') represents his first foray into the food business.

The minimalist decor (three tables and a long bench, plus an al fresco area) resembles the sort of arty establishments found in trendy European capitals or perhaps the more fashionable districts in Tokyo. The menu is equally minimal, with five sets (three curry and two fish) on the lunch menu (prices range between $14 and $30). Aficionados of Japanese curry point to the thick gravy texture, its distinctive savoury-yet-sweet taste and varying degrees of spiciness. The accompanying meat is almost incidental, as many people prefer to eat the gravy alone, with white rice. Komura says the curry recipe comes from his mother, and both the beef and tonkatsu (port cutlet) version of the curry we sampled were up to scratch.

Simple items like udon were not on the menu, but are available on request. In the evenings, the focus is on grilled items, cooked at your table (a fish and beef combo for two persons is priced at $50). Chances are the music level will also be cranked up - there isn't a resident DJ but Komuro says guests are welcome to bring their own records (yes, vinyl still rules over here) for a spin on the turntables.

At Passa Passa, the food may be simple (basic, even) but there is plenty of individual charm - of the sort sorely lacking in what has become an all too chain-oriented industry these days. Next to the cafe is a makeshift building housing the 'Liverpool Football Club' - where supporters gather on weekends and match days. It's early days yet, but Kenji Komuro is hoping he'll have plenty to cheer about in the months ahead.- By Geoffrey Eu

2-Door
38 Club Steet
Tel: 6224-4428
Rating: 6/10

moist and tender duck confit from 2-Door

This restaurant's name makes you wonder if it's pseudo-English, but it actually serves modern European cuisine. We found a mixed bag of surprises where the menu was concerned. The restaurant took over the now-defunct Duo last year, and is noted for its wine-friendly approach.

Some of the starters grabbed our imagination, like the crocodile fondue and grilled farmhouse cheese on salad. Alas, the fondue didn't come over a burner, with crocodile meat in skewers, which would have been pretty dramatic. Instead, we almost mistook it for the salad dressing, as it came in a small bowl, and served at the same time as the salad. What does crocodile meat taste like? As they say, like chicken meat, but tougher. For a hefty $16, it doesn't seem worth it to get a few spoonfuls of minced chicken-like (but tougher) croc meat in a creamy, slightly sourish, sauce. No catch of the day, this one.

The farmhouse cheese over salad, meanwhile, is strictly for cheese lovers, especially blue cheese. The milder emmenthal went nicely with the balsamic vinegared greens though. The complimentary mushroom 'cappucinos' - since the soup came in small espresso cups - were a nice surprise. The fragrance of the mushrooms was more concentrated in a cup, though the soup might have been deemed a bit thin, and less flavourful, if it was served in a shallow soup bowl.

Main courses went down better overall, although the serving sizes did lean towards the conservative side, even if they're kinder to waist lines. The duck confit ($28), served with raspberry sauce and lightly-seasoned tagliatelle, was sufficiently tender and moist, with a crispy skin. It had enough lip-smacking fat to cushion the crisp skin, which was a tad salty. The $29 roast rack of lamb (in three smallish-portions) had a nice, crumbly coating, and was done just right. It was complemented well with the sweet onion relish. My dining companion was pleased with her cod papillote ($28) - cod wrapped in parchment and baked - but thought that maybe the fish shrank in the baking process. It was very fresh though, and tender, with the lightest of ingredients used.

For dessert, we were split over our favourite sweets. The hot flourless chocolate gateau ($12) got the unanimous vote for being an all-round pleaser - as light as a souffle but quite sinfully chocolate. The bread and butter pudding got my approval, because it wasn't too rich or sweet, and had perfect texture. But the Illes Fottantes, or snow egg, if you want to be exotic about it, was a disappointment since it was just whipped egg white over vanilla cream, and topped with diced kiwi and strawberry. How '80s, exclaimed the friend, referring to the diced fruit, but she was probably also referring to the cocktail glass it came in.

All in all, 2-Door probably needs to give its menu a more distinctive edge, but we were also surprised at its priciness. Reservations are recommended, but mainly because the restaurant is smaller than usual.- By Cheah Ui-Hoon