Gramona Wine Dinner at Tinto - Fantastic Experience

Gramona Wine Dinner at Tinto organised by ewineasia.com immediately got my attention and I immediately jumped on it. Because I love the food at Tinto, it features that distinctive taste of authentic Español cuisine, defining it from other European cuisine. I really feel like I’m transported to Spain when dining here.

And this turns out to be one of the best experiences I have. Talking to the winemaker himself, Leon Gramona, really deepens my appreciation of the wines made. When paired with the amazing food, it’s “wow, wow, wow” moment. I also love how different types of wines (bubbles, signature, white, red, dessert) are brought into the picture to keep things varied and exciting. I can say Gramona wines are definitely my favourite now. And Gramona III Lustros is the best Bubbles. 

The food is my-oh-my delicious and unique. So robust, balanced and harmonised in flavours. Definitely evokes my love for Espanõl food again.

Gramona, Imperial Brut 2018 is lovely bubbles that refreshes the palates with a base note of creamy mousse.

Super fluffy bread with stretchy texture that goes perfectly with the olive oil.

Mini Cevichito Catalan, packed with lots of goodies such as Marinated Red Snapper, Romesco Tiger's Milk and Cherry Tomatoes, is refreshing, tangy and surprisingly creamy. The well-balanced multitude of flavours perk up and spellbind the palates. The Toasted Almonds add a good crunchy texture and earthy tone to this awesome starter.

The bubbles in III Lusteos, 2015, are so fine that they cannot be seen by naked eye. But I can feel them when drinking the wine. So smooth yet so exciting. This kimd of bubbles is formed through 15 years aging of the wine. The quality truly shows here. This is a must-try.

Vieiras Gratinada incites the “oh-my, this is unbelievablely good” reaction from me and wverat the table. Roasted Scallops on the shell, topped with Butter, Cava, Ibérico Ham Cinco Jotas and finished with Gratinated with Machego Cheese is so creamy, savoury and conplex. It’s nothing like I tasted before! It is so amazing in taste with so many distinctive taste notes yet all are harmonised. The mild briny sweetness of scallops actually comes through the myriad of flavours and nutty meatiness of ibérico to be even better.

This is the moment I’m so glad that I sign up for this Wine Dinner.

Taco De Pulpo features Grilled Spanish Octopus with Soft Corn Tortilla, Lemon Aioli, Pickled Spanish Onions and Coriander. So meaty, so flavourful, so exciting in taste. When topped at some of the specialty aromatic spicy sauce, it’s fiery and tantalising. I love this too.

Mas Escorpi is the white featured for the day. And it goes so well with the spicy Taco. It’s a very refreshing experience to feel that aromatic intense spiciness spreading in the mouth and then immediately cooling it down with this wine.

Paella Latina Con Chanchito is a a medley of Bomba Rice, Ají Panca Chiila, Ibérico Pork Jowl, Cured Chorizo, Pork Cracklings and Habanero Chilli Mayo. And it works brilliantly. The texture is awesome in that the fluffy, delicious, starchy rice juxtaposes so well with the crunchiness of the Pork Cracklings and chewiness of Pork Jowl and Cured Chorizo. The taste is robust, bursting with lots of flavours, yet very well-balanced at the sane time.

L'Enclos De Paralba Vi Fi De Masia Negre 2020 has that light aroma of oak that perks up the taste without overwhelming the palates. Yes, I got this too.

Suspiro De  is Traditional Passion Fruit Custard with Meringue and a touch of Cinnamon. This is tanginess, sweetness, creaminess and spiciness rolled into harmony to yield an exciting, lovely dessert.

Dessert wine, Gramona Vi De Glass 2023, is mellow and very balanced in sweetness, exactly how I like it. And yes, I got a bottle of this because it is so good.

Thoughts: One of the best Experiences!

10 Dempsey Road #01-21

Canchita Peruvian Cuisine - Glorious South Amercian Gastronomic Delights

After trying Mexican food for the first time is like discovering a treasure trove of South American gastronomic delights. After this, I’m on journey to suss out places serving South American cuisine. This brings me to Peruvian restaurant Canchita! And yes, yes, I love this gem of a restaurant because it totally satisfies my carving for South American food and brings something new and unique to the table.

The food here is robust and simulating in taste, surprising, refreshing and teasing the palates. And there is an extra unique savoury sweetness that gives the distinctive South American flavour to the dishes. There are lots of seafood dishes featured on the menu, so as a seafood lover, I'm so happy with the sheer number of options available.

It really feels like I'm in Amazon when here due to the foliage covering the entire ceiling, lush flowers and leaves of the topics adorning the wall at the entrance and the full length windows showing the dense topical forest outside the restaurant. It's no wonder that this place is full house on a weekend afternoon.

Service is friendly and casual in vibe. And kudos to one of the male staff who gives very good suggestion like dipping the free flow bread into the soup and boxing up the dessert if I can't finish it.

Peruvian Ceviche is a must try here because it features the freshness and natural sweetness of the ingredients perked up and highlighted by the zest of citrus juice.

I got Christmas Special of Cocktail Rosado Mexicano because I'm in a celebratory mood 2 days before New Year. This dish is decked with so much Lobster meat and prawns marinated in tomato creamy Tiger's milk. The lobster and prawn both have the lovely briny sweetness and that excellent bouncy, succulent texture with middle tenderness. The citrus goodness of the Tiger's Milk, coupled with the spiciness of Habanero Chilli Oil and the freshness plus light pungency of Pico de Gallo (finely chopped tomatoes, onion, cilantro, jalapeño, and lime), makes this dish oh-so-flavourful. I love it so much.

Light fluffy bread drizzled with Olive Oil peppered with an extra hint of special savoury sweetness. It goes very well with the soup too.

Hidden within Parihuela, the traditional seafood soup, is lots of goodies of Fish, Crab Claws, Clams, Prawns, Potato Confit, Cherry Tomatoes and Canchita Corn.

One of most hearty soups filled with so many ingredients that it is hard to rival it.

Whole crab claw added to the soup, and there is three of them! The generosity of the addition of premium ingredients gets the thumbs-up and lots of hearts from me. The seafood is so fresh and sweet that a feeling of bliss welled up in me as I savour the fleshy crab claws and the prawns.

The soup, despite the appearance, tastes more like clear soup with very robust flavours, ranging from tanginess, sweetness, savoury to spiciness. I love this too.

Tres Leches is Traditional Moist Coconut Cake topped with Mixed Berries and light as air Vanilla Cream. The cake is moist and filled with the nutty aroma of coconut, which tastes even richer and better with the cream and the sweet evaporated milk sauce. This cake tastes so sinful and so good.

Stairways to Amazon Room

It is so exciting to dine here because the food here really simulates and pleases the palates at the same time. I'm so eager to introduce this place to my family and friends for them to be surprised by the unique tastes, to let know them how good South American food is and just to enjoy the feeling of dining in the Amazon.

Thoughts: Exciting, Fun and Flamboyant

#9A/9B Dempsey Road

Nearest MRT: Napier

Morsels Restaurant & Private Dining at Dempsey Hill - Lovely Meal at a Lovely Cottage House

Going down to lush greenery surrounded Dempsey Hill, I'm just looking to try Morsels' latest set lunch that looks promising, and in the midst of a nice ambience. But when I slide open the door of a barn-like building and then step inside, I go, "Wow!" So homely, so quaint, so lovely, the place's interior is so different from those of other restaurants in Singapore. This is like a rustic cottage house, filled with pretty handmade crafts, cute ornaments, lots of real fresh blooms (I love fresh flowers ...), seashells, glowing soft lights and solid wooden furniture. This is like the ultimate place to get that feel of being in countryside, with all the comforts. So yes, I end up taking lots of pictures.

Awesome ambience aside, what matters most is still the food here, and it definitely matches up to the ambience, delivering subtle surprises with a myriad of clean and unique flavours. Various techniques of curing and fermentation are employed to extract different kinds of flavours for use in the French dishes, and it works beautifully. I love every course of the set lunch.

Service is outstanding: being very friendly, patient, thoughtful and knowledgeable about the food. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoy myself here.

The pretty trio of appetisers are:

Fresh Seasonal Oyster soaked in citron green tea kombucha vinaigrette and olive gel. Refreshing in taste, with loads of umami and hints of zest. This oyster packs so many harmonised flavours. A very good start.

Second appetiser is Sanchoku Corned Vegetable Cream. Original version is beef, they nicely changed it to vegetarian version due to  my dietary preferences. Within the crispy pani puri contains a delicious lava-like, creamy, savoury custard, perked up by the tanginess of cornichon, a small pickled cucumber.

Mushroom Garum Broth is so comforting to sip on. It is made from extract the essence of fermented mushrooms, resulting in a clear broth that tastes so meaty and earthy. The puff pastry twisty, spinkled with powdered herbs, is a nice crispy accompaniment to the broth.

The Multi-Grain Bread here is filled with the aroma and goodness of grains. The texture is so great, being crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The taste of grains is instantly perked up by the simulating flavours of fermented green chilli butter spread. I love the novelty of the spread here.

Cured Stolt Farm Turbot Carpaccio is clean in taste, highlighted by the array of subtle flavours of smoked zucchini dashi, fermented cucumber gel and 8Gems Caviar. The crunchy texture of iceberg vegetable is such a nice contrast to the carpaccio.

Tender Jeju Abalone with light briny sweetness & also tender Sakura Chicken goes very well with the lightly flavoured multigrain risotto (Japanese rice, California Shortgrain, Bali Rice ...). Puffed rice scattered on top gives a nice crunch to the texture. When trying the risotto on its own, I can fully appreciate the deep flavours of Morsels 4YO doenjang and pickled beets.

Primrose Farm Pork Tenderloin is unbelievably sweet and tender! It goes so well with sauce Rockerfeller, and especially so with kumquat red pepper kosho that lifts up the whole taste. The baby gem is crunchy and delicious too.

Classic French hospitality with sightly sour, nice palate cleanser served.

Apple is one of the best Panna Cotta I ever have. The rice whipped panna cotta is creamy yet light at the same time due to the addition of apple lemon balm kombucha. And the shiso granita is what makes this dessert simply amazing. The refreshing flavour of shiso cuts through the creaminess to elevate the entire taste.

Yummy Petit Fours, and I especially love the creamy and slight chewy nougat with cherry and raisins packed within.

Nice French wine recommended to go with the set lunch.

A very special barn-like door as the entrance to this quaint restaurant. Take note of the sign hanging off the door handle to know if the restaurant is open for business already.

Actually I had heard of Morsels a long time, but didn’t got around to come here. The new set menu introduces a fresh breath that makes me sit up and take note of this hidden gem. Chef Petrina Loh’s unique and creative take on preparation of the food really impresses me. I look forward to savour more.

Thoughts: Wonderful Experience like no Others

25 Dempsey Road #01-04

Nearest MRT: Napier