Quenino - Delightful Southeast Asian Cuisine

I'm back at Quenino again, after an amazing dinner and an awesome lunch at here. I'm all excited to try the new menu. This is one of the restaurants that I will visit again because of the unique and awesome experience of savouring dishes with robust flavours with Southeast Asian flair. And this time, the experience is just as wonderful with the distinctive, delicious dishes, stylish ambience with Southeast Asian influences and great, attentive service.

Seasonal Amuse Bouche for an exciting start

Green mango and shrimp has a balanced mix of sweetness and sourness to yield a refreshing taste that opens up the palates. A very good beginning!

Deep fried octopus topped with coriander and sesame showcases the mild milky briny sweetness of octopus tempered with earthy flavours, which makes it tastes better and more complex.

Pickled tomato is tangy and refreshing with hint of sweetness.

Yellowtail with Kingfish, Pickled Mustard Green, Green Chilli, Gooseberry, Jicama is like the best salad I ever have. Sprinkled with spiced snow, it is full of flavours and different textures. The spiciness, sweetness and tanginess are all robust in flavour to create a strong impression and in right measure for a good balance of flavours. With these flavours, the fish tastes extra sweet. The aroma of Szechuan pepper and green chilli also elevate the taste, Southeast Asian style.

Scallop surrounded by Dragon Chive Custard and Tamarid Chilli Oil, topped with grated Yacón and Caviar, has this exotic super sweetness tempered with spiciness and creaminess. The texture is amazing due to the contrast between smooth custard and crispy chips. This is so good.

The next dish, taste wise and visually, incites the "wow" from me. River Prawn is so huge, plump, juicy and bouncy. The Southeast Asian flavours are done perfectly. The umami sweetness and tangy exotic taste of Taramind work so well together. This dish is full of flavours elevated by the floral sweetness of Mango. Brussel Spouts add good crunchy texture.

Strawberry sorbet with shaoxing wine features sweet strawberry with hint of tangy taste and a dose of savoury goodness. This is one awesomely good palate cleanser.

14 Days Dry Aged Duck with Cumin, Sambal Ijo, Angelica Herb and Cous Cous is so delicious. The thigh meat of duck is mixed with spices, minced and stuffed into breast meat for a variation in taste and texture. This is so meaty and tender with a hint of sweetness. The herbal taste and the rice-like Cous Cous reminds me of duck rice. This is the best duck rice, like a local delight with complex, hearty, refined, elevated, balanced taste.

"Fried Rice" Mui Fan paired with XO sauce that is made from scallops and green chilli. This dish is packed with different flavours. There are various options to enjoy the porridge-like rice with, like Chinese Olive, Cucamelon, Ham Floss. Some of the pairing ingredients have this lovely exotic Southeast Asian pungency. It is so satisfying to savour.

Quenino's Cereal Bowl 70% Johor Chocolate, Horlicks, Kulim, Pugged Grain, Sunflower Seed, Sesame, Garlic has a surprisingly exotic taste and a touch of savoury taste makes it so good.

Petite Fours made with Ginger flower features four different cute cakes or candies, which are distinct and different in taste, peppered with spicy pungency of ginger flower.

The Financier cake, Peach gum and Bon Bon are all so good.

Thoughts: Delightful Southeast Asian Cuisine with such Distinctive, Varied Taste

9 Cuscaden Road, Level 4

Quenino by Victor Liong - Beauty of Rich Southeast Asian Flavours

I’m back again at Quenino by Victor Liong! I have been wanting to come back as I love the myriad of Asian flavours featured in meticulously prepared dishes that were presented in European dining style. In fact, I went to all the restaurants in Artyzen due to how impressed I was with the food, luxurious Southeast Asian ambience and excellent service at Quenino.

As the meal progresses, the unique and beautiful taste of the dishes actually acutely reminds me why I love dining: To experience gastronomic surprises and be spellbound. I can feel the lots of care and love put in the food here because of the sheer number of exotic ingredients added to yield a medley of hamonised distinctive balanced tastes.

The service is as top-notch and outstanding as ever.

This restaurant is definitely of Michelin standard. A must-try for foodies and anyone who wants to experience the best of Southeast Asian cuisine.

Amuse Bouche looks so pretty and tastes so refreshing and unique with pickled root vegetables.

Pumpkin Egg Tart Sambal Belado features the beautiful creamy umami taste of Southeast Asia that is just so magical. The tart base adds a good texture and base to complement the creaminess. I’m spellbound at first bite.

Ama-Ebi Cracker with Malayan Pasembur, Macadamia and Calamansi is the lovely marriage of the sea and earth. Lots of mild flavours, from zest, savoury kick to sweetness, contained within for a complex, well balanced taste. Excellent texture too where crispness juxtaposes so well with the springy texture of the raw prawn.

Baby Cucumber with Caramelised Lemongrass Chilli, Kaffir Lime and Finger Lime is vegetarian but can rival any meat dish. So earthy, so intense and so refreshing.

Raw Spencer Gulf Kingfish with White Fungi, White Radish, Burnt Garlic, White Soy Cream is unbelievably good. My first thought at first mouthful is "How can it be this good?" It is so, so good that I swoon silently in delight. And I marvel at the uniqueness of the taste. The fish tastes creamy, tangy and fresh at at the same time. And there is a spark of pure sweetness hidden within that surprises and tantalises the palates.

I do wonder if House-Made Flatbread, Full-Blood Wagyu, Green Chilli will be too gamey in taste due to the description of “Full-Blood”. The dish turns out to be so well-balanced in taste. Meaty flavour of waguy is balanced by the spiciness plus pungency of green chilli, tangy flavours and super fluffy flat bread. Another outstanding dish.

Indonesian mango with chilli oil is unique and refreshing, full of floral creaminess. Mosr unique and best palate cleanser.

Threadfin with Kokum Pearl Meat (meat of a kind of pearl producing clam), Garlic Shoots, Shrimp Floss Samphire Garam Masala is so full of goodies. Indonesian mangosteen is uniquely added to balance the creaminess with its mild zest so as to highlight the sweetness of the fish. The crunchiness of the vegetables makes it even better.

Dry Aged Lacquered Duck has a crispy honey glazed skin that juxtaposes so well with the succulent flesh. Experience duck with four different flavours by wrapping with different ingredients in the thin fermented Rice Pancakes. The gamey taste of duck is cut through and rendered sweeter by the pungency Coriander Seed and other herbs, plus the zest and spiciness of Sambal Ijo. Superb combinations.

This is the most unique and best duck dish I ever have. Another must-try here.

Taro Ice Cream Sweet Potato and Roselle has lots of textures, creamy and earthy flavours. Fermented Rice Wine introduces an exciting kick to the taste and hold together the different flavours. Most outstanding Ice Cream I ever have.

Petits Fours astound me too with the unique creations such as Glutinous rice Cake with Coconut Cream, Tamarind Caramel and Dark Chocolate with a special Ganache.

Excellent recommendation of sparkling 100% Pinot Noir. I totally love it.

Wine from China for the adventurous me. It's actually good!

Got a tasting of the rare Ice Wine. It is fruity and sweet, and more intense in taste.

Thoughts: Southeast Asian Gastronomy at its Best

9 Cuscaden Road Level 4

Tribal Dining - Little Exotic Surprises that Excite and Enchant

This restaurant is no longer in operation

As I always have a love for fusion food and have so far been really impressed with the repertoire of restaurants in Mondrian Hotel, Tribal Dining naturally goes into my wishlist. And a visit here cements that love and reminds me of why I have a preference for fusion cuisine. I love the food so much that I add-on two appetisers to my lunch course, which is of good value given the high quality of the ingredients and food.

The food lovingly combines the rich flavours of Asian food and the delicate meticulous preparation of European cuisine, spices up with tribal theme of fire, wood and grill to serve up food with familiar yet unique at the same time, delicious flavours. The core ingredients are flavourful and succulent, featuring that lovely natural sweetness. The accompanying condiments, such as laksa leaves, kaffir lime, elevate the dishes to another level. Savouring the food here is like enjoying the breeze, the smell of ocean and sight at the beach, and then out of nowhere, I catch a surprising whiff of BBQ aroma. I don’t expect it but I’m sure loving it.

The place is exactly like its namesake “Tribal”. In the space full of modern sensibilities and classiness due to the  dark furniture, dark walls, classy tableside lamps with soft yellow lights, polished metal finishings and grey plush sofas, the distinctive touches of tribal elements blend seamlessly into it. Rattan curtains, ornamental rattan roof and brick red walls make this space unique and immersive.

The service is excellent: professional, friendly, attentive and makes very good recommendations on wines, thus making this dining experience an absolutely awesome one.

Hamachi Crudo with charred orange ponzu features the sweetest yellowtail, I totally mean it in a good way. It is that kind of meaty sweetness tempered with brininess, which develops into a savoury sweetness as I chew on it. Pickled jicama refreshes the palates and provides that crunchiness, thus going perfectly with the meat, Ikura added adds an extra oomph of briny goodness.

Clarence River Prawns with smoked chicken fat is so plump, meaty and succulent. Imbued with smoky goodness, it tastes so good in its own rights. And it tastes unbelievably awesome with hints of zesty pungency of laksa gremolate and wasabina. It’s a moment of eyes widening and going “Oh my, what’s that? It tastes amazing!” Definitely my favourite.

Bouncy, juicy scallops with smoked roe, roasted chicken reduction, duck prosciutto and allium oil successfully combine the soft briny sweetness of scallops, a touch of smoky goodness and earthy meatiness of duck to create a dish full of nuanced, distinctive flavours.

Iberico Pork Chop is bursting with robust flavours of kampot pepper bbq sauce and smoky meaty sweetness of iberico pork. The meat is so juicy and tender, completed with a good firmness for great bite. This is one excellent pork dish.

Mango Bavarois is Southeast Asian’s panna cotta with a lovely medley of coconut, pandan, kaffir lime, shikwasa (a type of tangerine that looks like lime) and gula melaka ice cream. It is so unique, exotic, well-balanced in taste and good that I relish very spoonful of it.

Lovely fruity wine.

Light, mellow red, which is exactly how i like my reds.

Thoughts: Excellent Exotic Surprises that Amaze!