Le Papillon

I have talked about Anderson Ho's cookbook - Menu Degustation, a couple of times now. I've tried recipes from there and have been relatively successful with them. However, like I've mentioned before, they are not targeted at the amateur cook. And it was a little irritating that much of the measurements were in grams. Irritatingly small quantities measured in grams sure maximises my digital scale and may be more accurate than measuring by volume, but is rather troublesome.

Still, I can't emphasize how much I absolutely adore the cookbook. For the photos and the inspirational combinations of ingredients. It makes me want to be more creative and experimental, instead of always staying within my comfort zone. Plus, that this is a local chef, makes it all the more appealing to me because I've always been a big supporter of all things home-grown.

So when I heard about Anderson Ho's new restaurant Le Papillon, I could not wait to try it out. I kept checking back with their website, but it was unfortunately still not complete. I went ahead and made a reservation for lunch this afternoon anyway.

They had a menu degustation for 80 bucks, which I was tempted to get but decided against because of a goats cheese and watermelon dish. I'm sure it would have been a phenomenal combination for those who love goats cheese, but goats cheese and me just do not go. At all. Not even a little bit.

Instead, I chose an appetiser of Seared Hokkaido Scallops, Herbed Risotto, Asparagus and Morel Mushrooms (pictured top), while my companion had a Foie Gras with some sort of kumquat compote, balsamic reduction, bay leaves and a foie gras creme brulee (bottom). Both appetisers were really great.

The risotto renewed my faith in the world of risottos again, because for a while I just kept eating risottos that seemed a little overcooked. This risotto still had that bite, just the way I like it. Extremely creamy and flavourful, it was amazing with the mushrooms and scallops.

The really interesting bit of the foie gras dish was the creme brulee. It had a crunchy caramelised top with and an interesting flavour. Soft like tofu, and faintly sweet, it had a wonderfully subtle hint of foie gras. I tried just a bit of the foie gras, but perhaps because my standards had been raised by a recent mind-blowing experience with foie gras, I thought it was good but not Fantastic.

But both our appetisers made us very hopeful for great main courses. I'm sure you can see where I'm going from here though.

Crispy pork belly with tiger prawns and green pea mousse was my companion's choice of main course. While the meat was tender and flavourful, I really have a big bone to pick with the 'crispy' skin. It was too hard, to the point that I knew I would develop a headache if I had to finish the entire serving. My poor friend had to do just that and told me afterward that it was getting difficult to listen to me while chewing (!!!!). I was extremely disappointed with this, but the green pea mousse provided some relief. It was perfectly soft with a very fresh flavour. I think green pea haters might even fall in love with this.

Mine was a lamb duo of a braised lamb shank ravioli and herb crusted lamb cutlets, medium rare, in a rosemary jus. Yes, I love my meat and love them bloody. The ravioli comprised of slightly chewy fresh pasta encasing some super tender shreds of lamb. But I was looking for more oomph and more moisture exploding in my mouth. Though then again, I could be overly demanding.

The lamb cutlets parted easily under the slim knife (that wasn't even serrated like a steak knife) and went in perfect harmony with the sweet rosemary jus. BUT ( I'm sure you saw this coming), I've never had such fatty lamb cutlet before. If you thought the crispy pork belly would be packing in more fat than my lamb cutlets, think again. I appreciate that fat does alot for taste, but when it is presented in such huge amounts in a single serving, it can get extremely off-putting, and not to mention, shocking.

Perhaps I had too high expectations from the person behind that gorgeous cookbook. Perhaps I had waited too long to try out the restaurant. Perhaps all the beautiful cutlery and decor had built my hopes so high that when the food fell short of my wishes, it fell hard and bad. I was really very disappointed with the main courses though the appetisers were promising. The service had its highs and lows as well, well-intentioned but executed a poorly. All this added up and made paying the bill a little painful.

I forsaked trying out any of their desserts especially since there wasn't a very huge variety of them anyway. But I hope that today was just a bad day for the chefs as I will be back to give the restaurant another shot, hopefully trying one of their desserts next time.