Sunday 31 March 2013

Chef D' Table (Chijmes) | ThumbsForFood

For this year's Restaurant Week, we tried out two restaurants. One of them is Chef D' Table. Do look out for our review on Taratata Bistro soon! 

Chef D' Table is located in Chijmes. Chef D' Table offers modern European cuisine with Asian flavors infused in them. Having heard much positive reviews of the place, we were excited to try it out. 

Dinner at Chef D'table was $35++ for restaurant week. You can upgrade your appetizer to Lobster Bisque at additional cost of $6++ as well as your main course for Angus beef rib-eye at additional $12++. 

Interior of Chef D' Table
As my friends were late for our reservation at 6.30pm, I decided to take a seat inside and wait for them. What I did not like was that the waiters asked me a few times whether my company was arriving soon. They reminded firmly that we could only dine till 8pm as they were expecting other guests at the later time slots. 1.5hrs for fine dining? That just don't resonate well with me. Moreover, it was not stated in the website that we had limited time to dine.

Open kitchen concept

Alright, let's be objective and change our focus to the food. We ordered different choices just to try the different dishes they offer.

Appetizers first...

We ordered a Wasabi and soy marinated salmon. The salmon was marinated as we could taste the soy-sauce-like touch to the salmon. It was really nothing special. The whole dish lacked uniqueness and I was just quite disappointed.

Wasabi and soy-marinated salmon with sesame oil and scallion.
Chili cucumber salad and caramel miso glaze
The smoked duck salad did not meet our expectations as well. The smoked duck was in the form of thin slices and there were probably only 3 tiny slices in the plate. The salad dressing was also not very fascinating. It tasted like balsamic vinegar.

Smoked duck with fresh orange salad, laced with balsamico caramel
For main courses, first up - the beef loin fillet. It was served with mash potato, topped with some crispy sweet potato slices and some asparagus. The sauce is thyme-scented red wine sauce. My friend like the beef as it was cooked quite well and not too tough. The red wine sauce went well with it. It's just that like any French food, the portion is small. I think this is probably the best main course amongst the 3 we tried.

Grilled tender juicy beef loin fillet served with mash potato
I chose confit pork belly. It was supposed to be served with what was described as smashed crispy potato. The sauce is cinammon-pineapple sauce. The pork belly was not what I had expected. I was hoping for a slab of pork belly but this was really more like 2 pieces of Chinese roasted pork presented prettily on the plate. We were really disappointed by the potato. It was really more of a hashbrown and tasted just like the one from the famous fastfood chain. Eating this dish, we did not feel like it was from a restaurant.


My other friend ordered spaghetti with minced chicken and mushroom ragout. I guess it tasted mediocre. No surprise whatsoever. I wouldn't recommend it to people to pick this dish.

Spaghetti with minced chicken and mushroom ragout
Desserts wise, nothing amazing as well.

The Lychee Panna Cotta was the dessert of the day. It was topped with a lychee. Basically, tasted sweet and smooth.

Lychee Panna Cotta

 The soy bean panna cotta, to sum it up, tasted like Soy Beancurd (Tau Huey).

Soy bean Panna Cotta with raspberry compote and crushed nuts
The chocolate trio mousse cake has three layers of which the first is dark chocolate, then milk chocolate and finally white chocolate. Taste wise, nothing special about the cake. Being a dessert lover, I guess I was expecting more surprises and uniqueness. Sadly, it just wasn't there yet for me.

Chocolate trio Mousse cake
Overall, the food was mediocre. I guess I was expecting much more since there were many positive reviews online as well. Guess I would not be returning to Chef D' Table anytime soon.

Exterior of Chef D' Table
Overall Rating: 6/10


30 Victoria Street
#01-29 Chijmes
Tel: 63384898Fax: 63368330



Love, Y

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