Absinthe (Boat Quay): Restaurant Week 2012 | ThumbsForFood

Restaurant Week is in it’s fifth instalment and thistime it’s from 7^th October 2012 to 14^th October 2012.Basically, high quality restaurants from Singapore will serve special 3-courseset lunch and either 3 or 4-course set dinner. Reservations can only make viathe official website.

So, for this Restaurant Week, my friend and I were pleasedto dine at Absinthe. I’m sure French Food lovers would have heard of thispopular fine dining restaurant. It has since moved to Boat Quay from itsprevious premises.

We were greeted by friendly waiters who ushered us to our seats on the top floor of the restaurant. The restaurant consists of 3 main dining areas – al fresco outdoor dining, 1st floor indoors dining and top floor indoor dining. The alfresco dining area overlooks Singapore River. If you love to dine while people watching, choosing the alfresco area would be a good choice.

The menu for Restaurant Week is neatly placed on thetable. Entrees and soup can be substituted depending on the price of the dishyou would like to substitute for. As you can see on the photo below, this waswhat we had to choose from.

As we were making our choices, the waiters promptlyfilled our glasses with iced water and placed 2 slices of bread a piece ofbutter on our plates.

For Entrees, we decided to substitute one of oursalads to Foie Gras (additional $15++). GrilledMarinated Baby Octopus Salad, Mesclun and Olives was really good. The saladdressing went really well with the greens. There was a tinge of vinegar, but,it wasn’t too choking and overpowering that it covered the freshness of thevegetables. Being an octopus lover, I enjoyed the marinated baby octopuses alot. I would say for a salad, it is really appetising and marks a good start tothe meal.

FoieGras,our other entrees, is one of the better tasting foie gras my friend and Itasted. The taste lingers in the mouth. I feel that the sauce berry sauce thatwent with it complemented the oiliness of the foie gras, making me hungrierwith every bite of it. 

Next up, Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup. Mushroom soup is comfort food that warms up the tummy in preparation for the main courses. I think it is not very exceptional, but, tasty.

We paired our food with Chardonnay white wine which goes well with pork, seafood dishes or recipes with creamy or buttery base. 

For our main course, Crispy Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly (photo is precedent) and Black Cod. The pork belly was served with beans and potatoes and aniseed sauce. It is really quite good. For those who do not like to eat fatty parts of a pork belly, not to worry, the fats are minimal and if you remove them, then it would not be as savory. I feel that the sauce went well with the meat and it was fresh, leaving no bad aftertaste. The Black Cod is foamy served with prawn crushed potato. Personally, I did not know how to appreciate the foam. My friend quipped that it felt like soap. The fish was fresh and I like the buttery texture of the cod. I guess for me, I really like the prawn crushed potatoes, you can say better than the cod itself. 

Last but not least, dessert, Upside down Caramelized Apple Cake with Vanilla Cream. I guess the dessert was alright. It was not too sweet which is something that I appreciated. It did not overpower and wash off the lingering taste from the main courses. It was a comfortable way to end the courses. We heard more ravings about the tarts and cakes that were available and would hope to try them one day!

Last but not least, I really like the ambiance in the restaurant. It was relaxing and soothing. The waiters were friendly. I must say the interior of the restaurant was really good with rustic furniture placed around to give the restaurant a vintage feel. We even saw waiters ironing the table cloths of other tables that were empty. It shows ow much thought they put into every detail.  

So, overall, we left with a very good impression of Absinthe. The food is really expensive if you order ala carte. So, I guess we would be dining in if we're up for the set lunches and dinners. We feel that Restaurant Week lunch menu can be made more impressive.

Overall, our ratings for Absinthe: 8.8/10

Must Tries: Foie Gras, Crispy Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly

With Love,

Y.

Absinthe

72 Boat Quay

6222 9068

Mon - Fri: 12:00 - 14:30

Mon - Fri: 18:30 - 22:30

Sat: 18:30 - 22:30