Me and my ex colleagues (turned makan kakis) make it a point to meet up once a year for Christmas lunch. Last year we ate at Restaurant Ember. The previous year, it was Buko Nero. Both lunches were nothing short of spectacular.
Needless to say, deciding this year's venue was challenging. After ploughing through several food blogs and websites, we decided on Sage Restaurant. The restaurant has a similar setup to Ember and Buko Nero- it is helmed by a husband and wife team. Hubby cooks while wifey serves. In Sage's case, the couple is exceptionally young- the guy is only 30 years old while the lady is 26.
Since its inception, the restaurant has already received several thumbs up from various local culinary critics. As it was our first visit there, we decided to play safe and order from the set lunch menu. The choices are not as varied as those from Ember although initial prices seem similar (a 3 course set lunch costs SGD38). To our horror, a closer examination of the menu revealed that many of our favored choices required further top-ups. We don't mind topping up an additional amount for foie gras but topping up an additional SGD15 for cod and SGD5 for chocolate fondant seems a tad too exorbitant in my humble opinion. My 3 course meal of mushroom cappuccino (starter), cod (main) and chocolate fondant (dessert) effortlessly catapulted to close to SGD58 (before tax and service charge)!
Complimentary warm herb bread was served on the onset. Staff seemed harried and were zipping around with expressionless faces. The accompanying olive oil, vinegar and cold slabs of butter were divine. The bread was nice but seemed a little too rubbery in texture.
Most of us started off with mushroom cappuccino. Served in a cup, it was thick, wispy and utterly delicious. The hints of cappuccino added a wicked twist to the harmless looking liquid.
For main courses, some of us ordered the cod while the rest had duck confit.
The cod was perfectly grilled and was served atop a potato base with an accompanying jade green sauce. I appreciated the subtle cognac undertones but wished that the cod had been more robustly flavored.
Needless to say, deciding this year's venue was challenging. After ploughing through several food blogs and websites, we decided on Sage Restaurant. The restaurant has a similar setup to Ember and Buko Nero- it is helmed by a husband and wife team. Hubby cooks while wifey serves. In Sage's case, the couple is exceptionally young- the guy is only 30 years old while the lady is 26.
Since its inception, the restaurant has already received several thumbs up from various local culinary critics. As it was our first visit there, we decided to play safe and order from the set lunch menu. The choices are not as varied as those from Ember although initial prices seem similar (a 3 course set lunch costs SGD38). To our horror, a closer examination of the menu revealed that many of our favored choices required further top-ups. We don't mind topping up an additional amount for foie gras but topping up an additional SGD15 for cod and SGD5 for chocolate fondant seems a tad too exorbitant in my humble opinion. My 3 course meal of mushroom cappuccino (starter), cod (main) and chocolate fondant (dessert) effortlessly catapulted to close to SGD58 (before tax and service charge)!
Complimentary warm herb bread was served on the onset. Staff seemed harried and were zipping around with expressionless faces. The accompanying olive oil, vinegar and cold slabs of butter were divine. The bread was nice but seemed a little too rubbery in texture.
Most of us started off with mushroom cappuccino. Served in a cup, it was thick, wispy and utterly delicious. The hints of cappuccino added a wicked twist to the harmless looking liquid.
For main courses, some of us ordered the cod while the rest had duck confit.
The cod was perfectly grilled and was served atop a potato base with an accompanying jade green sauce. I appreciated the subtle cognac undertones but wished that the cod had been more robustly flavored.
The cod is a little too bland for my liking...The duck confit elicited a mixture of oohs and aahs when it arrived. The portion was generous and well worth the additional top up of SGD8. The piece de resistance was its crispy caramelised skin, which left a satisfying fatty aftertaste in the mouth (akin to eating german pork knuckles). The duck meat was stringy but full of flavor. We also enjoyed the bed of braised cabbage hidden under the duck leg, with a number of us likening its taste to "mei cai kou rou". I wish I had ordered duck confit as my main course instead.
Order this if you have a hearty appetite and like fatty crackly meat...Perhaps the greatest letdown of the meal was the chocolate fondant. Being chocoholics, all of us unanimously ordered this item as dessert. It was very pretty and came with a scoop of pistacho ice cream and a shot of vanilla creme. Unfortunately, tastewise, the fondant failed to impress with its jarring sweet and bitter cocoa undertones which did not fuse seamlessly together. The outer crust also came across a little too dry.
the biggest letdown of the meal...
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