Violet
Herbs - a Modern European restaurant with exquisite dishes deriving
from French and Italian Cuisine. Once I heard of Modern European, the
first thing come to my mind is Heston Blumental, followed by Ferran
Adrià. Although I've never been to the Fat Duck or El Bulli,
watching them created multisensory and sophisticated dishes on Food
Channels, tingle my taste buds.
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| Violet Herbs - The Enterance |
Opened in
December 2014, Violet Herbs are the brain child of Chef Edward Hoe
and his wife Danni. Chef Edward Hoe has more than 19 years experience
in Modern European Cuisine, and being made a head chef at the age of
25. His CV will include executive roles in Fish Market & Bistro,
Restaurant Ember and The American Club Singapore.
We
started our tasting session with Amuse Bouche of Beef Tender with
Madiera sauce and fried saffron. The cubed beef are well-seared and
tender. The sauce is bold and thick, while the fried saffron and
strips of fried egg provide a crisp texture to the dish. On the side,
there is a saffron crusty bread. The saffron flavour on the bread has
a unique taste.
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| Amuse Bouche of Beef Tender & saffron crusty bread |
Mango
Scallops. This dish have a multiple layer of flavours. Creamy yet
subtle Parsnip Puree, nicely seared scallops with sweet mango salsa
on top. To savour this dish, you need to poke the mango gels before
you spread it to your scallop. The potato chip with parma ham suppose
to add to the crispy texture, however this time around it tasted a
bit rancid and the taste of the parma ham seems to be missing. Maybe
skipping the potato chip, just singly use of crispy parma ham will
maintain its flavour yet remains the crispiness.
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| Mango Scallops |
Next was
Parsnip Velouté. In simple English Velouté means thick soup. The
soup was dense, creamy, smooth yet subtle in flavour. This allowed
the freshness of the crab meat, fresh herb and flower petal to stand
out. Unfortunately I can't taste the crumble though.
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| Parsnip Velouté |
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| Parsnip Velouté - Up Close |
Truffle
Foie Gras. This dish was just delightful in my mouth. Accompanying
the perfectly seared foie gras was one hour poached egg. Using sous
vide technique, the egg was cooked in immersion circulator at the
temperature 65°C for an hour. This result in an intense orange
colour yolk and in thicken texture, more gooey egg white with velvety
texture in your mouth. The perfectly poached egg binds well with the
thick Cepes (Porcini Mushroom) sauce and lighter flavour of summer
black truffle. I was actually tempted to ask for second serving
He..he..
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| Truffle Foie Gras |
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| Truffle Foie Gras with oozing yolk |
In
between the heavy flavoured dish, we had Yuzu Sorbet, which was a
refreshing palate cleanser. It can taste a bit sweet, but definitely
prepare our taste sensory for the next dish.
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| Yuzu Sorbet |
Braised
Kurobuta Pork Belly. This dish is not for the faint hearted. Kurobuta
pork is similar to the comparison to Wagyu beef. Meaning high in
marbling (fat content). The pork belly looks fatty, and it just melts
in your mouth. The spicy blood orange sauce helps to balance the
dish, and crunchy asparagus for texture. The fries was double fried,
however I expected to be more crispy.
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| Braised Kurobuta Pork Belly |
Marinated
Red Miso Cod. The cod fish was well marinated with the right amount
of red miso. The fish was flaky and tender. While I have to admit I
don't like to eat eggplant unless they are crispy, I find Chef Ho
manage to incorporate well the mushy eggplant with the crispy chips.
The roasted pumpkin puree gave the slightly intense and sweet flavour
to the dish.
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| Marinated Red Miso Cod |
For a
sweet ending, we had Frozen Nougat. The soft texture nougat was mild
in its sweetness was paired with refreshing lychee sorbet. The
raspberry sauce which almost in dried state with strawberry and
blackberry provide the balancing of acidity to the dessert. A nice
ending to the meal.
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| Frozen Nougat |
I noticed
all the dishes served with either micro herbs, flower petals or
aromatics. While it does not provide a strong aroma to influence the
dishes, the presence and subtle flavours mean a lot to the multi
sensory experience when you are dining at Violet Herbs.
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| The Decor & Dining Set up at 1st Floor |
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| The Bar |
Violet
Herbs has two levels of dining area. On the first floor it has the
purple violet theme, with the bar which served their signature herb
cocktails feature prominently. On the second floor, the theme is more
simple and natural. During the day, there will be lots of natural
light came in from the windows to brighten up the room. Other than
the semi formal dining experience here, Violet Herbs are suitable for
corporate or private functions.
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| The Decor & Dining Set up at 2nd Floor |
Overall,
I really enjoy my dining experience here. I think the decorations and
lightings of the dining area are just right. The food are delicious
and with a little bit more on tweaking the dishes, it will be
excellent. Can't wait for my next visit here. Cheers!!
Thank you
very much to Open Rice and Violet Herbs team for the tasting
invitation.
Food
& Drink: 8/10
Value:
7.5/10
Service:
N/A
Ambiance:
9/10
Budget
per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - 80; $81 and Above
Violet
Herbs
81 Tras Street
Singapore 079020
T: +65 6221 3988
IG: @Violetherbs
OH:
Mon – Sat: 11.30 – 15.00; 18.00 – 22.00
Closed on Sunday (Except for Special occasion)
Menu available online
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