Oenotheque by Wine Universe @ Singapore

Recently I've been writing so much on the dining scene in Singapore so much so that I felt as if I am living there! I wished I could because there's just so much good food packed in a 682.7 sq Km compared to the whole of Selangor which is 7956 sq Km. The standards of fine-dining in Singapore is just exceptional.

The rule of thumb eating in Singapore is to NOT convert everything from SGD$ to RM$ or you might never want to eat anything.

Still water from Norway, Bread & Mag (owner)

Oenotheque is one place that you do not want to miss if you are an oenophile like me. I'll tell you why. Three simple reasons - Fantastic Food, Reasonably Priced Good Wines and Nice Ambiance.

I like to sit at the Kitchen counter so that I can see all the action!

How often, do you get to walk into a restaurant and tell the chef "Surprise me" and hoping that surprise does not really turn out to be a horrifying experience?!! Not even glancing at the menu, I told Paul "Do whatever you have to do" and "I eat everything". Let the chef cracks his head and not mine when it comes to what to eat. I'm basically game to try anything EXCEPT exotic animals. Foie Gras is not an animal btw. 'Nuff said.



Well, the first dish - the sauteed duck liver with grapes, apples and balsamic appeared to be something I've never tasted. It's an interesting combination of savoury duck liver paired with the sweet citrus notes of apples and grapes. The balsamic sauce with hints of apple cider is just invigorating. Then, the apple foam completes the dish. It's not just the taste that lingers. The layering of textures is very creative because you get the foam, the soft duck liver, and the crunchy apple bits.

Before moving on to the second dish, wines is a must here and they don't call themselves Oenotheque by Wine Universe for nothing. The first bottle was a Chateau Lafleur Beausejour 2005 from Cotes de Castillon appellation. It's a dry, medium-bodied Carbernet blend bordeaux with sweet fruit notes and well-balanced soft tannins. At less than SGD$100 a bottle, I think this is a very affordable and reasonably priced wine (at a restaurant).

Wines & Chocolates hand in hand.

The second bottle of wine is the Domaine Charvin 2005 from Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This grand vin from the Southern Rhone Valley is an example of a good blended wine with more than 13 grape varieties. You'll find heavy notes of cherry and berries with herbs in this wine and modest tannins too. This is a superb wine and it's drinking quite well now as we speak. It's suave and silky that even Parker gave it a 93 points. At SGD$150, it's quite worth every penny.

To make the dinner experience more worthwhile, I brought the Valrhona chocolates. I've read that chocolates goes very well with wine. I had been wondering whether the chocolates enhances the taste of wine or was it likewise. To start of with, I had 4 different types of chocolate ranging from 50% cocoa to 70% cocoa and I found that the Manjari (at 64%) goes exceptionally well together with wines. It's not too sweet nor too bitter. I found that the wines actually enhances the taste of the chocolates!



The second dish that was served - seared Hokkaido scallops, pork belly, cauliflower puree and shallot jus. Wow, the scallops was done perfectly. It's not overcooked and the juiciness is intact. Funny enough, it goes very well with the bisque. I never thought that I would practically licked my plate clean because I am not a fan of cauliflower. Wash that all down with a glass of wine, kick back, relax and wait for the next dish.



This is another highlight of the menu. It's a quail, prepared in two ways, with confit tomatoes, fine herbs and shallots. The quail is just ooh la la... It was tender, bursting with flavour and I love the pinkish colour it revealed when I did a cross section on it. I really enjoyed this dish. As when they were serving mash potatoes for the other patrons, I can't help but felt a sudden craving for some. So I asked Paul if I could have some and he gave me a bowl. OMG, it was so good! I can believe I felt to satisfied with a bowl of mash.

Paul Longworth - Head Chef

The night is of course still young. It was dessert time. I saw Paul taking out a plate of creme caramel. He knocks the creme caramel out, looks at it and then threw it into the dustbin. He took another one, pours it out, look at it and then told the staff that there'll be no creme caramel tonight. Intrigued by this, I asked him why. He then asked me to taste the caramel. It was bitter! Then he told me that by looking at the colour, he knew it was bitter and thus he can't serve this to his guest. That is why I think this would be a restaurant that will be very successful in the long run because they will never compromise on quality.

Then, for dessert, he asked if "Are you adventurous?" Hmm... Well, I said, bring it on! Something with chocolates please. Profession disease.



This dessert might look like any ordinary ice-cream but... it's not! It's Valrhona chocolate ice-cream with olive crumbs and served with smoked beetroot sauce. Guess what smoke they used? It's Cohiba cigar smoked sauce. How cool is that?!! At first I was like "eeewww.. who will eat ice-cream with beetroot sauce?!!" but I was wrong ok?!! It was darn good. The olive crumbs gives it a very interesting texture. It's like chewing on croquants. The boss was complaining that her cigars go missing. Now we know where it went!

The 3 courses I had dinner and a dessert cost around SGD$100-120. A 5 course degustation is available at SGD$88. It's really not expensive in Singapore. Menu here.

At the same time after dinner, I managed to meet some other patrons there and we became friends and smoke some cigars. They treated me to some nice Suntory Yamazaki 12yo and I told them about this dessert and straightaway, a lady ordered it and even she complimented it. It was also Paul's birthday and poor him that he has to work that night because the sous chef can't make it. I was truly happy to be able to get to know this restaurant tucked at a corner opposite The Conrad Hotel.

Hoping to come back soon.

Oenotheque by Wine Universe
9 Raffles Boulevard,
#01-109 Millenia Walk
Singapore 039596
Tel: +65 6338 0717
www.wine-universe.com.sg

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