But more on that later. On this particular day, my very good friends C. and L., whom I have known for almost a decade now (and I'm 20 years old! - that's, like, half my life so far :D) were celebrating their 20th birthdays, and they invited myself and some others out to lunch at Baroque Bistro. Now, I didn't realise this until very recently, but Baroque Bistro is owned by the same Charkos family who run La Renaissance. Well, that explains the superlative quality of the food we were served!
I put it down to my very poor knowledge of French cuisine that I was expecting bistro food to be more or less on the same level as bar food - you know, a big plate of steak and chips, or chicken schnitzel. Or maybe bistro food is kinda like that, and Baroque is the exception to this. I found my dish of the confit lamb shoulder to be extremely delicate, in that all the flavours were distinct and no single one overpowered the others. And so beautifully presented too! Nothing like your steak 'n' chips :D
Confit shoulder of lamb, eggplant, snowpeas, rosemary, lamb glaze, $29
Two of my friends ordered the roast of the day, which turned out to be chicken.
Roast of the day (on Sundays), $25
One of the birthday girls chose a pea risotto, which she seemed to enjoy immensely. I'm not a risotta person (reminds me too much of mushy rice), but I liked the bite that I had.
Risotto (found on the 'Specials' menu) - I think it was $31
And finally, P., who is of a delicate constitution and has a stomach the size of a button, decided for some reason to brave an entire chunk of Wagyu brisket. It was hilarious seeing her face towards the end. I exchanged some of my lamb for a bit of the brisket, and my goodness it was deliciously fatty!
Slow cooked wagyu brisket, pearl barley, broccoli, wasabi, almond butter, $35
We also nibbled on crusty, warm baguette dipped in olive oil throughout the meal. As always, I went slightly nutso on the carbs.
Baroque Bistro has a pretty extensive dessert menu (no surprises there considering the affilitation with La Renaissance), but people had places to go and we disbanded after the last vestiges of our sumptuous meal were mopped clean from our plates.
But I had to get my post-lunch sugarfix some way, and others being present or not, I was determined to get a cake from La Renaissance. Yes, even after the serious amount of protein I had just ingested. I grabbed the only friend who was free to hang around, and off we went!
The extent of my gluttony and greed really shames me at times...but then I just eat a piece of cake to dull the annoying, nagging voice shouting "MODERATION!" in my head. I wanted to try every, single cake that was on offer, and it was only the limited cash in my wallet, rather than limited stomach space, which made me settle for a single serve of the Fleur de lys.
Fleur de lys, $9 (eat-in)
The first bite quelled the voice of reason in my head all right. In fact, it pretty much stopped all other thoughts save the one that went something along the lines of "OMGOMGOMG,keepeatinsogoodgottahaveanotherbitechocolatechocolatechocolate..."
The description of the cake on the patisserie website reads: "Valrhona “Guanaja” 70% chocolate mousse with a creamy “Guanaja” centre, crunchy praline and chocolate biscuit base." I have to say that, after the initial few breath-taking bites, I found myself yearning for more of a texture differential. It honestly felt like I was eating spoonfuls of chocolate ganache towards the end.
The friend I had with me, P.S., showed admirable restraint and opted for a much lighter fruit mousse cake.
Passion de Pierre, $7 (eat in)
"A light creamy passionfruit mousse, with a layer of raspberry jelly, encased in joconde and decorated with fresh seasonal fruit." I managed a cross-sectional shot, and a tiny taste, before P.S. took her time finishing this gorgeous creation.
What a terrific day this was. Good food + dear friends = a Sunday well spent!
0 comments:
Post a Comment