Friday, March 27, 2009

Persimmon

Towards the end of the night, we were a mix between infused and confused. In between, there was a year's supply of coconut milk swimming in our stomachs.

Having visited their informative website that came with an attractive ala carte buffet menu, the next best thing to do was to make a reservation.

We did what we had to do. With reference to the food and beverage chapter in the kiasuism survival guide, we starved the whole day in preparation for a fusion feast later that night.

On the buffet table, there was a spread of appetizers like salads, pizzas, soups and breads. But we came for the ala carte buffet. So, a small piece of everything to share was more than enough.

On average, we had about eight dishes to ourselves, including desserts. Here are some of the more interesting dishes that we have tried that night.

Mini Pork Burger

Nice soft bun.

Chinese Dumpling Gratin

Oriental ravioli stuffed with crunchy vegetables and baked with cheese.

Linguine Laksa-Leaf Pesto

The sauce consisted of coconut cream and chopped laksa leaves.

Laksa Fisherman’s Pie

Basically a runny curry of fish, prawns and vegetables topped with pastry for dipping.

Deep-fried Curry Chicken Wings

A crispy wing decorated with a few pieces of fried curry leaves.

Hainanese Chicken Salad

Rice crisps substituted the usually oily, fluffy rice while the dressing was a combination of soy sauce, sesame oil and perhaps a tinge chilli oil.

Spicy Crab Fusilli

A pasta dish that came with a sweet chilli crab sauce.

Local trifle sans the sponge. Based with cubed fruits and palm sugar syrup. Finished with a thick layer of coconut cream.

Guilinggao

The least confusing of them all, a Chinese herbal jelly.

The infusion of local ingredients into western dishes and vice versa was a creative attempt. But the execution should be more refined, perhaps. And the usage of coconut cream should be controlled for it is afterall, much stronger tasting than the usual dairy cream. A dish that tastes like hair cream is unappetizing.

In conjunction with the on-going recession, this fruit is offering ala carte buffets at affordable prices (check out the website for the price list). For me, this was the main attraction. At S$25 for a dinner of unlimited orders (except for the main courses) between Monday until Thursday, it is a steal. After all, this is a hotel cafe hor.

Persimmon
#01-07 The Link Hotel
50 Tiong Bahru Road
Singapore 168733
Tel: (+65) 6227 2271
Website: http://www.persimmon.com.sg/

Check out the rest of the dishes I had here.

21 comments:

Selba said...

Oh my... I like eating Persimmon! It reminds me to my cold days in Beijing where I used to buy them and put them beside my window. Ate them when they became like ice with my spoon. I haven't eaten it for a long time... hardly to find here in Jakarta.

Looking at the pesto really makes me hungry right now.... Anyone wants to bring me for lunch? ;)

foodbin said...

have not eaten guilinggao for a long time.

Anonymous said...

For some reason, the only thing that appealed to me is the GuiLingGao. Perhaps I've been on the road too much of late and eating too much greasy, awful stuff.

The GuiLingGao would be like a cool, smooth balm to my tired tastebuds... :)

Rebecca Saw said...

err.. otr than the linguine I'm not tempted by any of the dishes worr..

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

hahah i think it is definitely confused, some1 with a identity crisis...

Live2Talk said...

the food is too fusion from the look of it and it's a lot for 1 person! salute for the bottomless tummy and yet still slim sweetie :)

Anonymous said...

wow your usual gang come from up North to South for this Persimmon outing?

I have to agree the coconut taste was a tad overused. Well like one of my friend said, fusion that is not well done means confuse.

but yeah prices are reasonable, so there's no reason to not try fusion food, once in a while.

choi yen said...

Seem like they like curry~~

ai wei said...

o_O

seafood laksa with pastry?!?!

i wonder how it tastes?!?!?!

minchow said...

Hard to find something to not like about this identity crisis, from the no-frills pork burger to trifle minus icky sponge!

Camemberu said...

Ah been waiting to see this review. Fusion confusion? You are right about the coconut milk after all. I love santan but just looking at the thick coconut cream feel jelak already.

Anonymous said...

oh spaghetti with laksa leaf, that's an interesting twist.

gonna try that combi.

http://chaokar.blogspot.com

ling239 said...

the clams so flat leh.... still fresh meh ? :P

fatboybakes said...

hainanese chicken salad? is that, hainanese chicken in a salad, or chicken salad that is hainanese? snigger... i am sure the hainanese didnt eat salads....

Xiu Long Bao said...

Tell me about it. One pretentious fruit or simply a coconut pretending as a persimmon. *Shudders*

backStreetGluttons said...

Congratulations !
You have just eaten ( in a few hours , presumably )a whole year's supply of the gourmet food normally ( if we are lucky) team bsg ( there are 4 of us ) eats in a year ( or 365 days ) !
Soak it all in and enjoy !

Ciki said...

love the smooth round contours of the photo 1 and 2! every lady should look lk dat:P

GFAD said...

Hah! Finally there's something I just had - guilinggao!! In the middle of desert city, incredible leh? Someone brought the powder over from msia...

Yeah, Hainanese chcken salad sounds good! Poached chicken with cucumber,tomato and spring onions with a sesame-soy dressing. Like eating chicken rice sans rice, eh?

Ugh.. santan swishing in stomach is not something that sounds very pleasant! Makes me think that it needs to be expelled very swiftly and efficiently in the nether region.. LOL

HairyBerry said...

selba, wow, u've been to beijing? that's cool! i've always wanted to go there! haha, i hope u had a great lunch last week! and every week! ;D

foodbin, yeah, me too. it's just nice for those hot days!

kenny, ouch, ppl at persimmon will be so disappointed..hehehe...actually, yeah, there's a very thin line between fusion and confusion. i think a guilinggao will do you well now too, after a hot day at the beach. ;D ;D

thenomadGourmand, yeah, i liked the laksa pasta as well. but too bad the amount of coconut milk kinda empowered the dish.

joe, haha! that sounds like a very good way of putting it. i shudda written it that way hor..hehe...

live2talk, sweetie! i am not slim at all lah..i can feel myself walking slower d..so sad! ;( oh, i din eat alone, hence the lotsa-lotsa dishes.

ladyironchef, haha, no lah. it was actually just me and xlb. we do eat a lot, i must say..haha! yeah, i'm rather confused with the food as well although the direction was clear.

mimi, haha! u are correct! ohhhh, and they like coconut milk too...hehehehe...

ai wei, it was like roti canai with curry. but of course, this was more refined. ;D

HairyBerry said...

550ml jar of faith, well, there are a few gems, actually. i really like the laksa pasta but the coconut milk is a bit too strong. sorta hair creamish. but the price is really right, i guess. ;D

camemberu, yeah, superlatively jelak. we downed glasses and glasses of water. well, i must say they have a creative direction. but spare the rich coconut milk..hehe...

chaokar, yupe, i think it's a good idea too! hey, do try it and let us know who it's like. a dash of paprika with it would be excellent, me thinks! ;D

ling239, haha, actually, the clams are kinda baby-ish. fresh, nevertheless. and gave some sweetness to the pasta. ;D

fatboybakes, u are right! actually, they should name it hainanese chicken rice salad hor. the taste is rather good though. of course, i would much prefer real rice lah.

xiu long bao, hahaha! persimmon or coconut? actually hor, i think persimmon and coconut will make a good dessert. ok, nuff coconut talk d..hehehe...

backstreetgluttons, thank kew, thank kew! actually, for the price, i thought it was a steal. and that was the main reason for the visit...hehe...i love my bsg food! ;D

cumi & ciki, ooohhh..hawt! how about a crispy chicken wing? or say, silky smooth coconut milk...ok, my imagination's running wild as i type! haha!

GFAD, omg, i'm sure you'll enjoy that tortoise shell powder dessert very much! especially in a hot place liddat...yupe, i agree on the hainanese chicken salad. i found it rather refreshing and light. oh, the nether region was cursing me that day...haha! i believe a few days of greens alone is the only way for forgiveness...haha!

Yin said...

i love guilinggao

can you imagine my parents NEVER introduced it to me?

the first time i had it was when i was dating the soup nazi and his mum made it and i was like, wat's this black jelly that's so awesome :)