Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Tell-A-Tale (Part 42): Where Lunch Is Lunches

Did I just smell truffle?

Japanese tomato, vanilla bean foam and fava beans.

Cold angel hair pasta, topped with Oscietra caviar.

Poached white asparagus, Bouchot mussels and dressed in Hollandaise sauce.

Oven roasted Côte de Boeuf with Bordelaise sauce.

Fine apple tart a la dragées, rum raisin ice-cream.

It was love at first scent, the cold pasta. The truffle oil coat was invigorating, to say the least. And when served with caviar for that tinge of salt and bubbly texture, it was gorgeousness with every bite. I think I wiped the plate clean with some bread. This will be the dish to come back for. Take away the Bordelaise sauce and the Côte de Boeuf will still be good. A sprinkling of salt enhanced the flavour of the roast, complete with slight aromatic char.

Chef Gunther had prepared a 4-course menu for this event, the annual food bloggers lunch. At S$45 nett, it was a good deal. Just look at their online menu and you'll know what I mean. A privilege indeed, especially when signature dishes were served, like the cold pasta and tart.

Lunch was fun, to say the least. I got to meet many new faces whom I've came to know through blogs and spent some good time catching up with my usual eating kakis. Oh, I should not forget the endless talks on photography as well.

Thank you very much, LadyIronChef and Haute Stuff for the wonderful time. It takes a lot of effort and time to organize an event of this scale. Great lucky draw gifts as well!

It would've been a waste to not check out other eateries along Purvis Street. We were such slutty gluttons. Haha! Hence, the second lunch of the lunches with Camemberu, KeropokMan and Momo, HungryCow and Ivan.

We decided on chicken rice as it was a more substantial choice and Chin Chin is, afterall, a restaurant with history. So, that's very cool.

Half black, half white, said the aunty in Hokkien which literally translated to roasted and poached chicken in half, each. I enjoyed the black as it was more flavourful. The winner has got to be the mutton stew in claypot. Tender pieces of meat cooked in a reduction that came with a hint of five-spice powder. The only disappointment for me was the Hokkien Mee which seemed confusing and very much salty. Neither the prawn version nor KL-style, it really reminded me of Hainanese noodle!

I think we spent a good hour or two at Chin Chin, talking about good (and bad) food and well, food-related subjects. Like geography. It was a great second lunch of lunches, definitely.

Good times like these should be made more often.


GUNTHER'S
36 Purvis Street #01-03
Singapore 188613
Tel: (+65) 63388955
Website:http://www.gunthers.com.sg/

CHIN CHIN HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE
19 Purvis Street
Singapore 188598
Tel: (+65) 63374640

22 comments:

Sugar Bean said...

Wonder how did your photos look so nice and dreamy... Like it so much.

Singapore food blogger meeting up? Yeah, it's nice meeting new people, the more the merrier! :)

ladyironchef said...

hahaha no problem, it's my pleasure to organise the outing! your backlogs are impressive dude. write more!!

your photos got a nice blue tinge, most people photos come out too yellowish :D

Selba said...

The first restaurant is it a German restaurant? The food doesn't look like German food but the name is definitely 100% a German name :)

Ah.. so nice, floggers are gathering a lot... me still a single fighter in my jungle of food, hehehe...

Ciki said...

damn i love the icy crisp look of the first few shots. looks lk suspended on artic ice.. :P bootiful. (half expecting to see polar bears). v nice hairy

Faye fly said...

aways enjoy vewin ur lovely yummy photos here ^^

Kenny Mah said...

Ciki put it best --- icy blue. And like LIC said, most folks punya pics come out yellowish, inc. mine. Hmm, nak cuba do a post yg sejuk sejuk ni.

Booooootiful. :D

Xiu Long Bao said...

The last pic looks very familiar...

Oh it is on top of my cabinet in the office.

It'll be opened one day when the fler is super distressed.

ai wei said...

the photos are really pretty and it is so fine dining.

Simon Seow said...

Wah liao, after fine dining then go hawker. Can I say that you're going from Riches to Rags? LOL.

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

All I see are a bunch of phallic symbols. It's your photography, isn't it?

J2Kfm said...

blindingly bright!
the shots, i meant.

imagine RM45 can get one the same stuff from restaurant of such stature.

we can only dream.

ling239 said...

wonderful lunch u had!! ^_^

sc said...

food at gunther's looks gorgeous.. artfully presented; well, either that or you're real good at taking shots :p

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

Oh, iz that a collage I see?

choi yen said...

Portion so small no wonder cannot feed u up lah, hehe ^.^

ck lam said...

Looks like indeed an enjoyable lunch...the photo of the oven roasted Côte de Boeuf with Bordelaise sauce looks great.

Bangsar-bAbE said...

Four course menu for $45 is pretty good value!

If you don't like this version of Hokkien Mee, I have a feeling you won't like the Hock Chew version either...it's quite similar. ;P

Elaine Ng. said...

nice meeting you there! loved the aromatic pasta too (:

HairyBerry said...

sugar bean, glad u like 'em! :D the more, the merrier, the tastier! :D

ladyironchef, hahaha, no time to write la, dude! and thanks for the compliment! :D

selba, i think it's a modern French restaurant, with a German chef. :D i'm sure you'll find a group of foodie friends in due time! :D

cumi & ciki, thank you dear! polar bears? hahaha! one yellow hairyberry got la...hehehehe

faye, thanks for the compliment! i had a good time shooting too! :D

kenny, sejuk-sejuk? hehehehe...kena pakai baju sejuk la, bila baca post itu nanti..hehehe..thanks a lot for the compliment, bro!

xiu long bao, it think u shudda opened it yesterday. hope things are ok la, today. :D betta drink before it burst, ah.

ai wei, thanks for the compliment! :D yeah, i think it's a fine-dine restaurant. and the special price made it more affordable for us! yay!

HairyBerry said...

simon, hehehe....u are right, man! but i guess both have their good and bad points la. i just love to eat..hehe

lyrical lemongrass, haha, porn is everywhere, isnt it? aiyoh, must really compliment you for being so subtle on your compliment la. u sweetz thing, u! :D

j2kfm, they said the pics looked sejuk-sejuk wor..hahaha! yeah, it's a good deal at S$45. i think in kl, it'll probably be about RM100. quite a lot, me think.

ling239, yupe, yupe. with friends and good food! definitely wonderful! :D

sc, aiyoh, thank you banyak-banyak for the compliment! well, the pasta was really really good. i guess that was inspiring la. :D

lyrical lemongrass, hehehehee. ok la, i take back my words. collages are cool and i'm the fool. ^_^

mimi, u are right! i am a big eater...hehehe..but the quality of food at gunther's is really good la.

ck lam, oooh, i like the beef a lot! cooked just right! and yupe, it was indeed an enjoyable lunch! must go again! :D

bangsar-babe, yeah, totally agree! for signature dishes summore! :D hock chew fried mee? woah, i havent tried before leh. and wouldnt mind giving it a try either! :D

elaine, hi there! thanks for stopping by! was great sitting beside you that day! and had a shot of the pork ribs as well..hehe..see ya around!

Miss Tam Chiak said...

nice meeting u nic! :D

HairyBerry said...

nice meeting you too, maureen!!! :D