Archive for category Asia
Birdie – Discovery Bay, Hong Kong
The greens were finally in better conditions at Discovery Bay, Hong Kong. They were damn slow, but at least they were rolling true…finally. We were playing the Composite course (Diamond/Jade) on our front nine and our birdie landed on the fourth hole (Diamond 8), a Par 3 playing about 160 yards to a back hole location. One on one putt. This was our first birdie in more than a month…hope that the next one doesn’t have to wait so long.
100516 Discovery Bay, Diamond 8 (Par 3)
Birdies on Temporary Greens at Discovery Bay, Hong Kong?
Many may frown at holes with temporary greens. But our experience during our last round resulted in a birdie and an eagle, both on temporary greens! So today we were faced with two more temporary greens and the result was amazing…two more birdies!
First one was on Ruby 4 (Par 4), where a 250 yard drive left us only 65 yards to the temporary green. A 60˚ wedge left me with a downhill nine footer with a severe right to left break. One putt.
The next temporary green was on the Par 3 8th, also on Ruby. It was another foggy day at Discovery Bay and so we couldn’t see the green. What we thought was too right actually right on the small green and we were faced with a three foot but bumpy downhill putt…bounced left and then right to make it into the hole. One putt.
Seems like we’ll embrace temporary greens from now on.
100411 Discovery Bay, Ruby 4 (Par 4)
100411 Discovery Bay, Ruby 8 (Par 3)
Review – Iggy’s, Singapore
We heard a lot about this place and it has an interesting story. The restaurant is named after its founder, award-winning Sommelier and restaurateur Igantius Chan. His dream of opening his own restaurant was realized in 2004 and ever since, the cuisine has been based on his favorite travel and dining experiences. There is no head chef here, but rather a culinary team that creates the masterpieces good enough to earn them a second place in Miele’s 2009/2010 Guide and #45 in The S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. No doubt, we had high expectations for our dinner.
We booked the counter seating at this restaurant and it is worth requesting as its open counter like atmosphere is very different. The L-shaped counter seats 13 and it felt like eating at a sushi bar. Not quite an open kitchen, but a narrow glass opening gave us a good view of all the action inside.
There were only two choices for the fixed menu – take it or leave it. No à la carte and we were just presented with an eight course menu. However, they did try to accommodate and asked us if there was anything on the menu that we didn’t eat. We chose a bottle of wine to go well with all the courses, and went for a Burgundy – Domaine Arlaud 2004 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru. A very good choice.
The amuse bouche looked like just a bowl full of foam (coriander actually). Underneath was something crunchy and it turned out to be pan fried shirako (cod fish sperm sac)! Well, not bad – surprisingly spicy and it helped wake up our palates.
Thin raw slices of Hirame (flounder) were mixed with burrata cheese, tomatoes and avocado. A good refreshing start to our gastronomic journey. The White Asparagus that followed was covered with a strong sauce (from duck, rocket leaves, Parmesan cheese and truffle) that slightly over powered the freshness of the asparagus. The Kokotxas (cod cheeks) reminded us of Chinese steamed fish with black beans; nevertheless the fish was very soft and ‘slimy’ in a positive sense. The highlight of the evening was the Lobster that was served with spaghettini in tomato and basil sauce…very fresh. The next dish was called Egg. Need we say more? Poached and mixed with white truffle powder, poultry jus and deep fried chicken skin, the combination was amazing. After R finished taking the photo, C had almost finished the dish! But this time, R was not far behind and both were gone very quickly. The main course was the Pigeon, which was unfortunately only so so. Nothing bad, but nothing great. However, the presentation with the pea purée created a work of art.
The pre-dessert was a Sweet and Sour. The strawberry sorbet and meringue was to cleanse our palates for the dessert. The name for the dessert, Soil, sounded a bit weird…and it was. It kind of reminded us of the “Soil” from the Krug Room. In this case, the soil was coffee and walnut powder mixed together. Served with banana and walnut ice cream, it was an interesting combination.
The petit fours was actually the best. A marshmallow covered with fine peanut powder. Yummy. A good end to an enjoyable dinner.
Maybe it’s always better to not read too much in the reviews and rankings. High expectations may not be a good thing. But it’s always best to try for ourselves.
– 17/20
Iggy’s
The Regent Singapore
Level 3
1 Cuscaden Road
Singapore 249715
T: +65 6732 2234
E: marcom@iggys.com.sg
W: www.iggys.com.sg
100403 Iggy's - Main entrance
100403 Iggy's - Bar dining area
100403 Iggy's - Logo
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Review – Gunther’s Modern French Cuisine, Singapore
This restaurant was found by searching the Internet and although we hadn’t heard of them, they are #7 on Miele’s 2009/2010 list. Located on a small side street, this was not your typical hotel restaurant, which might be a good thing. We were greeted warmly by Fabio, our waiter for the evening. We didn’t really study the menu much as the Menu Dégustation already caught our eye. At S$128/US$92 it was very reasonable…at least by Hong Kong standards. They were also very flexible and said that we could change our main course if we did not eat lamb. No problem for us and we stuck to the original menu.
Their wine list was also very extensive and the best was their wide selection of half bottles. We ordered a half bottle of 2006 Christian Moreau Chablis 1er Cru to match the first few dishes, but started off with a glass of Champagne to compliment the caviar in the first dish.
The amuse-bouche was a prawn tempura. We know we’ve been spoilt by Inagiku, so this tasted a bit bland. The first appetizer, cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar was a very good start. Even when served cold, the pasta was still al dente! Amazing!!! The caviar went well with our glass of Perrier-Jouët Champagne. No wonder this is their signature dish. Next up was the grilled bamboo clam flown all the way from Scotland. Mixed with tomatoes and pilaf rice, this was a strong flavored dish. Kind of overpowered the freshness of the clam, but the end result was very good. The egg fondant with grilled mushrooms and Spanish ham was right down C’s alley…eggs! On the first bite, R immediately knew that C would love this dish…and he was right. Without a word, it was gone in no time. The combination was perfect. The egg was very smooth and the yolk was very runny and very rich.
Fabio saw that we had just started a half bottle of Pichon Lalande 1994, so he took the initiative to let us try the roasted foie gras with crushed candied almonds, another signature dish of theirs. This was very nice…made us have the urge to order a half bottle of d’Yquem. The rich Lalande did the job and we did have a main course to come. The main course, grilled lamb rack was in R’s point of view very good. But C commented that it was quite gamy (膻). Obviously, this word was not in R’s dictionary, so it didn’t bother him a bit.
The fine apple tart “à la dragées” was not what we expected. The two thin wedges did not look like your typical apple tart. But paired with the Havana rum raisin ice-cream, it was perfect. Of course, C had the French cheese…but no trolley here, just a small sample of four cheeses…a bit disappointed.
The service was remarkable and the food exceptional. Not too fancy, just fresh ingredients and great implementation by Chef Gunther Hubrechsen. Definitely worth a higher ranking on the Miele list in our opinion.
– 18.5/20
Gunther’s Modern French Cuisine
36 Purvis Street #01-03
Singapore 188613
T: +65 6338 8955
E: restaurant@gunthers.com.sg
W: www.gunthers.com.sg
100402 Gunther's - Amuse-bouche, prawn tempura
100402 Gunther's - Cold angel hair pasta with Oscietra caviar
100402 Gunther's - 2006 Christian Moreau Chablis 1er Cru
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Birdie – Kau Sai Chau, Hong Kong
This was a nearest to pin hole on Kau Sai Chau’s East Course. We were playing at the Johnny Walker + Bar Pacific tournament. The severely downhill #15 (130 yard, Par 3) had a strong wind blowing in our faces. We were debating whether to play 120 or 130 yards. Afraid that we might go over with a 9-iron, we used a pitching wedge to hopefully get it on the green. I was dead on line and thought we would be really close to the hole. But we came up short…luckily missed the front bunker though. The 30-40 footer slightly downhill putt tracked towards the hole and at the last moment, I had just enough momentum to roll into the hole. No nearest to pin, but a birdie was just as rewarding.
100331 Kau Sai Chau East, Hole 15 (Par 3)
