Saturday, August 7, 2010

Tippling Club - Lunch

This is my 3rd visit at Tippling club (see my other post), and second one at lunchtime, and I was never disappointed with this place. The spacious and bright counter draws the attention of the diners right onto where the action is, where the desserts and cocktails are prepared, and beautiful dishes are skillfully plated.

The amuse bouche is a beetroot mousse topped with a yogurt crunch. I love everything about this dish, from the way it is presented, to the foaminess of the delicate beetroot mousse and the contrast in texture and flavour with the sour crunchy bits of yogurt.

By the time you remove the foil cover and you unveil this beauty, you will already be salivating.

The scallops in almond gazpacho were also superb. Generous, meaty and juicy scallops were pan fried to perfection and served with sliced grape and a gazpacho of almonds. I thought the combination of that foamy, light gazpacho with the scallops was a brilliant idea.

I was less impressed by the main dish, which was a pan fried king fish on a bed of spinach cream, paired with a kombu crunchy cake and seaweed. The dish was pleasant enough, although I didn't find that the composition came all together in the palate. An interesting experiment, although it wouldn't be my first choice.

And with the desserts, the Tippling Club always surprised me. The frozen mandarin foam with dried mandarin was truly exceptional! The orange foam was frozen in nitrogen and had the same texture as a crispy meringue, except it was lighter. The frozen mandarins had an intense flavour and dissolved in the mouth. I would really love to know how they achieved that texture. Overall a very light, flavoursome dessert.


I reviewed the snowball before, but being this my favourite dessert, I don't mind doing it again. This is where frozen, creamy, sparkling, sour, all explode into your mouth. I really have no words to describe this dessert, since every time I have it I devour it within seconds. It is what I would define a true molecular gastronomic masterpiece. Essentially, this dessert is a combination of frozen coconut and sudachi and yuzu curd.

The dessert was complemented by a Parisian fog. This cocktail was Champagne based, and then topped with an Absinthe fog which gave it a subtle aniseed smell and flavour. I must say that Tippling Club serves the best, most innovative cocktails in town. It is a place to go and taste cocktails though, not to get drunk, considering how highly they are priced!

This fixed 3-course lunch menu is priced $55++ per person. I am glad that someone decided to do something different and push the boundaries a little more than most of the other fine dining restaurants in Singapore, and I wish that such sense of initiative will be acknowledged and rewarded by the local diners.

Tippling Club
8D Dempsey Road
Tel: +65 6475 2217
URL: http://www.tipplingclub.com/

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