Muzainy S.
Google
A truly spectacular dining experience at Restaurant Matera. The meal completely took my breath away. A tour de force of flavour and finesse. Ordered the 8-course dinner menu ($328). They do, however, have cheaper options (6-course at $288; 5-course at $248; 4-course at 208; and 3-course at $168) which is a welcome change to the typical one-size-fits-all approach for dinner at other fine-dining establishments. Snacks: The ricotta with wonton skin was delightful and very light. The combination of traditional Italian flavours with Asian influences set the tone for the meal to come. Next, the mala Kalamata olives were rather unique and are served at a decent size given how these are only snacks. Beef tendon chips with anchovy sauce was very unorthodox (in a good way) and highly addictive. Loved that the anchovy sauce had a bit of spice. The duck sausage and salted egg yolk choux saw a slight dip in quality as we were off to a strong start. My partner and I were expecting that the duck sausage would be solid. Unfortunately it was not and was mixed in with the egg yolk. Also, and perhaps this is a personal bias, but I have never found choux pastry to be of sufficient elegance despite the popularity which they see among various michelin-starred chefs. Things quickly picked back up with the star of the snacks/amuse bouche: the tartlet of pomelo, abalone and scallop. An absolute flavour bomb which managed to be simultaneously light and rich in flavour. This was followed by the bread course which featured focaccia which had been baked with Chinese wine, giving the crust a slight sweetness distinguishing it from regular focaccia. Soft and fluffy, it was a welcome reprieve from the tendency for bread courses at establishments of the same ilk to be heavy. The first course continued the strong start to the meal. A highly innovative dish of scallops wrapped in burrata jelly topped with a generous dollop of caviar and sat in a bed of burrata sauce and chive oil. A master stroke which takes a mainstay of Italian cuisine and elevates it by utilising it in two highly unorthodox ways. The second course somehow managed to top the first, showcasing Chef Bjoern Alexander’s inventiveness. Foie gras is of course a bastion in the world of fine dining, but Chef Bjoern adds a playful twist, marinating the plump duck liver in sake and mirin before serving it with grapes, which are similarly soaked in sake and mirin, alongside a Chinese tea jelly. When eaten together, the liquor marinade, sweetness of the grapes and slight sourness from the tea jelly work wonders alongside the rich, butteriness of the foie. Once again, highly unorthodox but ingenious! Next up was the abalone with Japanese corn in chicken jus with zucchini purée and abalone liver purée. A very good course as all the flavours work well together. The addition of the two purées helped to mellow the sweetness of the corn. This was followed by the ravioli stuffed with carabinero prawn and topped with dried scallops served in prawn jus and XO sauce. A delightful course with flavour combinations that highlight the Asian influences that Chef Bjoern draws from. The dish tasted like an elevated Hokkien Mee and I mean this in the best way possible (as I love Hokkien mee!). Before proceeding to the mains, the final course was a bafun uni pasta with cherry tomatoes in a seafood broth with chilli oil. It was a good dish, but felt slightly out of place in a menu that had thus far put innovation, culinary pluralism and experimentation at the forefront. Compared with all the previous courses, it was a stark contrast and its simplicity was somewhat jarring. Perhaps this was intentional, but it came at the expense of coherence. The first of the two mains was the pigeon. Sourced from Brittany, this pigeon was served with a farce of leg, pomelo, artichoke purée and chips all in a sauce of pigeon jus and Szechuan pepper. Following the underwhelming pasta course, this was a strident return to form. In sum, a remarkable meal which I will not forget anytime soon.
