Bar food on Sunday

It's been a while since I caught up with Dada and The Man in White T-shirt.  We had planned to visit a local restaurant for some special stuff, but unfortunately the chef seemed to be busy these few weeks.  So Mr. White T-shirt booked us a table at the Lobster Bar in the Island Shangri-La.  I haven't been back here in more than 6 years, and I didn't even sit for dinner on that visit.  But I know there's a new chef around.

It would seem that Mr. White T-shirt had already made arrangements, and there was no need for us to order anything.  So we just waited for the kitchen to send us the goodies...

But first, a few words about the bread.  I hadn't expected it to be so delicious, but both the "white bread" and the sourdough were superb.  The crust was crunchy and fragrant, and I would have kept eating more slices if only they didn't take up any precious stomach space!

Crab on toast - the crab and mayo came with avocado, garnished with plenty of dill, and served on top of toasted brioche with beef drippings...  no wonder it tasted so sinfully good!

Mushrooms on toast - same sinful brioche, but with braised morels, mushroom purée, and sugar snap peas.

Bone-in rib of beef - I wasn't at all surprised that the execution was perfect.  After all, Chef Cary Doherty has been known for his roasts.

Naturally this came with a whole bunch of sides.  We quickly ran out of space at the table.

Mixed leaves and herbs

Beef dripping fries

Roasted bone marrow

Creamed spinach

Steamed asparagus

Lobster thermidor - can't remember the last time I had a proper lobster thermidor.  This was pretty damn good.  Lots of cheezy goodness, with good amount of acidity.

We were simply too full at this point, but there was still dessert!

Tarte tatin - very, very good.  Love the crispy pastry.

Of course, we got scoops of vanilla ice cream to go along with this...

Bakewell tart - very nice.

Beignets - how interesting that these came with calamansi curd!

The acidity could be balanced by sprinkling some coriander sugar.

Hazelnut financier

I was asked to pick a bottle from the list, and I saw something that really piqued my curiosity...

2001 Diel Cuvée Victor - an interesting blend of pinot gris and pinot blanc.  Nose was very floral, toasty, and a little honey.  Very lovely with a nice age on it, but not too oxidized.  A little flint, nice and buttery, and later on some stone fruit.  Good acidity on the palate.  Drinking beautifully.

Dada very kindly brought along a bottle.  For some reason I wasn't thinking of bringing something, but I should have.

2000 Léoville Barton - decanted one hour prior to serving.  Still tons of smoke and pencil lead.  Classic claret, with a decent amount of fruit.  Drinking very well.

This was way, waaaay too much food for the four of us, but we were pretty happy.  Many thanks for our lovely friends for arranging this dinner.