(Closed) The Tastings Room

One of the greatest pleasures of gastronomy is the coming together of all aspect of the dining experience: great ambiance, service, food and drinks. However these kind of dining experiences are typically reserved for special occasions as they usually come with a pretty hefty price tag.

At The Tastings Room (Facebook here), the overall concept works with its emphasis on wine and food pairing at affordable price. Started by former banking professional Timothy Tjendra who wanted to create a food and wine pairing concept, the 3.5-month-old casual wine bistro offers an extensive menu of French and Italian dishes, and a new range of brunch menu all prepared by renowned chef Elvin Chew.

With reference to a book “What to Drink with What You Eat” by America’s Best Sommeliers, Timothy paired the dishes with 50 unique and interesting selections by the glass from his extensive wine list. Each dish comes with recommendations and its wine list offers small tasting portions of wine from $7. Through a perfect marriage of food and wine, both their flavors get enhanced.

Their original menu is a big and heavy hardcover with too many dishes to choose from. But now, with the revamped menu, they narrowed it down and only kept the popular dishes.

There is nothing better than heirloom tomatoes with buffalo cheese, herbed croutons, pickled shallot rings all tossed in a white balsamic dressing. The different shapes tomatoes in TTR Signature Tomato Salad ($13.90) make this stunning salad extra flavorful and beautiful.

This is my first time eating truffle fries and I fell in love with it! The White Truffle Salted House Fries ($9.90) is tossed with white truffle salt and summer truffle oil, the aroma of the truffle oil enhances the flavor of the fries. It is not too oily and goes well with tomato salsa and truffle mayonnaise.

The Tastings Room had just created a brunch menu which is available daily from 11am to 4pm. These classic dishes may not excite you at first glance, but they have earned their place at the table and would make you come back for more.

Eggs Benedict is not new or trendy. But when made well, it will impress and taste pretty heavenly. The perfectly poached eggs in Egg Royale ($15.90) which, when the yolks burst, flows into a cloud of buttery hollandaise sauce. Wrapped with smoked salmon and covered by a generous blanket of chives and egg roe, puuurrrfect brunch!

Should you prefer some red wine hollandaise, go for Poached Eggs in Red Wine Hollandaise ($16.90). A flavorful concoction of red wine, veal broth and herbs, the dish is served with buttery red wine reduction alongside crispy bacon. I would prefer the red wine hollandaise to be much stronger, as for now, it tasted much like the normal hollandaise sauce.

Duck Two Ways ($26.90) has a combination of French duck leg and seared duck breast on orange scented sweet potato puree served with grilled poached pear and orange sauce. At first look, the duck leg skin may look a tad dry. But when you cut open it with a knife, you will be awed by the tenderness of the duck meat. Place a portion into your mouth and enjoy the intense flavor of this lovely creation.

If you were to ask what’s my favorite main course for the day, I would definitely pick Riesling Coq au Vin ($25.90). The whole chicken was cooked in a flavorsome Riesling wine stew (yes, call me an alcoholic) and served with parsley polenta cake , parmesan shavings and mushroom fricassee. Such a slow and careful cooking of simple ingredients to make a rich, deep-flavoured dish, tell me, who doesn’t love wine stew?

Last but not least, we had the Steak Frites ($27.90). 250g of ribeye steak is topped with mushroom ragout, gruyere cheese and port wine sauce, served with truffle fries. The port wine sauce was deliciously sweet and rich, which is an excellent accompaniment for steaks. I thought they should serve the flavorful mushroom ragout as a side dish. The few pieces of mushroom on top couldn’t satisfy me.

Because of me not liking chocolate, I had a D24 Durian Cake ($9.90) with Lemongrass Ginger Ice Cream ($3.50) instead. Generous layers of D24 durian puree are sandwiched between the light fluffy Vanilla sponge cake, every bite is filled with awesome tasty durian goodness! As for the exotic lemongrass ginger ice cream, it is an acquired taste. Not very strong, but not for me.

Vanilla creme brulee ($8.90) is a classic and elegant way to end a meal. The best thing about it is to be the first to crack that crispy caramel crust to get to the delicate custard within. The silken buttercup-yellow custard is light and not as sweet, which gives it a good mouth-feel.

Indeed quality food with affordable wine pairing here. I will definitely come back to try their other dishes!

6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square #01-08

Tel: 6338 1829

Website : http://www.thetastingsroom.com