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Singapore, May 2, 2010 - Crossroads, the sidewalk cafe at the Singapore Marriott Hotel, is a great place to people-watch. Located at the bend of the pedestrian walk where Scotts Road meets Orchard Road, a stream of foot traffic flows past the cafe from morning till late at night. There were huge misshapened brick-red fruits, elongated ones that looked like plums and others that looked like mini green Chinese lanterns or bright yellow globules.
But until recently, it was hardly on the radar of foodies.
And despite the good location, I had never thought of dining there because I perceived it as a hangout for smokers.
Well, the smokers are still there but they have been moved to a row of counter seats near the hotel entrance. The tables are smoke-free.
But the biggest difference is in the menu. For that, credit goes to its new chef de cuisine Christopher Smith, who aims to push the cooking to restaurant standards.
And he succeeds to a certain extent.
At a recent tasting organised for the press by the hotel, I was impressed by some of his new dishes.
Among them was a tempura oyster ($24 for half dozen) that would go down well with fans of the shellfish.
The plump oyster was deep-fried in a light batter and served on a nest of wakami seaweed seasoned with dashi.
There was contrast in texture and the wakami complemented the oyster well. The only thing missing, I felt, was some acidity in the dressing.
A drop or two of yuzu, perhaps, would do the trick.
There were other good dishes too, such as a slow-braised New Zealand venison osso bucco with baked parsnips and pumpkin ($32) that was very robust.
The salad of heirloom tomato, Persian feta and avocado ($20) was good too, dressed with vin cotto, which is a sweet grape reduction, and fresh basil.
The tomatoes come from a farm near Melbourne and the hotel’s executive chef took pains to explain how heirloom tomatoes were grown naturally and came in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours.
He even took out a tray of them from the kitchen to show us.
They certainly tasted fuller in flavour than most of the perfectly shaped mass- produced tomatoes.
I was convinced enough to return the very next day for dinner – unannounced – and ordered the same dish.
Imagine my dismay when all the tomatoes on the plate were a uniform golden yellow with perfect round shapes.
They looked more like the golden cherry tomatoes frequently seen on supermarket shelves than the interesting breeds I had seen the day before. They tasted sweet but so would the supermarket varieties.
They could well be heirloom tomatoes but why use only one cultivar when they came in such variety?
Another disappointment was the blue swimmer crab linguine with shimeiji mushroom, cured tomato and bell pepper ($22). The pasta was totally bland, as though the cook had forgotten to add salt to the water used to boil it. And it was overcooked too.
Thankfully, two other dishes I ordered turned out fine.
The prawn and chorizo risotto ($26) was delicious, with the rice maintaining some bite and tasty with bits of roasted peppers, peas and chives mixed in it.
My only peeve was that the prawns had an unnatural crunch that was achieved either by being soaked in running water or treated with an alkaline agent. I have never been fond of the resulting plasticky texture or washed-out taste.
What came across as naturally good was the 100% wagyu burger ($28). It was a substantial serving of two patties that added up to 300g, layered with melted cheese, tomato, dill pickle, rocket leaves and shaved red onion and topped with chipotle mayonnaise.
The combination was delicious and the beef was good.
From the two meals, my conclusion is that chef Smith has what it takes.
But he needs to up the quality control and rid his staff of some bad habits.
When it comes to dessert, there seems to be little problem.
Among the items I tried at the arranged tasting, my favourite was the citron cup ($13), a layered concoction of kalamansi vanilla cream, chocolate-coated crumble, blackberries and Italian meringue. I loved the way the kalamansi perfumed the vanilla cream and how the sourness was balanced by the richness of the chocolate.
So I ordered it again when I returned. And it was just as good.
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