A post from No Experts Australian Correspondent
I have to admit that we chose to go to Iggy’s after much agonising. We had a quick stop over in Singapore and only one real opportunity for fine dining. I was concerned that my partner who is notoriously fussy about his food may not like the concept that the only option for dinner was an 8 course tasting menu. My other concern, was with regard to the fact that that Iggy is a Sommelier rather than chef! Nevertheless this restaurant appears as number 26 on the S.Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list and must be worth it’s salt! Lastly the restaurant had just reopened in a new location at the Hilton in Orchard Road. We arrived at the dining room to a courteous welcome which the Singaporeans do so very well. We selected a glass of champagne each and matching wines to accompany our taster menu.
The food was absolutely superb! Canapes of chicken skin lollipops were divinely crunchy and perfectly seasoned. Oysters and steak tartar served on a soup spoon, simply melted in the mouth, the beef beautifully seasoned with capers, shallots and parsley. My partner commented that if he hadn’t known the dish was raw, he would never have known from the taste.
What followed was a series of divine dishes, however one issue ended up dominating the evening. The kitchen seemed to lack consistency, with dish after dish, well at least in my case, missing some ingredient central to the dish. You would think that limiting guests to only one choice of a taster menu, the kitchen would at least be able to turn around consistent plates.
Beautiful succulent lobster, with tomato and radish appeared without the radish on my plate, although Mr T seemed to have his intact. Foie Gras with chanterelle mushrooms, missing the mushrooms completely, and lastly venison with pumpkin and dates, completely missing the dates! In each case Mr T appeared to have a perfect dish, while I seemed to receive the dish with a missing ingredient. After initially biting my tongue in acquiescence to Mr T, who entreated me with “Don’t make a fuss! Have one of my radishes”. I kept my peace. After all I am I’m not a huge fan of radish anyway, but was keen to see how it complemented the lobster! I am a food blogger after all!
Our-waiter’s response was good, and he immediately whisked away our plates for them both to be made again. A couple of seamless dishes appeared, the pasta with truffles being lovely, and I was just beginning to enjoy myself again, when voilà, venison with pumpkin and dates sans dates! Grr! The dates were added to my plate after a quick duck back to the kitchen. See if you can spot the pictures with missing ingredients.
One can’t help but wonder whether this lack of consistency is a regular occurrence at Iggy’s. Is it simply down to the fact that I am a food blogger, that I noticed the differences, and if this happens all the time, or was it a one off? Is this symptomatic of the lack of Head chef’s supervision? A casual look at the plates should have made the differences glaringly obvious!
One of the highlights of Iggy’s is supposed to be the opportunity to sit at the Chef’s bar and eat dinner while watching the chefs prepare it. We were offered the chance to sit at the bar and watch our deserts being prepared and eat them there. To be honest I was much more comfortable sitting at our comfy table in the dining room. The prep area was freezing, and not at all conducive to a romantic night for two! In retrospect I wish that we has declined this opportunity. The desert of Blueberries with Calamansi and Cream cheese was reminiscent of a deconstructed cheese cake, and pretty as a picture! The after dinner truffles and coffee superb.
A nice gesture from the house was to not charge us for our two glasses of champagne, which was appreciated. The food was superb, but then I wouldn’t expect anything less when the bill was over $800 (£385) for two (including the matching wines). As to whether I would return, I think with so many other restaurants to try in Singapore, it’s unlikely in the short term, but I would return in a year or so to see how Iggy’s has matured. Gunther’s is high on the list for my next visit.
Marks out of 10
Food 7.5 (This would possibly have been an 8 or higher, if the dishes from the kitchen were consistent)
Service 7.5
Ambience 7.9
