This was my first dish and i was dying to try the foie gras already. To be honest, the foie gras wasn't amazing. The other ingredients were diverting my attention! There was a Citrus jelly which i suspected was simply gelatine-tempered citrus juices - super sourish. Then there were the candied pistachios that were really good and went well with the sour cherries and the jelly. The brulee on the foie gras saved my liver (PUN!) from a soury death but all in all too many distractions. Plus, i was trying to decipher what ingredients and methods would duplicate this effect. hur.
This was SPLENDID. It was one of the signature dishes according to forums. It gave my tongue a breather after that overpowering first appetizer. Fresh and 清淡 yet tasty enough to keep you going from head to tail. Yum. D was complaining that this dish was his! (cos he ordered foie gras as well only so i could try two sorts. haha) There was some topping on top of the fish that i couldnt identify :(
3) Beef Tenderloin , (can't remember but it was unidentifiable vegetables)
The beef is worth reminiscing. I asked for 七分熟 and it was still juice packed and had a wonderful texture. A little mush on the inside with a crisp exterior. Yum. It was well marinated too, so i didn't even need to get mustard! The vegetables on the side were cut in big and ugly shapes. Didn't like that at all. The sauce was forgettable. But the beef. oooohm.
4) A glass of red
D chose:
1) Fresh Picked Crab Salad , Mango, Cumin Crisps
The Crab was really fresh. So much so it was on a verge of being 腥. But lucky it wasn't! It was so seafood-sweet that it reminded me alot of the Hokkaido markets. Two balls of the crab salad with cumin crisps and some weird mustard ball (? can't remember for sure) at the side. Didn't like that much. The Cumin crisps were like really thin nachos, but if eaten with the crab and mango, was not bad at all.
2) Pan-fried Foie Gras (can't remember but it had a bread bottom and a fruity jelly)
This and the sea bass were UNFORGETTABLE. Sigh. Compared to the earlier foie gras that was too busy interacting with its domineering sweet and sour friends, this was more down-to-earth foie gras. FAT foie gras. I could feel every bite explode into fatty juices / juicy fats, but the bread bottom and jelly on top eliminated any greasy aftertaste. There was something else on top of it as well but it was mainly decorative i think (sorry chef). Its the fattest leee-baaa i've ever eaten. I could only compare it with the huge serving at Au Petit Salut at Holland Village that I can only describe as "fleshy" as compared to this goodness.
3) Cod fish with uninteresting sauce
Hmm. First bite's interesting then later on it gets draggy and boring.
For dessert, D had the signature JG Chocolate Lava Cake served with Vanilla Ice Cream (above) which i insisted was not much difference from the mine i made! Of course they used better chocs and they had a better oven and the right dishes that don't make the cakes stick to the side BUT still. I had a Praline Tart, with some Hazelnut crusty sauce and Ginger ice cream. The only mentionworthy part of this was the ginger infused vanilla ice cream. It was the only thing that gave the sweet-to-death dessert some depth. I couldn't even finish it for fear of turning diabetic overnight.
They tried to top off the night with complimentary homemade chocs and marshmallows. The chocs were so mediocre and it merely added to the sugar saturation problem my mouth was suffering from at that point. The marshmallows on the other hand , were very much worth aggravating the thirst i was having from the sugar and wine. It wasn't fluffy but almost mousse-like, and melted upon pinching. Raspberries and Citrus flavored. That was so good. Too bad i was half-distracted by the dehydration.
Recommended : Foie Gras (both brulee and panfried!) , Sea Bass and Rye Bread. Lava Cake for chocoholics. I say try the more exciting options. (i should have gotten the Mocha Brownie with Salted Caramel Icecream- yum!)
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The Ambience was good because everyone around us was well behaved. No smoking although we were in the smoking area. No loudmouths (besides us). I was much more relaxed than I expected and although i didn't start tossing cutlery all over the table, I was more or less able to shake off the pretentious side of me that was too concerned with etiquette and the impression i was giving. Towards the end i was slumped on the chair, slightly tipsy and stuffed, looking out on HuangPu river and being totally satisfied - a true gastrorganism in my opinion.
The Decor : I found the place really dark? Haha. The only color i could identify was the orangey-red of the logo above on the ceiling. The food had color only because of the candles. But i guess i don't give a damn about nicely carved chairs. The whole arrangement of the place was fine. Nicely spaced. (There was a sofa 5 seater that looked terribly cramped though). After looking at the casual dining room, I think I made a right choice. Paying for the view.
The Service : There were more waiters than occupied tables so I guess we got alot of attention. The waiters knew what they were doing. I liked the way they swooped the dome plate cover away in a concerted motion! So act sei. haha. And it was quite innovative the way they mixed n matched Mandarin and English. I think they do that to Chinese/ Chinese looking guests to give you some semblance of an overseas restaurant. I wondered why they didn't just tell me what all the ingredients were in Chinese since I did show them i could speak Chinese - hmmm maybe cos 鹅肝 and foie gras sound like TOTALLY different things. haha. I bet those unidentifiable veges by my beef were called 口水菜 or something like that. They served a lava cake to me by mistake and decided to give it to me to make up for their mistake. HMMM. I think that's over the top la. It only took them 5 seconds to realize their error anyways. I was thinking : Are there crazy snobs out there that would be totally outraged by an honest mistake like that and demand for a free lava cake to appease their anger? Hmmm I wonder. Maybe fine dining does demands a little snobbery and unreasonableness in order to distinguish its status from casual dining. But in that case, just give me my food and i'll gladly sit at somewhere less pretentious.
I had to agree with a certain reviewer's comments though : Good service but the waiters were a little cold. They were all looking so serious. I mean seriously liven up! Its my birthday! hahah. I should have demanded for a free birthday song sung by the whole crew. They'll have to shed their frostiness then! I think good service just means reading my mind and acting like my third hand. As for expressionlessness , i think i prefer a thin confident smile anytime.
All in all, I was more than happy with the entire experience. Good food, good company and good ambience! Its all you need to get tipsy a little faster than usual.
For fellow confused bloggers out there looking for reviews on JG:
Will I go back? For the Foie Gras, Sea Bass and to try a duck/lamb (if i'm not with D that is) some other year i guess.
Was it worth the money? This price will be twice if it was in Singapore so I guess yes. Top of the M wasn't even this memorable and we paid the same price.
Was it filling? Yes. Surprisingly. I could do with 1 less rye bread so i won't have to rub my tummy this hard now.
How should I decide? WHEREVER YOU WANTED TO GO BEFORE READING ALL THESE STUPID REVIEWS. SO STOP READING THIS NOW N PICK UP UR PHONE.
