Dessert By Candy

Date of Visit: March26, 2005 (Saturday)

Reservation for 7 at 13:00

Website: http://www.mildredpierce.com

Main course, dessert, and non-alcoholic drink: $30

Food

Mocktail: pomergranate and pear juice

• nice flavour combination that I would try at home
• pretty colour!

Main Course: roasted chicken thigh with savory waffle

• I was intrigued by the promise of savory waffle on the menu description. The waffle was fluffy and full of butter flavour with a mild sweetness. I liked it a lot.
• The blueberry chutney tasted good with the chicken. A much more interesting condiment than say cranberry sauce!
• Chicken was not particularly juicy or dry. Not very memorable.

Dessert: Lindt chocolate ice-cream profiterole with dark chocolate sauce

• Choux pastry was a little on the dry and tough side
• Chocolate ice-cream does not have enough chocolate flavour
• At $9, I felt this was over-priced especially since the only garnish was a lone sprig of mint

Service

I was not paying attention to the service because I was too busy catching up with my friends. Nothing bad or good stood out in my memory so it can’t be a bad thing, no?

Overall Impression

I would come back again because of the beautifully dramatic decor and relaxed atmosphere. I think Mildred Pierce is a very good choice of a day-time get together. However, the food at this particular meal did not wow me.

Date of Visit: March 24, 2005 (Thursday)

Reservation for 2 at 20:00

Website: http://www.jovbistro.com

3-course dinner for 2 with coffee and mineral water: $130

Food

Appetizer: Puree of carrot and beet soup with vegetable consomme (me), Terrine of foie gras with Saskatoon berry compote (T)

• soup was flavourful and full of the natural sweetness of carrot and beet. I half-expected the soup to taste like borscht because of the beets but it was entirely different. Perfect winter comfort food.
• foie gras was served with toasted walnut bread, walnut pieces, and brocolini.

Main Course: Roasted duck breast with duck confit filled cabbage roll and orange juniper sauce (me), Roasted caribou with potato gratin, caramelized vegetables and three mustard sauce (T)

• duck breast was tender and deliciously red in the middle. The sauce had a subtle orange flavour which did not overpower. The most interesting aspect, however, was the pulverized crunchy bacon because it added some much needed textural contrast to the duck and its saltiness countpointed with the sweetness of the sauce very well. The duck confit cabbage roll looked like a baby cabbage beside the turned potatoes and baby carrots. The duck flavour came across a lot more assertive and it was absolutely delicious.
• T really enjoyed the caribou. It was gamey, tender, and pink. The potato gratin had cheese in the middle which was one of his favourites.

Dessert: Tarte Tatin with cinnamon ginger ice cream (me), Sesame scented blanc-manger with coconut soup (T)

• Tarte Tatin was filled with soft apple pieces soaked with subtly bitter caramel. The puff pastry crust was unfortunatley soggy and tough at places. I really love the flavour of the cinnamon ginger ice-cream but it was tinged with tiny ice crystals.
• Blanc-manger was one of the highlight of the meal. It was delicate and so lightly set that it could slip right into the throat. Yet, at the same time, it was bursting with the nutty flavour of sesame that complemented the richness of the coconut soup. The caramelized sesame tuile added another dimension of the sesame flavour. This dish was an excellent interpretation of a classic french dessert which an asian twist.

Service

• service was efficient and showed the owners’ ambition to aim for a more high-end experience. Small touches such as the way they changed cutlery between courses and refolding the napkin when a customer left the table left a really good impression. The general atmosphere was relax and customer-oriented.
• I saw that at a neighbouring table, a customer accidently left a drop of the staining carrot and beet soup on his tie. The owner was quick to bring out a can of club soda and napkin and attended to the customer immediately.
• Although it was not a busy night, I was pleasantly surprised by the smooth service. Considering that the current team took over just over a month ago, this was no small feat.

Overall Impression

I was absolutely smitten by JOV Bistro. Classical french food is one of my favourite cuisine and Chef Masayuki Tamaru’s interpretation did not disappoint. The service was warm, welcoming, and efficient and general manager Michael Haralampopoulos went out of his way to make sure of that. I will definitely return in near future.

With my recent success in learning the Salchow jump in figure skating, I decided to use the entire practice session last night to reinforce my muscle memory, making sure that my first successful attempt last Sunday was not a fluke. After 45 minutes of jumping, I can now perform this jump reliably 80% of the time. Considering that I could not even bring myself to take off from my left leg a week ago, this sudden surge of improvement is very welcome indeed.

Unfortunately, there is a price to pay. I discovered that I developed and ripped a huge blister on my left heel by the end of the session. Even though I did not fall too many times yesterday, I woke up this morning with sore muscles (on my derriere, of all the places!). On the bright side, I suppose the sore muscle is a good indication that my technique for the jump is more or less correct.

If you see me walking at a much slower pace than usual in the next couple of days, you would understand why. It’s very difficult to walk slowly. Between the time I lift my toes off the floor and the moment my heel touches the ground, I often catch myself thinking I can cut this time at least in half if I only my foot doesn’t hurt with every step I take! I can’t wait to get back to my normal walking pace. Walking at a leisurely pace is absolutely maddening.

Date of Visit: March 7, 2005 (Monday)

Reservation for 9 at 7:30

Website: http://www.susur.com

BYOW corkage fee: $60

7-course tasting menu ($110)

Food

Amuse-bouche: fish fritter with chorizo

• Upscale version of fish sticks…..tasty but not memorable

Meat: lamb tenderloin, roasted vegetable (turnip, lotus root), fried taro dumpling, roasted pineapple, peanut sauce

• Perfectly pink lamb, not too gamey. Went well with satay peanut sauce
• Interesting choice (in a good way) of roasted vegetable. Roasting brought out the sweetness
• Taro dumpling is borrowed directly from dim sum menu. Chinese flavour salt in the batter added a nice punch. Okay but not excellent
• Roasted pineapple was so acidic it sent a nasty tingle to my tongue
• Individual items of the dish did not work together to enhance the entire dish

Salad: cold foie gras, shaved abalone, beef capaccio, baby spinach, grated parmesan

• Foie and abalone were both sliced paper thin….hard to taste the richness of either ingredient
• Although this dish was composed of all very rich and supposedly flavourful ingredients, it was strangely devoid of flavour….the only dominating flavour was the parmesan cheese

Palate Cleanser: blood orange gelee, blood orange segment, grapefruit segment, grapefruit juice, cracked black pepper

• Black pepper really highlighted the flavour of the citrus
• Gelee’s texture was a bit too tough. Tasted like it was made with agar agar instead of gelatin
• The glass dome that covered the plate was warm. A big no no.

Fish: pan fried striped bass, roasted artichoke, plum sauce, rose petals

• Rose petals were totally ornamental, did not enhance the dish at all
• Fish was cooked just right
• One of the best dish of the night
• Plum sauce was too subtle for my taste

Appetizer: lobster shrimp croquette, mango cold roll, wasabi mousse, ume sauce, tobiko

• Lobster and shrimp filling resembled the Chinese banquet dish fried crab claws. This filling was wrapped by thin julienne of potato and deep fried. The potato wrapping fell off when I cut into the dumpling. Interesting idea that did not work
• Mango cold roll has an exceptionally thick wrapping
• Wasabi mousse was tasty but the ume sauce lacks punch

Soup: hot and sour consommé, chicken and shrimp dumpling wrapped in watercress

• Very strong taste of vinegar. Imagine a hot and sour soup distilled to its flavour essence…. which was stock and vinegar.
• Dumpling was interesting

Dessert: earl grey crème brulee, mango raspberry sorbet Alaska, lemon tart, rose petals

• Crème brulee was tough and grainy
• Meringue on the sorbet was gummy
• Lemon tart was standard fare….nothing special
• Interestingly, there were four variations of dessert dishes served at our table instead of the usual two variations for all other courses. This led me to think that perhaps we were served leftovers from Saturday’s service…

Service

• Overall, I was unhappy with the service. I found the waiters very intrusive…every gesture was done with flamboyance and flair to announce their presence. Clearing the table, changing of cutlery, refilling our water glasses….I found the waiters ducking and getting in between the diners as if approaching an obstacle course. This distraction very much dampened my enjoyment of the dining experience because they made me feel as if I was in their way all the time.
• Since the menu only listed the course of the dishes, we depended on the waiters to tell us about each dish where they were served. Unfortunately, this was not done in the most satisfactory manner. The waiter chose to stand at one end of our long table and yelled out the components of the dish. However, because the dining room was quite noisy, I had trouble hearing what he said at all. For the palate cleanser course, our table was ignored for at least five minutes before a waiter came over to lift the dome off the plates and gave us a hurried description of the dish. No description was given for the dessert course at all.
• The water glasses for tap water were not refilled until we asked
• During the fish course, the dish for one of the diner at our table was served at a much later time than the others
• Incorrect cutlery were placed at the place-setting for some of the courses

Overall Impression

The poor service seriously affected my enjoyment of the meal. Some of the food demonstrated flashes of creativity but there were more misses than hits at this particular meal. The biggest disappointment though, was the fact I found most of the dishes were merely a composition of many components instead of creating a harmony that conveyed “sum is greater than its parts”. This is my second experience at Susur (my last visit was more than 3 years ago) but it was as lackluster, if not more, than my last visit.

I’ve always thought the name "Dessert By Candy" would be used for my first pastry shop venture. Who would have thought that it would christen my first blog instead? Strangely enough, I think dessert is a very appropriate term to describe a blog. When I think of dessert, I think of happy memories. Desserts do not sustain or nourish yet they tickle the imagination. Desserts should be beautiful and delicious but they are achieved through precision and skills attained from years of experience. All of these are qualities that I hope my writing would achieve one day. Or in the very least, it feels good to aim high.

Besides, "Dessert By Candy" reads awfully like "Deserted By Candy" which I think is hilarious.