Restaurant Week: Absinthe @ Boat Quay

absinthe

Since the days of Keong Siak Street, I have been wanting to check out Absinthe. Every other Restaurant Week seats seem to be snapped up so fast, I get annoyed. I suppose I had the luck this year to nail us a reservation.

In the shophouse along Boat Quay lies Absinthe, a four storey shophouse I realise after choosing to sit "indoors" which ended up being a two storey walk up. Stairs are steep so proceed with much stealth.

menu

Restaurant week trail continues.

interior

Cute interior.

bread

From the time we were seated to our orders being taken and for bread to arrive, it took almost forever. The first rounds of bread were dispensed from a huge bread bowl and subsequently each table had a tray's worth of crusty bread. Depending which part of the baguette gotten, it could be pillowy soft or hard as rocks. The salted butter was a welcome addition too. 

tuna

Marinated Yellow Fin Tuna, Pesto and Frisee with Goat Cheese

A slab of yellow fin tuna was unfriendly but the frisee with goat cheese was most welcoming. I never quite thought much of the cheese-raw fish combination yet this was amazing.

pie 

Absinthe Style Seafood Pie


seafood

I wanted to get ketchup to go with this but was unnecessary eventually and definitely an insult to the chef since the buttery puff pastry was brilliant on its own. The seafood fillings were generous and hearty for a soup even, loved it!

pork belly
Iberico Pork Presa “a la Plancha”, Du Puy Lentils Ragu

Proportions were clearly wrong for this - the lentils ragu dominating over the sliver of iberico pork. All of tasty and greasy but all good things should not just exist in small parcels. I love my lentils and this worked wonders for me.

fish

Seared Mediterranean Sea Bream, Spinach and Prawn-Potato Crushed, Parsley Emulsion

Toasted seabream with a crispy skin and what tasted like a continuation of the seafood pie, I have no complaints about this especially when it was not fishy.

choc tart

Vahlrona Chocolate Tart, Coffee Cream

The chocolate was dense and the tart could have done with a bit more crunch, not the best tart eaten to date and the coffee cream was hardly complementary.
lemon tart

Lemon Meringue Tart

This was the alternative that I requested for and they kindly obliged without any surcharge. The tangy lemon curd and raspberry coulis were delightful though I had the same comment about the tart base. 

4 courses at $55++ is a steal I'd say for quality food. It was a lovely experience dining in the attic of a shophouse and though it was not the best french meal I have eaten, it was good enough to wish for a return.

Absinthe
Boat Quay

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