Il Lido

I've been indulging myself and in the past week, I have knocked off 5 restaurants on my wishlist in 7 days! Iggys, Sage, Il Lido, En Japanese Dining and bar, Brown Sugar posts to come :)
On top of that, I'm trying to make use of the fantastic DBS 1for1 dining offers - I've tried Friends @ Jelita, Al forno, but I have so many other restaurants on my list - but not enough lunches to try them!
DBS card holders, quick make use of the offers!! I hope I can scuttle out for lunch this week since I'm near the Tiong Baru area, and there's some restauarnt that I've been dying to try for very long! Complimentary amuse bouche - Smoked salmon and salmon mousse some cream sauce (which I have forgotten already).

Il Lido's crispy bread slices - I made quite a big mess eating these crumbly things :(

I tried the Degustation Menu:
Scampi with mozzarella dumplings, cherry tomato coulis and oscietra caviar

According to this website, oscietra caviar is "only variety with a unique nut flavour which makes it a rare specialty". I am sad to say, that caviar is something that I can't really appreciate, so this was lost on me. Plus, my little splotch of caviar rolled off the mozzarell dumplings, and the precious little globules ended up wallowing inside the cherry tomato coulis. After frantically trying to scoop them up with my fork (cos I had no spoon), they were sadly and irreversibly coated in the tomato coulis, so they just tasted like tomato coulis to me. The coulis had an intense sweetness from the cherry tomato, and was a brilliant bright orange. The shade kind of reminds me of my Collen colour pencils from primary school (the colour pencil which had navy blue and this orangish-reddish colour on the other side).

Goose Liver Terrine and white peach
The goose liver terrine was creamy and delicious, and it's richness was offset by the sweet peaches. However, I have concluded that I much prefer eating the pan fried kind (see below for the classic menu).

Lobster ravioli with lemon verbena butter and broccoli
One of my more favourite dishes in the degustation menu. Although I don't like lemon in my food (even though I like lemonade), I found the lemon verbena butter agreeable. It really looks like high class shui2 jiao3 to me.
Monk fish poached in black olive oil with baby eggplant and smoked red peppers sauce
I just did some monkfish research on wikipedia - and it's an ugly fish with a huge gaping mouth. Even this website says that : "You would never think that such a great tasting fish would come from such a ugly fish. " It's supposed to have a texture like lobster and scallop - actually I think its texture is like overcooked scallops. Very chewy and it's pretty tough and you have to cut it up to eat it because you can't just flake it using your fork. Monk fish is definitely not my kind of fish.

Veal tenderloin in pork net with black kale cake and marsala wine sauce
This is the Veal Tenderloin which my brother ate - he enjoyed it but didn't tell me how it tastes. The black kale cake was very interesting - it tasted like creamed spinach, and was quite yummy - if it weren't so green, I bet you could trick those difficult kids into eating lots of these.
Fennel and green apple sorbet
This was a refreshing dessert - tangy green apple with a hint of fennel. It also came with a wafer thin piece of ginseng.
Tiramisu: Deconstructed
The dessert was really good - tiramisu like I've never had it before. The chocolate, cheese/cream and coffee layers. The chocolate layer was the best chocolate mousse cake I've ever had - the chocolate taste was intense and the mousse was melted-in-your-mouth. I don't know how they even manage to get the mousse to stand up itself! Delicious! The chocolate really outshone the cheese/cream and the coffee layers. This dessert costs $16 ala carte.

And pinched from my brother's Classic Menu

Pan roasted goose liver with apricots and moscato wine sauce
I preferred the pan roasted goose liver to my terrine - firstly, I much prefer my foods of animal origin to be warm (unless it's raw like sashimi), and secondly, the goose liver would be crispy on the outside, wobbly and warm on the inside, and ooze those delicious triglycerides - all ready to be mopped up with bread. Ahhh yums!
Homemade tagliolini with clams, candied lemon and dried black olives
I can't really remember how this tasts like after my sakura ebi cappellini. But I thought that it was not too bad.
Choice of main was either Atlantic cod with fresh sweet pea cream and roasted radish or Panroasted quail with habanera chilli caramel
I had the quail, which was tender and juicy, one of the best quails I've had. According to wikipedia (if only I researched my study topics as much as I research the foods I don't know -I'll be doing much better in school :/) the habanero chile is a Spanish chilli, and is "one of the most intensely spicy species of chili peppers of the Capsicum genus". The chilli caramel was very intersting since it was a mixture of sweetness and spiciness, paired with the sticky texture from the caramel.“Monorigine Saint Dominique” chocolate molten lava cake with green apple sauce
I don't know what the Monorigine St Dominique means, but the tart green apple sauce is a great contrast to the richness and sweetness of the chocolate cake.
Coffee and tea in their self-sealing teapot. Whoever thought of this teapot design is really innovative - when there's lots of hot water inside, you can't open the teapot lid - it'll be stuck tight - but when the hot water cools or when there's less water inside, the lid comes off easily. Such a clever invention.
Wagyu beef cheek with sweet paprika, whipped polenta and black trombette mushrooms ($55)
Highly recommended by the reviews that I read.
Seared seafood mix with cannellini bean cream and marjoram ($45)
A hungry man is an angry man. My dad ordered this and if this were me, I'll be damn dissappointed. It's 6 morsels of tiny mini-sized seafood floating in a pool of bean cream. That little purple blob at 4 o'clock on the plate is a mini octopus. So use that as comparison for size.
Needless to say, my dad was extremely dissappointed with my restaurant choice. Oh well. I'll definitely suggest Iggys next time we're gg to splurge :/

I personally think that these degustation menus are overkill - after the first few dishes are out, they just become so unmemorable and I forget what they taste like. But it's the best way to sample the menu. I doubt I'll be coming back anytime soon though - Iggys beckons! But perhaps if you don't want to be liable to the cancellation fee, than I suppose that Il Lido would be your choice for an insanely expensive dining experience.

Il Lido also does lunch for $45++ for a set lunch (Appetiser, Main, Dessert, Coffee/Tea) from Mondays to Saturdays, but I am told that the portions are tiny. Of course, I think that maybe people will come here for the stunning view and alfresco dining. Then again, I really like air con better.




Il Lido Pte Ltd

Sentosa Golf Club
27 Bukit Manis Road
SIngapore 099892
Tel 68661977