Thursday, June 4, 2009

Spruce

It's June already, and I'm going for a 13-day holiday - I'll be back on the 18th, hopefully I'll have more inspiration to blog (I have so many backlogs!) and perhaps if I'm feeling happy I'll blog about my trip. I hope everyone's enjoying their last 3 week holiday before final yr starts!

Went to Spruce a while ago with Julie(who also has alot of backlogs!). Great that she's organizing stuff since I'm too lazy to 'discover' new places:D Spruce has a cheese cellar - you can have a little tour of the cheese cellar, and sample some cheeses before your meal. I highly recommend trying the Black Truffle Cheese - the cheese is soft and creamy, and infused with the delicious aroma of black truffle. Simply delicious!
Sampling the cheeses - I can't remember the names of all the cheese, but there was a goat's cheese, brie and some other hard cheeses. Spruce serves a cheese platter - 3 cheeses for $15, 4 for $19, and 5 for $23. We were pretty stuffed after our mains and desserts - the black truffle cheese platter has to wait for another time.
Braised Duck Pappardelle with Rosemary ($22++)
I found the parpapardelle slightly too hard and dry - there were chunks of braised duck, but I thought overall, the dish didn't leave a lasting impression on me - perhaps it was because the flavours of the duck, sauce and cheeses were not strong. I thought that this dish would have been better if there was a bit more sauce and cheese.
Spruce burger with Hand cut Chips ($17++) is a beef burger. I didn't eat it, but I pinched some of the fries, which were thick cut and pretty good. Lots of people have been raving about the Spruce Burger. Since I didn't try it, I can't rave about it, so maybe you can go to Julie's blog (when she updates).
Suprisingly, it was the Creamy Macaroni and Cheese side ($7++) that stole the show. The top was baked to a brown crisp, and sprinkled with chives.The macaroni was done al dente, and each were coated in the cheesy, creamy sauce. Much more worth it than the $22 pappardelle! Perhaps I should come and try the other sides - I think that a side of creamy macaroni and cheese with a dessert (perhaps the cheesecake?) all to myself would be filling enough. They have other sides which sound delicious, such as the roasted corn with tarragon butter and lime ($8), as well as the Roasted Mushrooms with Herbs ($8). The corn sounds delicious to me!
The Steamed Ginger Date Pudding with Chocolate Toffee Sauce ($12++) is no match for Marmalade Pantry's Sticky Date Pudding. Also, I was expecting a spicier ginger taste - but the ginger is is pretty attenuated - hardly could taste any ginger inside (ginger haters can rejoyce), and there were a only a few bits of candied ginger in the whole pudding. The chocolate toffee sauce was pretty watery, and just tasted syrupy sweet - not chocolatey at all.
The Yogurt and Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Seasonal Fruit ($12) was dissappointing, and should not be called a Panna Cotta. If I had to say something good about this, I would say that the crumble went really well with the yogurt. Other than that, it could hardly be called a Panna Cotta - it was more of a yogurt than panna cotta. The consistency of this desesrt is exactly like that of yogurt - viscous and creamy, with the nice sourish yogurt taste. The berries at the bottom were jam like, and if I was expecting yogurt rather than Panna Cotta, I would say this dessert was okay. But it's really not a panna cotta at all.
We would have liked to try the Spruce Cheesecake of the Day, but it was a very uninspiring Oreo Cheesecake, so we gave it a pass. Perhaps next time (if I ever go back) I'll try one of their cheesecakes, since their 2 desserts didn't meet my expectations.
Frankly, I will not pay such high prices for the food here. It's in the range of Marmalade Pantry prices, but the food doesn't leave a lasting impression. The ambience here is pretty much like Klee (at Portsdown), with a wooden floor. Other than the cheese cellar, I think you're better off eating at Marmalade Pantry. Well, parking here is free, so that's a plus point...

Spruce
320 Tanglin Road
Phoenix Park
Tel: 6836 5528
(Opposite Brunei Embassy)

2 comments:

red fir said...

SDP sounds bad, another mediocre one.

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