NEW RESTAURANT
Restaurant Euphoria
76 Tras Avenue
Singapore 790151
Open for dinner Tues to Sat: 6.30pm to 11pm.
Lunch on Thurs & Fri: 12pm to 2.30pm.
Closed on Solar and Mon.
For reservations go to restaurant-euphoria.com
IN Onion Land, Jason Tan is king. Ruler of a custom-made fiefdom whose topics swear allegiance to the Yellow One. A lowly vegetal commoner, now conferred deity standing in a shrine dedicated to its likeness – gilded pots, undulating partitions and a pop-up card. Followers flock from close to and much to partake of its sacred rituals – the pontification of confit and sauce, the tenets of allium ideology. Non-believers beware, for you might be dispatched to a ready abyss, your cries fading right into a yawning void: “However . . . it is . . . simply . . . an . . . onion . . . . . . . .!”
We all know a humble onion or two that may be downright embarrassed on the overt show of vegetable affectation at Chef Tan’s much-awaited new opening in Tras Avenue. But when you will get previous the 50 methods to pores and skin an onion, you’ll discover a high-calibre menu that will not be euphoric however ticks all the fitting containers.
For certain, the previous Nook Home head chef has shaken off his previous and spared no expense in turning Euphoria into a private showcase. Extra detail-oriented than flashy, the decor is warmly lit with calm color tones. The partitions curve to observe an onion’s silhouette, and pretend vegetation help the chef’s gastro-botanico messaging. Customised onion-shaped bowls, coasters and various bric-a-brac seem at each course, whereas the actual factor goes into all the pieces from shares to sauces to the primary occasion.
There are simply two choices for dinner – a six- and eight-course tasting menu priced at S$208 and S$258. It is dear contemplating there aren’t plenty of costly substances other than a little bit of uni and caviar, and a bathe of grated black truffle within the signature onion dish. The premium most likely comes from the time-consuming vegetable-based sauces which might be the spine of Euphoria’s delicacies – delicate however nonetheless as full-bodied as meat inventory reductions.
There are three elegant starters to kick off our eight-course meal. Feuille de brick are waves of crisp pastry embellished with dabs of caviar topped with dots of root purée, and edible flowers together with a spider orchid. We think about that we’re deities, consuming chips and dip. The wagyu bikini makes a heftier impression, with fried toast fingers sandwiched with beef tartare that will get a kick from yuzu kosho and texture from minced shallots and tobiko.
Whereas Chef Tan publicly votes vegetable, he appears pro-seafood at coronary heart, steaming French oysters and serving them in little nuggets draped in a barely spicy coconut cream jolted with finger lime acidity. Dots of shiso oil steadiness out this well-conceived composition of brine, cream and zest.
Such managed acidity follows within the first course of bafun uni, swimming in a sweet-sour dashi of onion and kombu infused with gooseberry and tomato. Pickled daikon and caviar come into play, barely distracting from the enjoyment of the creamy uni however all in a refreshing concept.
Chef Tan’s declare to fame seems early within the sport – a dramatic three-part concord of Cevennes onion composed of a dehydrated onion chip, crisp tart and the no-fail mixture of confit onion purée, mushy cooked egg and a bathe of minced black truffle. It is wealthy and comforting, completed off with a perfumey earl gray and onion tea infusion to be blended with onion espuma. Since he created this dish years in the past at Nook Home, it’s no eye-opening debut, however nonetheless equally gratifying. This time, it comes with its personal memento – a cute, intricate laser-cut onion that pops out of a card, with much more literature on the dish’s creation in case you missed it the primary time.
Personally, we predict the adulation must be reserved for the mochishire – a genius twinning of Brazilian mochi cheese puffs and yorkshire pudding that can also be an ode to French onion soup. We even need to deliver residence the picket onion bowl holding the newborn pillows of dough which have the chewy chunk of mochi and the ethereal crispness of Yorkshire pudding, with a crusting of gruyere cheese. Spoon over some caramelised onion dip when you like, but it surely’s good by itself.
Chef Tan additionally engineers an elevated model of claypot rice with a Spanish accent as he serves chewy Bomba rice cooked in a capsicum inventory cleverly topped with crunchy-tender Japanese mirugai (clam). He serves the rice in a cigar of fermented rice tuile that emulates the socarrat on the backside of claypot rice – it has a style of residence, a whiff of the Mediterranean and a dollop of pleasure.
The seafood aptitude continues along with his remedy of native patin fish – two fillets that he shapes into an entire and flippantly steamed for a shiny, slippery, mackerel-like texture. He magicks the muddiness out of the fish and pairs it with a beurre blanc of cabbage inventory, emulsified with cream and vin jaume. Classically French, a present of talent and approach.
Transferring alongside comparable strains is the pan-fried langoustine additionally in a cream sauce, paired with a swiss roll of carrot sliced by an OCD chef who in some way manages to get the layers to resemble that of an onion.
The one presence of meat is gradual cooked lamb neck, completed on the binchotan and dressed with a vegetable demi glace that may be a useless ringer for its veal cousin. To chop the meat, we’re introduced with a case of steak knives cast by the very swordsmith who made the weapons for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They’re mentioned to be the one ones on the planet because the craftsman bored with making them after this batch. They’re lovely, however not the sharpest knives within the shed.
Dessert can also be showtime – first with a savoury-sweet celery palate cleanser, then a profitable corn concoction of semifreddo, financier, puffed buckwheat, calamansi and corn snow. And a Chinese language New 12 months-appropriate petit fours field that opens to disclose heat madeleines, bandung mochi ice cream, caneles and wealthy chocolate truffles.
No theatrics are wanted to show that Chef Tan is aware of his stuff, and in reality they distract from the truth that he has a really sturdy homegrown staff working with him to carry the Singapore model. If something, the dishes are inclined to observe an identical trope which might get predictable after some time. And whereas the mastery of vegetable sauces is commendable, there is a tad an excessive amount of reliance on cream and butter to pad up the flavours.
Euphoria places on an excellent present and the onion makes an excellent storyboard. However we’re ready for him to peel off the remaining layers and present us what else he is acquired.
Score: 7.5
WHAT OUR RATINGS MEAN
10: The final word eating expertise
9-9.5: Chic 8-8.5: Wonderful
7-7.5: Good to superb
6-6.5: Promising
5-5.5: Common
Our assessment coverage: The Enterprise Instances pays for all meals at eating places reviewed on this web page. Except specified, the author doesn’t settle for hosted meals previous to the assessment’s publication.
