Woodfire, dry aging and fermentation. Different cooking techniques comes together in a tapestry of gastronomic bliss in this place. Having worked very closely with fermentation, it piqued my interest how Ingleside was going to include it in their food preparation. Mircobes are not exactly your most reliable partners when it comes to cooking. Very often, they are the ones who will bring the kitchen to standstill with food spoilage. With the right control parameters, they can however add an entirely dimension to the taste profile of your food, impressing even the most discriminating palate.

We had their August Dinner course menu and I must say that every dish was so well done that I wonder why it is not a hit yet in the local dining scene. Every dish was familiar yet unique. Somehow, the dry aging and fermentation techniques made familiar dishes unique again.

For example, the aged Pacific white cod fish ,I ordered, was well executed with a subtle sweet taste to it without the fishiness that you would usually associate with cod fishes elsewhere. You must try it for yourself to know that I am not exaggerating here Having a grandfather who owns a fish stall, I would say I have a pretty demanding palate when it comes to seafood. The accompanying burnt leek, split pea miso glaze, fresh black truffles and sauce vin jaune all complement the dish well together. To be honest, each of them is so well done that they deserve their own complements. The black truffles really does lend it self well to the dish and not there just to make this a fine dining dish.

Another dish that I would like to highlight would be the Maitake & pork. The pork cheek was woodfire grilled and that confer upon the dish a sweet smelling char. There was definitely no gamey smell and every succulent bite of the pork cheek was so good that you wondered if they could make this a main dish. The umami taste of the maitake mushrooms was distinctly in every bite of the dish but yet not overwhelmingly so. Being fan of all things fungi, I definitely like this dish, giving it a rating of 9.5 out of 10.

All in all, I would definitely rate this a placed a value for money fine dining place with fantastic food and ambience. The only thing that can be outmatched would be the dedicated service we had from the team (Jeremy and his team who took time to explain every dish to us and the patience to check with the kitchen crew in order to satisfy my innate curiosity about some of the ingredients and how they were prepared). They engaged us in conversation but would leave us to enjoy our food. A great shoutout to the kitchen team too who made all these possible with their hard work and keen culinary acumen.

Definitely looking back to return to his place again sometime soon.