This lunch took place barely a month after I was at @metasingapore with my friend SZ but when every meal is such a pleasure, repeating it can only be a good thing. This time it was with TH who‘d never been and was eager to go.
Snack game, as always at this One-Michelin Starred restaurant, was really strong. I found the sablé cookies, whenever they appeared, to be exceptional, like the Parmesan-flavoured one in the bite that came topped with foie gras mousse and verju gelee, and the raspberry version as petit fours at the end. The “prawns in two ways” turned out even better than when I had it previously because the texture of the brioche was lighter. Extra tasty too was the modern haemul pajeon (Korean seafood pancake).
Familiar and much-loved courses followed - the compact but richly-flavoured, uni-crowned chawanmushi, Meta’s signature Irish oysters dressed with a Korean touch and the tuna akami tartare with egg yolk jelly, crispy feuille de brick and a dome of @caviarcolony’s kaluga caviar.
After that, since I’ve had the “abalone with grains” a few times, the chefs decided to prepare something yet-to-be-launched for me. It starred a giant Irish scallop with crab sauce and chive oil and was a revelation - its simple appearance belied the overwhelming tastiness.
Then my lunch returned to regular programming as the much-talked-about Samegarei (rough skin flounder) and razor clam arrived, trailed by one of my all-time favourites at #metasingapore - the BBQ Wagyu beef with burdock rice plus a bouquet of dressed fresh salad leaves to finish up with. All flawlessly executed.
To my surprise, we had new sweet endings. The pre-dessert had multi-spice-poached pear, pear sorbet, a white cloud of ginger espuma and a sprinkle of fruity Timor Pepper from Nepal. Then a mushroom creation which I will state for the record, is my favourite dessert to date by Pastry Chefs Gail and Rachel. In that were nashi pear lightly coated in kimchi powder, cocoa soil, shiitake mushroom ice-cream, cocoa nibs snow and mini shiitake mushroom meringue. I think I have a thing for mushroom desserts so this suited me to a T.