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| 2am:dessertbar |
Ever since I missed out on Janice Wong at Sepia event during the 2010 SIFF, I have made a promise to myself, no matter what, rain, hail or shine (or something like that), I HAVE to visit her dessert bar when I'm in Singapore next !
Due to my super lack of blogging, this trip was back in March this year - since they do change their menu quite frequently, some of the desserts in this post might not be on it anymore.
The bar was open at 4.00pm back then, now they open from 6pm - we (read : I ) booked a table for 3 of us at that time - just so I can get decent natural light for the photos ho....ho...ho...ho...
The location is not exactly the easiest place to find for us non local people, our taxi dropped us off near the main road and it was up to us to find where it is.
The entrance is on the side of the building then you have to walk up the stairs, honestly, I though we were walking up the wrong place as it was as if the place is not open - but it was ! *phew*
As we found out later, usually people turn up when it's dark, not in broad daylight and in the time slot of neither afternoon tea nor early dinner. Then I had to explain about the blog, the photo and all was good and we escaped the possibility of being classified as weirdos.
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| Seatings |
As there was practically no one else beside us 3, we were told to sit anywhere we like by Derrick, who prepared the desserts for us.
While the white leather lie back lounge looks so comfortable, it was unanimous that we should perched ourselves on the tall (we shorties had to climb up) white leather bar tools by the open kitchen so we can see all the sweet actions !
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| Hot or Cold Water ; Da Gadgets |
At 2am:dessertbar you have the options of pairing your desserts with wine/cocktails - this place is a bar after all ^_^
After negotiating with Chef Derrick whether he can create a degustation style dessert platter for us or just choose a few of the popular ones that he recommends - we decided to go for the most sensible choice - ALL !! All 7 full size dessert plate for 3 girls *happy grin*
There was a momentarily pause from the chef - then he proceed to make the No.1 of 7....
It was quite fun as we have no idea which dessert will come first, we left it to the chef's expertise to decide how the dessert feast should progress throughout the afternoon.
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| Liquid Nitrogen Action ; Yuzu Ice Berg |
The smell of yuzu was wafting as the yuzu ice berg was being made then crushed in front of us.
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| Guava Cloud SGD$15.00 elderflower, starfruit, sweet milk sauce |
The guava cloud was made of pastel peach coloured guava meringue filled with guava ice. The yuzu ice was super refreshing and so was the sweet condensed milk snow. Served together with starfruit compote, a drizzle of elderflower syrup and scattering of edible flower petals.
A light and refreshing dessert to have on a hot Singapore afternoon.
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| Purple SGD$14.00 purple potato puree, blackberry parfait, leather, lavender marshmallows, fruits of the forrest sorbet |
No.2 was a dessert inspired by the purple abstract drawing in the bar - which was painted by none other than Janice Wong herself !
A smaller version of the drawing is encased in a perspex plate and becomes the "background" of Purple.
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| Pretty Purple |
The savoury purple potato puree was made to bring out the flavour of the berries. The delicate thin dark purple leather lacing the dessert was made of dehydrated berries which were rolled up and cut into the thin strips.
The little domes of blackberry parfaits were very creamy, balanced out by the tart and refreshing fruits of the forrest sorbet.
The lavender marshmallows were delicate in flavour so not to overpower the berry flavours that dominated the plate.
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| Tools of The Trade |
By the 2nd plate we were hyped up with sugar and we were perched on the bench - literally - just so we can look more closely on what is the next dessert he's plating for us.
I will probably freak out and lose concentration if I have 3 people staring at me whilst I'm doing work LOL (sorry chef...we were just super curious).
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| Popcorn SGD$15.00 sweet and salty, yuzu |
No.3 we were told is inspired by old time movies.
Alternately adorning the sides of the long winding block of yuzu marshmallow were pudding like salted popcorn domes and dollops of salted caramel.
Then there were mounds of golden popcorn sand and what I think is very cute and pretty dill flower !!
And last but not least, a quenelle of tangy passionfruit sorbet.
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| Pretty Lil' Dill Flower |
We were instructed to eat the dill flower with the popcorn domes and it does add a little bit of twist on the flavour.
The dome itself tasted just like popcorn !! It had to be one of the best dessert I've ever had.
Needless to say , this was the highlight of the dessert feast !!
"I think Janice is here" said Chef Derrick - he must have heard her walked in as we were still in popcorn dreamland.
Not long after, Chef Janice came out and it was a moment of whoaaa...Janice herself is plating our dessert ! *whoaaa*
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| Chef Janice in action |
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| Basil White SGD$16.00 sea grape, passionfruit puff, yuzu pastilles, coconut sorbet |
I must confess....I forgot what form the basil infused white chocolate was presented as T___T
Didn't write it down on my note and my memory is very unreliable these days.
The basil infused white chocolate .... mousse (taking a big risk of getting it wrong here) was very nice (I remembered the taste, YAY!) and hidden under the translucent tissue thin passionfruit leather which is part of the three textures of passionfruit on the plate, the other 2 being passionfruit pate de fruit and passionfruit crisp. The trio really didn't dissapoint, the leather was packed with flavours and so was the pate de fruit, whilst the crisp just melts in your mouth.
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| Sea Grapes |
The coconut marshmallow sorbet had a very interesting texture, chewy like a marshmallow yet refreshing like a sorbet. I'm not a big fan of coconut flavoured sweets but I loved it !
Sea grapes may be an odd cast on the plate but its burst of salty sea water was a surprising but welcomed addition to the dominant tropical fruit flavours.
That's not all the flavours in this No.4 dessert , there was finely cracked black pepper, a dusting of vanilla powder, chewy yuzu pastilles and coconut tapioca pearls.
A medley of sweet of savoury that worked in harmony :)
Whilst preparing the next dessert, Chef Janice chatted with us and mentioned that she is launching her first ever book in London soon - well, that soon has passed and her book "PerfectionInImperfection" is now available to purchase online.
The book took her 2 months to put together and comprises of 30 recipes, she shared with us that the book is a reflection what they have achieved in the past 3.5 years.
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| Fresh SGD$16.00 chevre cheesecake, beet honey, yoghurt |
Ahh....the law of attraction....my aversion to goats cheese seems to now and again put me in a situation where I have no choice but to give it another go.
Fresh is No.5 and was a deconstructed goats cheese and camembert cheesecake. A scoop of the creamy cheese cake was served on a bed of cookie crumb and slices of sweet persimmon.
Luv the beet and honey sorbet, so sweet and earthy in flavour and thankfully helped masked the strong goats cheese taste. The fluffy yoghurt snow was equally delicious and refreshing.
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| Pistachio Black Sesame SGD$14.00 orange blossom ice cream |
I love the colour combination on the No.6, light and bright green pistachio sponge, charcoal black-black sesame soil and the golden brown caramel mousse.
Perhaps the flavours in the previous dessert was too strong, couldn't taste the pistachio in the fluffy sponge. The caramel mousse was slightly bitter, the ice cream was delicately flavoured with orange blossom and a drizzle of citrusy yuzu syrup helped to offset the heavy flavours.
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| Araguani h2O SGD$15.00 Valrhona chocolate 72%, Evian, caramel mousse, praline, yuzu sorbet |
The lucky No.7 - a very decadent creation to end the afternoon.
Semi-frozen rich and dark Valrhona 72% chocolate and caramel mousse that melts into nothingness in your mouth. A pool of kalamansi sauce and yuzu ice cream balanced out the richness of the mousse.
A thin praline wafer, chocolate cookie crumb and salted caramel parfait also adorned the plate.
But the best part would have to be the thick and sticky salted caramel that oozes out when the mousse is cracked.
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| Gooey Salted Caramel Innard.... |
A very rich and decadent dessert indeed....
It was trully a wonderful sweet afternoon, I'm glad we came very early as there was no other guests present while we were there.
Which gives us excellent opportunity to watch the very young and skillful Chef Janice and Chef Derrick worked their magic.
I love how there is a story behind each dessert, what inspires the creation, how the flavours put together, you can just see the passion and dedication they put into each and every single dishes that were put out.
It was a delightful dessert journey that left us full and can't eat dinner that night ! ^_^
2am:dessertbar
21A Lorong Liput
Holland Village
SINGAPORE 277733
Hours : Mon - Sat 6.00pm - 2.00am ; Sun : closed
Phone (65) 6291 9727
eMail : 2amdessertbar@gmail.com
