We had trekked to Bacchanalia in our tired-looking flats from City Hall MRT station. When we saw the luxurious cars (an Audi, a Merc, and a BMW) parked outside Bacchanalia, we were like, "Oops are we under-dressed?" Luckily the Maître d, who was a white lady, smiled sweetly at us with a "welcome" and granted us access. 

Upon entering, we were greeted by a posh setting. The place was dim and had a soft-light ambience. The chairs looked so comfortable to lounge in. And I loved those bubble lights that gave the place an out-of-the-world feel. 

They are not ghosts. It's the lousy camera's fault.

We were here for the Restaurant Week dinner menu, comprising of a starter, main and dessert at $55++. 

The bread was tasty and served as a great appetizer and answer to our hunger pangs and while anticipating for the food. We heard great stories about Bacchanalia.

Starter

Cauliflower gratin (below) - deep fried cauliflower florets, white truffle and cheese foam, gremolata

Fans of Bacchanolia would not be unfamiliar with this signature dish. I never thought cauliflowers would taste that good! Deep fried, its texture was that of minced meat balls that were crunchy. The cauliflower balls were enveloped in the creamy broth which was bursting with the fragrance of pungent truffles. I don't usually like truffles but this dish amazingly made truffles taste so good. The cauliflowers brought out the best in truffles. A very unique dish that was the highlight of the night for me. 4.5/5

Our friendly waiter informed us that the chef was feeling great that day and hence decided to give us a complimentary French onion soup (below). According to the server, the onion soup was prepared by caramelizing onions for 3 days. Until every drop of the broth was infused with the sweet essence of onion. And the crispy cheddar nuggets and rye bread of which their existence served to soak up the broth and made this dish an unforgettable one. 4.5/5

Mains
We were given a choice to choose between two mains available - chicken risotto or Tahitian vanilla confit salmon.

Chicken risotto (below) - Confit leg of chicken, keluak nut, aged carnaroli rice, rum raisins, pickled lemon & cranberries

My friend had the chicken risotto which she loved it more than the salmon. Hmmm unfortunately none of the ingredients were exactly my favorite. I took a try and didn't feel any love. A classic example of love cannot be forced?

Tahitian vanilla confit salmon (below) - Lightly cooked sashimi grade salmon, roasted garlic puree, shaved fennel, honey emulsion

Our waiter came with a surprise - complimentary caviar to accompany the salmon! The answer to a perfect way to start the weekend. I think something good happened to the chef that day. Or that it was a Friday night so happiness indexes are usually higher. The smooth salmon was so soft that it melted in the mouth. Coupled with the sweet honey emulsion and caviar, the experience was augmented. And the accompanying aromatic shaved fennel balanced the flavors and textures of this dish. 4.5/5

Desserts
Caramel poached apple, white chocolate cinnamon ganache, vanilla ice cream

Save room for the dessert. The succulent poached apple, topped by pieces of white chocolate cinnamon ganache, served as a simple good end to a great meal. Loved the refreshing vanilla ice-cream. 3.5/5

Overall, I think it was a great idea to go to Bacchanalia for Restaurant Week. I went to peek at the menu online and the cauliflower gratin already costs $17, the onion soup costs $20, Tahitian salmon with caviar supplement costs like $50. And we paid just $55++ for this meal! Like oh my goodness?! Totally worth it. And a generous chef and friendly waiters made the whole experience even more satisfying. The waiters were knowledgeable about the food and attentive to our wants. Given its cosy and posh decor, this is definitely a place to be seen at. 

Address:
23A Coleman St, 179806

With a name synonymous with the Britain postal service, it is natural to associate The Royal Mail with prestige, elegance, and hmm expensive. Thankfully, there was the bi-annually Restaurant Week which allows peasants like me to be able to feast like a royal without having to sell my farm. The Restaurant Week sees participating restaurants rolling out 3 course lunches and dinners starting at $25 and $35 respectively.

The Royal Mail restaurant is located in the CBD in Ascott Raffles Place hotel. Decor wise, I like its sleek and classic setting which oozes a contemporary touch. The tables were set pretty far apart which makes it conducive for an intimate dinner date or a confidential business lunch. 

The Restaurant Week menu was a mystery menu which means we did not know what we were in for at the time of reservation. So it was a gamble of whether a dirty old boot or a big fat fish ends up on our fishing rod. Honestly, I wasn't flattered by the menu on the actual day. The only thing which I was looking forward to were the desserts.

The bread served was an excellent starter. It was warm, fluffy and quite an appetizer on its own. Too bad the saying that "a good start means half a battle is won" was not applicable in this case because things went kind of down hill from here. My choice of appetizer, the Green Pea Soup with Semi-dried Tomato and Prawn, was bland and the prawn could not revived the dish. My friend had the Sous-vide Duck Breast which was glazed with balsamic and cranberry sauce, and came with mango and potato crisps. I hate balsamic so this dish was also no love for me. For me, it tasted like some pungent chemical mixture. Overall: 3/5

The Sous-vide mozzarella stuffed chicken breast (below) sounded delicious so we went with it. The thin layer of roasted skin was just enough to add flavor and moisture to the dry and somewhat hard chicken meat. We wondered whether the mozzarella evaporated during roasting as we barely could find it. However we were a bit surprised to bite into pepper seeds since we didn't recall it being a listed ingredient. And there were plenty of them and it was quite an annoyance to pick them out. That just killed the dish for me. 3/5


From such a place we would expect great desserts. The red velvet cake with cheese frosting and strawberry sorbet (below) redeemed the ticket price. Combining the light velvet sponge with the cold and smooth sorbet - perfect for the sweet tooth. 3.75/5


We were full of anticipation of the Trio of dessert, supposed to consist of passionfruit creme brûlée, raspberry financier cake and lychee sorbet. It was the only item on the menu that was made up of my favorite ingredients. However, the trio that greeted us was different from the menu. Turned out that the menu was not printed correctly after a long investigation by the waiter with the kitchen. It was actually the apple mouse with caramel drizzle, raspberry financier and red velvet cake (left to right). I quite fancy the raspberry financier. 3.5/5

And one more thing, we were kind of upset with the service staff who only offered us sparkling or still water instead of telling us upfront there was tap water provided. We overhead another customer who just cut to the chase and requested tap water instead of obliging to the waiter's offer of sparkling or still. So we spent $7 on still water. It was probably the most heart-breaking water I've ever drank. Sorry I'm such a cheapskate.

In all fairness, I must agree that at $25 per pax, it appeared to be a good deal for the amount of food for a three course meal during Restaurant week. Though I didn't think the food was great. Maybe it was the high expectation we had at the onset that let us down. Maybe it was the mystery menu that had quite a few items that we didn't fancy.  But if there was another Restaurant week, I would recommend you to try other establishments for a better chance at other restaurants, or at least one with menu available.

Address:

No 2 Finlayson Green

Singapore 049247