Clifford – Dinner | Hungry Bird

The second meal of March 2013 Restaurant Week for me was at Clifford. I managed to get seats last minute, and decided on this based on the reviews on Dining City.

If you need a restaurant with good ambiance, this definitely is. The 2 storey high ceiling makes the restaurant appear super spacious, and noise levels are low probably due to spaciousness. The interior décor was very classy with plush chairs and everything was in good condition. If you dine here in the day, you could probably enjoy the waterfront view better than at night, as water is typically appears as a dark mass when it’s dark. This is the kind of place to go on a romantic date.

Do note that there’s no normal parking at Fullerton Bay Hotel and the nearest car park would be at OUE, which has a reasonable per entry rate at night.

The 4 course dinner cost $55.00++ per person. They do have a long wine list, but they have listed 2 wines on promotion for restaurant week.

Valle de La Puerta Reserve Syrah Argentina 2007 – $98.00++

They first gave us some bread, which was refillable. I have to commend that the bread here is served warm, which greatly enhances the deliciousness. I have to declare that the multigrain bread here is the best bread ever!

I used to love the bread at Bistro Du Vin, but sadly it doesn’t taste the same anymore. This bread has officially won the title in my heart as the best restaurant bread ever. The grain part is just so crispy and flaky, and it was soft enough inside. I like how rillettes is provided to go with the bread too, though I think it goes better with the mini baguette.

I had an extra serving of the multigrain bread. I think among all restaurant week meals this week, this was the only restaurant of which their bread which left me an impression!

Demitasse D’Onions

A Tasting of Rich Onion Soup with Melted Gruyere Cheese Crouton

I don’t have onion soup often but I know this is good onion soup. The broth was very rich in flavour and the cheese made it so satisfying.

Hors d’oeuvres

Confit Ocean Trout, Wagyu Carpaccio, Buffalo Pissaladiere

For this instalment of restaurant week, most of the participating restaurants offered a tasting platter for 1 of their courses. For Clifford this was what they had. Every item was good and in particular, I liked the wagyu carpaccio here. It was very fresh and underneath was some mushrooms, which I think is porcini. The mushrooms were so delicious; they almost tasted like foie gras (soft texture, savoury taste).

The typically bland buffalo mozzarella matched well with the salty anchovies, though I wasn’t too fond of the pastry base.

As for the trout, it was almost like smoked salmon which I couldn’t find fault with.

Boeuf et Fries

Sliced Roasted Cote de Boeuf, Bordelaise Glaze, Cepes and Truffle Fries

The best thing on this plate was probably the truffle fries, which was fried to perfection and served piping hot. The fries are probably double or triple fried, and maintained its crispiness even after time. The truffle taste was subtle and not overwhelming.

The beef however, wasn’t too fantastic. Actually, I didn’t take notice that it was roasted beef when ordering. I generally do not fancy roasted beef. I am a big fan of grilled or seared steak, but not roasted beef. I don’t like my beef to be all dried up inside. As it was roasted beef, it was probably sliced from a big piece. It wasn’t served hot and that probably made some beefy smell come out. The beef here is supposedly wagyu ribeye, and I really wish it was cooked as a grilled steak instead as I think I’ll love it more if it was cooked that way.

Profiterole Chantilly

With warm chocolate sauce

I like how the chocolate was really dark here, and I think it was served with passionfruit puree. The combination was not too sweet, with a bit of fruity tanginess.

Chamomile Tea

After a few glasses of wine, and being night time, it was only wise to opt for some herbal or floral tea instead of the caffeinated counterparts. They serve TWG tea here and their chamomile is good.

Petits Fours

By this point, I was way too full to have any of these, hence my dining partner cleared it all. He mentioned that they were good, which I do not doubt given the standard of everything else here.

Other than the not so impressive roasted beef, everything here was really good and met my expectations. I am happy to find a place with food matching up to their good ambiance.

*****

Ambiance: 9.5/10

Food: 8.5/10

Value: 8.5/10 (Restaurant Week)

Overall: I like this place enough to want to try it again! Ideal for romantic dates.

*****

Clifford

Fullerton Bay Hotel

80 Collyer Quay

Singapore 049326

Tel: 63338388

*****