At the end of a long day at work, all you really want to do is have a nice delicious meal with a cocktail or glass of wine in a relaxing atmosphere. And that's what the The Disgruntled Brasserie at The Club hotel on Ann Siang Road, little sister to the Disgruntled Chef at Dempsey, does. A brasserie is a French style restaurant, and while I don't find a lot of that in the decor nor the food, I'll say the ambiance was quite similar.
There are cosy booths, or regular tables for diners to enjoy a drink or meal.
We started the tasting with several small plates, such as this beautifully plated Home-Cured Salmon (S$16) with horseradish buttermilk, pickled cucumber, marinated avocadoes. If we ever found the plating to be similar to Plentyfull's, that's because Chef Desmond had trained under the same master as Chef Victor from there! I found the salmon dish to be without complaints and very aesthetically pleasing so bonus points. 4/5
Next up, the rather miniature pizza looking Escargot Tarte Flambee (S$16) with lardon, onions, creme fraiche, persillade. Loads of French sounding names here, but essentially a crispy cracker appetizer with snail on top. This was just ok. I think escargots are best enjoyed when slathered in big amounts of garlic and butter. 2.5/5
Next, a very innovative Foie Gras & Peanut Butter Miso (S$18) with Ribena gel, poached grapes, and brioche. Again the use of classic French ingredient in a surprising combination with Asian flavours. The peanut butter wasn't too overwhelming, allowing the foie gras' creamy taste to come through. I quite enjoyed it. 3.5/5
Then came one of the favourite dishes of the night - the Gruyere Cheese Souffle (S$16) with caramelised onions and chardonnay fondue. It was such a joy digging into the fluffy creamy cheesy souffle. It felt like coming home. Or going to Switzerland. Regardless, this is for sure a must-try here if you can only order one small plate. 4/5
We then had four big plates to share as well. First up was the Chilean White Cod (S$38) with salted cod brandade, Remy Martin VSOP scampi butter, lemon confit and normande sauce. Salted cod is a very Portuguese type of ingredient, but I found the dish to be unremarkable. Nothing of it stood out to me, flavour-wise. It wasn't fishy or tough though so that's good. It is also quite a small cod for the price. 2/5
The Iberico Pork Collar (S$32) with caraway milk poached caramelised cabbage, Jerusalem artichoke puree, grilled scallions and star anise jus was much more exciting, flavours and texture-wise. The pork was of the melt-in-your-mouth variety, and the slightly sour caramalised cabbage actually gave it a fantastic counterpoint, much like sauerkraut with pork knuckles. This is good for pork lovers, and while tasty, not my kind of dish. 3.5/5
Instead, I had very much preferred the two pastas. First the Homemade Squid Ink Pasta (S$28) with squid ink pasta, crabmeat, shrimps, chilli which is so simple, but delightful in execution. Sometimes we don't need to over-complicate things if ingredients are fresh and generous, like in this case. 4/5
I also could not stop having more of the Carbonara Taglierini (S$24) made with 3 types of bacon - the streaky back bacon, farmer's smoked bacon and kurobuta ham, with a parmigiano reggiano crusted egg. The pasta was al dente of course, and the egg yolk with all the cream made the carbonara super thick and cheesy. If you ordered the gruyere souffle for appetizer before, then this might be too heavy as a follow up, but if you didn't GO FOR THIS. Share it though. 4.5/5
We finally come to desserts. I was actually super impressed because I think at desserts the chef had managed to grasp the balance between creativity and taste. The Chocolate Fondant (S$18) with creme anglaise and pistachio ice cream for example, looked beautiful and the chocolate cake was not too sweet. Everything came together nicely and was my favourite among the trio. 4/5
The Lemon Curd (S$16) was a deconstructed one, made with biscuit, wildberries, vanilla chantily cream and shiso leaf ice cream (my favourite part). It's so cute, though I wished the lemon curd was more sour as it veered towards the sweet side. 3/5
Finally, the Baileys Creme Caramel (S$18) with Remy Martin cherry compote, cocoa rice crisps, kahlua ice cream. So beautiful to look at don't you think? Alcohol and dessert always work well together, and here it is no surprise. While I'd preferred to have the alcohol taste come out even more, this had quite a nice crunch of textures. 3/5
Relax, have a good time and eat some good food. The drinks here are also very reasonably priced - I had a Cousino Macul Chardonnay from Maipo Valley, Chile for just $12! I'll recommend for anyone working around the area to come here for a nice meal sometime, and be sure to order the cheese souffle, their pastas and try a dessert!The Disgruntled Brasserie
The Club, 28 Ann Siang Road, Singapore 069708
+65 68082181
7am – 11pm (Sun – Thurs), 7am – 12am (Fri – Sat)
Thanks to TDB and Food News PR for the invite!
By the way, do join me on the new Pepo App's "Singapore Foodies" chat group where we chat about where to eat in Singapore, and delicious #foodporn photos!
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