Night at Skyve Wine Bistro

[Media Invite]

I'm a fan of Chef Vincent Teng even before Skyve Wine Bistro was established at Winstedt Road. I fell in love with his European fare and that to-die-for Duck Confit when i first tasted it at Table 66. My duty as a food blogger has made it hard for me to visit any particular restaurant on a regular basis but Skyve is gonna be another exception (there aren't many) for me. 

Sous vide is the focus at Skyve Wine Bistro, as it was at Table 66. With the larger kitchen, Chef Vincent has taken the sous vide technique to a higher level and practically every item was done this way for their updated menu. If you don't get what the rave is all about sous vide, you should really give it a try at Skyve because it's fantastic. Sous vide enhances the natural flavors of the ingredients and you can really taste the goodness of each cow, lamb, fish or vegetable. S claimed that i was gushing non-stop after my meal. Perhaps i was/am still gushing but that's what good food do. 

Following the awesomest olive bread that was served (i was too shy to ask for seconds), we had the cold Crab & Tomato Momotaro ($22) as the first starter. The confit of tomato momotaro from Japan is an intricate and harmonious combination of sweet and tangy. The chilled crab meat provided a tinge of saltiness from the sea and thai inspired basil pesto (with fish sauce) a taste of the garden. What's surprising was the icy yuzu sorbet that cooled and refreshed the palate.

If i were to give a description of the 64 deg Sous Vide Egg & Spaghettini ($18) on the menu, it would be 'The starter that you will NEVER wanna share". I'm just a little disappointed that they only serve this for dinner! Soft poached egg, spaghettini in truffle salsa, iberico ham, truffle hollandaise.. this is perfect breakfast food hello! The truffle taste was pretty strong on aroma but the taste was bland. However, if you mix the whole lot together, the saltiness of the Iberico ham will help to overcome that. Still.. this is my favorite dish.

Something a little more Asian was the Cereal Crusted Cod ($36).

The cereal and spice crust was similar to our chinese zi char style. The cod fish was slightly savory and i do love the oily fish which was accompanied by a soyu ginger vinaigrette. All the seasonal vegetables are sous vide as well and i love how tender and sweet they were despite the absence of seasoning.

When i first heard that we were gonna do a tempura of beef tongue, i was puzzled. Like seriously? Beef tongue? With all its chewiness? But that's the great thing about sous vide and its ability to break down all that sinew and proteins and that's how the beef tongue became.. Tofu. The other half of Tongue in Cheeks ($36) is a 6 hours sous vide wagyu beef cheeks that is soooo well done (not in the overcooked sense) it melts. Lovely lovely dish.

Now what i like better than the beef and fish was the Lamb Rack ($40), a lovely grilled marinated lamb rack served with a light curry spiced roasted pumpkin (da luuurve). The sauce is a little sweet and sour a la Korean style when eaten on its own. However, when accompanied with the mango and mint chutney, the dish took on a Mediterranean taste. Surprise surprise.

Desserts were pretty stellar. The Mango & Cheese Semifreddo ($12) wasn't the least heavy/gelat because of the frozen lime foam that tasted like a zingy yogurt. I'm glad that Chef Vincent shares my love for buttery and crumbly pastries because the sablee cookies that he insists on making himself were fabulous.

Inspired By Reds ($12) is an intense strawberry parfait served with sous vide strawberry in balsamic vinegar (werrrt), raspberry sorbet, flower tuile, dehydrated raspberry. I can go on eating dehydrated raspberries because the flavor was much more powerful than the fresh ones.

Skyve gave the typical Tiramisu ($12) a twist with this open presentation. The ladyfingers were soaked in STRONG coffee liqueur, piled with whipped and light mascarpone cream and icy kahlua granita. More crunchy cookie bits to give it more texture. I stopped myself from eating the display set for our blogging purposes. Chef Vincent made us petit portions so that we could enjoy all the dishes without stuffing ourselves silly. Such a sweet man. 

Me with Myfoodsirens, Chef Vincent and Alexis 

So yea.. Skyve is definitely my chill out place from now. It's great for a lazy brunch (which i will post up on the blog soon), a fun dinner with the girls or even for drinks with the pals. I do love the alfresco area on a breezy night. Live music also available every Wed and Friday. Now let's go skyving. ;)

Skyve Wine Bistro

10 Winstedt Road, Block E, #01-17, Singapore 227977
Tel: +65 6225 6690

Daily: 10am to 1am