Verre Modern Bistro and Wine Bar
Farther off Robertson Quay is Rodyk Street, which was for a bit, a hipster spot (thanks to Toby's Estate). Even though i used to frequent this spot, i've not noticed Verre, formerly a wine bar hidden behind dark and heavy drapes. Thankfully, after a relaunch, Verre Modern Bistro and Wine Bar has lost all that darkness and brought light, and great food to its mix.
The new direction cannot be a better choice really. With their expertise in wine (they have over 750 labels of fine wine mainly from Bordeaux and Burgundy), Verre is able to provide great pairings with their Modern French dishes created by Chef Consultant Masashi Horiuchi (who also manages Shelter in the Woods). We had an extensive night of food and wine pairings, something easily done since one could have over 30 wines by the glass with your food choice.
A good start to a meal at Verre would be the creamy Chicken Liver Parfait ($24) paired with a reduction of port wine, madeira wine shallot, balanced with a tangy mandarin orange jelly and a dehydrated honeycomb-like mandarin orange. This was paired with a dry lemon lime Paringa Estate Riesling 2012 ($19.50).
The Half Lobster Salad ($38) features a sweet Maine lobster cooked in court bouillon, with a creamy guacamole and a refreshing calamansi and honey dressing. I would order this dish for the sweet and tangy dressing! The wine pairing was the Stick Chardonnay 2013 ($18) with flavors of grapefruit, white peach, citrus and oak spice.
For an earthy crunch, the Tarte Flambee Forest ($22) with its medley of button mushrooms, gruyere cheese, espellete pepper, crème fraiche with raw egg yolk mix, and caramelised onion, would do the trick. Paired with a Marcell Deiss Gewurtraminer 2012 ($18) which has a lychee sweetness.
I loved the Black Garlic Soup ($19), which was made with a white wine chicken stock and black garlic. That clove of roasted black garlic was icing on the cake and gave the soup a slightly tangy sweet preserved plum flavor. We had the dark fruity Massalino Dolcette D Alba 2013 ($18) to go with this.
Onto the bigger dishes. I'm not a fan of the Seafood Papillote ($30) of oven baked seafood. It was a little too bland for my liking though that toasted dill bread with gruyere was perfect for mopping up the stock.
Do not go away without having some of that gorgeous Suckling Pig ($42) done 2 ways. One part slow roasted for 4 - 5h and braised with spices; and another slow braised for 12h with a tangy Asian marinade of orange, honey, and spice. Give me a bun and make me a slider out of this pulled pork mix with Iberico ham and pickled onions already!
Plus that gorgeous medium-full bodied plummy Grand Village Bordeaux 2012 ($18), and we have a winning combination.
I was extremely pleased with the meat selection at Verre. The Fillet of Wagyu Beef ($62) can have my body and soul. Just look at that pink flesh (best enjoyed slightly rare)! And hand over that umami American potato truffle fries, seasoned with truffle shavings and truffle oil. I'm sure there's some soy sauce in there somehow. No bottled ketchup here by the way. We'll go with the homemade mushroom ketchup made with madeira wine and pickled mushrooms.
Have this with the classic full bodied Massolino Barolo 2010 ($32) and you'd be in cow heaven.
The curried Lamb Chop with Moroccan Cous Cous and mint sauce ($46) was another winner. Verre really needs to sell the steamed cous cous as a side! It was a wonderful play of textures and flavors with the mix of peppers, sun dried tomatoes, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, Corinthian raisin, pine nut, Espelette pepper and roasted garlic. Oh yums! We finished this off with the Laroze de Drouhin, Gevrey Chambertin 2012 ($38), a velvety smooth red with fine tannins finish.
After that heavy meal, I was grateful for the light refreshing desserts. I enjoyed the tea essense in the Jasmine Tea Verrine ($16), but it was a little too rocky icy for me. The tart calamansi jelly and espuma, served on top of a marmite crumble and milk sherbet were great on their own but it didn't gel with the icy jasmine tea granite. The Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2011 ($22) is a classic good 'ol dessert wine with a honey flavor and slightly spicy finishing.
Other hits include the Saint-Honore ($10) filled with the mind blowing vanilla pastry cream and chantilly! The Canele ($4) was pretty good too but could be more crisp. Certainly one of the better ones because I didn't imagine I would like a canela ever.
Verre is definitely a favorite this year. Love the food, the wine, the ambience. It's gonna be my new hangout. See you there sometime.
Verre Modern Bistro and Wine Bar
8 Rodyk St #01-05/06, Singapore 238216
Tel: +65 6509 1917
Mon-Thurs: 4pm - 12am
Fri-Sat: 4pm - 1am
Sun: 4pm - 11pm
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