Singapore Restaurant Week 2012 II : Ochre Italian Restaurant & Bar


In my final installment of the Singapore Restaurant Week hunt, I arrived at Ochre Italian Restaurant, a place that sells Italian-Japanese fusion food. After a recent revamp, it is now headed by Executive Chef Stefano Arrigoni ( I think I saw the real person ^-^). Chef Stefano has worked in famous restaurants around the world, such as Drone’s Club in London and Bice Mare in Dubai (a popular brand serving innovative Italian cuisine with more than 30 restaurants around the world).

To maximize our taste pleasure, we ordered 2 different sets so that there is no repetition of any dish.
A basket of bread ( foccacia/breadstick/ rosemary infuses soft roll/cube-like garlic cum olive bread) served with olive oil and basalmic vinegar.
Lobster cream soup with poached quail egg 
Not that kind of rich thick soup but more viscous. Full of lobster flavour but we both agree that it was too salty. The globs of olive oil on the surface make the soup slightly oilier but smooth in texture. Good dip for the bread.
 The poached quail egg with runny centre.
Wonder why this was put into the soup because it did not really influence the soup.
 Buffalo Mozarella Salad with marinated Tomato, aged basalmic and pesto sauce 
Taste of mozarella cheese is accented with the green pesto topping. Classic italian appetizer but I think the portion is inconsistent. Why is it that the guy next to us received larger size and more slices of tomato and cheese? Hmm......

Black ink risotto with roasted calamari
Simple and nothing too fancy.I like that the black ink sauce is slightly sour and the rice grains are not overcooked. Herbs are infused into the dish. Notice the olive oil surrounding the risotto? :) some may find this bland if this is compared to a black ink pasta.
 Foie gras stuffed roast quail with truffle polenta & baby vegetables 
Would prefer slightly more polenta or meat juices to pair with the quail. More vegetables would be good too.  Quail is well roasted (tasted like chicken wings) and the bacon wrapped around it was really crisp!
The amount of foie gras stuffing is less than expected but it's fine for both of us as the main star of the show is still the quail. Truffled polenta is unique as it is not the typical truffled mash potato. This is slightly grainy but has a nice fragrance of black truffles.

                                     Banana brulee, chocolate crumbles and Bailey cream
All the desserts we had were small in portion and could not satisfy a dessert lover like me. But the quality can still pass. Banana brulee was not served in typical ramekin. It was as sweet as the Bailey cream.
Chocolate crumble? I tasted normal plain crumbles instead.

                                                     "Sweet and Salty" (ala carte menu) 
Warm date and caramelized walnut cake was served warm. It was not too sweet, rich or heavy like the american style toffee cake but the texture was slightly chewy and not moist enough. Topped with a brown sugar shortbread. Baked capellini was stated on the menu but did not appear on dish.
Maldon Salted caramel ice cream is unique due to its cloying texture (perhaps lots of cream was used) but its saltiness was not distinct enough.
The service was warm and friendly but there was no service charge. Not too bad an offer for this special price but might not return for the ala carte dishes.

Ochre Restaurant & Bar
Orchard Central Level 11

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