Sunday, April 14, 2019

Origin Grill - Shangri La ; 13 April 2019 My Review




The 300 g Wagyu M5 / 6 . Sorry for the blurred Picture 
Williams River Cross Bred Wagyu 400 days Grain Fed M5 / 6, Ribeye 300 g

We had a celebration yesterday and one of my sons recommended trying the Origin Grill at the Shangri - La. Located at the lobby level of the Tower Wing, we managed to book a table for 4 several days in advance.

SERVICE

The service was average, as while the restaurant was booked to capacity, the wait staff were a little overwhelmed or were slightly short handed. Other than the slight disappointment on the service standard, the food was EXCEPTIONAL in my humble opinion.   

The serving of the bread was rather slow, like an oversight on the wait staff, but the rest of the front of kitchen was prompt and attentive. 

ENTREES 

We (my family of 4) had the following :
1. half dozen of seasonal fresh oysters
2. pan seared Hokkaido scallops with coconut chilli jam
3. octopus charred with smoked paprika 
4.spaghetti tossed with heirloom tomatoes and basil.   



Spaghetti tossed with Heirloom Tomato and Basil - excellent with enough Al Dente bite

The spaghetti was really flavourful, the tomatoes were sauteed and tender with the correct Al Dente (bite) done the Italian way. There was a hint of garlic and extra virgin olive oil too. The last time we ate something as good and tasty as this was in the Michelin 2 starred restaurant Seti in Milan, Italy. 

The charred octopus was very tasty, tender and not chewy at all with the paprika adding to the burst of flavour to the dish One interesting add on was an eggplant puree which tasted like one of the puree side dishes with my Indian 'Thosai'.

Hokkaido scallops were very succulent and fresh, with a good bite size to it. The chilli jam was just nice, something which you normally find in the Thai sweet chilli sauces.  

Oysters were very fresh although we found it less 'creamy' than the perfect oyster. But very good nonetheless. Add a dash of Tabasco sauce and alls good !



Piece de Resistance ; 
John Stone Grass Fed Dry Aged 35 days Ribye 500 g
Hand Selected Cattle are matured using the traditional dey ageing 
method resulting in exceptional tenderness.

MAINS : 

The steaks we ordered were 1. John Stone Grass Fed Dry Aged 35 Days Ribeye 500 g

2.  Williams River Cross Bred Wagyu 400 days Grain Fed M5 / 6, Ribeye 300 g

Both steaks were exceptional in taste, presentation and doneness. We ordered medium (not medium well or medium rare) and they were both perfect. The JS (Australian) Wagyu was lean beef and with the bone, so the meat was slightly burnt outside and cooked (not bloody like the Florentine steaks of Bisteca) just nice which brought out a very good beef taste with nice burnt notes. 

The Wagyu was marbled around M5 / 6 so the fat content was higher but it tasted  oh so good. So tender and practically melts in your mouth !

The 800 g was shared between the 4 of us, so each of us ate roughly 200 g each.

I paired the steaks with the Hartenburg Shiraz which was excellent, albeit pricey at $29 per glass.




BLACKFOREST
Drunken sacher sponge cake soaked with amarena cherryand Caribe chocolate cream with coconut soil and cherry sorbet 

DESSERT 

We ordered 2 to be shared by the 4 of us, the Enchanted Black Forest (see picture above) and the Twisted Lemon Parfait.

The Blackforest sponge cake was a little bit of a letdown, as nothing really stood out from the mix. Perhaps if there was some dark chocolate added in as wafers it would have been a standout.

  TWISTED LEMON PARFAIT
Zesty lemon confit with touched maringue, yuzu montee,pistachio sponge and almond shortcrust. 

The lemon farfait was nice, not too sweet and a perfect complement to the Blackforest sponge cake. It was a little icy (confit) and the wafer shortcurst with the cream on top with yuzu and almond was a nice touch. Lovely.

Origin Grill is helmed by chef  Heidi Flanagan

My Rating :  Out of 5 

1. Food           5 / 5      ; practically everything was excellent, especially the steaks
2. Ambience   4.3 / 5   ; it was full that night, but tables used could have been lesser 
3. Service       4.0 / 5   : only downside was they seemed to be a little stretched at times 
                                      needing me to call them for extra bread. Pacing of food was 
                                      very good though

    Overall      4.4 / 5      Excellent 

4. Price           $$$$    ; 1 glass of Shiraz costs $29 and the Evian bottle cost $19.
    Bill for 4      $ 509   : $125 per pax (approx), acceptable for a 5* restaurant. 


Will we come back again ? Yes definitely. Its really a top notch restaurant.

ORIGIN GRILL, SHANGRI-LA HOTEL
Lobby Level, Tower Wing
22 Orange Grove Road
Singapore 258350 

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