fyr cycene ond drinc, boon tat street.

i was excited about trying out fyr's brunch menu, because they had something called baked blinis. given my recent obsession with all forms of blinis and how hard it is to actually find them, i was really looking forward to trying it. it seemed that blinis and i really have no fate- when i got to the restaurant, the waitress told me apologetically that they'd since scrapped the brunch menu. what they had, instead, was a three course set lunch for $25, and the a la carte menu.



the three course set lunch looked alright, but i was there for blinis, and they were nowhere to be found. i was contemplating leaving, but i was hungry and it was already pretty late for lunch, even for me. so i decided to ask if they could give me two starters instead of a starter and a dessert- if they could, i'd stay. happily enough they were flexible enough to allow that.



the first starter to arrive was the pork belly, prettily presented on a flat black plate (kind of hard to eat from, though). the pork belly came complete with crispy crackling and a sticky balsamic glaze. i found myself mopping up the balsamic glaze with the pork belly- really, really good. i usually find myself picking out the fat bits because it's way too overwhelming, but in this rendition i cleaned it all up, because the ratio of fat to meat was just right; enough not to be scary. loved the barley risotto and pickled vegetables that came with it, too. perfect balance.



the other starter that i picked was the seared salmon fillet. the salmon was alright, but the pork belly definitely outshone it. the salmon came with cous cous and a mixed citrus salsa- a little heavy-handed with the salsa, but everything was cooked to perfection.

while i was having my starters, the waitress suddenly came by, surprising me by putting a slice of chocolate cake on my table. apparently it was the chef's birthday! a really nice touch, actually.



my main, a duck confit, came a while later. it was a tossup between the seabass fillet (400g!) and the duck confit, but i'm glad i decided on the duck in the end. it was cooked really well, with a thin, crackly skin and super juicy meat. the best part, however, was that the sides were really good as well-crispy little potatoes, caramelised onions, and a well-dressed salad. interestingly enough there was a wasabi sauce in a little pot as accompaniment, and i found myself dipping both the duck and the potatoes in it. yum.

i still wish they'd kept the brunch menu- given the food i'd had, i'm pretty sure whatever the kitchen churns out will be of a certain standard. i was pleasantly surprised by the food i had. came with no expectations whatsoever (other than wanting to have the really elusive BLINIS) and was really happy with everything i got. i'd come back for the set lunch, just so i can try the other mains.

fyr cycene ond drinc
19 boon tat street
https://www.facebook.com/FYRBTS/#