privé grill, keppel bay.

made our way to privé for restaurant week, mainly because their menu drew me in, and also because reviews on their previous restaurant week offerings were positive.



since there were two options for each course, L and i had one of each (also helped that the options catered to each of our tastebuds), so it was an easy decision regarding what to order.





the meal started with a bread basket, served with olive oil and black vinegar. the bread was warm and toasty- i especially loved the raisin bun. service was pretty attentive- we were also offered more bread between courses, once we'd finished the bread.



i got the beef consommé, while L got the torched salmon belly tartare. the consommé was warm, comforting and light in taste, while the ravioli was alright.



the salmon belly tartare, however, stole the limelight with how beautifully presented it was- splashes of vibrant orange romesco sauce that looked like an artist has been at work, combined with a generous tumble of salmon sashimi and caviar. it was certainly the better appetiser choice, though we wondered what the sauce was for. it was so light in taste that it hardly added anything, aside from artistic value. still, salmon tartare can hardly go wrong.



mains were served shortly after. i had the rump cap, which was cooked to a perfect medium rare. the steak was so good it didn't even need the accompanying béarnaise sauce. the sides that came with it paled in comparison, even though they were passable. the slow-cooked baby carrots were particularly sad- skinny and shrivelled. i happened to glance over at a neighbouring table and realised that it was only my carrots were so sad. 



L had the scallop and foie gras risotto, which i had quite a bit of. they were certainly generous with the scallop- an entire row of plump, perfectly cooked scallops lay atop the risotto. L felt that there wasn't any wow factor though- they were just well cooked scallops to her. not that the food was bad, though! it was still a pretty good risotto with generous amount of ingredients.



for desserts, of course i picked the warm chocolate and peanut butter fondant, because PEANUT BUTTER. i am unabashedly a peanut butter fiend, and their rendition did not disappoint.





the moment i cut into it, chocolate and peanut butter oozed out. really awesome- i practically finished the entire thing by myself. as L says, all lava cakes should here on come with peanut butter. the peanut butter fondant absolutely stole the show- i didn't even need the vanilla bean ice-cream nor the salted caramel honeycomb perched on top of it (but of course i loved the honeycomb, which was crispy and delicious). i found it mysterious that the plate came with a swipe of jam and a random scatter of micro herbs, since the peanut butter fondant was already so overpowering in taste.



L had the banoffee pie, which turned out to be a deconstructed version. certainly eye-catching, but had way too much chantilly cream. the ratio of banana filling, pie crumble and cream was all off, and we found ourselves swiping off bits of the cream just to get to the filling and pie crust. didn't take to the crispy bits of wafer (?) either. the portion of dessert was generous- even the banoffee pie came with ice cream, even though it wasn't stated on the menu.



quite enjoyed our lunch at privé, especially since it was set in such a gorgeous and serene environment. i was expecting it to be inaccessible by public transport, but it turned out to be just a short walk in from the main road outside. the restaurant week lunch ($25) was certainly value for money, with food of reasonable standards. i'll want to come back for their next restaurant week offering.



privé grill
2 keppel bay vista
http://www.theprivegroup.com.sg