babette restaurant & bar, tyrwhitt road.
met L for dinner to go to babette, because i'd bought a groupon and it was about to expire. it was about 10 minutes' walk from lavender mrt, tucked in a lane and surrounded by lots of cafes.it was a weeknight when we went, so that probably explains why the place was so empty. i'd made a reservation, but it seemed that it wasn't necessary.
before we went, i had already pretty much decided that i wanted to have the steak and foie gras donburi ($28), but upon looking at the menu, i realised that they had other interesting mains as well. i was half tempted by a number of items, especially the lamb shank ($28), but after some pondering i stuck to my original decision. their menu seems to be different from the one online, though.
L got the miso salmon ($18) and a roast pork belly ($10) as a starter.
our mains arrived after quite a wait (i was half suspecting that they'd forgotten our orders), and the starter came shortly after. i'd asked for less rice, but the amount of rice they gave was still pretty substantial. the menu didn't state so, but my main came with miso soup!
the steak came as a perfect medium rare, just as i'd requested. it was a thick and juicy slab, packed full of flavour, and with a delicious char to boot. a piece of foie gras was perched atop the steak. the foie gras was pretty good, too- creamy and buttery. what i didn't like was the rice- it was bland and had none of delicious fragrance i associate with japanese rice. the donburi was supposed to come with their signature babette sauce, but there was so little of it i could hardly discern it. still, aside from that, i enjoyed the bowl.
i tried bites of L's food, and liked it too. it came with a thick, perfectly cooked slab of salmon, paired with kombu mashed potato and tobiko hollandaise- a total japanese-western fusion. it worked, though!
the roast pork belly was a bit of a misnomer. the meat was pretty lean, though it came with crackly skin. not that i'm complaining- i actually am not one for fatty meat (i usually pick out the fatty bits), but this was on the dry side. seemed that on reheating the meat they'd probably gone overboard, drying it out in the process. not too bad, but i wouldn't order this again.
i have to say that they really do their proteins well. both the steak and the salmon were well cooked- no complaints there. prices are on the high side, though, without the groupon. not sure if i'll come back if not for the groupon, though we left satisfied.
babette restaurant & bar
165 tyrwhitt road
#01-03
http://www.babette.com.sg