kaiserhaus, capitol piazza.
there's a lack of eastern european options in singapore, i realise- a pity, really, given how good eastern european food is. so i was quite excited to discover kaiserhaus, which serves food from quite a few european countries, including austria and hungary.
i'd made a reservation, but it turned out to be unnecessary, as the restaurant was quiet on a wednesday afternoon. i got to pick my table, and i chose a corner one on the balcony overlooking the first floor. lots of natural light slanted in from the glass overhead, and it was a nice spot for a quiet lunch.
i was half decided between getting dumplings (they were running a dumpling special for the month of july) and the tafelspitz ($38 for single serve). eventually settled on the tafelspitz, since it had lots of interesting elements (rösti!!) and i've never tried something like that before.
glad my adventurous spirit won out that day, because i ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much i liked the tafelspitz.
before my food was served, i was given a card with detailed instructions on how to best eat it. i was glad for that; else i would've just ate it my way, and wouldn't have discovered that the beef, paired with the horseradish sauce, rösti and creamed spinach at one go was such a delicious combination.
i generally liked the entire dish, with all its separate elements- plenty of things to keep me interested. when i needed something crispy and salty there was the rösti (which was a really good rendition); for something creamy there was the creamed spinach.
the broth had plenty of vegetables as well, and they were generous with the beef- there were three big pieces in the broth. i also really liked the horseradish sauce, which was just mildly spicy.
i'd also added on a cheese dumpling ($1.80) which turned out to be not really what i expected- kind of reminded me of a softer halloumi, but yummy all the same.
the only letdown was the rye bread and bone marrow. i wasn't expecting the bone marrow to be in the broth as well. it was only after digging around in the copper pot that i discovered the bone marrow. it was meant to be eaten with the rye bread, so i took their advice. spread some of it on the rye and took a bite, and didn't like it. the bone marrow didn't have much flavour to speak of- i'm thinking of the previous times i had bone marrow on bread (burnt ends' bone marrow bun and gastrosmiths' roasted bone marrow). the rye was supposed to be crispy, but it wasn't- it was just cold and stodgy.
that aside, i really liked the food. service was excellent as well- attentive without being intrusive. it's a place i'll love to come back, especially since they do set lunches at just $17.
kaiserhaus
capitol singapore
#02-06 and #03-06
http://www.kaiserhaus.sg
