PUBLISHED August 11th, 2015 04:00 am | UPDATED May 18th, 2016 05:25 pm
‘Fine dining at affordable prices’ is catchy restaurant PR-speak. It’s often quoted but rarely accomplished – you’re either short-changed with third-rate ingredients or the definition of cheap is stretched wafer-thin. So, imagine our joy when we came across Bridge Restaurant & Bar recently.
One year ago, Bridge barely registered a ripple when it opened with the kind of French toast and Aglio Olio that did nothing to set itself apart from the orgy of third-wave coffee places mushrooming every other alley in Singapore. While its décor today has yet to depart from the teachings of the ‘How to open a café so hipster it hurts’ manual, its menu has completely transformed.
A pinch of Corner House’s culinary finesse, a dash of Robuchon’s classical verve, and a drizzle of Jaan’s ingredient-conscious sensibilities, brought down to earth with the kind of bourgeois pricing at Saveur – now, that’s the (new) Bridge Restaurant & Bar for you.
Boston Lobster
Zoom in straight to the mains to experience the remarkable talent of 27-year-old Executive Chef Sky Chan. One whole Boston Lobster ($48) is broken down, sous-vide and seared expertly, such that it retains a fresh bite on the right side of rubbery while yielding a meek smokiness as your teeth gnaws away. An accompanying wheel of otherwise boring couscous is dotted with cubes of bouncy squid and paired with spurts of squid ink foam, both of which enliven the grains with a kind of littoral spunk that harks of Provencal, beachside dining.
Expect nothing less than a soft, supple Chicken Breast ($26) from Chef Sky’s bag of seasoned culinary tricks. He delivers well above expectation, though a luminous, viscous yellow gel on the plate leaves us wondering if it’s dyed cheese whip, expired mopiko ointment or mango hummus. The intriguing oddity is revealed to be egg yolk gel – an avante garde but rich, silky counterpoint to fillets of lean charred chicken and earthy eryngii mushrooms. Balance of flavours is clearly Chef Sky’s trump card, though it must be said that an earl-grey barley accompaniment soaks up an unwelcoming bitter edge, perhaps from excessive steeping.
Foie Gras
As for appetizers, Bridge’s Foie Gras ($18) is pan-seared just shy of complete perfection – lacquered outside, melting inside. While it can be enjoyed au naturel, you’d be silly to brush aside the exciting flourishes. What with candied hazelnuts providing some sugar rush in one bite, a wedge of grapefruit injecting a surge of acid in another, and parmesan tuiles chiming in to offer extra sharpness and crisp. It’s quite the foie gras that begs for more wine, more bread and a worthwhile hold to all diet plans for the week.
Occasionally, Bridge appears on the right track on paper, but less so on the plate. ‘Eight species of Heirloom tomato, olive oil caviar, mozzarella, tomato powder, olive powder, Kalamata emulsion’ ($16) reads like one hell of a flavour explosion on the menu, until the palate registers its slight disappointment at the chalky cheese triangles and bland tomatoes wedges. A crispy-scaled New Zealand Blue Cod ($29) gets an overall thumbs-up, except for a cabbage slaw that hits too high a vinegar note and a sprinkling of mushroom brunoises that reek faintly of a bamboo shoot funk.
New Zealand Blue Cod
For a brisk, one-page food menu, Bridge can do better to cover its bases. Service is all ‘How’s everything so far’, but short on eye contact and a genuine touch. More imaginative bread, an actual bread knife (instead of a double-dipping dinner knife) and a wine glass coaster (instead of a paper napkin) would also be appreciated.
All things considered, we’re sold that Bridge is poised to win over a regular following real soon – try its $55 four-course dinner set that is a good introduction to what it is capable of. Its transformation just requires some polishing before the Corner House-Robuchon-Jan-Saveur hybrid proves that it is more than just some ‘catchy restaurant PR-speak’.
Top Image: Chicken Breast