PUBLISHED September 19th, 2012 12:58 pm | UPDATED February 2nd, 2016 06:46 am
I’ll be one of the first to admit the dislike of the monstrous Orchard Road, with its never-ending tunnels through malls and hotesl….However, as we recently found out on our visit to Nuoc, there is a little culinary and relaxing sanctuary to be found on the upper floors of Orchard Central mall.
Unlike the rest of the mega-street, Orchard Central’s restaurants have the benefit of being, well…..quiet! That’s not to say they’re not busy.
One other of these gems is the Italian restaurant called Ochre. Despite having a feel of a fine dining restaurant, it also gives off a very casual and unpretentious feeling – which I’m always a huge fan of. Being under the Kitchen Language group, I had reasonable expectations for Ochre. True to form, us lunching Nomads were really quite pleased with the result….
Starting off with the Salmone ($22 – salmon tartar with mango chutney and avruga caviar) – this was somewhat of an overload of flavours….in a good way! Sweetness from the cherry tomatoes and the mango chutney, coupled with salty and sour notes from the caviar, squid salt and sour cream…and of course beautifully soft raw salmon…mmmmm. Not a bad start.
Moving on, we tried the staple on any Italian menu – the Bufala ($24 – Buffalo Mozzarella with Roma tomatoes, basil pesto and aged balsamic). An interesting variation, Ochre uses peeled tomatoes, which makes them extra soft…as much as the buffalo mozzarella, which was excellent. Only slight complaint is that the dish is a little bland so make sure you load up on the balsamic which really makes this dish.
In true Italian style, after the antipasti, we moved onto a couple of unique-looking pasta dishes….First up was the Pappardelle ($32 – Porcini pasta with venison ragout and black truffle). Reading the ingredients is just mouth-watering, and the taste of the dish is definitely there. The venison is succulent, cooked perfectly and the pasta is spot on al dente…Be warned though, this dish is very, very rich. I’d suggest sharing it with a 2-3 people.
As for our other dish we opted for the risotto ($28 – porcini mushrooms, grilled asparagus and parmigiano reggiano)…Initially not tasting of much, the mushroom and parmesan slowly work their magic and after a few bites, this became rather more-ish. Pleasantly surprised, the risotto was not massively creamy, despite the ingredients and had a lovely homely feel to it.
It was all going so well until the fish arrived….Of everything that we ate, this is the only one that I would absolutely not recommend….The Coda di Rospo – ($42 – breaded monkfish, garlic almonds and baby spinach) was just bad. Far too salty and the fish was not fresh. Considering how good the other dishes were, I’d give Ochre the benefit of the doubt, but I’m in no rush to try this one again….
With a sad ending possibly on the horizon, the beautiful and simple pomodoro pizza ($18) came to the rescue to win back our favour.
I never would have expected such good pizza here. Put simply, it’s very balanced. The base is thin, soft and a little crisp round the edges and there’s perfect weight between the cheese and tomato. Bizarrely, it almost feels healthy! For $18 this was a nicely sized and very tasty pizza.
Despite some minor issues, Ochre was quite impressive, the service is efficient, staff polite (and generally know their stuff).
The menu overall is a little pricey on a lot of the dishes, but not horribly so – and the quality is there…..without wine for dinner, you’re probably looking at $50-75 per person. Having said that, they do a 3 course set lunch for $30+ which ain’t too shabby at all. Not to mention their weekend promotions such as $36+ for antipasti buffet….Beef carpaccio eating competition? Challenge accepted 🙂
Written by The City Nomad