PUBLISHED December 2nd, 2013 01:04 am | UPDATED April 14th, 2016 05:53 pm
Orchard Road, dressed in beautiful lights of white and blue, is ready and raring for Christmas. Shoppers can expect a whole line up of shopping bargains and performances until the year-end. And if you need more reason to spend Christmas on A Great Street, Bedrock Bar & Grill – hidden at the back of 313 Somerset – has specially crafted two festive 4-course menus for lunch and dinner.
Lunch and dinner both start with a soup and salad. For lunch, expect a White Asparagus Soup and a House Mesquite Smoked Salmon Salad, and for dinner, a Brittany Lobster Bisque and a Figs & Jamon Salad. Texturally foam-soft and silky, the White Asparagus Soup is very well balanced. Aged oak cheddar does well to bring out the sweetness, and at the same time mask the vegetal taste, of the white asparagus, while the Iberico bits and chive olive oil gives a nice contrasting flavour profile. The Brittany Lobster Bisque comes extremely concentrated with the umami of lobster heads, and slight bitter from the cognac cream. A lone scampi tortellini sits at the bottom. Those who like their bisques rich will like this one, but have it with their piping hot pita bread and roasted garlic, for it can come across as too salty and one-dimensional.
Regrettably, the salads didn’t fare as well. The House Mesquite Smoked Salmon Salad – an attempt to inject life into an otherwise pedestrian appetizer with salmon that has been smoked in-house, unfortunately backfires with an unbearably fishy aftertaste. And while the Figs & Jamon Salad sounds excitingly exotic, the combination hardly works. The rawness from the fresh figs does not play up to the saltiness of the Jamon and the Stilton just dominates. The peach mousse and balsamic gelee were interestingly nice, but did not bind everything together. On the plus side, the merry reds and greens are an aesthetic reminder of Christmas (in case you forgot). But, don’t let this deter you. The Chef has taken feedback and is working on it in earnest. Second attempts are always better, they say.
The lunch menu offers a choice of either Natural Grass-Fed Ribeye Steak, 100% grass-fed, that comes with broccoflower, yorkshire pudding, red wine sauce or Endive & Turkey Ham Gratin that comes with roasted celeriac, chicken jus, black truffle. Dinner offers a choice of Poached White Seabass that comes with scallops, young carrot, chardonnay vinaigrette and garden blossoms or USDA Prime Ribeye Steak with lyonnaise potato, grilled broccolini and bordelaise sauce. Beautifully plated, the seabass is let down by the use of farm-bred fish, betrayed by its muddy taste. But Bedrock is more well known for its steaks, and rightly so. Thick, juicy and cooked to a perfect medium rare, this bad boy packs a beefy punch. The humble side of caramelized onions is richly sweet and unctuous (from the hidden bacon within) and cuts through the meatiness perfectly. Spectacular.
Your afternoon feast will end off with an absolutely Christmassy Gingernut Ice Cream with Yuzu Macaroon and Winter Berries. The ice cream, gingerbread chunks in a ginger-spiced ice cream, is a delight. If it gets too sweet, the slightly citrus yuzu macaroon and tart berries will do the trick. Those dining for dinner will get the Chocolate Sorbet in Valrhona Soil and Pear Jelly instead.
The 4-Course Festive Set Lunch will be available from 23 to 28 December 2013 at $58++ per person, whilst the 4-Course Christmas Dinner will be available from 21 to 25 December 2013 at $128++ per person. At dinner you’ll enjoy a complimentary glass of Moet & Chandon Brut champagne too. When their steaks are usually going for $80-$100 ala carte, its Bedrock’s Christmas present to you. Have a merry Christmas!
Written by M.
On this occasion the meal was compliments of Bedrock Bar & Grill