On a slow Thursday night, my buddies and I decided to head out and check out one of the restaurants we've always wanted to visit...House @ Dempsey.
Here's the official website... http://www.dempseyhouse.com/
And here's the address : 8D Dempsey Road S249672 (Tel: 64757787)
Since opening in 2007, we've heard some decent reviews of the place and were quite excited to see if the place was up to scratch. Honestly with Dempsey being so upper class and with so many decent restaurants and cafes dotting the area, we were upbeat about our chances.
The café is located behind the main block of restaurants, quietly tucked away in a nice corner. You need to descend down a flight of stairs to enter, but it's a nice, short and comfortable stroll. The places is quite chilled out, with water features and greenery surrounding the place, so it certainly has the right sort of ambience to pull of the Dempsey look and feel.
Upon arrival, the very efficient staff tended to us immediately and saw us to a good seat at a corner where we could have some nice quiet conversation. That's not to say the place was noisy or rowdy or anything of that sort. Being Thursday, I guess it wasn't too busy.
The café is located behind the main block of restaurants, quietly tucked away in a nice corner. You need to descend down a flight of stairs to enter, but it's a nice, short and comfortable stroll. The places is quite chilled out, with water features and greenery surrounding the place, so it certainly has the right sort of ambience to pull of the Dempsey look and feel.
Upon arrival, the very efficient staff tended to us immediately and saw us to a good seat at a corner where we could have some nice quiet conversation. That's not to say the place was noisy or rowdy or anything of that sort. Being Thursday, I guess it wasn't too busy.
I think in the day light, with the sunshine streaming in through the glass windows and slide doors, the place would look quite pretty. Nice interior design, simple yet classy, a really nice place for brunch, based on the ambience alone.
The menu was quite unique, taking the form of a newspaper. Prices were Dempsey-like, not exactly cheap but reasonable considering that we're in town.
So first order of the day, was to try the much raved about truffle fries...
The menu was quite unique, taking the form of a newspaper. Prices were Dempsey-like, not exactly cheap but reasonable considering that we're in town.
So first order of the day, was to try the much raved about truffle fries...
Truffle fries are fries fried in truffle oil and doused with truffle salt and sometimes topped with some cheese shavings or sprinkles. What makes it so special is the aroma of the truffles imparted to the fried potatoes. The strong mushroomy-taste of the truffles certainly gives the fries an extra kick. You know McDonald's seaweed shaker fries? In essence, this is the mushroom version.
The fries were crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and the smell emitted by the truffles was just exceptional. I can see why some people really rate the truffle fries here. Priced at only $11, I highly recommend House's interpretation of truffle fries. Just jolly good potatoes and truffle oil, sans cheese and all.
At the recommendation of the waiter, we ordered 3 mains to share...first up, the wagyu rump and chips($34)
Served with a sauce of yogurt and horse radish as well as a side of salad and fried chips, at first glace, the dish failed on one Singaporean aspect...size. The wagyu rump, though it looked really good, was a little bit on the short side. I can understand why sometimes, really good marbled beef is served in smaller portions - if you have too much, the oil really gets to you. So, I was thinking that was possibly the reason.
Upon cutting into it and trying the beef, I felt it was so-so. Nothing to shout about. Yeah sure, the beef was definitely better than what you can get at say, Astons or somewhere similar, but it definitely wasn't amongst the best I've ever had. For the price, I'd much rather go elsewhere.
Next up...Roasted Chilean Cod Fish
($29)
Roasted with turmeric, toped with an apple and celery salad and finally served with a sweet date sauce. aesthetically, this dish was pleasing. Again though, the portion was small. The cod was exactly what you would expect for the price you're paying, good quality fish. The sauce on the other hand, didn't quite do it for me.
When you have good quality ingredients, you really don't want to spoil the dish by over improvising or "over cooking" the dish. The star should be the fish, not the accompanying sauce. In this case, there simply was too much going on in one dish. I could taste dates, apples, celery and other condiments. The cod fish though, got crowded out by all the spices which were supposed to alleviate the dish. Not smother it.
Another thumbs down.
After the disappointments of the last 2 dishes, maybe the lamb rump with spiced cous cous($34) could salvage the dinner?
Served with Merguez Sausage and cous cous, at first glance though, the rump looked really dry and bereft of any natural juices at all. Merguez is a sausage made from either lamb or beef or a mixture of both and stuffed into lamb-intestine casing. It is then spiced with chillies as well as other spices. Cous cous on the other hand, is derived from Northern African cusine. Its a bit like rice, or bryani, but its of a smaller grain, and it's usually served with stews.
The sausage was ok, I mean unless you are a sausage connoisseur which I'm not, other than it being saltier and packed with more spices, you're not going to be able to discern much difference between this one and another one of the same make. Cous cous wasn't spectacular, but then again, I've yet to taste bryani that's really out of this world. Usually its the condiment that accompanies the Bryani that has to be good to bring out the taste of the bryani.
The lamb was in all honesty, terrible. It was dry, more like chicken breast than lamb rump. I can't believe that the chef actually thinks this is ok to serve the customer. It was execution of the dish was ludicrously poor. One of the worst $34 I have ever spent in my life, and that includes the parking fines I have paid to the government!
Conclusion :
I fervently hope that today's meal(other than the truffle fries) was because the chef was having an off day rather than the norm, because it just wasn't up to scratch. Will I come back again? Perhaps for a coffee and some brunch, just to soak in the weekend atmosphere. Definitely not for a full service meal though.
The food just doesn't quite cut it.
The fries were crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and the smell emitted by the truffles was just exceptional. I can see why some people really rate the truffle fries here. Priced at only $11, I highly recommend House's interpretation of truffle fries. Just jolly good potatoes and truffle oil, sans cheese and all.
At the recommendation of the waiter, we ordered 3 mains to share...first up, the wagyu rump and chips($34)
Served with a sauce of yogurt and horse radish as well as a side of salad and fried chips, at first glace, the dish failed on one Singaporean aspect...size. The wagyu rump, though it looked really good, was a little bit on the short side. I can understand why sometimes, really good marbled beef is served in smaller portions - if you have too much, the oil really gets to you. So, I was thinking that was possibly the reason.
Upon cutting into it and trying the beef, I felt it was so-so. Nothing to shout about. Yeah sure, the beef was definitely better than what you can get at say, Astons or somewhere similar, but it definitely wasn't amongst the best I've ever had. For the price, I'd much rather go elsewhere.
Next up...Roasted Chilean Cod Fish
($29)
Roasted with turmeric, toped with an apple and celery salad and finally served with a sweet date sauce. aesthetically, this dish was pleasing. Again though, the portion was small. The cod was exactly what you would expect for the price you're paying, good quality fish. The sauce on the other hand, didn't quite do it for me.
When you have good quality ingredients, you really don't want to spoil the dish by over improvising or "over cooking" the dish. The star should be the fish, not the accompanying sauce. In this case, there simply was too much going on in one dish. I could taste dates, apples, celery and other condiments. The cod fish though, got crowded out by all the spices which were supposed to alleviate the dish. Not smother it.
Another thumbs down.
After the disappointments of the last 2 dishes, maybe the lamb rump with spiced cous cous($34) could salvage the dinner?
Served with Merguez Sausage and cous cous, at first glance though, the rump looked really dry and bereft of any natural juices at all. Merguez is a sausage made from either lamb or beef or a mixture of both and stuffed into lamb-intestine casing. It is then spiced with chillies as well as other spices. Cous cous on the other hand, is derived from Northern African cusine. Its a bit like rice, or bryani, but its of a smaller grain, and it's usually served with stews.
The sausage was ok, I mean unless you are a sausage connoisseur which I'm not, other than it being saltier and packed with more spices, you're not going to be able to discern much difference between this one and another one of the same make. Cous cous wasn't spectacular, but then again, I've yet to taste bryani that's really out of this world. Usually its the condiment that accompanies the Bryani that has to be good to bring out the taste of the bryani.
The lamb was in all honesty, terrible. It was dry, more like chicken breast than lamb rump. I can't believe that the chef actually thinks this is ok to serve the customer. It was execution of the dish was ludicrously poor. One of the worst $34 I have ever spent in my life, and that includes the parking fines I have paid to the government!
Conclusion :
I fervently hope that today's meal(other than the truffle fries) was because the chef was having an off day rather than the norm, because it just wasn't up to scratch. Will I come back again? Perhaps for a coffee and some brunch, just to soak in the weekend atmosphere. Definitely not for a full service meal though.
The food just doesn't quite cut it.
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