So so Christmas dinner @ Petrus

There are always so many choices for Christmas dinners each year that it becomes quite frustrating to decide on one. This year, after perusing through a few of the set menus, Mr. C and I decided that the menu at Petrus seemed quite decent and it was also a plus for me since it would be my first time there.

Inside the Island Shangri-La hotel, Petrus sits high up on the 56th floor. Dimly lit, the decor of the setting is supremely grand with a touch of old-world elegance adding to its charm. We were seated at one of the tables next to the window offering an unobstructed view of the water. Although it was really too dark to appreciate the water view, I can imagine how beautiful it would be for those dining during lunch time on a cloudless sunny day~

As soon as we were seated, we were offered an apertif of champagne and a variety of breads were brought around by the waiter for our selection. The quality of bread was quite good, my choice of baguette was crunchy with airy, soft insides while the butter roll was pillow soft with an almost croissant like taste due to the amount of butter used.

The first course was a caviar and rock fish soup jelly with marinated scallop. Very simply presented crowned with a generous serving of caviar, the scallop was fresh and sweet, but I found the rock fish soup to have quite a fishy smell, which was slightly off-putting, but taste-wise it was still acceptable.

Next was a lobster and chestnut bouillion with diced squid at the bottom and a lemon and fennel confit spooned on top. I do like lobster bisque, and the flavour of the bouillion was reminiscent of it with the only difference being the slightly thin texture. The lemon and fennel confit gave a pleasant zestiness to the strong flavour of the bouillon, but I have to admit that overall it was very salty.

A slow cooked organic egg with black truffle, purslane and Jabugo ham was served next. The egg was cooked perfectly, barely set egg whites and when pierced a gorgeous orange lake of yolk gushed out. The heady flavour of the truffles were a perfect match to the richness of the egg yolk, but I found that the jus poured on top overpowered the rest of the dish.

The first main course of the evening was a roast brittany seabass with shellfish. As this was served, once again I caught an unpleasant fishy smell arising from the dish, but fortunately when eating the seabass, the smell was absent. The fish was cooked well, but I found the brocoli florets to be slightly undercooked for my liking.

The meat course for the evening was mallard duck in salmis sauce with bacon roasted artichoke. The duck came in two parts, thigh and breast, the thigh meat was disappointingly dry and stringy, while the breast fared a little better. Cooked to a rare pink, it was significantly more moist than the thigh, but not quite tender enough. The accompanying salmis sauce was made from a combination of duck offal, the texture was not very smooth, a little grainy with a dominant liver taste.

Just before dessert, was their version of a cheese course an aged mimolette and black truffle sable. Served in a glass bowl, it was a gooey mixture of cheese with buttery, crunchy pieces of sable biscuit inside topped with a shaving of black truffles at the table. The cheese had a strong mature flavour which I did not mind, but after a few spoonfuls it became too heavy and salty on the palate.

As a palate cleanser they offered a spiced Christmas wine granita, which was actually quite bitter. Not really to my liking unfortunately.

I have to say, after so many mediocre dishes, the desserts were probably the saving grace of the evening. The lychee dessert by  Madame Claude consisted of a rose and lychee mousse paired with a quenelle of lychee sorbet. Bits of fresh lychee fruit was scattered around the plate and a delicate sugared rose petal graced the dessert. The mousse itself was light and airy with a delightful fragrance of rose while the lychee sorbet was refreshing on the tongue. I quite enjoyed this.

The second dessert was a chocolate cigar filled with chocolate cremeux and a cappuccino ice-cream on the side. The casing of the cigar was like a chocolate sugar crisp which broke with a satisfying shatter while the cremeux was rich and smooth which was perfect in tempering down the sweetness of the crunchy sugar casing.

And to end, coffees and assorted Christmas petite fours.

Overall, I have to say the food was a little disappointing, a lot of the courses were overly salted and the visual presentation of the dishes were quite lacking. I am not sure whether it was because they were handling a set menu during the holiday period, but hopefully their standard normally is not like this.