Originally I was not expecting this dinner to occur as the only time they had available was for quite a late seating, but the night before our appointed date, 8 1/2 contacted Mr. C to inform him that they were able to organise a table for an earlier time, so lucky us~
This was my second time dining at this 3-star establishment and since I was not wowed by my previous experience, I was hoping I would be more impressed this time around.
As we were seated, we were greeted with a glass of bubbly, which was a very kind gesture *thank you* and after looking through the menu we decided to go a la carte ordering dishes to share rather than have their full degustation menu.
By the time we had finished ordering, I was already really hungry since someone was a little indecisive in choosing whether to take a detour before dinner *ahem* so when the bread basket arrived, my eyes lit up and I must admit I did over indulge on the bread :p Their bread basket was quite rustic with the combination of wood-fired sour dough, olive bread, grissini and sun-dried tomato and cheese foccacia. I loved their olive bread which tore off with a crunchy shatter and the fluffy insides was ideal for soaking up the thick fragrant olive oil~
Amuse bouche was a tiny cube of ocean trout with a puree of granny smith apple and ctiron foam. Quite ordinary.
Our first appetiser was the roast octopus and roast artichoke. This was amazingly good~ Simply presented, the octopus was cut to the perfect thickness and very tender while the artichoke was softly crunchy with a pleasant flavour that can only be achieved in an oven. Seasoning was very light and from the taste only salt was used, but it was enough to bring out the sweetness of the octopus. This was my favourite dish of the night!
Whenever there is soup on the menu, we always tend to order it. So the 8 1/2 seafood soup was our second appetiser. The soup was quite thin, but very rich in flavour with, what I think, an underlying tomato base. The fish, scallops and squid were fresh and cut into bite-sized pieces which were perfect for spooning up.
Dining at an Italian restaurant one must of course order some sort of carbohydrate whether it be pasta or risotto. We chose a lighter option since we were planning to have a heavier meat course and picked the vegetarian burrata cheese ravioli with tomato and eggplant sauce. As half a portion, I counted six neatly folded triangular parcels and slicing one in half revealed an oozy, stretchy filling of snow-white burrata cheese. The sauce was fresh and lightly sweet, quite a perfect accompaniment with the ravioli. Very good.
For our meat course, Mr. C suggested I try the veal chop as it is one of 8 1/2’s signature dishes. So trusting him I agreed and we ordered a serving for one to share. The veal chop was presented as a schnitzel and was served and cut up at the table. The methodical crunch that sounded as the knife sliced through the breading actually made me anticipate eating it even more. The server recommended we give a generous squeeze of lemon over the veal chop before eating it, and he was right as when eaten plain, it was quite dry and tasteless, but with the addition of lemon juice the zestiness lifted the overall flavour immediately. Do remember to eat the side of sliced cherry tomatoes they provide on the side as they were just so sweet~
I was actually quite sated at this point, so was not particularly in the mood for dessert. Mr. C had the strawberry panacotta all to himself and seemed to enjoy it, claiming that the strawberries were very sweet.
Petite fours, a trio of pistachio nougat, milk chocolate pieces and shortbread cookies. They did not look especially appealing so we just left it at that.
For a restaurant that has earned three stars and has recently been placed at Number. 39 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurant List it certainly has its admirers. The prices were very reasonable and service although a little haphazard at times was attentive. However maybe because I am not that enamoured with Italian fine dining, I found the food to be reasonably well done, but still not as spectacular as what others claim it to be. That aside, it is an accomplished restaurant and is worthy of a visit.
Just Something About Me 