Bridge Restaurant & Bar Tasting Session

Bridge Restaurant & Bar Tasting Session
31 Seah Street

Opening Hours:
Tue - Thu: 3pm - 11pm
Fri: 3pm - 1am
Sat: 11am - 1am
Sun: 11am - 5pm
Closed Mon


http://www.dineatbridge.com.sg/

This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from Coffee & Cravings, Alainlicious, That Greedy Pig, Rachel Xie, and The Silver Chef.


Delicious Modern European Fine Dining At Affordable Prices

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 6
Value for Money: 8
Budget about SGD $60 ++ per person.


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Founded in August 2014 by ex-banker turned restauranteur Lawrence Ngan, Bridge Restaurant & Bar along Seah Street offers well crafted, Modern European fine dining at value for money prices. Head Chef of Bridge Restaurant & Bar, Sky Chan Wai Khang, draws on his years of experience in various fine dining restaurants, such as Joel Robuchon and JAAN, to create dishes that delight and dazzle the senses.

Bridge Restaurant & Bar Facade

Ambience at Bridge Restaurant & Bar is inviting and relaxing. Styled like a modern bistro, with low ambient lighting, a wide floor space, modern furniture with clean, curved lines, in colours of wood, yellow, white, and black. A long, open bar sits at one side, over which guests can converse with the bartender. The atmosphere lends itself well to long, lingering meals and laughter with friends. There is a small al-fresco outdoor dining area as well, though this is exposed to the elements, and rather uncomfortable being next to the road.

Bridge Restaurant & Bar Exterior

Bridge Restaurant & Bar Interior

Service at Bridge Restaurant & Bar is professional and efficient, living up to the standards of a bistro, but falls short of restaurant quality. Staff greet diners, and seat them quickly, though I notice they don't engage people who stop to look at their menu outside. They're also quick to clear empty / dirty plates or tables, setting it for upcoming courses, or the next sitting of diners. However, I do wish they had changed the sharing plates as well, at least mid-way through the meal. Beyond this, there is very little engagement with staff, and I feel the service is functional, but not memorable. Owner Lawrence Ngan is much more engaging, explaining the details and history of dishes, and checking for feedback. Overall service levels could be improved.

Bridge Restaurant & Bar Address

Food at Bridge Restaurant & Bar is Modern European, artfully and beautifully plated dishes prepared with French cooking techniques, featuring largely Western influenced flavours. Head Chef Sky Chan Wai Khang believes in a "less is more" approach, each dish is thoughtfully crafted around 1 main ingredient, with accompaniments that highlight it. Fresh, quality ingredients are sourced, resulting in food that's delicious, bursting with flavour and colour. Portions are rather large for individuals, and can be shared. Despite the use of premium ingredients and restaurant fine dining concept, prices are affordable, comparable to bistro pricing. Budget about SGD $60 per person for a 4 course meal during dinner, which is incredible value for money! The menu here is regularly changed every 3 - 4 months, making repeat visits worthwhile!

The Fruit Cocktail was a refreshing beverage, a blend of cider with a mix of tropical fruits. Good thirst quencher for warm days!

Fruit Cocktail

The complimentary Bread With Truffle Honey Butter & Sea Salt is a perfect teaser to whet the appetite. The crisp French baguette bread is lovely, warm and fragrant, crunching slightly on the exterior, with a soft, fluffy interior. I understand it's baked in-house! But the star here is the delicious and unique Truffle Honey Butter, there is a slight earthy, sweetness that isn't overpowering, being rather delicate in taste. Pairs so well with the bread.

Bread With Truffle Honey Butter & Sea Salt

The Octopus (SGD $16) dish features thinly sliced, marinated octopus, chewy kombu seaweed, crunchy frisee / endive salad and radish, with a sharp shallot chutney and colourful tobiko / flying fish row. The plate is finished with a silky Yuzu sorbet from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan! Taste is lovely, a blend of freshness, cleaness, sweet, zesty, sour, briny, and earthy. Akin to a really good carpaccio.

Octopus (SGD $16)

Octopus

The Lamb (SGD $35) was the most popular dish of the evening amongst our group! The New Zealand source lamb rack was pan-seared to a perfect, pink, medium doneness, with a moist, tender texture. Accompanied by fresh crunchy leaves of brussels sprouts, a smooth orange puree, airy parmesan cheese foam, along with chewy, al-dente fregula / fregola pasta. The lamb has that slightly soft chew with a hint of gamey flavour, which I like. The savoury sweet fregula / fregola pasta, and slightly salty, sharp parmesan cheese foam was equally good when paired.

Lamb (SGD $35)

Lamb

Loved the Blackfin Paimpol (SGD $22), with a large, tender fillet of pan-seared blackfin seabass fish, served on a bed of soft, tender coco de paimol (24 hours soaked black-eyed peas / beans stew), finished with a warm, white wine foam. Closely resembles the classic French dish of 'Sea Bass Fish With Coco De Paimpol Beans In Butter Sauce', which hails from the city of Paimpol, in the Brittany region of France. The fresh seabass fish has a crisp, slightly salty skin, which gives way to a tender, flaky, sweet white flesh underneath. The black-eyed peas / beans are soft and tender, not mushy, with a savoury sweet, buttery taste. Really good!

Blackfin Paimpol (SGD $22)

Blackfin Paimpol

Photoception

The Homarus (SGD $30) is named for a classification of lobsters, and thus features a tender, 56 degree sous vide, succulent Boston lobster, served over crunchy stalks of pan-seared asparagus, and grainy kombu seaweed infused couscous. Hidden underneath are tiny cubes of diced squid. Finished with a light lobster roe coral sauce, along with an airy squid ink foam. Taste of the lobster is fresh, meaty, savoury sweet, and clean, while the rest of the dish carries flavours of sweet, briny, salty, savoury, and smoky. Personally, I didn't like this dish, the flavour combination doesn't appeal to me, and the portion is small.

Homarus (SGD $30)

Homarus

The Land & Bulb (SGD $48 per 100g) features thinly sliced, tender Kagoshima A4 wagyu beef, grilled to your choice of doneness. Simple and straight forward, the ingredient really shines in this dish. Paired with a sweet Australian white onion done 2 ways, along with a juicy cherry tomato, the portion may be small, but it's big on that succulent, meaty, beef flavour. I think it's slightly pricey though.

Land & Bulb (SGD $48 per 100g)

Land & Bulb

At Bridge Restaurant & Bar, you don't get manufactured truffle oil in your food, you get honest-to-goodness, real truffles! Sourced directly from the town of Alba, in the Piedmont region of Italy, the Alba White Truffle / Trifola D'Alba Madonna, is a true luxury. Unlike other luxury goods, these truffles cannot be mass manufactured, they grow wild exclusively in this area of the world, and because of global warming, there are lesser of them every year. This makes them a perfect luxury item, very precious, and getting more so with time. Having eaten these, I realise it's very different from mass-produced truffle oil, their texture is of dried leaves, rough and coarse, with a slightly pungent, spicy grassy aroma, and a light, delicate, earthy taste. Not as in-your-face like truffle oil, which has a much stronger aroma and taste. I understand 0.5kg of Alba White Truffle / Trifola D'Alba Madonna can cost up to SGD $4000 or more!

Alba White Truffle / Trifola D'Alba Madonna

Alba White Truffle / Trifola D'Alba Madonna

The luxurious Forest Alba (SGD $32) is a rich bowl of creamy, savoury sweet mascarpone risotto, prepared al-dente, with tender, earthy noisette shimeiji mushrooms, and crushed hazelnuts on the side which lend a crunch to texture. A total of 2 grams of real, seasonal white truffles, which are incredibly rare, are shaved raw over the dish tableside, making this the most value for money dish here, as well as possbily the cheapest real truffle dish in Singapore! Our resident risotto snob gave this dish his approval, and I heartily agree!

Forest Alba (SGD $32)

Forest Alba

So one of our fellow bloggers raved about the Poulet (SGD $27) here, calling it "the most tender-est, tiong-tiong, chicken breast I ever ate"! And when it arrived, it didn't disappoint. The pan-seared, 57 degrees sous vide, organic chicken breast was really tender, soft and delicate in texture. With a natural sweetness, the chicken was already great on its own. Served with crunchy stalks of asparagus, a salty, airy bacon foam, and crisp, savoury wafers of bacon and chicken skin! A rough, creamy polenta puree sits on the side, lending a touch of starch to this dish. There are also slices of rich, delicious, pan-fried foie gras, which lend a savoury, fatty texture, though I felt the dish was good enough without it. Truely among the best chicken breast I've eaten!

Poulet (SGD $27)

Poulet

The Dark Passion (SGD $16) is a whimsical, playful, modern dessert. Featuring a velvety 68% Saint Dominic dark chocolate mousse, encasing a sweet, tart passionfruit jelly, and crisp hazelnut feuilletine chips, set within a milky white chocolate shell. Surrounded by crumbly, bitter sweet chocolate soil, finely crushed peanuts, globes of sweet, tart passionfruit gel, several rather firm dehydrated vanilla sponge cake pieces, and crisp hazelnut nougatine wafers. Finished with a quenelle of zesty shikuwasa / citrus depressa / hiramiremon sorbet, sourced from from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The contrast of flavours and textures is addictive, really good!

Dark Passion (SGD $16)

Dark Passion

The Blue Cod (SGD $29) is unique for its super crispy, edible scales on the wild caught New Zealand blue cod fish! The fish itself is fresh, with firm, compact, flaky white flesh, that has a natural sweetness. Served with over a bed of savoury sweet, crunchy savoy cabbage, along with strands of salty, earthy, chewy Spanish seaweed. A little pond of crunchy radish, fresh spinach leaves, and yuzu bouillon that burst with a sweet, zesty citrus flavour, brings a beautiful level of intricate detail to the plate, creating an artistic visual feast.

Blue Cod (SGD $29)

Blue Cod

Overall, I would return to Bridge Restaurant & Bar for its fantastic food, and relaxing ambience. Service could be better, but at least it's of a passable standard. Glad that the kitchen here really puts effort into each dish, from conceptualising, to execution. The prices, while value for money, makes it unaccessible for daily dining, but Bridge Restaurant & Bar is perfectly suited for once or twice weekly dining, special occasions, or catching up with family / friends. And because the menu at Bridge Restaurant & Bar along Seah Street changes every 3 - 4 months, things are kept refreshing and interesting even for repeat diners!


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