Invited Session: Roast @ 1 Rochester

This is the second of the last three invited sessions that you will be reading on this blog. Thereafter, this blog will no longer be taking any more food tasting invites, for reasons that would be explained in further detail next week. For now, here's something from Roast at One Rochester that you may be interested in, especially if you're planning a date or an intimate group outing. In fact, the food featured in this post are part of a "Communal Dining" menu where you're actually encouraged to share.


Roast is within the premises of the main One Rochester Group and features comfortable al fresco seating for that romantic drink and dinner. If you hadn't known, the One Rochester Group also features other well-known places 1 Caramel and 1 TwentySix, the latter of which follows a very similar design at its little sanctuary at East Coast.


It doesn't matter if you're coming with a partner or a group of friends, just make sure the company is good for a night of lovely conversations over glasses of wine, beer and bubblies.


As the sun sets, you know the gastronomic moments are about to begin. Enjoy.

Bread Basket


I always like the way the bread is wrapped like a baby, and how we have to slowly pry the napkin open for a better look inside. I love babies by the way.


Nibble Platter



The Nibble Platter consists of herb crumbed stuffed olives, potato skins with sour cream and ocean trout caviar, radish, tapenade and crudite, foie gras parfait, cured hams and pickles. Not really my kind of thing, but it may work for you.

Tiger Prawn Salad with Cous Cous, Pomegranate, Mint & Persian Feta


More food for the (healthy) soul.

Cheese Soufflé


This sure does look delicious, but if would have been better if it had some seafood ingredients inside or something, like a baked cheese pie. Great for those who like a veryyyy strong cheese flavour.

Pan Fried Foie Gras with Catalunya Spices, Sweet and Sour Cherries
& Juniper Cured Salmon Gravlax with Scrambled Eggs and Toasted Soldiers


More nibbles: foie gras, scrambled eggs, gravlax (cold cured salmon) and brioche. The creamy scrambled eggs went well with the brioche, yums!

‘Roast’ Rosemary Potatoes
& Seared King Scallops with Smoked Sea Urchin Risotto


I liked the Rosemary Potatoes a lot, they were fragrant, crisp and a bit salty, nice enough to start your appetite going. The Seared King Scallops were well grilled, but the slightly over-done risotto failed to impress.

Grilled Cod Fillet


The ladies who tried the cod gave their nods of approval. Nothing fancy added to it, just white beauty in all simplicity.

Baby Chicken with Pine Nut, Raisin and Truffle Stuffing
& Braised Wagyu Beef Brisket with Creamy Paris Mash Potato


The Baby Chicken is usually wrapped with proscuitto but for obvious reasons that I was there that 1 Rochester was kind enough not to have it on the dish. For a marbling score of 8-9 for the wagyu beef brisket you would expect something really tender, and it was quite so actually. The only better one I could think of would be the grilled beef ribs from Hyatt's Oasis (coming up next!). The red wine used needed some getting used to though, as a couple others on the table pointed out as well.

Apple Tart with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream


Vanilla bean ice cream has been the popular trend these days, bringing sexy back to the otherwise plain ol' vanilla. The ice cream here tastes a little different, I couldn't put it down exactly if it was the cream or any particular essence that was added to it. I liked the crisp sides of the apple tart, and me and Elaine also fancied the aromatic and sweet vanilla sauce drizzled across the plate.

Grande Assiette




The Grande Assiette is a selection of five petite sized desserts, and we had:

1) Wild Honey and Pistachio Nougat Parfait with Cherry Compote: the gentlemen's favourite dessert for the night; nutty and flavourful
2) Classic Lemon and Lime Soufflé: the ladies' choice; this tasted better and better with each spoonful, very refreshing touch
3) Devils Flourless Chocolate, Mascarpone and Raspberry Ripple Cake: as the devil would have it, this is something very rich with (too many) distinct flavours
4) Rose Perfumed Panna Cotta with Poached Pear in Crème de Framboise: this had the potential to impress but it didn't; Glenn found it too soft for his liking
5) Pavlova with Vanilla Cream, Poached Strawberries and Passion Fruit Coulis: the pavlova was just too sweet for everyone, and I myself was wondering if I'm eating plain icing haha.

Overall, the food at Roast, 1 Rochester was decent, with its share of hits and misses. Nevertheless, we know this place will always be popular because of its fantastic outdoor ambience, with large fans hidden strategically all around to give you that cool breeze. If you want some place romantic, this could be it.

I thank Ms Audrey Rabarot from the One Rochester Group for her kind invitation and for having us there for this invited session. I wish the Group all the very best in its exciting upcoming endeavours.

Price
$65++ (minimum two persons)

Place
1 Rochester Park

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.

Black Canyon Coffee

I meant to blog about my dinner at Sofra Turkish Restaurant but I suppose I would leave that for Sunday! Meanwhile, here's a quick post on a quick lunch that I had recently at Fusionopolis, no it's not coffee at all but my favourite phad thai!

Prawn Phad Thai: 3.5/5


The phad thai was just about alright, it wasn't too oily and I appreciated the grated peanuts to add the typical crunch to the dish. The chilli powder was somewhat too fine and powdery though, and for a "prawn" phad thai, it only had three small prawns. Nevertheless, as a noodle dish as a whole, I would say it's close to par with that from Thai Express.

Thai Iced Tea: 4/5


What I liked most was the thai iced tea, in part because it had the authentic tea leaf taste to it and also because I appreciated the fact that they used the shaved type of ice just like in Thailand. It's definitely expensive for a single glass of iced tea, which you could easily get at a maximum of $1 in Bangkok. Tastes great but not exactly worth the price!

Service
Good. Can get very quiet here, perhaps because not many of the office tenants have shifted in just as yet. A MRT station is on its way.

Price
$8.95 for the phad thai
$3.50 for the thai iced tea

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Man, that just made my thai iced tea to cost $4!!!

Place
1 Fusionopolis Way, The Connexis #02-01/02.

Additional Comment
You might be interested to know that they have quite an extensive menu with Western fare as well. I might just try it someday when I return to Fusionopolis.

Pictures taken with the Canon Ixus 80 IS.

Oh Carol! Cafe & Bistro

Mondays are usually "special lunch days" with the best friend as we try to find new places for lunch after our astronomy lecture. The latest lunch saw us at Oh Carol! Cafe & Bistro at Buona Vista Biopolis, a place we expected to find scientists in white lab coats but instead could only see ordinary-looking people. But hey, we're here more for the food of course.

Cheese Fries: 4.5/5


The cheese fries were delicious and really one of the best I've had. The fries came thick, hot and crispy just as I like them to be, and the cheese was not too sour nor pungent. People who prefer "soggy" fries could always head to Fromage at Cityvibe, which isn't too far away.

Seafood Cheese Baked Rice: 3.5/5


I really wanted to try their "homemade" beef burger but I just had a case of heartburn (too much fast food haha!) and decided to go a bit easy and get the baked rice instead. It turned out okay, simple indeed but with adequate portions of fish fillet, squids and a few prawns.

Salmone Pasta


The best friend's pasta, featuring smoked salmon in white wine cream suace. She said it was good, the taste of the smoked salmon managed to balance out the (slightly heavy) cream sauce. She also likes the addition of mushrooms as they give the dish a nice aroma, making it just a bit better than the one from Coffee Club.

Service
Very good.

Price
$4.90 for the cheese fries
$9.90 for the seafood baked rice
$12.90 for the salmone pasta

* Prices subject to the usual 7% GST and 10% service charge.

Place


20 Biopolis Way, Centros Block #01-02.
Next to MOE HQ, Buona Vista.