Matsu (formerly Shibaken) has a good concept — a pretty neat combination of Japanese Kaiseki and French cuisine. It’s not fusion per se, but classic French served the Japanese way. Even before going there, I thought I’d like the food but somehow it didn’t live up to expectations.
Strangely enough, the first starter of the 5-course Bamboo set ($48++) wasn’t congruous to what’s shown on the menu (a fact that I discovered only after the meal, talk about delayed reaction haha).
On the menu:
Mushroom marinere, escabeche (deep fried seafood), avocado tofu, grilled vegetables, duck breast with honey sauce.
On my plate:
Mushroom marinere, escabeche (deep fried seafood) smoked salmon, avocado tofu fish cake, grilled vegetables, duck breast with honey sauce marinated squid (my bad, for not letting the staff know that I don’t like those chewy white stuff).
A cold appetiser of capellini tossed in pesto next. Too plain for my liking…
I like the cream of burdock for its novelty. Beats the ubiquitous cream of mushroom anytime!
My main of Norwegian salmon in a potato coil with mushroom sauce was disappointing, to say the least. Many parts of the poor fish were charred, leaving a most unpleasant bitter burnt taste. Plus, it was so oily =(
I’m glad that I changed the dessert from default dacquoise to Tarte Tatin, a cute mini upside-down apple tart with homemade chocolate ice cream! Nicely done, a little tangy and nothing too sweet or heavy~
