Review - Michelin-Star Dining at The Cliff: Featuring Chef Saul Bolton from New York

This was an interesting contrast of textures between the smoothness of the hamachi sashimi and crunchiness of the puffed jasmine rice, which reminded me of Japanese rice crackers. Light and clean on the palate.

Our normal chawanmushi upgraded a thousand times over. The creamy sea urchin provided a zing of seafood sweetness. Chef Bolton mentioned this as his personal favourite on the menu (when I asked him after).

The soup was robust in flavour, but perhaps a little too concentrated. Needless to say, the ingredients were all fresh, but one of it had a distinctly pungent smell to it. Not sure what it was but the top layer had a slight stickiness in texture, which came apart to reveal a rubbery smooth second layer underneath. My guess is beef tripe. 

The turbot came apart in neat little firm pieces when forked, with none of the flakiness of the usual fish meat. It had a nice buttery fragrance to it with a slight crisp on the outside from the searing. Paired together with the fennel which had a spiciness that shot up the nose the same way wasabi does and sweet piquilla peppers, this was a winning combination in taste. Another favourite of the night for me.

My plus one, my mum, picked the lamb for the choice of main. I had to pick the lobster as I don't fancy lamb (lamb meat usually has this accompanying overpowering odour).

The coconut rice was aromatic and all in soft, distinct unbroken grains - somewhat resembling the texture from the Thai dish Mango Sticky Rice sans the stickiness. The lobster meat didn't have any extra sauce or seasoning to it; unneeded too because the lobster meat was robust with sweetness . The curry resembled Japanese curry. Sadly though, it was a tad too salty.

Despite my lamb-aversion, I still decided to try a piece hesitantly. Lucky I did. Too good this was, done just right. Each piece of meat cut from this lamb steak was juicy and full of flavour. 

The texture of the meat was faultless: soft and not overly chewy. It tasted very much like premium grilled beef steak, and would have gotten away with it if not for the very slight hint of odour remaining that I think is impossible for lamb to be rid of completely. Another surprise came from the roasted carrots, which were so good - they were sweet and had crispy ends to it. 

We overheard loud and repeated exclamations of "this is so good" from the adjacent table of all-males dining. I concur.

Strawberry Lychee, Coconut Tapioca, Mango-Passion Sorbet

The sweets to round off the meal didn't let down too. In particular, the Mango-Passion Sorbet was very refreshing and tasty. We would continue having it non-stop if we had stomach space and weren't limited by the small portion given. Likely handmade by the chef, who is known for his strong belief in making everything in-house using fresh produce.

Orange Scented Cheesecake, Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream, Oatmeal crumble

Indeed, an eye-opening meal that is a delicious amalgation across East-West cultures. The chef even good-naturedly extended an invitation to drop in on Saul or any of his restaurants in New York should I ever visit. There weren't mind-blowing moments at every single point of the meal, but in the instances there were, they well did spectacularly.

The night was also wonderful because of the impeccable service from the service staff at The Cliff. Once again, thank you Openrice for this wonderful opportunity!