Club Street Social - 29th June 2012

Dann had originally wanted to pick a place called Corner Stone in Ang Mo Kio (heck where issat?) for this week’s BML, but after much grumbling by the party including veiled threats to invoke the dreaded “samolah”, Dann did an about turn and re-hashed his plans, finally deciding on a place called Club Street Social. Being paymaster, he also invited Jason Chiang as a special guest for this week’s BML.

A bit on our guest -   

Age: mid 20s (I think)

Characteristics – Good natured, not ugly and very athletic (with legendary quads of steel apparently!)

Likes - An avid cyclist (yup as u can see from the photo, he probably cycled to the venue).

As the establishment’s name suggests, the venue was located in a lane just off Club Street. We arrived in 2 cabs 10 minutes from the office, and upon entering what was a relatively modest sized eatery decorated with a mix of French and Italian style café influences, there was rumblings amongst some members that they could not feel the air conditioning and whether that constituted a breach of club rules.

So although the ambience was pretty nice, one could say that the start was not the most auspicious for Dann, especially after the menus were distributed. Dann, having obviously done his sums prior to arriving, said that we could each order up to a maximum of S$60 each since Jon was not attending. Looking at the menu however, we realised that this was;

1. Really a café.

2. The prices were such that hitting $60 may not be too easy since most dishes were priced in the mid-teens.

So Dann mentioned that since we were supporters of Samuel Adams, we were allowed to order a bottle of beer to go along with our lunch. To which MG chimed in to ask to reconfirm if the S$60 spending was inclusive or exclusive of GST and service. At this moment, slightly unsure of his original sums and taken aback, reverted to his true self on reflex and said that the S$60 included the ++.

So we collectively ordered the following:

(Breakfast choice by businessman) - Scrambled Eggs, Fontina, Chives with Smokey Bacon

(Salad) – Romaine, Radicchio, Parmigiano  and confit garlic

(Soups) - Lobster Bisque + Minestrone

(Crostini) - Goat Cheese, Thyme & Honey + Duck Rillets + Anchovy & Ricotta cheese

(Panini) - Proscuitto, Tomato, Mozarella + Ribeye, fontina cheese, garlic + Lobster, avocado + Duck Confit, Portobello mushroom

 (Drinks) – 4 bottles Sam Adams Boston Lager

We were first served our soups, salad and crostinis, and immediately upon our first mouthfuls, the party was overwhelmed with delight.

The lobster bisque was rich and flavourful, and was of a generous helping. The lobster flesh that was included in the soup was crunchy and tasty. It was definitely one of the better lobster bisque’s we have tasted.

As for the minestrone, this was definitely made from scratch. It was full of ingredients, with a base of roughly chopped mirepoix, beans and added vegetables. The soup was rich in flavour (with minimal salt) and you can tell there was hardly any artificial additives or enhancers added to this soup. It was home cooking style with full or stuff sitting in the soup. For anyone looking for a healthy, hearty and nutritious lunch, this is a perfect choice.

The salad was quite a serving as well and there seemed to be garlic paste that was melted with cheese drizzled all over, and further topped with shaven parmesan. The green romaine was crisp and the radicchio was slightly grilled and wilted which I think removed some of the bitterness that you get with radicchio. The dressing for this salad is really something different and interesting. Much more delightful than the usual olive oil and balsamic vinegar or vinaigrette dressing.

We then moved on to the crostinis which I had ordered. I had been looking forward to this as I was reminiscing about some of the really delightful ones I had tasted in Italy. The problem with Italian food in Singapore is that most restaurants do the same thing. Osso bucco, risotto, spaghetti vongole etc etc. So I was hoping in anticipation that this would be good, and I, in fact we all were not disappointed!

The duck rillets were really good and were well paired with the apple and fig compote which was sweet. The mix of ingredients on top of the crispy bread was perfect.

Next came the thyme, honey and goat cheese crostini. Whoa…. this was another fantastic concoction of rich, salty and creamy goat’s cheese infused with thyme and topped with a drizzle of honey. The creaminess of this crostini really gives you that feeling of satisfaction as you wolf it down your throat, and yet it is not overly rich to sort of put you off having another (there was none left anyway). The thyme and honey was lovely with the cheese. The thyme infusion sort of cut away a little of the edgier flavour of the goat’s cheese, whilst the honey balanced off some of the saltiness of the cheese. Half the party voted this the best crostini.

We were then served the anchovy and ricotta cheese. Whoa again….. the anchovies were lovely, fresh and not overly salty and it was wonderful with the fresh and creamy ricotta cheese. You could have 5 of these and not get sick of it. Delicious! The other half of the party voted this the best crostini.

At this point in our meal, everyone agreed that the air-conditioning was definitely working, and even if it was not, no one seemed to care. The head waitress, or possibly the owner of the restaurant came up to comment that the way we surrounded the food and gobbled it down like a pack of animals was quite a sight to behold and would’ve made for a fantastic camera shot.

We were then served Businessman’s breakfast selection. The bacon was so-so, but the eggs were done magnificently well. The cheese and chives that was added to the eggs mixture was really tasty and it was cooked to perfection. Absolutely goldilocks… neither over nor under cooked.

Then came the paninis. Of the 4, the one which we felt was a bit of a let-down was the ribeye Panini. There was nothing wrong with this toasted sandwich except that the beef, being a whole steak was a little hard to eat in a sandwich. We agreed that given a choice, we would prefer a philly cheesesteak sandwich over this anytime.

The lobster and avocado Panini was also given a mixed review. The filling was tasty, but some felt that there was not that much of a lobster flavour to the sandwich. I suspect it was because after the lobster bisque, some of the goons were expecting a concentrated lobster flavour explosion from the Panini. Overall I thought that this was quite a decent Panini.

The duck confit with Portobello mushroom Panini was superb and was a hit with the party. It’s the first time I have had duck confit in a Panini to be honest, and I suppose this is not common simply because diners always want the crispy skin on the duck leg to be intact. In a Panini however, that’s hard if not impossible to achieve, but nonetheless if you are in a rush and in need for a quick takeaway, this is one really tasty Panini you should choose.

Finally, we had the prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato Panini. This is typical Italian fare. Having had quite a few in my travels, I can safely say this is a high quality Panini. The ingredients were good and the Panini was toasted perfectly with the melted mozzarella and wilted tomato slices.

At this point, we highlighted to Dann that there was a small possibility that he may not have hit the minimum spending as per club rules as it was difficult to hit S$53 on the dot, and so most of us were below that threshold, and also that it would truly be a waste if given the food quality we have had so far he were to be penalised for such a technicality. He then murmured sheepishly that we had confused him and that it was his original intention for us to order S$60 before service and taxes.  So he decided to throw in dessert for which we ordered the following:

(Dessert) – berries with Vanilla mascarpone, lemon tart, nutella bread pudding with ice-cream

The vanilla with berries and mascarpone was given a so-so rating. I think most in the group were expecting something a little sweeter (as usual, the country bumpkins would have probably been happier with ice cream), but this dish is probably about pairing the slightly sour berries with the rich mascarpone.

We were then served the nutella pudding. This is one stodgy dessert. More brit style than Italian! I don’t particularly like stodgy desserts, so this was not for me, but to give it credit, it was well made and came piping hot with a big ball of ice cream on top.

The decision on the lemon tart was a bit last minute and we had it thrown in just for comparisons sake. It was lemony and slightly egg-y in flavour, and was not bad. The party agreed that it was better than the one we had last week at Cocotte but still not as good as the one at Au Petit Salut.

I hate to say this, but Dann definitely deserved to be referred to as D-man for his marvellous selection for BML this week. Despite the inauspicious start and the fact that it was a café, this is definitely one of the more memorable lunches we have had. The Sam Adams beer that was thrown in was also a wonderful accompaniment to the lunch and I would thoroughly recommend having some wine or at least a Sam Adams with the food here.

Overall I think the best thing about this establishment are the crostinis. Really a wonderful treat. If I were to come back here in the evenings with some friends, it would be a bottle of wine and all the crostini’s on the menu. Reminds me a bit of Spanish tapas as well. Next best thing are the soups. Following that would possibly be the duck confit Panini and the prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato Panini.

The total damage was about S$360 once the guest’s cost was excluded. Dann had it good this time as the nice lady who served us waived all charges for the 3 desserts we selected. The party suspected this good fortune was due to my good looks J rather than our generous lunch order. Thanks guys!

By: Club Scribe