Celebrating 10 Years at Corner House

Last weekend, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

It isn’t everyday that you celebrate 10 years together (more like 15 years really, if you count our years of dating) so I took the liberty of arranging a weekend of celebrations, starting with a dinner date on Thursday night.

My husband kindly reminded me last year that I only get a two opportunities a year on my birthday and anniversary to get a fancy dinner off him and I took that advice to heart this year! I gleefully browsed through lists of nice restaurants before settling on Corner House at the Botanic Gardens. It was an easy choice, since I’ve always wanted to visit that beautiful old colonial building it is sited in (alas, I never made it to Au Jardin), had good reviews for its innovative menu, and importantly, had a menu that did not exceed my husband’s mental limit of $200 per person.

Probably because we were dining on Thursday night, it wasn’t difficult to get a reservation. We rolled up and were seated in a quiet enclosed balcony area with just one other table. After we were seated, I realised that the restaurant really be much more beautiful to visit in the day when the lush greenery would be visible from the windows. Perhaps another time! (Err, right, my dear husband?)

We were handed two menus after we sat down and quickly realised that the thicker one, by far, was the Wine List. We plebeians studied it with curiosity, and were particularly fascinated with the page of 100 point wines. “Is there one of a 2005 vintage?” asked the husband in jest. There was one. A $9,880 Pétrus. Right. We plumped for a glass of house wine each so that we could have what we each wanted — a Rosé for him and a white Gewürztraminer for me.

Next up was the Amuse Bouche, served on the house. We were given three varieties of these bite-sized hors d’oeuvres and told the order in which to eat them. First the Oyster Leaf with a drop of yuzu gel, candied orange peel and a tiny shiso flower, next cucumber and mustard seeds (I think) in jelly, then lastly our favourite one, a homemade fish cracker with creme fraiche, topped with tobiko. 

Carabinero Prawn

My first appetiser was the Carabinero Prawn, a house speciality which came at an additional $22 supplement to the menu price. I love prawns so I decided to indulge with this. It was certainly rather special! The prawn itself was sweet and delicious, and as I commented to the husband, had a taste and texture more like lobster than prawn. But I thought the star of the dish was the secondary ingredient — the tomatoes, creatively served in many ways. There was, for example, a dollop of tomato and capsicum sorbet, a “tomato cloud” with a light chewy texture, and a really sweet cherry tomato. I enjoyed eating my way around the plate.

French Royale Oyster

The husband had the French Royale Oyster. I must admit I didn’t order this because I thought there’ll only be one oyster. Haha. Well, there are four, served in two ceramic oyster shells with plum granita, basil seeds and olive oil caviar. The dish was quite a sight, served on rocks with dry ice! I love oysters with granita so I slurped up the one oyster the husband offered me. Delicious.

Hokkaido Scallop

We both had the Hokkaido Scallop for our second appetiser. I think this was our favourite of the three. Of course, we are both scallop sashimi fans, so this was right up our alley! The scallop ceviche, with yes, burnt orange, ikura roe and rice crackers, drizzled with miso was so good. And how cute are those little leaves cut as they are into little round circles? 

Oignon doux des Cévennes

We ordered the same starters and the first one was the Oignon doux des Cévennes — an onion mousse-like-soup in which sits a perfect 62°C sous vide egg, topped with croutons and an onion chip. I was a little disappointed that this wasn’t the famed onion-in-4-ways signature dish that I’d seen in other reviews but this condensed version was still delicious, sweet and creamy. I wasn’t entirely sure about the egg (I usually don’t like egg in my soups) but it went perfectly. This was one of my favourite dishes of the night.

New Zealand Cod “Crispy Scales”

Our second starter was another house speciality — New Zealand Cod “Crispy Scales”. The scales on the fish skin are ruffled up and fried to a crisp, which gives the fish a satisfying crunch when you bite into it. It was delectable but the crispy scales got a mixed reaction at our table as my husband didn’t really like it but I did. The little shiso flowers (which also made an appearance in our Amuse Bouche earlier) are edible by the way. I was instructed to pluck them off and sprinkle them on the fish.

Free Range Chicken

Mangalitsa Pork Collar

And it was on to the mains! By this time I was feeling rather rather full, which might in part explain why I didn’t find the mains as compelling. I ordered the Free Range Chicken, and was served a sous vide piece of chicken breast, a small piece of pan-fried chicken thigh and foie gras. The husband lamented that he did not notice that foie gras was included in this dish or he would have ordered it! The chicken breast, unassuming as it looked, was the star of the dish. Quite simply, it was the most tender piece of chicken breast I’ve ever tasted. I’ve never had anything quite like it. That said, it was still… chicken breast, ie. not my favourite thing to eat. So while a lot of reviewers have listed this as a must-try, it’s not something I would put on my list.

The husband had the Mangalitsa Pork Collar, which frankly looked very plain on the plate. But despite being very simply dressed, it was delicious! Slightly pink and full of flavour, this disappeared very quickly.

My Interpretation of Kaya Toast 

Durian BB Pudding

Desserts! I was most excited by these when we were ordering. We had originally both plumped for the Durian BB Pudding because, as the husband said, “it’s durian! With kopi ice-cream!” Subtext: The choice is obvious! But though I totally agreed with him, my desire to try the other option won out. In other words, I got the husband to take the kaya toast! Hah.

We were surprised when our servers came out with our plates, which carried “Happy 10th Anniversary” greetings. That was a nice touch by the restuarant, which of course, made for a great photo opp. 

We both shared both desserts and really liked both of them. The chef’s interpretation of kaya toast featured a “toast” made of muscavado sablés with yuzu-infused pandan ice-cream, served with gula melaka, coconut foam. I don’t think you ned to ask — it was super yummy. Sadly, it was also gone in two bites! The durian pudding was more substantial. The durian dome had a wonderful creamy durian flavour and encases the kopi ice-cream within. The ice-cream too had a lovely intense flavour and the bitterness blanked out the sweetness of the durian really well! This sits on filo pastry with bread pudding underneath. Ah, so so so good.

And with that, we came to the end of our meal. By this time, I was feeling pretty stuffed, which is a good sign. Feeling like he has not had his fill at the end of a fancy meal is a big no-no for my husband. Fortunately this wasn’t the case this time. We had a lovely evening and it was a worthy dinner for a special occasion. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to wait another 10 years!

Corner House
1 Cluny Road, EJH Corner House
Singapore Botanic Gardens
(Nassim Gate Entrance)
Singapore 259569
Tel: 64691000
Web: www.cornerhouse.com.sg