Update: The guys at E'spuma Lab have decided not to continue their lease at PoMo. ):
Hweecat meow.
Cat usually does not particularly like fine-dining. However, today's post involves a casual diner at PoMo which uses fine-dining culinary techniques in its dishes - at wallet-friendly prices! Think gastronomic techniques like sous vide and espuma at hawker prices.
E'spuma Lab seems like one of those 'atas' (i.e. high-class) diners at first glance. Situated near the entrance at level 1 of PoMo, it has a very clean look with sous vide and espuma equipment at the shop front. What attracts Cat most is the price of its food offerings - you can get a decent Western fusion set meal with a bowl of soup and ice lemon tea/coffee/tea for less than S$10 (for most items)!
Ever since we discovered E'spuma Lab in early May, we usually drop by for a fuss-free dinner after frequenting the Ya Kun Kaya Toast branch at PoMo. Since then, E'spuma Lab has been officially launched with a media tasting, and has since expanded their menu to include more pricey items such as salmon and steak (and not forgetting changes in dish presentation).
The Cream of Mushroom with Sautéed Shiitake (S$3.80 ala carte, served as part of set meal) is smooth with a strong taste of shiitake mushrooms. There used to be some shrimp and crisp bits in the soup; nevertheless, the soup tastes consistently good on our visits. For ala carte, the soup is served with mini French baguettes.
The Sous Vide Eggs (S$3.80) comes with two options: Sautéed Mushrooms and Smoked Norwegian Salmon. The eggs are cooked perfectly soft with runny yolk, demonstrating the advantage of the sous vide technique in cooking consistency. The Sautéed Mushrooms Sous Vide Eggs are topped with puffed wild rice and truffle crumble, providing some complexity in texture. In short, heavenly.
The Smoked Norwegian Salmon Sous Vide Eggs are topped with crispy salmon skin and ginger shoyu. The smoked Norwegian salmon wasn't fantastic, but we like the crispy salmon skin as it tastes light and not too oily. A pity that we were served the wrong order on that particular visit and the poor young chef accidentally served our eggs with a broken yolk.
We also tried some of the mains as part of the set meal. Our personal favourites are the E'spuma Potato Foams (S$6.80 ala carte) which come in three options: Curry Chicken, Beef Rendang and Sautéed Mushrooms. The potato foams are also served with mini French baguettes.
You might ask, why eat foam for dinner? Well, treat it as if you are eating something similar to mashed potatoes, but a little more smooth. The texture of the potato emulsion is very rich and soft, yet does not cloud the flavour of the toppings. In fact, the potato emulsion is excellent with Curry Chicken! :D
The other mains we tried are the Spaghetti with Swedish Meat Balls and E'spuma Caramelised Onion Sauce (S$6.80 ala carte) and Fragrant Rice Served with Pan Seared Sous Vide Chicken Breast and E'spuma Pesto Sauce (S$6.80 ala carte) (which was replaced with spaghetti as they ran out of rice on that particular visit, and which I conveniently did not take a photo of). These two dishes aren't spectacular; the meat balls were dry and the chicken breast merely tasted acceptable, but we liked the espuma sauces.
Our verdict? E'spuma Lab has done a pretty good job of introducing fine-dining gastronomy to the masses with Western fusion dishes. With decent fine-dining offerings at surprisingly wallet-friendly prices, even Cat wouldn't mind multiple visits. :D
E'spuma Lab
1 Selegie Road
#01-20/21
PoMo
Opening Hours: Mondays - Saturdays 11am - 9pm
P.S. Glossary of some gastronomic terms used:
Sous vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath or in a consistent temperature lower than conventional cooking temperatures, in order to cook the item equally and retain moisture.
Espuma is the Spanish term for foam or froth that is specifically created with the use of a siphon bottle. This molecular gastronomic technique allows for creation of foams without an emulsifying agent and hence achieves an unadulterated flavour of the ingredients used.
Hweecat meow.
Cat usually does not particularly like fine-dining. However, today's post involves a casual diner at PoMo which uses fine-dining culinary techniques in its dishes - at wallet-friendly prices! Think gastronomic techniques like sous vide and espuma at hawker prices.
E'spuma Lab seems like one of those 'atas' (i.e. high-class) diners at first glance. Situated near the entrance at level 1 of PoMo, it has a very clean look with sous vide and espuma equipment at the shop front. What attracts Cat most is the price of its food offerings - you can get a decent Western fusion set meal with a bowl of soup and ice lemon tea/coffee/tea for less than S$10 (for most items)!
Ever since we discovered E'spuma Lab in early May, we usually drop by for a fuss-free dinner after frequenting the Ya Kun Kaya Toast branch at PoMo. Since then, E'spuma Lab has been officially launched with a media tasting, and has since expanded their menu to include more pricey items such as salmon and steak (and not forgetting changes in dish presentation).
The Cream of Mushroom with Sautéed Shiitake (S$3.80 ala carte, served as part of set meal) is smooth with a strong taste of shiitake mushrooms. There used to be some shrimp and crisp bits in the soup; nevertheless, the soup tastes consistently good on our visits. For ala carte, the soup is served with mini French baguettes.
 |
| Mushroom Soup (on first visit in May) |
 |
| Mushroom Soup as part of set meal |
 |
| Sous Vide Eggs with Sautéed Mushrooms |
 |
| Sous Vide Eggs with Smoked Norwegian Salmon |
You might ask, why eat foam for dinner? Well, treat it as if you are eating something similar to mashed potatoes, but a little more smooth. The texture of the potato emulsion is very rich and soft, yet does not cloud the flavour of the toppings. In fact, the potato emulsion is excellent with Curry Chicken! :D
 |
| Curry Chicken with E'spuma Potato Foam (on first visit in May) |
 |
| Spaghetti with Swedish Meat Balls and E'spuma Caramelised Onion Sauce |
E'spuma Lab
1 Selegie Road
#01-20/21
PoMo
Opening Hours: Mondays - Saturdays 11am - 9pm
P.S. Glossary of some gastronomic terms used:
Sous vide is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath or in a consistent temperature lower than conventional cooking temperatures, in order to cook the item equally and retain moisture.
Espuma is the Spanish term for foam or froth that is specifically created with the use of a siphon bottle. This molecular gastronomic technique allows for creation of foams without an emulsifying agent and hence achieves an unadulterated flavour of the ingredients used.
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