Restaurant Week Oct 2014: WOLF Nose to Tail Dining (from Hweecat's perspective)

Update: WOLF has been replaced with Bar-A-Thym. The awesome female chef is now cooking at Meatsmith.

Hweecat meow.

I usually look forward to the bi-annual Restaurant Week, as it is the time where participating restaurants come up with set meals at promotion prices (and probably the rare times when I could afford to try those usually-more-than-$30-for-mains restaurants). As day no. 300 coincides with Restaurant Week this October, it makes for a good opportunity (and excuse) for us to celebrate with a dinner set at a more pricey casual fine-dining restaurant.

Based on my roomie's recommendation, I made a 7pm dinner reservation for two person at WOLF through the DiningCity Restaurant Week website (http://www.restaurantweek.sg). It took a few days before there were seats available for me to make the reservation. Cat was initially sceptical when I told him that we would be having pork chops at WOLF for Restaurant Week, as he is fond of neither pork chops nor restaurant dining in general. Nevertheless, he agreed to try the pork chops together with me upon realizing that we would be paying significantly less than usual a la carte prices during Restaurant Week.

Expect to see pigs of all sorts - even flying pigs!

We were greeted with a wall portrait of a wolf head at the entrance, as well as an illustration of the pork cuts. Restaurant decorations are tastefully thematic - pig portraits hung on walls, flying pigs on the wall as well as on the tables, and even golden pig sculptures sticking out of the bar-top. Lighting was dim and the atmosphere was slightly pretentious - just slightly as we soon found out throughout our dining experience.

A female service staff ushered us to our table after confirming our dinner reservation, and then proceeded to take our orders. The surprise came when we ordered our Mangalica Pork Chops, when she asked Cat whether he would like his pork medium. We were stunned and initially thought that we heard her wrongly - isn't the question of rarity preferences supposed to apply when we order beef steak? Still stunned, Cat and I asked the female service staff to advise us on the recommended rarity.

Hweecat's appetiser: Crispy Pig Ear Salad

As I was feeling a little adventurous, I ordered the Crispy Pig Ear Salad for my appetiser. The salad has a pretty unique taste and texture; the crunchy leafy vegetables (endive) drenched in mayonnaise-like sauce (aioli), topped with crispy pig ears and garnished with chervil and pomegranate. The crispy pig ear makes for a good snack, as the cartilage is crunchy and the crispy outer layer is not oily. I would have preferred a wee bit more seasoning for the crispy pig ear though, but I'm not complaining about starting my dinner with a healthy yet unusual salad. 

While trying each other's appetisers, we also discovered that crispy pig ear goes well with foie gras. Honestly speaking, the Foie Gras Parfait goes well with pretty much anything.

Cat and Hweecat's mains: Mangalica Pork Chop

The Mangalica Pork Chop is the pièce de résistance of our dining experience. When I cut my pork chop with the big knife that was provided (which proved necessary) and placed the very first piece of pork chop into my mouth, my taste buds went straight into a state of heavenly bliss. The pork chop tasted so incredibly tender and juicy that it could be easily mistaken for beef steak! As I chewed thoroughly on that sacred piece of meat, I was rewarded with a refreshing aftertaste from the succulent meat that was overflowing with its juicy richness. The fattiest piece of pork chop literally disintegrated in my mouth while I swirled it around with my tongue. The apple mustard and radish mustard accentuated the rich taste of the pork chop so well; it accelerated my taste buds' flight to heaven. I could go on and on describing the taste and texture of the Mangalica pork chop with more bombastic language. In short, the moment I placed that first piece of Mangalica pork chop into my mouth, pork chops will never be the same for me again. Never again would I be able to truly enjoy roast pork and pork chops in the neighbourhood without recalling the taste of this heavenly pork chop.

Cat ate his pork chop up greedily and started raving about the pork chop, commenting that roast pork is totally a waste of time and money. The maître, seemingly right on cue, approached us to seek our feedback on the pork chops. I commented enthusiastically that the pork chops were fantastic, while Cat sang praises about how he will be staying off roast pork in the neighbourhood for at least 3 weeks just to have another of these pork chops. He also instructed the maître to relate his compliments to the chef. The maître, seemingly amused by Cat's generous feedback, thanked us and left me to finish my food.

Desserts: Cat's Pear Tarte Tatin and Hweecat's Sticky Toffee Date Pudding

For dessert, I had the Sticky Toffee Date Pudding. The pudding itself was warm and tasted spiced, with a soft texture similar to chocolate lava cake. When eaten together with pecans, butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice-cream, I could discern the complexity in taste and texture of the pudding - the crunchy pecans with its softness, the sweet butterscotch with its spiced taste, and the cold ice-cream with its warmth. A decent dessert overall.

The Pear Tarte Tatin which Cat ordered is a must try! The pear tastes spiced and stewed, yet retains its characteristic crunch and sweet taste. The crisp pastry is light and flaky, and seems to be topped with brown sugar. As the pear dessert was served warm, the vanilla ice-cream accentuates its merits in every sense. Cat was generous enough to cut a quarter of the tart for me to try - he genuinely liked the dessert.

Service was excellent on the whole. The maitre demonstrates what I consider as top-notch service. From my observation, he seeks constant feedback about the dining experience in a dignified-friendly manner - not the "pretentious" manner associated with fine-dining. The service staff is appropriately attentive; usually leaving customers to their own business unless necessary. Our glasses of ice water were promptly filled throughout our dining experience, even after we settled our bill. Finally, the maitre helped us take a photo, personally held the door for us as we left and thanked us for the visit - impeccable service up till the end!

Upon reaching home, I proceeded to check for the a la carte prices for the food that we ate. It turns out that we could have paid closer to S$80++ per person if we had ordered these food items a la carte. Notably, the Mangalica Pork Chop would normally cost $42++ on the a la carte menu. Instead, we paid S$35++ per person for the Restaurant Week set dinner, which is reasonable considering the superior quality of the pork chop. If there is one thing I would go back to WOLF for, it would be for the pork chops - period.

WOLF: Nose to Tail Dining
18 Gemmill Lane
Singapore 069255

Opening Hours:
Mondays - Fridays: 11.30am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm
Saturdays: 6pm - 12am