Restaurant Week Oct 2014: Laurent@Portsdown (from Hweecat's perspective)

Hweecat meow. I'm back after a busy schedule of rehearsals for Beautiful Sunday concert with RACO. (:

Now, time to finish my backlog. Sorry Cat. :P

The theme for this edition of Restaurant Week (25 October 2014 - 2 November 2014) is "Chocolate" - good news for chocolate lovers like me. My roomie, being a foodie, had earlier sent me photos of food from her dinner at Laurent@Portsdown and raved about the chocolate tart. As I looked through the reviews on DiningCity trying to find a restaurant to book for the weekend, my roomie buzzed me up on Whatsapp saying that she made another dinner booking for 2 at the same restaurant - for me and Cat! :D

Since Laurent@Portsdown is located close to the end of Portsdown Road and about 20 minutes away from one-north MRT by foot, we suggest taking a nice stroll to the restaurant when the sun is still up. As we walked down Portsdown Road, we saw plenty of trees and greenery, as well as high-rise buildings from afar. We also spotted avid runners along the road. There were few cars, hence we had a relatively quiet stroll and plenty of fresh air on the way.

Restaurant Interior - Spot the Eiffel Tower display!

The restaurant has a generally more casual feel compared with WOLF, with the service staff dressed more casually in shirt and jeans. Interior decorations have a lighter tone, with tasteful decorations which provide a more homely and casual feel to this French restaurant. The patrons are also dressed more casually - there seems to be no specified dress code, which is good news for comfort-loving Cat. (:

A young female service staff ushered us to our table and passed the menu to us. We have a choice between two starters and two mains; there is only one choice of dessert. We were also promptly asked if we would like a glass of house wine for $10; we declined politely. As we were deciding from the drinks menu, I spotted two young women from the other table pouring from a large jar of what seemed to be citrus juice into their cups. "Look behind!" I told Cat excitedly, pointing behind him.

"Look behind!"

He turned behind and looked curiously, then turned back and told the young female service staff that we want one each from the starters and the mains and "we want one of these *points in the direction of the jar* whatever you call it". Bemused, she explained to us that the drink is called Laurent's Lemonade, which is their famous house lemonade made with lemons and grapefruit.

Laurent's Lemonade - freshly made

The Laurent's Lemonade is served in a big jar filled with lemons and grapefruit (I think). It is an exciting experience for both of us as this is the first time we are having lemonade from such a big jar! The lemonade tasted not too sour with a tad bit of bitter taste from the peel. Overall, a very refreshing drink.

Prawn Cocktail with Guacamole of Avocado

The starters are seafood-based, which is awesome news for seafood lovers like me. The Prawn Cocktail with Guacamole of Avocado was above average. Guacamole is sufficiently creamy with a slight bit of spice and goes well with the salsa.

Traditional Lobster Bisque

The Traditional Lobster Bisque came paired with bread. The seafood taste is a tad bit overwhelming, hence Cat donated most of the lobster bisque to me.

Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Orange Zest Sauce

For mains, Cat ordered Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Orange Zest Sauce. The duck meat looks reddish, but is cooked with such tenderness that it melts into the mouth. If there is something that we would pick on, it would be the skin which seemed a bit too oily. After all, Cat is a fan of Saveur's incredibly crispy duck confit.

Snapper with Brandy and Lobster Sauce

I ordered Snapper with Brandy and Lobster Sauce for mains. The snapper fillet is firm such that it does not disintegrate when cut, yet tender enough to glide around my tongue gently as its layers come off one by one. I am pleasantly surprised not to detect any fishy taste in my snapper - either those "snappers" out there in the market are mislabelled, or the chef really did an awesome job in his treatment of the snapper. The brandy and lobster sauce consists of ratatouille, which is a traditional Provençal stewed vegetable dish made popular by the namesake movie. I loved the sauce so much that I requested for a spoon to scoop the sauce clean - if etiquette is not a concern, I would have literally licked the plate clean.

Chocolate Tarte

Finally, the highlight of our dinner: Chocolate Tarte! This chocolate tart is so incredibly delicious that it is a MUST-TRY! Everything about it is so so perfect - from the creamy dark chocolate layer that is not too sweet and not too bitter, the peanut butter and crispy hazelnut crust, the flawless transition of taste and texture between the layers and so on. The sour berries at the side also complement the taste of the chocolate tart perfectly, providing some zest to the dense layers of chocolate and peanut butter crust. The chocolate tart is flawless to the finest detail - deserving of full marks even from a chocolate fan like me! (:

Look at the layers!

Here's a close-up cross-section of the chocolate tart. Just look at the rich layers of chocolate, peanut butter and hazelnut crust!

Before we left the restaurant, we requested the female service staff who served us to help us take a photo. She cheerfully obliged and said that Cat and I look quite cute together. Cat and I felt flattered by the comment. :P

One thing for sure: We'll be back to Laurent for the desserts, especially the chocolate tart. :D

Laurent@Portsdown
5B Portsdown Rd
#01-02

Opening Hours:
Tuesdays - Thursday 10am - 10pm
Fridays - Saturdays 10am - 11pm
Sundays 9am - 10pm
Closed on Mondays

Side Quest: Raffles Alumni Chinese Orchestra Beautiful Sunday Concert

Cat meow.


Today we take a break from food as a side quest to talk about Hweecat's involvement in the Raffles Alumni Chinese Orchestra (RACO) Beautiful Sunday concert at the Esplanade.


About a month or more ago, Hweecat received an invitation from her JC's alumni CO group to be part of the free concert that is what happened two days ago. She enquired about the repertoire and found it interesting. In particular, the opportunity to perform at the Durian Shell Theatre (Esplanade) was not to be taken for granted.


No thanks to this commitment, like pageant in Hall or university, Hweecat's personal and social life was greatly affected. Besides the obvious time commitment, the practice sessions were at everyone's favourite time of Saturday mornings and afternoons, which is especially precious to us because we have a weekly gathering of friends for dragon hunting game (Dungeons & Dragons). The logistics especially in the last one week were also tiring both for Hweecat and for her faithful cat, that is, me.


Most particularly, Cat spent the whole of Friday night and Saturday afternoon doing nothing much except to give my Hweecat the maximum support. This involved not having any activity on these two time slots that are normally good as gold.


The morning rush today was also not to be underestimated. As Hweecat needs to fall in at 9.30am, I was there at the same time and I have to find something to do for the next four hours. I decided to start with breakfast at Toast Box, whereon I glanced across to Coffee Bean and happened to spot a very pretty girl in a white dress. A year ago I would totally have approached her to try and strike a conversation. Today however I was far more concerned with getting my nasi lemak and wondering whether Hweecat will have her lunch sorted out. Assuming her to be some full time actress or singer, I moved on with my food.


I went to the library after breakfast. To be exact, I improvised a LAN shop in the library and started playing all my favourite video games. How ironic that I was so engrossed in them that I forgot the time, and left myself with no time for lunch and only a tea and toilet break. So much for whining about the injustice of being forced to arrive four hours early.


The line to enter the concert hall was already one concourse long by the time I joined. Still, the wait was long and honestly boring, not least because the Esplanade has no reception for phones and therefore I could not do my own work.


As the performers filed in eventually, I looked keenly like a cat sitting like a vase for a pretty girl in a long maxi dress. Eventually I saw her, flanked to the left, right and front by two erhu style instruments and to the back by a grand piano. A grand piano? In a CO setting?


The concert started with the first three arrangements being not bad at all. The music was professionally arranged and most particularly they were not the mundane type of CO songs.


The climax of the concert was when a soloist was to enter to sing a long medley. To my surprise, the soloist was someone I have met earlier in the day, for she was the white dress girl I saw at Coffee Bean in the morning.


A year ago I would have immediately after the concert attempted to approach her to strike a conversation with the readily available topic of "I saw you earlier today." Today however I rushed out straight after the concert to look for my Hweecat, though strangely she too happened to be right next to my Hweecat when I did find her.


Having greeted a few of Hweecat's old friends and after a little bit of cocktail post reception, Hweecat and I being anti-social cats for the right reasons, decided to head straight for dinner. I then just realized that the Esplanade is directly accessible to our favourite sushi place - Sushi Express.


My comments about the concert as a whole: WELL DONE.


1. A good attempt to popularize Chinese Orchestra.
2. CO has a name for being overly traditional in a lot of bad ways but the RJ alumni has certainly done a very good job in changing this image. After all, what do you expect from RJ people?
3. The songs are well arranged not just in terms of the methods of musical logic but also the choice of instruments and the balance of sound.
4. There was appropriate use of pageant charisma. The performers of the front line including my Hweecat, it was clear they took special effort to dress up, and look good yet appropriate. They looked like musicians, not something sleazy, which people often could not tell the difference.
5. The choice of songs really makes me on hindsight think that the people who I invited but chose to not make it a priority, really missed out a lot.


After the concert, we went to write our first wish ball. Here's our wishes:

(Yes, please like our Facebook page too!)

Here's Hweecat with the wish ball. Cat meow. (:

Restaurant Week Oct 2014: Laurent@Portsdown (from Cat's perspective)

Cat meow.

When we two cats were recommended to this place by Hweecat's roommiecat who used to share a basket with her during the best days of our lives, the first thing we discussed was the pronunciation of the name. Finally decided on pronouncing it the same way as a famed mathematician, we entered the restaurant to find out that there was also a chocolate chef by the same name (Laurent Bernard) and this is a cafe-restaurant under his chocolate brand. 

Hweecat and I have the unwritten and unspoken agreement that I pay during the weekdays and she pays during the weekends. Usually I end up paying more, but this time round it breaks even. 

It was worth it though. The menu was easy to order from. We had a choice of two appetizers and two main courses. Easy. One each. The drinks? While thinking, Hweecat pointed behind Cat. I turned behind, looked and saw this: 

We told the service staff, "One each *points to menu* and we want one of these whatever u call it". She told us that it is their house lemonade made with lemons and grapefruit.

The appetizer was a choice of two real and distinct types of seafood. There was Prawn Cocktail with Guacamole of Avocado and Traditional Lobster Bisque which is great for seafood loving cats like a Hweecat, so Cat happily donated most of the lobster bisque to the pretty Hweecat sitting opposite. 

The main course: Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Orange Zest Sauce for Cat and a very tender Snapper with Brandy and Lobster Sauce for Hweecat. How nice? Well, Cat usually does not like this particular type of fish due to a strong specific taste but decided to give an exception. That is what we told the service staff. 

Chocolate Tart

The dessert - chocolate tart - is a MUST TRY. Everything about it is so perfect from the dark chocolate that is not bitter, to the peanut butter crust, and the flawless transition, not forgetting the fruits beside it. 

Cat gives the food distinction, the chocolate tart full marks, and the house lemonade a certificate of special mention. 

As we left the restaurant, a sense of great contentment came to us. Cat slipped into Hweecat paws, and we crawled a long way into Holland Drive for tea and had a long chat till late into the night. 

Totally worth skipping evening chess for. 

Laurent@Portsdown
5B Portsdown Rd
#01-02

Opening Hours:
Tuesdays - Thursday 10am - 10pm
Fridays - Saturdays 10am - 11pm
Sundays 9am - 10pm
Closed on Mondays