It was a pretty small cosy place with simple black and orange-themed decor.
Looking at the menu, I would say they are pretty vegetarian friendly. They have this Exotic Vegetables on Lava Stone Grill (read: grilled zucchini and sweet peppers) as a main course which I was pretty keen to try. Maybe we can go try it the next time you're here, Adaline!
And did I ever mention that I have a thing for mushrooms? So definitely one of the must-order for me was their Grilled Portobello Mushrooms even though it wasn't one of the chef's recommendation.
At the price of $10.90 I was actually expecting maybe... erm... more mushrooms? Anyhow, presentation was lovely, mushroom was yummy (but not enough!) and even the salad that comes was it was doused in yummy vinaigrette. Nice, but not worth it, unless you're an absolute mushroom lover!
For main course, you can choose from a wide range of lava stone grills, seafood, or pasta. Otherwise, you can opt for the 4-course set dinner, which comes with a soup, salad, your main course and a dessert.
Chowder of the day was as any soup should be. Nothing much to rave about, nothing to complain either.
I was impressed though, with the salad that came with the set dinner. Usually all you get for salad is just a bowl of veggies, mixed in with some salad sauce. But here, you can see that the chef took the effort not just to grill the baby corn, but also quite some effort in presenting the salad itself. The little pile of veggies tasted much like the ones which came with the mushroom, but the grilled baby corn was lovely. Not scorched, but grilled just right, bringing out the aroma and juiciness of the baby corn, it was yummy!
For set dinners, you get to choose your main course, but you don't get to choose your sides.
This is the Grilled Top Loin Steak (200 gm), which comes with mashed potato and some sauteed greens. For a set dinner like this, it'll set you back at $39.90. How would you like your steak to be done? Usually I ask for medium rare. This is not easy to achieve and not many places can get it right. At Blue Basil, the chef definitely got it just right. Tender and not too chewy, the steak was very fresh.
This is the Pan Seared Butterfish, also with mashed potato and sauteed greens. Freshness is not something to be worried about here, it seems. The chef took pride in his work and ensured that the food he served look good and taste good. The fish was fresh, soft and warm. It was so light, it gives you the "melt-in-your-mouth" feeling when you eat the fish.At $32.90, it is definitely not cheap, but not something I would mind too much.
The last thing you need to worry about here when ordering set dinner is getting slipshod meals just because set dinner are supposedly value (read: cheaper than ala carte) meal.
From the ala carte menu, this is the Lamb Shoulder Rack (chef's recommendation). I was a little disappointed when it didn't come in the supposedly Lava Stone Grill, as indicated in the menu header. Maybe it was a little misleading to be called Lava Stone Grill, and I was expecting something like what you might get at Hot Stones, where they serve your food on literally hot stones.
For ala carte mains, you get to choose two sides and the sauce to go with your food. For veggie, I chose Corn on the Cob. And for starch, I chose Jacket Potato. For the sauce, the server kindly recommend that the lamb goes best with the Peppery Espagnole, when I asked for Blue Basil pesto. I decided to go with the recommendation.
Corn cob was nothing to rave about, but was chosen only because I've got a thing for corn. Likewise for the jacket potato. For the lamb, it was nice. Just nice. After checking out the butterfish and the top loin, the lamb pales in comparison. Also, the lamb portion was rather small. And I bet Peppery Espagnole was just a fancy name for black pepper.
At $29.90, with just a main course, I would say, go for the set dinner instead. Though, the set dinner choices are quite limited (sorry no lamb choices in set dinner menu) and I had felt like having lamb that night.
They also have a separate booze menu. Choose from their wide range of wine/cocktail/spirits/beer to go with your main course to compliment your main course. It really makes a world of difference drinking from your ice water and drinking from that glass of red which goes so well with the lamb!
Now on to the dessert! I've called in advance to make the reservation, and at the same time, request for "a little something" to be done, because we're celebrating a birthday. The server kindly promised me "a little something", which I have totally no idea what it was. It felt like Russian Roulette, not knowing what the "little something" was.
In the end, they've prepared a slice of choco banana cake with a candle. This was supposedly on top of the dessert which comes with the set dinner and is not charged. Though by then we were a little full.
I was "ambushed" when I was going to the toilet which was located all the way at the back of the kitchen. The server wanted to confirm what the "little something" was and if I was okay with it. I wonder what if they've prepared for backup if I said no. But anyway, very attentive service definitely. Did I mention that the choco banana cake was soft and light, and smells of wonderfully fresh bananas?
Also, dessert of the day was supposedly tiramisu for the set dinner. But the chef decided not to serve the tiramisu because it wasn't fresh enough (see what I meant earlier about the chef being very particular about the quality of food).
Raspberry Creme Brulee (chef's recommendation!) was served instead.
It was my first time trying out a Creme Brulee, but I must say, I love it! The crunchy (sugar granules) versus the soft (Brulee + raspberry), the sweet (Brulee) versus the sour (raspberry), it was a wonderful experience just to savour it!
Overall, it was a wonderful experience dining at Blue Basil, because of the good food quality, the cosy ambience, the wonderful service (you also get the manager coming over to ask if you're enjoying yourself and if there's any complains). My only gripes - slightly too pricey (hence, not somewhere where you can also go hang out), and very out of the way (hence, again not somewhere you'll want to go on a regular basis).
0 ♥ comments:
Post a Comment