Blu - one of my best dining experiences ever

Confession. This post is waayyyy overdue. It’s so late that I got embarrassed and contemplating not posting it. But then I saw Michelle’s review on Blu and got inspired, plus, I think such a special place deserves more recognition.

E and I went to Blu in late March to celebrate both his birthday and our wedding anniversary, which fall on the same day. I had done a lot of research beforehand to zero in on this place! Having heard so much raving about the new chef Kevin Cherkas who had taken over just a few months ago, I was terribly excited to check the place out. It helped that the Shangri-La “Flash Your Age” Promotion where you get a discount had just started and we managed to get a decent discount on our meal (not large cos E’s not that old but not small cos he’s not that young either!). Sorry about the wonky photos, we forgot to bring the proper camera so had the camera phone, and the lighting in Blu is really bad for photo taking.

Ooh yes, the raving is soooo justified. I think chef Cherkas is a genius. The “Experience” 6-course menu, at $140 per person is such a wonderful must-try…I could not stop talking or dreaming about it for weeks after our meal! For the “Experience” menu, chef comes out and talks to you about your likes and dislikes, and decides on each of the 6 courses for you, which of course is great for the diner’s ego.
First course: I had the “Lucky Oyster”. A single fresh oyster (I think it might have been Bélon but can’t be certain after this time), still brimming with the juice of the ocean, with a “pearl” of oyster juices. The pearl went pop against the roof of my mouth and flooded my tastebuds with that sweet sweet briny metallic oyster taste… E had the foie gras macaroon – a slice of foie gras sandwiched between a tiny orange macaroon, just slightly larger than the thumb. He didn’t share so I don’t know how it tasted but he said it was good (you know men – very non descriptive).

Second course: I had the Thai Crab Ravioli while E had the Escargots. I can’t remember much about my ravioli except that it tasted good. E’s Escargots were really pretty! The escargots were crumbed and went down in a trice.

Third course: We both had the famous “Lobster Thermidor”. Three pieces of oh-so-succulent lobster, served in a lobster bisque reduction, and topped with lobster mousse. That wondrous lobster flavour, layered upon layer upon layer…is there ever such a thing as too much lobster?? Simply superb. We loved this dish so much that even if it was a fine-dining restaurant, we threw decorum to the wind and mopped up every last drop of the exquisite bisque with our bread.

Fourth Course: Having heard so much about “The Egg Came First”, I wanted to try that. This egg was poached at low temperature (at some precise temperature which he told me but I forgot), and seared, then served with onion broth and topped with a sprinkling of black truffle. This was a bit of a let-down for me, personally I did not feel that it was spectacular even if E pronounced it in his usual taciturn way “very good”.

Fifth Course: Our main of mustard beef! Oh that beef was really delicious. Soft and tender and just sooo juicy and sweet. They must have used prime or wagyu beef, properly aged to bring out all those flavours.

Photo credit: Michelle of www.nevertrustascrawnyfoodie.blogspot.com (many thanks!)

Sixth Course: This was the dessert to top all desserts! Staff served what looked exactly like a large halved hard-boiled egg (ostrich size) to us on a plate surrounded by pictures of the full British works for brekkie, and proudly announced “Breakfast is served”. That was such a clever idea, coming up with that egg! It had a wobbly “yolk” of mango and passionfruit, which we were instructed to burst and smear over the “egg white” of coconut sorbet. The egg even had a shell that could crack!!

Full and replete, we had coffee but then Blu served up the final surprise of petit fours – a “tree” with “flowers” of candy puff, leaves of milk chocolate, and planted in soil of dark chocolate granules. I can’t find enough superlatives to praise this place – inventive, funny, clever, and with spectacular food. Genius *shakes head in disbelief*. Believe, me, the fact that I still feel like this after a gap of 5 months says something.

What are you waiting for?