264. Gunther's

Gunther's is not an unfamiliar place to many, especially the food bloggers. I'm not really the one who goes for fine dining but I definitely will not mind dining at Gunther's with the company of 24 food bloggers. All thanks to Brad and Yixiao for organising this event.

The place is pretty small, not that I have expected of. Sliding doors separate a private dining room and the common dining area. It was too dim. Gunther's used a lot of glasswares to decorate the place. Even on the tables and the wall lights. Besides the artistic feel, I felt it was more of making use of the colourful glasswares to create humane feel. If not, the place would have been dull and akin to the cold palace. Gunther's had arranged a big table for 25 of us that day. It made me think of 'The Last Supper'.

Chef Gunther decides on Carte Blanche (creating the menu with the available ingredients). This was why there wasn't a menu on the table like we usually have for food tasting sessions. These were the ingredients that the Chef is going to use. The moment they were displayed, the giant alaska crab caught the attention of many of us and next we heard shutters clicking away. Unusual takings. The crab was still alive! Giant edamames, don't tell me they got it from giant Jack. Alaska crab, white asparagus, tiny tweeny mussels and that plain looking tomato. They have got 'talents'.

No olive oil, just that slab of butter to spread on the small french loaf. So hard, I feared for my weak teeth. Not an ordinary slab of butter ? I think I tasted a tinge of lemon taste.

Japanese Tomato

The plain looking tomato, the giant edamame and crispy potato made the first appearance. The tomato was very sweet, I suppose addition of the vanilla essense played a part. Edamame always passed by me unnoticed on the menus and conveyor belts. It tasted better than the small ones.

Cold angel hair pasta, Oscietra caviar

While they were on way to be served, a few of us have thought there was a gas leakage or something. No, it was the doing of the truffle oil. A tad over. And the chives, I think not many would like the smell and taste of it. Couldn't really taste the caviar. But, overall, the texture of the pasta was good. A luxury, I thought.

Just to give a bigger view, the portion of the food was really small. I think the guys could finish it in a slurp.

Poached white asparagus, Bouchot mussels

Presentation of food is important and no doubt for French fine dining. The white asparagus accompanied by the tweeny mussles, cute sakura prawns (I loved them!) and the alaska crab.

I felt the white asparagus was a tad overcooked. Fibre and water content rich greens. The companions tasted great and so was the sauce. They complemented the bland white asparagus.

Grilled Cote de Boeuf, Japanese sweet-corn, sauce Bordelaise

Angus beef with grilled sweet corn and very thinly sliced crispy potato. Angus beef has a high carcass yield with marbled meat. It is more tender and tasty than the average beef. The angus beef that was served was with minimum trim. It was juicy and cooked to the right texture. I liked the red colouration of the meat. The corn was very sweet but I felt it was quite a misfit to be there with the angus beef. Not sure if the others have the same thoughts. A few of us were curious what was that thinly sliced cracker. Turnip, I guessed. No. It was again, Mr. Potato. The potato must be real big, I thought. Gunther's had a machine that does all these tricks. Applaud.

Fine apple tart a la dragées, Havana rum raisin ice-cream

The apple tart has a crust that was akin to the Chinese red bean pastry, just that I find it a tad more oily. Sprinkled with almond dragées. Sugar shells from the dragées gave the crunch to the tart filled with thinly sliced apple. Coupled with the rum raisin ice-cream, it was real satisfying. The rum used was quite light. I do not like rum raisin ice-cream where the rum steals the limelight.

Iced tea requested by keropokman.
Tea or coffee to end the blogger's lunch @Gunther's

Overall, the dining experience at Gunther's was great. Got to meet up with some food bloggers since the last food event and also met some new fellow bloggers. Though food wasn't to the expectations for some of us in terms of quality and quantity, I believed all of us were consoled by the laughter and fun. There was lucky draws with very nice gifts. FQ is blessed to have won the 2nd top prize - cooking voucher by Saint Pierre! Thanks again to our 2 organisers for finding these sponsors and our chef Gunther for hosting this event with the specially arranged Carte Blanche menu at a special price. Heard that chef gunther does not have a liking for food bloggers. Do ask for permission to take photos if you are there.

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Gunther's

36 Purvis Street

#01-03

Singapore 188613

www.gunthers.com.sg