V Dining, a newly-opened fine dining restaurant within premium home kitchen appliance V-Zug’s store, has Ryan Clift’s name and touch behind it.
Being a fan of Tippling Club, I was excited to have been invited to a preview tasting at the restaurant last week. Chef Ryan, by the way, is V-Zug’s global ambassador and while he has initially stamped his vibes on the dishes, Head Chef Lee Jing Ping is now fully running the show.
Located in Scotts Square, you’ll notice the façade of V-Zug’s store on the 3rd floor but the narrow, side entrance to V Dining might be missed. The logo is quite obvious enough, though.
Walking past a row of saturated paintings depicting one of my favourite aspects of dining, the wining, the space opens up to a sky-lit, city scene, with an open kitchen taking grand centrestage.
Naturally,
V-Zug’s appliances are strategically placed and used in the dishes that make up
the Modern European degustation menus.
Lunch sets
are as follows: 2-course ($48), 3-course ($60) and 5-course ($90) and dinners
are at 6-course ($135) and 9-course ($180).
And so the barrage of teeny, pretty snacks started. I think we had six snacks even before the meal proper began. Good thing I had appropriate attire on.
V(ery) Snacky
Laksa – Provided you keep an open mind and don’t let it wander to Katong Laksa, you will appreciate this. I suppose it’s the way the laksa sauce is done here, a soft, almost mousse-like emulsion.
Air Baguette – Manchego foam-filled pastry and truffle gel. Maybe they call it Air because it just disappeared in one pop in my mouth!
Foie Gras on Eel – love the combination of smoked eel, foie gras, and the freshness of the green apple purée on top of a toasted brioche.
Wagyu Tartare – normally, what dissuades me from ordering beef tartare is the runny egg yolk that accompanies it. Runny eggs are just not top of the list for me. I liked this version that substituted garlic aioli for the creamy feel. And, there’s a Tippling Club inspo for you – the prawn cracker with Sakura ebi.
Pork Crackling – a mouthful of crunch, served in a cone and topped with apple jam.Hamachi – never had it done this way before, compressed into a perfect little square with dark, earthy kombu powder mixed in, deceiving us into thinking it’s squid-ink powder. Zig zagging between biting into the nori crackers and mixing the delicate fish with the creamy avocado purée and miso curd, together with the zingy yuzu sorbet made this one of my highlights of the night.
Already satiated but more to come at V Dining
Watercress Velouté – just from the intense green, you can predict a rich soup, and with potato espuma and a sous-vide egg adding further creaminess to the dish. Mix it around for maximum enjoyment. Apparently this is Chef Ryan’s favourite soup to make and the first that he had learned from Marco Pierre White.Prawn Risotto – I’ve made risotto at home and it’s always a down-to-the-minute act for me. Making sure I have it ready just in time for guests so that it doesn’t dry up, or worse, get gluggy. So, I’m always happy when I am presented with a good risotto and the one at V was good. It’s al dente yet not too dry and the flavour of the prawn comes through in the risotto. The parmesan crisp is a nice, salty addition.
Hamachi collar – when this first arrived, I thought someone had painstakingly dissected a crab and flaked the meat for me. Instead, someone had painstakingly dissected a hamachi collar and flaked the meat for me. Which I appreciated greatly as lazy bones me usually won’t bother with the collar of a fish. V serves it with a Thai-inspired green curry flavours.
Sous-vide Pigeon – love any chance to try game meat. The pigeon had a strong flavour, almost like liver. Doneness was perfect, and the skin had a nice twist – it was chicken meat made to look like skin. Fermented spinach and an umami-rich mushroom paste completed the dish.
V Dining to a Sweet Ending
After all
that excitement, desserts were decidedly less assertive. I think that’s not a
bad idea, because we had been through quite a fair bit of flavour explosions in
the other dishes. My brain needs a break once in a while.
The pre-dessert – a Chocolate Soufflé, more like a cherry soufflé with the strong Kirsch flavours and a cherry on top.
Textured Tutti Frutti – again, I sense a heavy Tippling Club inspo here. At V, the frutti is represented by the likes of pineapple, raspberry and passionfruit. A light, refreshing end to a wonderful, fulfilling meal.
Saying a last goodbye with some petits fours at V.
I would definitely return to V Dining. It’s one of those menus that is interesting and accessible, and not so inventive as to alienate. A good balance for a night when you want to fine dine and try something different, but want to ensure you walk out feeling like you ate something somewhat comforting and familiar.
