Food Review: Avenue 87 At Amoy Street | Modern Asian Restaurant With Familiar Singaporean Flavours [Closed]

Posted on September 30, 2020 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place I am excited that more new restaurants are opening this month and one of the newest to open is Avenue 87 along the buzzing Amoy Street, right opposite Kiyoshi Japanese Restaurant and Restaurant Nouri. This was the space of the now-defunct Kimme, and is a cosy 24-seater restaurant. Both chefs Glen and Alex were born in 1987, and both spent their childhoods in Hougang Avenue 7 and 8, hence the name Avenue 87. Chef Alex most recent stint was the Executive Chef of Park Hotel Clarke Quay, while Chef Glen’s from the 3-Michelin starred Ultraviolet in Shanghai.

The space of Avenue 87 is intimate and cosy, made up of banquette seats by the side and an open kitchen concept.

The Food Modern Asian cuisine is the direction of the restaurant, and during my dinner course, I was able to spot familiar flavours along the way. I had the 6-course Tasting Menu (S$98++ per person), and I understand that most of the components of the dishes here are made from scratch.

The 4-course tasting menu is available for dinner at S$76++ per person. Wine pairing is available at S$50++ for 3 glasses, and S$80++ for 5 glasses.

Some snacks to kickstart the meal – Chicken Chips and Kueh Pie Tee.

I love Kueh Pie Tee, and this version has a curry element inspired by chef’s favourite curry fish head. It is filled with thinly sliced baby eggplants, lady’s fingers, semi-dried cherry tomatoes, and curry leaves, a small snack yet packed with much flavour.

The first course proper is the Salmon, where the fresh Norwegian salmon sashimi is served with diced crystal pear, sour cream, ponzu- pickled wakame, soy wasabi granita, Vietnamese rice paper crackers. A light start to the meal, and the flavour of the dishes do get progressively heavier for me.

The second course is a very comforting one, AHK Seabass. The seabass is locally sourced from Ah Hua Kelong, and is served with compressed bitter gourd, semi-dried cherry tomato, deep-fried egg floss, and anchovy butter milk sauce. It really reminds me of our local fish soup, except that this is prepared with more finesse.

Very milky broth here which I like, and there is always more room for those fried egg floss.

The third course is an Octopus dish, which reminds me of local sambal stingray. The grilled octopus leg here is served with house-made sambal, stir-fried market greens, confit egg yolk and torched calamansi in a banana leaf parcel.

Texture wise, it is just right for me for the octopus and not overly-chewy. I definitely like the sambal element here which lends this dish that strong punch.

The fourth course is the Baby Lamb Rack (which The Rantee had), where the Australian baby lamb rack is marinated Vietnamese-style, served with grilled Thai eggplant and locally sourced stingless bee honey sauce. Expect a tender texture with a slight gamy taste.

There is also a choice of side dish with the fourth course such as the Coriander Rice or the Taro Mash. The Taro Mash tastes like a savoury version of Teochew Orh Nee, while the delicious coriander rice goes well with the meat.

I wasn’t fond of lamb, and I was served the Beef Cheek from the 4-course set dinner menu instead. Served with cauliflower in two ways, kailan, and calamansi, this beef cheek rendang is packed full of flavours and a hearty course which I enjoyed. It is best to have it along with the coriander rice!

The last two courses are desserts, and I had the Yoghurt for pre-dessert first. This yoghurt looks and tastes like a healthy breakfast serving of Greek yoghurt mousse with house-made granola, cubed red dragon fruit, 8-spice honey.

Something light for the first dessert, the Coconut. The coconut ice cream is served with pound cake crumble, papaya, and caramelised pineapple.

The last course is the Pisang No Goreng. This dessert ends the meal with a bang. The fried coconut custard is surprisingly not as greasy as I thought it would be, served along with salted gula melaka and banana ice cream.

Rants Quite a tight space which may be a challenge for big dining groups. For the 6-course menu, I actually prefer that it has one more savoury course instead of two desserts.

Will I Return Again? There is much potential in the cuisine of Avenue 87, and I appreciate the familiar flavours presented in fine-dining presentation.

This was an invited tasting, though all opinions expressed are our own.

Make your reservation instantly at Avenue 87 here.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Overall Experience: 4/5