Food Scoops: Avenue 87 Launches New Menu & Chic Bar Lounge at Avenue 87 [Closed]

Posted on September 17, 2021 by theRantingPanda in Food, Snippets

What’s Buzzing? Going into its second year, Avenue 87 at Amoy Street finally opens Lounge at Avenue 87, a chic bar located at level 2 of the shophouse restaurant. On the restaurant’s front, the menu is revamped with a nostalgia element from chefs Glen and Alex’s favourite dishes.

What To Expect? For the bar Lounge at Avenue 87, I love the chic cool vibes from the dark green tones from the wall and leather sofa which complements the wooden panels very well to exude a classy bar ambience. The best spot is the table right beside the window where you get a sexy stream of evening light reflecting off your cocktail. The cocktail menu is quite extensive with a good variety of gin options.

In terms of the new menu at the restaurant, it is available in 5 and 7 courses (S$98++ and S$142++ respectively). The 7-course menu started with a trio of snacks – Kueh Pie Tee (a vegetarian adaptation of rojak), Prawn Sphere (inspired by the local prawn noodle soup served with Avruga caviar and deep-fried sakura ebi), and Camembert.

The first course is the Amberjack marinated with sesame oil and ponzu as both chefs love sashimi. The slices of fish are served with ribbons of kohlrabi, sesame oil powder, mustard sorbet, and garnished with banana shallot chips.

The second course is the Tofu, inspired by a local heritage dish ‘tao kwa bao’. The double fried pressed tofu is stuffed with Japanese cucumber, OmniMeat, shallots, garlic and topped with an oolong tea braised quail egg and slivers of red radish.

The third course is a highlight of the Monkey Head mushroom course, Do-It-Yourself Mala Hot Pot. You get two packets of reduced bone broth and house-made mala oil with a ceramic pot of distilled broth, accompanied by a platter of monkey head mushroom, cordyceps mushroom, shark’s fin melon, and hairy gourd.

The highlight is the bone broth – brewed from scratch with chicken and pork bones stock, shiitake mushrooms, aromatics, goji berries and red dates. You can then add the ingredients into the pot yourself, and I actually find it a comforting and tasty even without adding the mala oil packet.

Next up was the Daikon, inspired by local Singaporean carrot cake. Fried house-made radish cake is topped with XO sauce, pan-seared Hokkaido scallops, and served with mussel squid ink sauce and butter yuzu foam.

The fifth and last savoury course is the USDA Prime Beef Short Rib served with garlic fried rice, spring onions tossed in sesame oil, and an orange reduction on the side. The delicious beef short rib is glazed with a house-blend char siew sauce where the beef is roasted briefly to caramelise, then smoked with apple wood chips. The flavour of the sliced beef is tender, and it goes really well with the garlic fried rice.

For desserts, there are two courses from Glen and Alex’s creative take on local favourites – cendol in Coconut and orh nee in Taro. The former showcases distinct layers of adzuki beans, gula jawa, coconut risotto rice, and pandan jelly topped with corn espuma rice puffs.

The Taro showcases yam purée as an ice cream served with roasted butternut pumpkin squash, rum-infused ginkgo nuts, pumpkin seed financier, and olive oil caviar.