Food Review: Path Restaurant At MBFC Tower 3 | Modern Asian Dishes With French Cooking Techniques By Chef Marvas Ng

Posted on February 17, 2022 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place Chart your own culinary path, just like the ethos of the new Path restaurant located in MBFC Tower 3. An exciting new addition to the CBD, Path is the inaugural restaurant by Chef Marvas Ng in partnership with 1855 F&B (the brand behind restaurants like The Spot, Wakanui), where Chef Marvas forte spent a good time specialising in French fine dining for over a decade in China and Hong Kong. The space of Path is cosy and inviting from the light palette in its interior, where there is the main dining section, private dining rooms as well as a hidden chef’s table which offers the best view of the action in the kitchen.

You will also notice swirls of curves in the interior design inspired from the lines off a topographical map where the free-flowing curves and contours also pays reference to the layers and textures in the dishes here.

The Food With his French culinary background, the cuisine here by Chef Marvas is a marriage of French cooking techniques and chef’s favoured East Asian ingredients, sauces and condiments, where the cuisine leans towards Modern Asian fare. There is an ala carte menu for dinner, set menus for lunch, or you can also opt for a curate set menu and even an omakase-style dinner at the chef’s table.

For drinks, there is an extensive cocktail and wine list where the wine list focuses on grape varietals, quality and the discovery of little-knowns such as Spanish label Dominio del Aguila and South African winery Alheit Vineyards.

I visited Path for dinner, where the ala cate menu is mainly split into small and big plates, which is ideal for couples or groups. I started with the Wakamatsu Strait Yellowtail (S$36), a refreshing start and is a combination of Tsukemono, Shisho Gastrique and Pickled Crosne. The tsukemono here is the zucchinis which are pickled in dashi vinegar, which spots a very refreshing flavour. Lovely slices of thick Yellowtail sashimi too!

Next up I had the Premium Kuhlbarra Fish Maw (S$35), a dish which surprised me. It is my first time having fish maw done this way as I am used to having it the Chinese style in soup. The fresh fish maw here is double-boiled for one hour in sake and dashi stock, then added with fermented black bean, garlic and chilli. The accompanying sauce or beurre blanc is a rich and thick texture prepared from the collagen stock that results from the double-boiling of the fish maw. It is then topped with caviar, tobiko and ikura. Overall, a very flavourful and collagen-rich dish and the texture of the fish maw is perfect.

There are a couple of dishes here which are quite theatrical, and the Hand-Dived Hokkaido Scallops (S$58) is one. It is a tableside service where the staff prepares the scallops beside your table, where the sashimi-grade Hokkaido scallops are seared on each side.

It is then finished with Seaweed Truffle Sauce, Sakura Ebi and served with a side of Pickled Kombu Pumpkin Salad. Fresh and plump scallops here where the flavour is intensified by the truffle sauce. I like the pickled kombu pumpkin salad shaped like a yellow petal which helps to cut through the richness of the main scallop dish.

If there is one dish not to be missed here, it is the French Organic Cauliflower (S$24) for me. It is topped with a pretty unique layer of house-blended Furikake, Sesame and Taiwanese Buckwheat. The texture of the cauliflower is quite soft, and tasty even without the top layer after being braised in a housemade vegetable stock. The best part for me though is the top crust as I like the layers of texture from the various toppings where a layer of housemade mayonnaise is coated around the cauliflower as well. A very delicious dish on the table.

Another interesting dish I had is the “Suan Ni” Hong Man (S$24), an eel which I have not come across done this way before. The yellow eel is prepared with garlic, chillis and Dou Ban Jiang, evidently a very East Asian flavoured dish though the eel is done in a French style. The eel meat is very soft and falls-off-the-bone, as it is just partially deboned where you can see the main spinal cord after scraping the meat off. I like the sauce with the eel too, made with kudzu, dou ban jiang, garlic and a special blend of chillis though it is really not spicy at all. Overall, an interesting and tasty eel dish to try which is nothing like your Japanese unagi.

Moving on to the big plates, the Crispy Japanese Amadai (S$75) is a relatively light option on the menu where you get the crispy scales on the fish. There is a slight crisp to the texture of the fish, and it is served with Fermented Black Bean Beurre Blanc created with the douxi paste, housemade chicken stock, rice vinegar, butter and kudzu. Overall, the sauce is slightly buttery and blends well with the Amadai.

If you love chicken, you will enjoy the Signature Butter-Roasted Herb-Brined French Poulet (S$72) with Hong Kong Scallion Salsa and Daikon Sword Lettuce Roll. The whole chicken was first shown to our table, a pretty looking golden meat, before it is sliced and served to our table.

I tried different parts of the chicken from the drum, thigh and breast and suffice to say, even the breast meat is juicy and tender. You get a tinge of Chinese herbs flavours as the chicken is brined in a mix of Chinese herbs for 16 hours, and also some buttery flavour as it is also coated with butter before it is roasted. Try the meat as is first, before adding some of the scallion salsa to the meat. To balance off the chicken, an interesting daikon sword lettuce roll is also served by the side.

In terms of portion, this is good to share for 2-3 diners if it is the only big plate you are planning to have. Otherwise, it is also good for 4-5 diners if you are planning to try a good variety of small and big plates.

If you still have space, there is the option for a Supplement dish – Signature Wild Forest Mushrooms Donabe (S$38). Note that this dish can only be ordered as a supplement if you are having a meat dish, not available as an individual order. Another tableside service dish where the staff prepares the donabe beside us. You get an aromatic rice from the premium Japanese rice cooked inside a claypot with a housemade chicken stock, then mixed with oat groats, waxed meat and porcini mushrooms. Very flavourful rice here which I surprised myself by finishing my bowl of rice.

For desserts, I had the Whiskey Bombe Alaska (S$28) – a mix of Kirsch Cherries, Pistachio Meringue and Whiskey Ice Cream. This dessert seems like it is specially catered to whiskey lovers and I definitely get that rich whiskey flavour. The portion is good to share for 4-5 diners.

Alternatively, the French Canelé (S$18 for 3) is a lovely option to conclude the meal where the canelé is infused with Jiang Xiao Bai Baijiu – Chinese sorghum spirit.

Rants Great to see tableside service, though it might be challenging from a space perspective if the restaurant is running at full capacity.

Will I Return Again? I enjoyed most of the dishes at Path, and I admire how familiar ingredients like fish maw and eel are presented in very different ways here by Chef Marvas. Worth making your path down I say.

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

Make your reservations instantly at Path here.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 4.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4/5