Food Review: Quenino By Victor Liong At Artyzen Singapore | Contemporary Asian Cuisine With A Myriad Of Flavours

Posted on February 3, 2024 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place Artyzen Singapore is one of the newest hotel additions to the Orchard enclave and one hidden restaurant within the hotel is Quenino by Victor Liong. The 72-seater restaurant is located on level four of the hotel and is helmed by Australia-based third culture chef Victor Liong who founded the two hatted Chinese restaurant Lee Ho Fook in Melbourne, Australia.

The interior of Quenino by Victor Liong is elegant with mainly tables for couples and small dining groups.

The Food It is a degustation only menu here where the dishes focus on Contemporary Asian cuisine where you can expect a myriad of Asian flavours from thosai (crepes made of fermented rice batter) to sambal hijau (a spicy relish made with green chillis) and Peking duck in one dish. The dishes mainly feature Australian ingredients and produce from the region where possible.

There are two menus – 7-course Focus Menu (S$180++) and the 9-course Discover Menu (S$240++).

In terms of beverages, it is a broad selection of wines, cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages where over half of the wine selections are from Australia. You can opt for bottles, by-the-glass selections, or curated tasting portions.

I had the 7-course Focus Menu (S$180++) and here is what to expect:

Hand-Picked Mud Crab I Taro Cream I Oscietra Caviar | Ginger I Chives
My meal started with the Hand-picked Mud Crab with Taro Cream and caviar where the mud crab from Australia is placed in a delicate brik pastry shell and topped with caviar procured from a new artisanal Malaysian farm.

Amaebi Toast I Lemongrass | Turmeric I Salted Green Chili
Next up is a delicious toast topped with Amaebi! I usually have Amaebi in a Nigiri-style and it is my first time having it on a toast, which is quite a Cantonese-style. You also get a tinge of nice spices from the green chilli and lemongrass.

Charred Spanish Mackerel I Seaweed Tapenade I Gula Melaka Soy

Baby Cucumber I Lime Leaf Chili Crisp I Finger Lime I Cashew Cream

Sea Urchin I Spiced Pain Perdu I Sambal Belado (Supplement S$15)
An additional course I had is the Uni Pain Perdu with a tinge of sambal.

Raw Spencer Gulf Kingfish I White Soy | White Fungi I Burnt Garlic White Oil I Radish
This is one of my favourite courses where I enjoyed the creaminess of the white soy, white fungi, burnt garlic white oil and sliced radish all together along with the delicious kingfish.

House-made Flat Bread I Chorizo I Local prawn I Lentil Butter
An interesting deviation from the usual bread course where you get that bit of Indian element from the lentil butter and flat bread which reminds me of naan.

Dry Aged Murray Cod I Wing Beans | Shaved Calamari | Local Clam Terasi I Fish Bone Broth
On to the main course, the flavourful cod fish is complemented by the winged beans sambal which lends it that familiar Asian element.

Dry Aged Lacquered Duck I Coriander Seed I Sambal Ijo I Fermented Rice Pancakes (supplement of $28)
This is the dish which I thought should be on the main menu instead of a supplementary dish, and if you have space, I highly recommend adding the duck as a supplementary dish. Here, the duck breast is first dry aged for about 14 days, then roasted in the oven along with a sprinkling of coriander seed forward spice blend. The best part is that you get to have it as you like it in the sense that you can choose your own condiments to assemble the dish.

Taking reference from Peking Duck, the crepe here is in fact thosai, and you can place the duck on the thin pieces of thosai before layering it with the sambal hijau, radish, dragon garlic chives, pickled fennel and shiso blossoms. I find it quite an interesting presentation and execution of a duck course, and suffice to say, the duck is flavourful and delicious.

Bangalow Sweet Pork I New Season Cabbage I Local Mushrooms I Aged Soy I Salted Cod
Bangalow is a small farm in Australia and the last savoury course is a tender pork course with tamarind chilli sauce by the side to lend that additional kick of spice to the pork. The accompanying cabbage helps to cut through the rich flavour of the pork dish.

Sweetcorn Ice Cream I Caramelised Milk I Pandan Jam I Frozen Coconut
Dessert is lovely. The sweetcorn ice cream is not too sweet and is a unique flavour which I do not come across often. The pandan and coconut flavours complement the sweetcorn ice cream very well too.

Petits Fours and Mignardise
Last but not least, the meal ended with a Nama chocolate infused with Compendium Rojak Gin flavour; Fruits gummies with guava and sourplum; and a Turmeric white chocolate passionfruit with laksa leaves. Even the last part of the meal spots a strong Asian element which is nice!

Rants It is a pity that the restaurant is not opened for lunch at the moment, which is a missed opportunity for good value lunch set menus.

Will I Return Again? The Asian flavours speak to me at Quenino by Victor Liong and progressively, I find myself enjoying a fine-dining meal more so when there are nice injections of Asian elements. For a first menu, the concept and dishes are well-conceptualised and executed, and this is one restaurant to add on your radar if you are thinking of a new restaurant for a celebratory occasion.

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

Make your reservations instantly at Quenino by Victor Liong here.

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