Zambuca Revisited

An extremely long overdue post, we actually visited this place on the same day we visited Iggy's. Which is more or less an accident because Hai Tien Lou happened to be full on the same day, this came as a second choice and thus, with dampened spirits, we trudged onwards. Since this is a revisit, please refer to my first post here.

Address: Pan Pacific Level 3

Telephone: 63378086

Website: www.zambuca.com.sg

Price range: $70-80 per head

(Most pictures courtesy of Fatpig due to the extremely bad camera i had at the time.)

The Sign

Interior

Table Setting

Complimentary Bread

The complimentary bread was warm, soft and fragrant. As i have said in previous posts, high end restaurant serve the best bread and this is no exception. =)

Bruschetta ($14)

Bruschetta was as good as it was in my previous visit. Lightly toasted bread with tomatoes, spices and olive oil.

Beef Carpaccio de Manza ($22)

When this was ordered, i had high expectations since its Zambuca and i simply can't envision myself disliking beef. I was proven very wrong however. What you see is five very finely sliced pieces of beef soaked in olive oil and lightly scattered pieces of permesan cheese. I had one piece or rather half a piece and it was terribly salty with a slight taste of rawness. Not recommended.

Terrine Of Seafood

The first appetizer in the set menu came as a surprise to me. This contains prawn, scallop, mussels and squid encased in what i believe is chilled egg yolk or something close to it. The texture is jellylike and transparent. I quite liked this dish actually, the ingrediants were fresh and very tasty but people might flinch from the jelly casing though.

Blueberry gnocchi, served with braised venison in a red wine

This is a very good dish. I'd recommend trying this if you are here. The venison was nicely done and the gnocchi was fragrant and very tasty indeed. Lets keep this simple, try this.

Lamb Shank

Sorry about the lighting in this photo but like i said. I had a bad camera. This was served medium rare and though palatable, was not what i would expect from them. The shank was stuffed with green pastels which neither added nor enhanced the taste. And since i'm not a fan of mutton, this simply isn't what i would order ever again.

Beef Tenderloin

FatPig had this and i'm pretty sure its much better then my lamb shank. Such a shame, i should have switched my mains as well. Maybe next time.

Warm apple strudel served with a refreshing white chocolate sorbet

This dessert came as part of the set menu and honestly, it isn't as good as i would have liked. The strudel wasn't as flaky nor crispy as it should be and the apple filling was sour. Quite a disappointment really.

Bill

Total bill came up to be about $360 for 4 people. Quite expensive really considering we were still not really full at the end of the meal.

Score:

Ambience: 8/10
Food : 6.5/10
Value for Money: 6/10
Service : 7.5/10
Portion Size: 5.5/10
Overall: 6.7/10

Last Word:
This outing was quite a disappointment for me actually as i'd expected a whole lot more from this place. Still, you can't fault its service and ambiance. Food wise though, i believe a little improvement is in order.