Aurum - CLOSED

27 March 2007, 13:27

Aurum (meaning ‘gold’ in Latin) is Singapore’s first ever ‘molecular gastronomy’ restaurant, exploring the food science popularised by Spanish master chef Ferran Adria. Aurum is led by award-winning Executive Chef Edward Voon with Paco Roncero an Adria disciple acting as a consultant. Aurum (located at the Cannery in Clarke Quay, Singapore) serves a daily degustation menu of 13 courses all while you are sitting in wheelchairs! haha and while the superstitious locals may avoid coming here me and noods knew at once we wanted to roll around


heh our fabulous waitress who would explain all the dishes in detail and recommend the best way to eat it happily posing infront of the MORTUARY drawers of the MORGUE area where the reception desk is an OPERATING THEATRE TABLE… haha me and noods were greatly amused as we walked up the stairs past the hidden mortuary door leading into the restaurant. The walls, ceiling and floor inside the restaurant however are completely gold and less hospitally save for the ktichen area which i um forgot to take a foto of becos i was more interested in the food heh. and now ready for the food?


Gin and tonic. One layer was ice cold and the other warm and drinking this gives the strangest sensation as your mouth tries to figure out what temperature it is supposed to be be feeling


mmm fresh bread with a slab of butter covered in gold! heh and not to worry the kidney shaped plate is the onli plate that looks hospitally


Iberian Sandwich, Parmesan Cheese. the iberian ham has such a unique flavour and paired well with the squiggle of parmesan cheese foam


Drunked Prawn, Watermelon and Vinegar Cloud. noods the prawn allergic dude took one look at this and goes “im eating it. im soooo eating it.” haha just as well he did becos this was fantastic! it may have been aesthetically pleasing to look at but it was even better eating it with all the different layers of textures and tastes combining into one delicious morsel that we gulped down


Caprese Mozzarella Tomato Sphere. ohhhh i love fresh mozzarella! this was a great take on the insalata caprese salad and hee how cute are the spoons


Isotonic Lychee Caviar, Lemonade. mmm this was great as a palate cleanser not too sweet but im not sure why it wasnt in dessert section? but eh who cares it was the exact size as salmon roe and i kept thinking it would pop into salty briny liquid but instead it popped with sweet lychee juice!


hee and go and watch how the lychee ‘caviar’ is created! they use large syringes and a solution that turns drops of liquid into individual globules bursting with lychee juice


Aurum Spaghetti with Black Truffles. hee yes that strand of spaghetti was deliberately hanging off the side of the plate as we were instructed to hold the plate and slurp up the spaghetti and no you dont get to see the very undignified foto of me slurping heh


tubey!


Spanish Omelette of the XXI Century. oh.my.god. this was fantastic! its an ‘omelette’ made with layers of egg yolk, potato and caramelised onion served in a martini glass. this dissapeared within 10seconds and we were scraping the sides of the glass wanting more and we were even offered another glass but we thought we shouldnt spoil our appetite lol we’d come back just for this unforgetable omelette


Ravioli of Pea Soup, King Scallop, Lemon Compote. the king scallop was huge! and uber fresh and we loved the little peas bound together floating on the silky smooth soup


Caramelized Foie Gras, Shaddock Fog, Licorice. im not quite sure what shaddock fog is but never mind because the star here is this SLAB of foie gras! mmm smooth, rich buttery goodness so tasty but oh so filling! another unforgetable dish


Morning Cereals/Dehydrated Fruits, Lobster Milk. this was an interesting take on breakfast where the dehydrated fruits and grains was the cereal and instead of normal milk theres the creamy lobster perfumed coral stock


Confit of Scottish Salmon, Gold Olive Oil, Quinoa Relish. this salmon was fantastic! perfectly cooked, so soft and delicate it melts in the mouth and i risk the wrath of all aussies but i feel this is as good/better than tetsuyas signature dish…


Piglet Deconstructed Mosaic of Pear, Coleslaw. argh so full. but look at that layer of crispy skin on the porky mmm crispy and a texture contrast when eaten with the smooth pear

Dessert time!

Akajiso Sherbet, Soil of Celery. akajiso are red shiso leaves and is the preferred variety in Japan for adding flavour and scarlet colour to umeboshi -pickled sour plums. so the sherbet was slightly sour and tart like cranberry? the soil of celery felt like soil! haha like gritty? but tasted of celery without the ‘crunch’


Passion Fruits Royal, Icy Mint, Coconut Fizz. i realli liked the presentation of this dessert (because you know how i like layers) but unfortunately im not a fan of coconut. or um icy mint because it kinda tastes like my toothpaste but the passionfruit was excellent i think this dessert would be good for the bars


Petit Fours. i thought i was eating a lump of sugar when all of a sudden i can taste olive oil! i looove olive oil!


the uber friendly Edward Voon, me IN A WHEELCHAIR, noods. the boys wouldnt sit in wheelchairs with me for the foto so i look like a cripple… but thanks for the very lovely experience in your restaurant Edward we loved the food even the hospital element altho we understand that youll be replacing the wheelchairs and morgue reception with something more ‘normal’ but not to worry we’ll be back again soon no matter what we’ll be sitting in!


heh the sign for the toilets is like the eye tests!


The Cannery is a bar, restaurant and club all rolled into one very interesting venue with the theme of a hospital! my dad showing Edward the proper way of hanging the drips (for the bar which has alcoholic beverages in I.V packets)

1. hmm..very interesting concept of restaurant. as well as the food served. yumm..the iberian ham looks good to eat =9~~

   — rosha    Mar 29, 06:32 AM    #
   
   

2. lol. omg, i so loved reading this post, esp your 2nd last para when you complain that the boys wouldn’t sit in the wheelchairs, so you look like a cripple. rofl!

   i love the thought of slurping up that spaghetti strand but surely you risked the black truffle flying everywhere? the lychee roe sounded fantastic, and the iberian ham, the foie gras, the gi-nomous scallop, the crackling, the prawn and watermelon… * hyperventilates *

   and the hospital theme reminded me of that restaurant in Taiwan where you eat out of toilet bowls. lol

   — Helen    Mar 29, 11:49 AM    #
   
   

3. What an interesting “dining” environment! The food looks great and I imagine it would be an interesting taste and texture sensation.

   Need to go and watch “General Hospital” now…lol.

   — Peter    Mar 31, 05:51 PM    #
   
   

4. rosha: dude it was sooooo good we want to go back!
   helen: haha noods even pushed me around in my wheelchair but he wouldnt roll around with me around the restaurant! the truffles went flying yes but i found them again and into the stomach they went
   peter: haha yeah it was a very interesting concept for a restaurant and the food was fantastic!

   — chocolatesuze    Apr 2, 04:19 PM    #
   
   

5. ooppss.. I dont know if my comment disappeared or i ddin’t submit it. :P .. anyway. how much is the degustation?? would love to try it. Thanks

   — Swee    Apr 5, 02:41 AM    #
   
   

6. swee: hey dude im pretty sure the degustation was 130p.p it was sooo worth it!

   — chocolatesuze    Apr 5, 12:20 PM    #
   
   

7. yeah.. i can tell!

   — Swee    Apr 5, 09:14 PM    #
   
   

8. Yum! What an interesting dining experience. I love the toilet signs, but the whole wheelchair thing as a theme seems over gimmicky to me.

   — Y    Apr 9, 11:14 AM    #
   
   

9. Wow, how very cool! I just bought a cookbook using these techniques, and some of the recipes look familiar…The author of my book is Juan Mari Arzak, but I’m familiar with Adriá as well. You have a beautiful blog! :)

   — canarygirl    Apr 24, 03:28 AM    #