Restaurant Ibid opened its doors weeks ago at North Canal Road. Helmed by Masterchef Asia winner Chef Woo Wai Leong, the minimalistic designed restaurant focused on ‘Nanyang-style’ cuisines with a marriage of Eastern and Western creations. Pronounced as ‘E-bid’, the menu comes in 4-Course / $78, 6-Course / $88 and 8-Course / $118 with no fixed dishes. So it is very much like an Omakase kind of setting and they will note your dietary preference in advance. We went for the 6-course cos it feels like the right amount of dishes to have, and an awesome bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to kick off the night

We really like the wine. A good bottle which you can go with or without the food

The dinner started with Starters which they highlighted it’s not part of the 6-Course dinner, and we happily note we have more food to try

Escargot in Dou Ban Jiang

Brushed with mayonnaise, grilled over charcoal and dipped in caramelized shallots. The snails were then wrapped with betel leaves and torched till charred. Sounds like a lot work if you ask me. It tasted pretty exotic too. A little different, yet familiar in the chewy texture and sweetness of the escargot. Not particularly blown away, but it’s quite an interesting dish

Shao Bing in Mozzarella Cheese

These freshly made 烧饼 Shao Bing stuffed with Mozzarella cheese was a delight to have. Love the charred and slightly crispy texture, flavoured with laksa leaves and the creamy cheese oozing with every bite. Just felt like having another piece of this!

Tea Egg, White Onions, Sous Vide Egg

Chef Woo’s rendition of the classic tea egg, in the form of a sous vide egg. The egg sits in an aromatic Pu-er broth, decorated with white onions and shitake mushrooms. I thought the broth was a little too light for my liking but I like the sweetness of the onions that came through and the jam-like texture of the egg. Personally I thought this is a hit-or-miss dish

Sea Bream, Chilli Vinaigrette, Kamquat and Longan

Probably won’t have much recollection of this dish if not for the flavours that accompany it. I like the little kick of the chilli vinaigrette, the sweetness of the longan and the pairing of the kumquat. Though I felt they could definitely do more justice to this dish or if not, change the dish altogether

Daikon Porridge

Porridge – probably something that people are familiar with as a breakfast dish. To recreate this dish, the porridge is cooked overnight with soy milk and white radish trimming. Topped with Daikon ribbons that are pickled to taste like chai po, century egg yolks that are first dehyrdrated then coated onto the bamboo shoots before deep frying to top it off as a finishing

There are layers of flavours in this complex porridge dish which comes through when you savour everything together. I like the little touch of the deep fried bamboo shoot which reminds me of having porridge with deep fried dough. The friend loves this so much the kitchen was ready to prepare another bowl for her. HA

Sous Vide Beef Short Ribs, Black Fungus, Chinese Pear, Angelica Root

If there is a dish I would love to have a second helping, it will definitely be this dish. This famed short ribs dish has appeared in Chef Woo’s pop-up restaurants all over the world as well. The beef is cooked 48 hours sous vide style to recreate a braised-like texture. The black fungus are dehydrated and rehydrated to give that chewiness before pickled in black vinaigrette. I particularly love the aromatic flavor of the angelica roots in the roasted chicken jus. And oh, the black garlic mashed potato to top it off. It’s not a dish you will expect from a short-rib but it surprises in many ways

Glutinous Rice, Foie Gras and Shaved Liver ‘Lap Cheong’

Finally like the end of a typical Chinese wedding, we have glutinous rice to finish the meal. Wrapped in a typical lotus leaf, the mixture of short grains and glutinous rice comes with mushrooms and preserved liver sausage. And of the course, you find the highly anticipated foie gras in the centre, where the oil of the foie gras drizzled down to the rice to give a nice oily texture, accompanied with powerful flavours. The rice is steamed repeatedly to infuse the fragrance of the lotus leaf. It is very delicious. Do not share. I hope they serve this for lunch, if ever they have a lunch menu

Red Bean Paste, Tang Yuan, Ginger Crumble and Yoghurt Icecream

Coming to desserts, they serve 2 desserts to finish the 6-course meal. The first one is delicately decorated with Hibiscus leaf to recreate our Tang Yuan soup

Soy Bean Icecream, White Pepper Meringue, Almond Espuma and Sesame Cake

The second one is an inspiration from our Dou Jiang You Tiao. Over the 2, we prefer this. The icecream has a distinct soy milk taste to it which brings back childhood memories. Finished with Sarawak pepper meringue to give a subtle peppery taste, this dessert feels like a good end to the meal

And a surprise end for the birthday girl comes in a form of Profiterole stuffed with Osmanthus Cream and Vanilla Icecream

These air-light pastries were a class of its own. Love the delicious osmanthus cream that wasn’t too creamy and the slight sweetness makes you want another bite. But I thought the profiterole itself was really good, so good I wanted another piece of it

Restaurant Ibid might be new, but I think this restaurant might be the next one to watch out for. The conceptualisation of each dish brings back memories of familiar palate yet infused with contemporary flavours and execution. For whatever reason, you might find something that draws you back here be it for a casual meet-up or a special celebration

Restaurant Ibid

18 North Canal Rd, Singapore 048830