Mirror, The Restaurant

Quite a few things going on these days and I apologize to my blog for not posting as regularly as I should ... my apologies to those who actually read my blog too. I love you.

Since I have been busy these days and renovation of the building that I am living in has started, I am sorry to say that I probably won't be able to post as much cooking related posts for awhile. Is hard to concentrate when there is constant drilling and knowing there are sweaty old men right outside your windows.

I now give you a taste of Mirror - a private kitchen opened by the ex Sous Chef of Robouchon - Chef Jeremy Biasiol. I waited for 3 months for this table, so I think this is worth to blog about it. I went with my cousin Pat and we ordered 2 tasting menus - one 5 courses and one 8 courses. We shared everything. Another great thing about this is that they allow you to bring your own wine.

This Champagne, Joseph Pierre Perrier, is my new love. J'adore! Is fruity with the perfect amount of bubbles. The Chateau La Mouleyre 2005 I got from my dad (thank you very much). It was a wonderful red wine with complex aromas of vanilla, sandalwood and soft spices. Very good texture in the mouth with elegant oaky tints.

A very generous bread basket with great French style breads - Olive bread, herb focaccia, mini french baguette and bacon twisty bread sticks. Served with your choice of sweet french butter sprinkled with sea salt or syrupy balsamic vinegar with fruity extra virgin olive oil. They even give you refills. 

Scallop mousse with cream sauce, caviar and lemon oil - delicious! 

I absolutely loved this flavour combo and the lemon oil just brought out all the freshness of the ingredients. 4 stars.

Left: Lobster salad with shaved asparagus, cauliflower puree, shaved truffle and lobster vinaigrette

Right: Roasted vegetable salad with ricotta truffle spread and fresh multi colored cherry tomato salad

The lobster salad was quite tasty but I thought it was a bit heavy as a starter. The portion was a bit too big for me and the cauliflower puree, though very flavourful and creamy, weighted the whole dish down. The roasted veggie salad gave a nice contrast to the previous dish - light and summery. You get burst of freshness from this dish and the texture of the vegetables was superb. 

Note: everything starting from this course onwards pretty much had truffles in it. It was totally truffle overload for a tasting menu. I am not complaining, but unless it is a 'Truffle Tasting Menu', it is usually not advise to repeat ingredients within a tasting menu - esp. truffle having such a unique, and sometimes overpowering flavour. You want your diners to try different flavour combination but at the same time everything should be well balanced and the whole meal just ties together perfectly. And with tasting menus usually being 6 to 8 courses, this is totally doable. Again, not criticizing Chef Biasiol, since who am I to give such comments. But I learned this from Chef B @ Kee, and I think he is god. :-)

Top: Onion Soup (with a very mushroomy broth + truffles)

Bottom: Beetroot soup with chopped truffles, topped with fresh ricotta & chives

The beetroot soup is something that I can't wait to try to replicate at home. Is such a happy soup with the popping  fuchsia colour. Perfect for Spring and Summer.

Seared foie gras with balsamic glaze, apple slaw, apple compote, dried apple slice, drizzled with truffle oil. Served with buttered toast.

Perfectly cooked piece of liver with classic flavour combo.

Braised beef cheek with slow cooked carrots, puree carrots and beef jus

Veal with bacon foam, cauliflower puree and truffles

Seabass with champagne cream sauce, potatoes and shaved truffles

All three main courses were quite nice. They were simple and elegant allowing you to taste each component of the dish. The truffles weren't too overpowering in this case. Both the meats and the fish were cooked just right - very tender, succulent and delicate. Portions of the mains were big enough for both of us to really savor the dishes with leftovers. 

Left: Blood orange crepe Suzette, with candied blood orange zests, dark chocolate ganache and chocolate crisps.

Right: Poached pear with pear sorbet and pear crisp.

Beautifully presented. Very light and refreshing, which made them perfect choices to end such a heavy meal. I loved the presentation of the crepes. So chic.

The proper way to end a fantastic French meal - Cheese platter with crusty bread and a lightly dressed frisee salad. Chesses from left to right: Saint-Paulin (Pays du Nord), Morbier (Franche-Comte), Lingot du Monastere Orthodoxe de St Nicolas (Cevennes) and Camembert du Bocage (Normandie).

This totally made me reminisced  about my Europe trip where I had cheeses and wines every night for 2 weeks straight. I felt like I was in heaven. And this brought it all back. Thank you. I am so blessed. I love all 4 of the selections since they are semi-soft cheeses, and that's my favourite. 

You can't leave a dinner table without some chocolates. 

This was a very very pleasant dinner. Million thanks to Pat for bringing me here and for treating me to such a wonderful (belated) birthday dinner. Great times as usual.