COCONUTS CRITIC’S TABLE—First impressions are a tricky thing, especially good ones — they cause expectations to rise, sometimes raising the bar to potentially unrealistic heights. I think that might be a little true of the wonderfully handsome The Black Swan. Despite loving the space, and finding little fault with the food, I still found I came away from the place just wanting a little more. It was almost a case of a venue promising something it could never really deliver — well at least for me.
Sat in all its Art Deco glory on the corner of Cecil Street and Collyer Quay in the Quadrant heritage building, this former bank really is one very charming spot. My heart started racing just admiring the imposing lines of the exterior and it went proper haywire when I stepped inside the magnificent front door.
This was a Grand Café as it’s meant to be. Just look at those gorgeous hanging lamps, just look at the dreamy central bar and all its lovely brass, mirror and granite. Chuck in some waist-coated bar staff, the striking geometric patterns on the columns and the black marble-top tables and we were proper smitten. I never realized I had such a thing for Art Deco — clearly, too much Gatsby and Jeeves and Wooster when I was a kid.
Of course it meant my expectations were bouncing off the vaulted ceiling — only to be dragged slightly back to reality by a second glance. Did they really need the F. Scott Fitzgerald quote running around the top of the otherwise dreamy bar? Why did the maitre’d look like she was dressed for a job in a bank? And why did the rest of the clientele look as if they definitely did work in a bank, only one of those where they get small countries as bonuses?
Little grumbles, we confess and if we can’t handle sharing a restaurant with a bunch of bankers wearing ill-fitting shirts at lunch time then we really shouldn’t be in Singapore. Yet it was enough to take the sheen of our retro-reveries slightly. It probably didn’t help that we were silently panicking about how much all this old-school opulence was going to cost — not helped by my fellow diner gleefully pointing out the $3,200 bottle of Château Margaux.
The truth is it’s not as bad as you’d imagine, if you choose wisely. It’s actually pretty affordable if you come here, like I did last time out, for the lunch set menu, which starts at a reasonable $38++ for two courses and $44++ for three. There’s also a decent deal on oysters if you fancy a little after work shucking at $21 for two oysters with a glass of Champagne, available Monday-Friday between 5-8pm.
I also applaud the choices available on the set menu, though those on a tight budget should keep an eye out for the extras on some dishes. For starters there a good selection of soup, some foie gras and a beef tartare, while both the salads my group tried were very solid, if unspectacular.
The Crab Salad ($21 a la carte) is well-dressed, contains a decent quantity of fresh crabmeat without being too heavy and really benefits from the added crunch of pine nuts. Nit-picking (those darn expectations made me) my Farmers Salad ($19 a la carte) was ever so slightly oily and I would have liked a little more of the Fourme d’Ambert, but then I can never have enough cheese and they certainly don’t scrimp on the walnuts or cranberries.
My salad would have gone really well with my glass of fruity sauvignon blanc ($11 with the set) but alas, despite being ordered when we first sat down, it didn’t turn up until the salad had long gone. Another little chink in that elegant dream. To be fair, though, the staff were courteous and friendly throughout, if sometimes a little harried. They were also gracious enough to wave the price of the Evian they originally served instead of the plain water I’d requested — definitely a classy touch.
The main courses followed a similar pattern to the starters, very well executed dishes that look great and taste good without ever going any further. The Black Swan burger ($30 a la carte) is certainly a filling affair piled high with cheddar cheese, bacon and an egg. The bap is sweet and soft and the burger well-cooked and well-seasoned. I did find the concept of a burger a little uncouth for such a graceful setting — the chips were a little dull, too — but then that’s just me and my snobbish delusions, again.
The pan roasted red snapper ($36 a la carte, top pic) is a much more refined offering. The egg sauce it’s served with is creamy but light and the leeks perfectly charred, in fact our only gripe would be that the dish looks a little meagre when compared to the monstrous burger. The mangalica pork collar (+6 on set/ $42 a la carte) on the other hand, was a splendid piece of meat – delicately fatty and pink as I was warned it would be by the staff —and it’s offset well by the fruity flavors of the apple puree. I just would have preferred the pickled red cabbage to have been a little sharper to give the dish an additional flavour-note.
The Black Swan is an all-day venue and while I’ve never tried it I imagine that afternoon tea (weekdays 2-5pm) would be a delightful affair that suits the venue’s bygone styling. I’ll have to come back to find out but I did at least get to sample the cakes and desserts they serve. The pistachio cake, one of three choices (the others were chocolate fudge and carrot) was decent enough, nice and moist but would have benefitted from a crisper bake.
In more positive news, sinful is the only way to describe the chocolate dome ($16). Using valhrona chocolate gives this rich treat a truly intense depth of flavour yet the sharp, fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries make sure it never becomes cloyingly sweet.
It made a suitably decadent end to a very decent meal. The problem is that most of the other dishes just didn’t quite seem decadent enough for the setting. Maybe the only way to truly enjoy this wonderfully-indulgent place is to get more wanton with your ordering. Throw away the set menus and order that bowl of hand-picked Giaveri Osietra Imperial caviar ($84/148) or plate of Gillardeau oysters ($54) and wash it down with a couple of Flying Swan’s (gin, raspberry syrup and lemon juice) — or indeed any of their prohibition-inspired cocktails (all $19) to properly embrace the spirit of the place.
And therein lies the conundrum. The Black Swan is good, just maybe not quite as good as I desperately wanted it to be. Regardless, we’ll certainly come back, the setting is just too lovely to ignore but perhaps next time we’ll try and do the building and the decor justice. Put on the black tie, dig out the cigarette holder and get ready to max out the credit card and properly indulge our own decadent dreams.
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