West Restaurant + Bar

Cin Cin? Bacchus? Yew Seafood? Bishop? Blue Water? I want to save Cin Cin for an emergency just in case late night dinner since the restaurant is open till pretty late, and Yew Seafood has 50% off wine bottles on Mondays. So, the choice was West Restaurant. Plus, it is near my sister's place and I want to save Bacchus and Blue Water for a nicer day, when it is not raining. 

Walking in, the server walked us to our seat and was a bit more silent rather than welcoming but meh, not a big deal. The restaurant was fairly slow on a weeknight and for the couple of tables that arrived later on in the evening, everyone was dressed pretty casual. West Restaurant has a relaxing as well as a casual comfortable atmosphere and although the seating arrangements may look a bit tight, it did not affect us since the restaurant was not busy.

COMPLIMENTARY BREAD, EVOO AND BUTTER. 

The restaurant offers two types of table bread; white and whole wheat, accompanied by extra virgin olive oil and butter. The white bread has a slight chive flavour and the whole wheat has a slight pumpkin seed taste. Both breads have a pleasant hard as well as a chewy exterior, and the crumb tastes soft. As for the EVOO, it tastes pretty rich and the butter could have been more at a room temperature since it was hard to spread.

AMUSE BOUCHE, CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP WITH BACON PANKO.

The soup has a rich salty mushroom taste and could have been served a bit more hot. Since the soup was a bit warm rather than hot, the bacon panko did not fuse with the soup and tasted salty. Nice plate though.

LOBSTER GNOCCHI, BUTTER POACHED LOBSTER, POTATO GNOCCHI, THYME EMULSION ($20.50). 

The gnocchi has a rich lobster flavour and is quite tasty, despite being slightly overcooked and a bit mushy. Moving to the broth, there is a light but tasteful rich lobster flavour. As for the lobster meat, the claw has no nice bounce and although slightly overcooked, tastes enjoyable. This was our favourite dish throughout the dinner, favouring the gnocchi and broth more than the lobster meat.

DIVER CAUGHT SCALLOPS, CELERIAC IN TEXTURES, CARAMELIZED ONIONS, MAPLE JELLY ($7.50/EACH).

The scallops taste moist as well as tender, and have a natural slightly salty flavour that pairs well with the sweet creamy celeriac puree. However, despite the nice golden brown color, the scallops lacked that nice crisp. As for the celeriac, the dices taste crunchy and simple.

PEACE COUNTRY RACK OF LAMB, CHARRED EGGPLANT, LENTILS, CHERMOULA ($43.00). 

The rack of lamb is slightly more rare than medium rare as requested, and has a pleasant mild gamey flavour. Also, although slightly tender, the lamb does not taste as tender or juicy compared to Le Crocodile's (or even Fraiche's!). As for the eggplant, although slightly too oily, tastes soft as well as creamy. Furthermore, the accompanying black drops of puree have a pleasant smokey flavour. 

1Ooz BEEF RIBEYE, USDA PRIME, YUKON GOLD POTATO PAVE, WILD MUSHROOM RAGOUT, ROSEMARY JUS ($49.00).

The ribeye is cooked to a medium rare as requested and the first few bites taste juicy (seen in the photo), as well as tender. However, the interior of the cut has too much tendon (not marbling) which tastes very chewy. At most restaurants, cooks do not serve steak with too much tendon and usually the cut is used for something else. 

Aside from the steak, the potato pave has a nice crisp and although enjoyable, could have been baked longer since it was slightly undercooked. Furthermore, the au jus accompanies the steak well without tasting too mild or heavy. But overall, the steak would be a 2/5.

PASSION FRUIT COCONUT TRUFFLES. 

The truffles do not taste overly sweet and do not have much of a passion fruit flavour (which really does not even matter). Also, we would have liked to order dessert but unfortunately nothing caught my eyes (cheesecake, pie or anything non-chocolate cake fan).

TOTAL: $143.00 + TIP $22.00 = $165.00.

Overall, the service was nothing special so we tipped only 15% and the food was also just average. To be straight forward, the only fine dining experience (for those who are interested) was the replenished cutlery before the entrees arrived. In addition, we would have given bonus points if the manager/host who was standing literally right next to the door, got the door for us considering the slow night. But he did say "bye".

POSITIVES

- Good amount of table bread provided

- The sauces actually have a taste rather than just being there for well, the presentation

NEGATIVES

- What we ordered is just average

- Ribeye could be better (but hey, who orders steak here right?)

LITTLE THINGS

- Seafood dishes or tasting menu may be better

- Service is nothing special but our server did tell us to drive safe before we left

- Although I am not a fan of dine out, I would have rather came here during dine out since the food would probably taste average if not better and cost less

Food: 2.5/5

Service: 3/5