Crush

My wife and I decided to celebrate a special occasion at Crush in Seattle, Washington.  It is a French restaurant in a small converted home in the Central District/Madison Valley area, and had a strong reputation for good, innovative food.  We ordered the tasting menu with the foie gras supplement.  My wife called it the “sampler,” and I think the waiter took pity on us and was extra helpful. 

The amuse bouche was a little potato soup with chive and truffle oil.  On the show “Chopped,” the judges always harangue participants for the use of truffle oil.  It taste too strong they say.  It ruins the dish.  In this case, I didn’t think so at all.  The potato soup was very lightly seasoned, so the truffle oil added the “seasoning” that made the dish work.  It was a nice start.
While we are off track, I should take a moment to mention the delicious mocktails that I had.  One was a cucumber sour, the other a cardamom lemon drink.  They were both fantastic, and actually well worth the $5 price tag.  I was very impressed by the creativity of the bar, given the no-alcohol constraints with which they were saddled.

The next course was barramundi.  The squash bits were again the most delicious I have ever eaten.  The fish itself was cooked perfectly, moist while having the crispy skin you can see below.  The natural flavors were enhanced by the seasoning and I would order this dish again too..

I would like to take a moment to talk about their bread.  It was fresh, and very, very good.  My wife loved the little pretzel-y ones, and I devoured the cheese topped buns with a vengeance.  If they sold these out of a little stand adjacent to the restaurant, or in the front, I would come by and by them by the dozen!  The butter also did not disappoint. 

Next came the bacon and eggs dish. The flan was delicious. I was impressed by how they imparted a smoky flavor into the dish.  The salmon roe had a nice salty explosion and the sweet contrast from the maple syrup was nice.  This said, this dish was one of the less successful ones to me, and would have benefit from a bit more crunch. 

Hamachi.  This dish had a very nice balance of flavors. For me, the heart of palm purée stole the show because it was just so delicious. It was simple,and luscious.  I had no idea heart of palm can become that delicious, but now that I know I will play with it in my own kitchen.

"Spotted Prawn" Gnocchi. I tasted my wife’s lobster emulsion, and it had a much stronger flavor than mine.  Mine was light, but clearly "seafoody." Hers was clearly lobster.  This ding aside, I didn't care. The course was phenomenal, the best gnocchi course I've ever personally eaten. The spot prawn was so fresh and sweet, my only complaint was the dish wasn't five times its size.  The gnocchi was not toasted off, but that did not negatively effect the texture or dish like you might imagine.  No, this dish was brilliant.

Dating our experience, in the middle of our dinner we heard a loud "Did you just call me a prick, Chef, Jason Miller" before a customer stormed off. He then cried out “You’ll see my review shortly.”  Who knows, maybe the guy posted something nasty on Yelp.  I can’t imagine a real critic would have reacted in the way he did, in particular over the issue at hand (the cooking of the foie gras).  The name of the chef, it should be mentioned, is Jason Wilson, so you can imagine how definitive his review was.

Foie Gras.  This course came as an add on to the normal tasting menu.  We had heard it was well worth the money, and we were not led astray.  It was delicious, an intriguing "apple pie" themed dish.  To me, this was totally genius and something I never would have considered. For my taste, the foie was perfectly seared with a nice temp at service. I like mine to be seared on the outside, mid-rare in the center, and warm.  My wife became giddy while eating this. Though I wasn’t quite as hot on the dish as she was, it was very very good.

The Snake River wagyu beef course, following after the heels of foie gras, certainly delivered.  After her giddy gobbling of the foie, my wife then quickly declared this may have been the best dish of food she had ever eaten.  Her father will be crushed, because he grills steak right.  However, the rich, hearty truffle flavor from the Oregon truffles they use at Crush, with the Trumpet mushrooms (which my wife ate happily in spite of herself) and butter made this dish a fatty yum explosion. Mmm.  I think the mushrooms might have stole the show, but this again was a highly successful dish of food.

After such a rich dish, the pear and pink peppercorn sorbet was a nice break. It was a nice mix of texture and flavor, and the peppercorn created a delightful zing.

Finally, they fed us chocolate cake and praline ice cream.  Honestly, these let down the rest of the dishes because they were not memorable. The cake was moist enough, but it just wasn’t great.  I also happened to be a little sad that Crush didn’t share their homemade pop rocks they were parading around to a few of the other tables.  Oh well.  So…. in the end, Go here for a special occasion...

Crush

2319 East Madison Street 

 Seattle, WA 98112 

(206) 302-7874

4 of 5 (my wife will tell you 4.5 or 5)

Iggy's at the Hilton Singapore

Iggy's is listed as one of the top 50 restaurants in the world according to Restaurant magazine.  Passing through town, it was impossible not to indulge.  The restaurant is very small, and reservations are a must.  You are given a "Gastronomic Menu" reflecting their seasonal menu on the weekend and this prix fixe is your only option.  Weekdays there is a slightly less expensive "Dinner" prix fixe menu.  Here was mine:

           -Eel

Avurga, Yuzu, Silver

           -Sea Urchin

Cauliflower, Abalone, Shiso

           -Chlorophyll

Sea and Soil

           -Sanma

Wild rice, Olives, Thyme

           -Pigeon

Beetroot, Hickory, Lentils

           -Epoisses

Yukon gold potato, Winter black truffles

           -Cantaloupe

Raspberry, Peppermint

           -Watermellon

Pepitas, Goat's cheese, Milk ice cream


It was one of the best meals I've ever had.  However, it was not "better" than the best meals I've ever had.  It did have some of the best courses that I've ever had.  This is an interesting dichotomy.  Here are the details:

First, there were two bonus courses at the beginning of the meal.  These courses were, in a word, outstanding.  Iggy's "sushi," a toro, wagyu (possibly Kobe) beef, and beautiful seasonal white fish (not white fish, but a white fish with which I could not pick out of a lineup - possibly Bonito fish) was phenomenal.  The pieces were not served on rice, but "gnocchi" in the loosest of senses.  It was more a cracker, though it's hard to make "cracker" sound fine dining.  These gnocchi exploded with flavor in your mouth, and gave a crunchy textural contrast to the soft fish and beef that was most welcome.

In addition, here is a "bonus" salad course:

The eel course was smoke infused with an upturned "bowl."  I don't normally buy into this gimmick, but the chef was able to infuse a great deal of smokey flavor into the eel and caviar, making the dish a complete success.  

Sadly, however, the sea urchin was not on the same level.  I first tasted the sea urchin and gel-like broth.  Independently they were a little disappointing.  When eaten together, they ceased to be disappointing, but only arose to "good," and additionally disappointing, the shiso flavor was really not present.  Even sadder, I neglected to snap a shot of it.

Chlorophyll, however, was spectacular.  If you were going to have a disappointing dish, go ahead and put it before this dish.  You quickly forget all about it, since this was the single best vegetable/vegetarian-friendly dish I have ever eaten.  It had no salt, creme, or stock added, according to the server.  It was, in a word, plants.  The amount of flavor that Iggy was able to get out of plants was amazing, and the roasted buckwheat seeds about stole the show.  They were so salty and delicious, it was hard to pay attention to the okra, seaweed, and other elements.  With each bite, however, you were reminded of just how harmonious this dish was.  I don't know how it would impact it, but I for one would have enjoyed a few seabeans in this dish - not to say it wasn't individually a five of five.

Another example of the nice textural touches within the dish were puffed rice pieces amid the wild rice that accompanied a perfect medium sanma.  The thyme was nice, but the sprig included on the dish would have blown out anyone's palate.  While pretty, frying it to a crisp and diffusing some of the thyme flavor, or transforming the ingredient in some other way would have been a better option.  Since the oil on the plate was already infused with thyme, you wouldn't lose anything.  This is a minor complaint, a garnish issue, but to me it is the difference between a great meal and a perfect meal.

Pigeon.  Why it wasn't called squab, is beyond me.  The woman next to me commented, pigeon, I don't think I want pigeon.  What she wouldn't have known would not have hurt her.  She probably would have gotten the dish, eaten it, declared it was the best squab she had ever eaten, and then later in telling her friends would have found out squab is actually pigeon.  Technically, again, the protein was cooked perfectly.  The lentils, of all things, about stole the show though.  They had this almost intoxicating, berry flavor that paired perfectly with the beetroot that was infused with a nice delicate smokey flavor.  Throw on that the pickled treatment that a few pieces of beet get, with micro-beet greens and you have another winning dish.  

The potatoes and cheese.  My goodness.  They were irresistible, with the truffle adding this magnificent earthy "umami" flavor.  I don't use the word umami lightly, or to be trendy.  This dish just had it.  This dish showed how amazing potatoes can be, and made for the best "mashed" or "scalloped" potatoes I have ever eaten.  

The (former) pastry chef, really had a stroke of brilliance when he created this cantaloupe soup.  It was like an injection of cantaloupe, so much flavor you might as well have stuck it straight into your veins with a needle.  In addition, I'm sure this is a fine dining trick, but to freeze and break apart individual raspberry cornels shows both patience and ingenuity.  Absolutely loved it!

The final dessert (or so you think), had a goat cheese infused vanilla ice cream.  The woman next to me (a different woman from the last time) declared, oh, goat cheese, I don't like goat cheese.  The chef convinced her to give it a try, and she gobbled the whole thing down.  The goat cheese wasn't prominent, but used to break up the sweetness of the ice cream.  The watermelon and pepitas were just winners.  

When you think you're done, they bust out a chocolate box.  I said yes to every one, after consulting with the pastry chef and him telling me that he would absolutely take one of each chocolate in my place.  The apple-flavored piece was outstanding.  I was glad to have grabbed one of each, because I wouldn't have grabbed the apple chocolate if I had only picked 2 or 3.  The white chocolate with pink peppercorn was good enough, and my least favorite was the pistachio (which would have been my first choice).  They had some delicious caramels, truffles, and macaroons.  I guess picking a least favorite was like picking a least favorite child.

I enjoyed my experience at Iggy's.  It was expensive, fine dining anywhere in the world expensive-expensive.  Do I think it was worth the price tag?  Yes.  I would strongly recommend it for a special occasion or business meeting.  Do I think given Singapore's food culture, that it is wise to spend some 50 times the cost of average fare on a single dinner?  Well, that's a tougher one.  I think in a nutshell that this is what cost Iggy's the last half of a "star" to me.  While the meal was fantastic, at the price (in Singapore), it needs to be perfect and it wasn't perfect. The wonderful staff really does lift your experience as well, each member is knowledgeable, friendly, and on task.  If your paradigm is Panda Express for Asian food, this will blow you away!


Iggy's

The Hilton Hotel

581 Orchard Road Level 3 
Singapore 238883 
Tel: +65 6732 2234 
Email: marcom@iggys.com.sg
*Google has not updated the address from the Regent Hotel - Beware!
4.5 of 5