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Three Times the Charm
Posted on Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Artichoke is Justin and my anniversary restaurant. We eat here once a year, and this year was the third time we've come! The great thing but also sad thing about Artichoke is that one of the restaurant's core beliefs is to continue changing its menu. From Year 0 to Year 1 there was an improvement, however this year we were really disappointed to see our favorite candied bacon dish disappear from the menu (one whole year of waiting, and it's gone!) And my mushrooms with goat cheese has disappeared as well. Such a pity!
But the one thing remains constant - this boy! And my date for the evening :)
Thank goodness the dips are still around! Think we'd flip the table if they took away their Mezze. I always love the presentation of their dishes - the riot of colour and textures. As pretty as they are tasty!
We order our usual classic favourites - hummus and babaganoush. Dotted with pomegranate for a bit of crunch, the hummus remains pretty consistent year in and year out. The babaganoush this year had a great smokey, charred taste which was new and brought the taste up to a whole new level. Pretty sure it wasn't an accident!
We always play around with the third dish option. Last year we had the Labneh, this yeah it's the Muhamarrah which I do not recommend because i didn't like the balance of spices. Tasted like tomatoes / capsicums which I dislike, but if you like them, give it a try?
Our favorite dish of the evening! Tuna Tartare with Chicken Skin. It lies on a bed of thick curry-ish sauce that compliments perfectly with the fried chicken skin, but it overwhelms the tartare in my opinion so just eat the tuna alone and the skin with the sauce. Easy peasy! The waiter recommended the shrimps, but I'm glad we went ahead with this dish.
Ok in all honesty I forgot to take picture of the menu and lost the receipt for our meal, so I'm just gonna call this the Average Bacon Thing that took over our Candied Bacon. Underwhelming, forgot how it tasted etc. Please bring back Candied Bacon, Artichoke!
Can't turn down Mussels on the menu. After getting used to being served them by the pot-load in Europe, the portion was disappointing, BUT their individual size was much larger than their European counterparts and very creamy, so it made it up. The dish also contained Merguez (lamb sausages), which is kind of odd to serve in seafood (not that Justin minded, he ate them all!) Hmm.
So we kind of ordered too much, by the time the Sticky Date Pudding came round (which is the best I've tried in Singapore), we were a bit too full to enjoy it, but still, I love the nutty, caramel brittly perfection of it. Only killer was those darned cold coffee jelly in it (just avoided it). Why Artichoke, whyyyy.
So Justin and I have this 3-year plan for our anniversary dinners which means every 3 years we change restaurants, and this is our last for Artichoke! I think it's born out of the worry that if we stay to one restaurant for too long, what are we going to do if one day it closes down? This meal definitely wasn't the best we've had at Artichoke, but it's a good thing I guess since that means that we won't miss it TOO much. But it's still been pretty awesome, and I will always dream fondly of the items that went off the menu that we will never get to eat again. One more year to planning where we will go next! Any recommendations?
